Let’s make Queen’s a place where everyone is excited to engage!
Hello!
My name is Sarah, and I’m currently undertaking my Masters in Literary Studies at Queen’s. Like many students, the highlight of my time at university has been engaging with clubs and societies. And QUB has so many to offer!
As both an attendee, and a committee member, I have had the time of my life organising events, meeting new people, and being part of a community.
I want everyone to find something that feels like home. That’s why I’m running for Activities and Engagement Officer 2026: so I can help make our clubs and societies even better, and help more people get involved.
My Experience
I can offer experience-based support to student committees, having engaged heavily with clubs and societies across my student life:
- Trained by SU to be a homework club volunteer. Spent time working with kids right here in Belfast, helping them thrive and raising their academic ambitions.
- Violist in Queen's University Symphony Orchestra, Concert and Events Manager 2023/4.
- Represented QUB on University Challenge series 54, where I made it to the quarter finals thanks to my amazing team (shoutout Quiz Society!)
- Heavily engaged with campaigns to end violence against women and girls, even writing my dissertation around the NI femicide crisis
- Organised first ever student-led Burns Night Ceilidh in the Great Hall for Queen's Orange Society, a fantastic cross-community event celebrating Scots-Irish culture at the heart of campus.
- Twice published in the QUB Writers' Society's award-winning literary magazine The Apiary.
I want to make sure every student can get as much out of extracurricular engagement as I have throughout my time at Queen's!
Aims
On top of offering experience-based support on issues like handover, finances, and venue booking, I want to help improve the clubs and societies experience in creative new ways. I want to see student leaders recognised, societies maintaining a wellbeing-centred ethos, and events becoming even more welcoming and inclusive.
Read on for some of my goals and initiatives:
- Running a society takes time, patience and passion, and I think the people at the heart of it deserve recognition and celebration. That’s why I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re entitled to for all their hard work, and how to get it.
- We have fantastic facilities on our campus, and I’d love to see more fun, exciting events such as club nights, society takeovers, and even formal after parties, taking place in our Union Bar.
- I want to improve safety and accessibility at society events through two initiatives: first aid training and kits provided to each committee; and nighttime safety / spiking awareness training. A lot of events take place in bars and pubs, and spiking is unfortunately becoming more and more common, disproportionately affecting women. Let’s make sure everybody gets home safe!
- One massive success story of the past few years has been the rollout of free period supplies across campus. The hard work of the SU officers who campaigned for that measure ought to be celebrated. But not all society events take place on campus. There are away sports matches, pub crawls, and mystery bus tours, and not all venues will be period-friendly. But I’d like to make sure our events still are, by issuing a number of period supplies to each society, replenished on demand, so members don’t need to fear being caught out at an event, and have access to a quick, discreet solution. This is an easy, cost-effective initiative which could improve access and reduce anxiety.
- I want to ensure clubs and societies are promoted as much as possible so everyone can find something for them, and that forming a new society is an exciting, rather than daunting, prospect. I also want to make sure each society remains wellbeing-focused, positive behaviours are the norm, and committees know how to take responsible action to keep their members safe.
Vote for inclusivity. Vote for community. Vote for recognition. Vote for someone who wants Queen’s to feel like home.
On 2nd-5th March, vote Sarah Carlisle #1 for Activities and Engagement.