For those of you who regularly visit Horizons, the bar on the Broadstairs Campus, you will have noticed that it has not been open recently on a regular basis apart from the Music nights on Wednesdays…. or maybe you haven’t.

Hospitality Services, the people who run the bar, have decided to only open the bar when there is an event booked in that can guarantee sales from the bar and warrant the staffing costs, so basically if it ain’t busy it ain’t opening and who can argue against this point?

Well, there are arguments that the bar should be open all the time as a haven for Students as their only true social area on the campus, but when no one is using it then it’s hard to argue this point. This is why we all need to start going to Horizons again. Not just turning up and expecting something to be on but putting in the effort to get others to come along too. It may not be the best venue in the world but fill it with 100 students and it all changes (just look back to Fresher’s Week or some of the music gigs).

As a member of staff I have arranged countless events this year, only to be disappointed by the turn-out, and then I’ve been moaned at the next day that nothing ever goes on. Not every event may have been a winner, or been something that everyone wanted to do, but at least things were going on and there was an option to do something. Now this has to change or nothing will happen at Horizons.

The future for events is that they are student-lead. When students are motivated about something they will put in 100% dedication, 100% effort, and will try 100% to get people involved, which was in evidence at the Heavy Metal Halloween night, the Anti-Valentines night, and I’m sure will be in evidence at the forthcoming Classic Rock night. Does it sound like too much hard-work? It shouldn’t be. It should be fun. The music students enjoy putting on these various nights because they get to take control and do things that they enjoy, which luckily overlaps with their course and so they have the expertise to run these events, but it doesn’t have to just be music students who put on events.

I am here to help, but to do that I need you. As Jerry Maguire says “help me, help you” and I was happy last week when two students, Dan and Abbé, helped me out with Karaoke, and had so much fun doing so that they want to make it a regular thing. I can do the ‘boring’ parts involving health and safety, room bookings, setting up the equipment, and training to use the equipment, but they want to run the event and believe they can get lots of people coming, and I don’t doubt them.

If we can get more students getting involved, then more students will attend, and we can have the bar open more. It’s as simple as that.

If you would like to know more then please get in touch. It doesn’t need to be music based, it could be running a quiz night, a film night, an anything night, just so long as you are committed and want it to succeed. Come and see me in CG12, call me on 01843 609182, or email me on adem.djemil@canterbury.ac.uk and maybe we can make this happen.

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