Students’ events raise awareness and almost £2,500 for charity

Students at the University of Chester are celebrating their success in delivering a series of virtual community and charity events.

Attracting international audiences, the events were developed by first and second year BA (Hons) Events Management students as part of their studies between January and March 2021.

The second year Events Management students have raised £2,421 for charity through a range of online events as part of their Live Event module.

The events consisted of:

• A cooking class where participants were taught by a professional Italian chef how to make bruschetta, pesto pasta and tiramisu;
• A race night with a series of ‘races’ accompanied by tongue-in-cheek commentary;
• A fashion quiz which included designer interviews, and
• Music nights where up-and-coming DJs from the local region showcased their talents.

Due to these being hosted virtually, the profile of the audience increased dramatically with attendees from all over the UK, as well as from as far afield as Belgium and South Africa, tuning in and engaging with the events.

Callum Davies, a second year Events Management student said: “It has been a challenging year, but we have learned a lot about the different opportunities that exist in delivering an event.

“I never envisaged doing a virtual event before, but it worked so well, and we had great support from the public which has resulted in over £300 for our chosen charity, Mind.

“The opportunity to manage events as part of the degree is one of the main reasons I choose to study at Chester, as there are so many opportunities throughout the course, which has helped me improve my knowledge, skills and experience.”

The first year Events Management students developed four online events as part of the annual University Diversity Festival. These included the subjects of managing mental health in lockdown, examining food poverty, and exploring the complexities concerning freedom of speech.

The students developed the concepts and content and marketed the free events to the University and wider community, with excellent attendance at all sessions. The events were designed to be interactive with the audience participating in discussions and informative quizzes.

Lauren Dowman, a first year Events Management student said: “It has been a really great experience to run a live virtual event as part of the Diversity Festival and have an opportunity to develop and deliver an event concept as part of our degree.

“It was hard work but really rewarding too, and I learned lots that will help me in my studies and future career.” 

Kathryn Leighton, Diversity Festival Organiser, commended the students: “This is the third year that we have worked with the Events Management students to help deliver some of the events for the Diversity Festival and this year has been the most successful yet.

“The students were fantastic in taking responsibility for their events and delivered these professionally on behalf of our community.”

Dr Tim Brown, Programme Leader for Events Management added: “Our students have adapted really well to the virtual environment and have gone above and beyond what was required of them, and as a result have had an amazing impact on our local community. The amount raised for charity is outstanding and will make a real difference to the charities that the students have supported.

“We imbed events experience throughout the degree as this helps to build knowledge and skills, as well as confidence, that aids our students upon graduation. We are also investing in technology and equipment for our students to enable more virtual and hybrid events to take place, as this is also one of the future directions of the events industry, and we want our students to be skilled in this area.

“Whilst the last 12 months have been challenging for the events industry there are clear signs that this is already starting to recover, and the work of our students demonstrates that the future will be positive.”

Pictured - Callum Davies, who organised the Music for Mind event with fellow students.