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York students take to the air and water in search of national success

York students take to the air and water in search of national success

Posted on 5 June 2014

Two University of York student societies have their sights set on national success in the air and on the water.

University of York Skydiving Club members Lucy Ford, Carmen Sumadiwiria, Amelia Collins, Liam Goddard and Thomas Chan.

The University of York Skydiving Club (UYSC) is planning to send a team of four York students to the British National Skydiving Championships in September, while the University of York Boat Club believes it has at least one GB hopeful in its ranks.

Both clubs are using the UK’s first bespoke university crowdfunding platform, YuStart, to raise the funds needed to turn their plans into reality.

York’s skydiving club aims to raise £2,000 to enter and train for the national skydiving competition in North Lincolnshire, while the rowing club is looking to raise £6,000 to buy more boats and a bigger trailer.

The skydiving club was founded nearly 20 years ago and encourages progression as a solo skydiver and then onto formation skydiving. For the first time in its history, it has a team of four students qualified as formation skydivers.

Liam Goddard, UYSC President, and a member of the formation team, said: “The British National Skydiving Championships is the biggest skydiving competition in the world and attracts all the top skydivers. It would be fantastic to field a University of York team and showcase our skills in a competition.”

The team, which also includes Lucy Ford, Amelia Collins and Thomas Chan, needs to raise a minimum of £800 to cover the entrance fees. The team will cover transport and accommodation during the weekend themselves. Any money raised above the minimum will help them fund further training to improve their performance.

The University of York Boat Club is celebrating its 50^th anniversary. Prompted by the success of team GB in the 2012 Olympics, the club has experienced a five-fold increase in sign up, with 500 members at the beginning of this academic year.

Boat Woman, postgraduate Erica Emond, said: “The surge in interest is a great opportunity for the club and will help us unveil new talent, enabling us to compete at the next level. However, it has put a strain on our resources and currently we can’t give everyone the chance to row. To do this we need more boats as well as a larger trailer in order to take more crews to regattas and GB trials.”

The rowing club needs more single and double sculls to allow its members to train, particularly talented first year Steph Clutterbuck, a GB hopeful who has no women’s competitive single scull to train in.

The club has already held a sponsored row and its fundraising efforts will continue into July.

YuStart allows members of the University to raise money from multiple donors, with participants receiving a reward, such as a t-shirt, project poster or an invitation to attend an event, in exchange for a small donation.

Launched in January, it is a joint initiative between the University’s Development Office and the University of York Students’ Union (YUSU), which uses the expertise of education specialist Hubbub.

Other student societies currently using YuStart to boost funds are the University of York Cave and Pothole Club; the Club of PEP, a student run organisation representing students studying under the School of Politics, Economics and Philosophy; Scouts and Girl Guides York (SAGGY) and York’s Opera Society.

The York Cave and Pothole Club is raising money to explore some of the world’s deepest caves in Montenegro, while the Club of PEP is looking to publish Vox, a Politics, Economics and Philosophy academic journal run by students. SAGGY is raising money for an event called Escape, while the Opera Society is looking for support towards the production costs of Cendrillon at the Grand Opera House.

Projects fundraising through YuStart have access to specialist support from Hubbub and benefit from the support of YuStart Ambassador Liza Parker. Working with the Development Office team, Liza, an undergraduate student in the University’s School of Politics, Economics and Philosophy (PEP), provides advice on website content and running effective social media campaigns.

To find out more about the projects or to make a donation visit yustart.hubbub.net