Hello Freshers!
Welcome to Cayley and welcome to the best year of your life! I can promise you now that if you take all the opportunities offered to you in Cayley and at Loughborough you will have an amazing time here.
My name is Harry and I am one of your two social secs. We together have organised your freshers week and during the week, making sure you have the best time possible. On this page Graeme and I will go through the whole social side of Cayley so you can get an idea of nights out, clubs, bars and anything else associated with it.
The move in date this year is Tuesday 27th September.
Throughout the week there are usual nights that the majority of people will go out on, these nights usually standard places to go to with some nights having more than one option:
- Monday – Rain is at its best on this night however Revolution are opening a new night next year to try and compete. Both have good music and decent drinks prices.
- Tuesday – Stupid Tuesdays @ The Union! Cheap drinks (e.g. Shot and a pint for £1.95), cheesy music and it usually ends up being a decent night. Usually only Fusion is open for Tuesday nights but sometimes, depending on time of year, the whole union might be open.
- Wednesday – Hey Ewe @ The Union! Drink prices vary but usually about £1.50 for a Pint or a Shot. The whole union will be open so you can go for a wander and lose everyone very easily! The night is called Hey Ewe and is a big night for all the sports teams as alot of the games, training and socials are on Wednesdays.
-Thursday – Revolution and Rain. A lot like a Monday night but Rain sometimes runs an alternative ‘Dub N Bass’ night which reaches out to you dubstep/drum and bass heads! Rewind Thursdays at revs is always full, and was a popular choice for Cayley last year!
- Friday – FND @ The Union -Most people go out on Fridays, no lectures and a free day to remember the previous nights antics. The whole union is open and its usually a good night.
- Saturday – Echoes and Rain, Revolution. Echoes generally dominates this night but it can be a bit of an acquired taste for many. Revs offers a slightly more up market version of their other nights they do in the week. Rain pretty much stays the same as their other nights.
- Sunday – EQ/Wild. The same place but no one can decide what to call it. Always a good night if you can get a few of you to go out, reasonable drinks and cheesy/good music.
So there’s a normal week summed up for you. Yet it will change every week with events at the union, they usually have someone performing like last year we had Tinie Tempah and Example. Cayley will be sorting out socials a couple of times a month, where we will supply a load of beverages and sometimes a DJ, socialise as a hall and then move onto a club.
Warm-ups to a night out
The pre- night warm up would normally occur in someone’s room with a group of mates, in the kitchen or corridor if there is a larger group of you or if there is a birthday or hall social it would be in the Common room which is quality place to have it due to a sound system, ping pong table and pool table. Also depending on the weather there are quite a few areas where you can chill outside.
The Village shop is about a 30 second walk from where ever you are in Cayley so there’s never an excuse to be running low on supplies. However in the long run this shop can be quite expensive, so trips to Sainsburys and/or Tesco can save you massive amounts of money, especially if you are buying beverages, trust me.
Freshers Fortnight – What you need!
In Freshers there are a few essential things on top of what we have to said to bring in general:
Money – Work hard this summer, your student loan might not come through for a week or two, you don’t want to be short of cash in these few weeks. Make the most of it!
Fancy Dress – If you haven’t already looked on ‘what you need to bring’ then have a quick look after this, its a very useful basis to go on. However the main fancy dress items you will need to bring with you, in accordance with some of the themes in freshers are:
- ARMY
- SCHOOL
- BEACH
- POLICE
- BAYWATCH
- NAVY
If you are struggling to get anything for these themes then don’t worry there are loads of fancy dress shops in Loughborough and also Cayley have organised for a company to sort out packs for you guys that include the essentials like paint (see dressfresh) head bands, sunglasses etc. They will be selling the packs on your first day, so make sure your parents are there so you don’t have to buy anything!! Trust me it helps to have your parents there, I told my mum to bugger off so I could look cool, I was then about £120 out of pocket without even buying a drink!
Food and Beverages - Before the start of term there are a couple of things you can do to save a huge amount of money during freshers and term. You should try to take advantage of having your parents buying your food in the summer, make sure you buy food for uni in bulk so you don’t have to buy as much yourself in term. Buying little snacks and meals yourself will build up throughout the term without you realising.
I understand that there will be people who do not drink. However, for those of you who do…make sure you stock up for freshers week, ultimately buying your drink in small amounts before a night out will cost you a small fortune before the end of the year.
Get excited guys, these truly are the best two weeks of your life.
