UCC Societies victorious at annual Board of Irish College Societies National Awards

11 Apr 2024

UCC Societies were victorious at the annual Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) National Awards on April 11, taking home four awards. 

Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) is a national organisation that was founded in 1995, and its role is to provide a national forum for the societies in Ireland’s universities, colleges, and institutes of education. Their National Awards are an opportunity for student societies to showcase their numerous achievements from the previous year. This year 345 students competed in the awards across 18 higher level institutions.

UCC were awarded in the following categories:

Best New Society Large College: UCC Pop Culture Society

UCC Pop Culture Society (or PopSoc) has brought fun and exuberance to college life this year. This year they organised 36 wide-ranging events, from quizzes and socials to club nights and panel talks all of which fulfilled the aims and objectives of the society providing a wide range of social opportunities for students and allowing for critical debate on pop culture. 

 
Best Individual Large College: Emer Neville (UCC Pop Culture Society, UCC Feminist Society, An Chuallacht, UCC Government and Politics Society)

Emer is a second year Digital Humanities and Information Technology student and has held various committee positions across four societies including Co-Founder and Chairperson of UCC Pop Culture Society and Fempower officer for UCC Feminist Society. Emer is incredibly hardworking and has brought passion and dedication to each of her roles. Emer was awarded Best Individual at UCC Societies Stars awards as well as an SAAI award for individual contribution to student media and has also led UCC Popular Culture Society to success in both BICS and Stars.

Best Promotional Campaign: UCC Global Justice Society

UCC Global Justice Society won this award for the Positive News of the Week campaign consisting of a weekly Instagram post of a selection of good news stories related to global justice. This campaign, crafted to resonate with students, aimed to deliver five heartening news stories each week, curated to highlight issues of global justice. In addition to sharing the news, the society also sought to empower their audience with knowledge, directing them towards the sources they used if they wished to get more information on a specific story.

Most Improved Society in a Large College: UCC Global Justice Society

The aim of UCC Global Justice Society is to be an activism-based group dedicated to challenging injustices across the globe by giving UCC students a support network and the skills needed to take action. This year they have organised various events in line with this aim: Pizzas for Peace event to showcase how to think global, act local, various Palestine solidarity events, the ‘Working for Change’ careers fair. By taking various actions this year such as rebranding, branching out to encompass students from all other disciplines and streamlining their workload, newsletters, and social media, they have increased engagement and gained more members.

2023/24 has been an exceptional year for UCC Societies with 2400+ approved events taking place this year across 118 societies. UCC students can sign up to be a member of a one or more societies through the Clubs and Societies portal: https://candsportal.ucc.ie/