The first step to creating a new society is registering your society using our Society Registration Form.

Here we will need the details of some of your key committee members: President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Welfare Officer.

You can find out more about the responsibilities of these committee positions in our Committee Guide for Societies.

All new societies and sports teams must complete this form so the Union has a record of all of our active societies and sports teams. This is important for budget setting, and ensuring we are sharing information and updates with all relevant people.

Once you've submitted your online registration form (above), there are now a number of documents for you to read, sign, and return to our Activities & Events Coordinator via email.

1. Societies Guide
   Our Societies Guide has been created to help you run your society. Please read through this carefully to understand the processes and procedures you will need to abide by as an active SOAS SU society / sports team.
   
   (You do not need to sign and return this)
    
2. Constitution
   You will need to draft a constitution for your society / sports team that describes your aims and objectives, and how you will be governed. You can use our Model Constitution as a template.
   
   (Please submit this as a Word document)
    
3. Indemnity Form
   We ask you to sign this form to show that you understand and will uphold equality and diversity standards in the running of your society / sports team.
    
4. Society / Sports Team Blurb
   You will need to draft a short description of your society / sports team. This will be used on the SU website as a way for students to find out who you are, what you do, and how to get involved.
   
   (Please use the above document for your Blurb, Annual Plan, and Budget)
    
5. Annual Plan
   You will need to draft a short annual plan, providing a summary of you aims and objectives for the year ahead. This is useful for you as a goal setting exercise, and for the Union in understanding your ambitions and preparing budgets accordingly.
    
6. Budget Form
   Based on your annual plan, you will need to complete a Budget Form to request a budget for your society for the year ahead. It's important to provide detail in your request so that we can approve budegts based on need. Your budget will only be allocated after your registration is complete - we will be in contact to confirm your budget as soon as we can.
    
7. Membership List
   You will need to submit a list of members to the Union (name and student ID) so that we can add them as members on our website. All societies and sports teams must have a membership of no less than 16 active participants.
   
   (Please send this in the form of a Word or Excel document)
    
8. Annual Risk Assessment
   We ask you to complete an Annual Risk Assessment based on the activities you anticipate hosting across the upcoming year. By considering the potential risks and putting in place control measures, you will create a safer and more welcoming environment for your members. Please also see the SOAS External Speakers, Participants and Audience Risk Assessment, which you will need to complete for any events you host involving external people.
    
9. Environmental Policy
   Finally, we ask that you read through our Environmental Policy, which you agree to abide by as an active SU society / sports team. It's important that you understnad what this policy says, as it details things that we will not allow you to claim expenses for.
   
   (You do not need to sign and return this)

Please make sure you save these documents using appropriate names to make them easy to identify for staff when registering your society / sports team.

Once you have completed the two steps noted above, the Union will begin the task of creating your society / sports team in our system and allocating a budget. 

Please do not spend any money until your budget has been confirmed to you.

As a new society / sports team you are then free to carry out activities within the Union, and should work to promote yourself to the student body in a bid to recruit new members. 

If you have any questions, you should speak with the SU Activities & Events Coordinator for guidance.

Due to the way budegting works within the SU we cannot accept new society and sports team registrations year round.

To register a new society / sports team you will need to complete the above steps by:

TERM 1: midnight, Sunday 2nd October 2022

TERM 2: midnight, Monday 30th January 2023

All societies and sports teams must have a minimum membership of 16 active participants. Once the registration deadline has closed, we will assess the membership numbers of all of our societies and sports teams to ensure you have met this requirement. Any society or sports team that does not have 16 active members will be unable to receive a budget from the Union for activies.