This week Njay caught up with Catherine Bennett, a 21-year-old student in Fylde college, currently in her third year studying International Relations and Strategic Studies. Catherine is not only the president of Lancaster University Countryside Society, but she started it herself.
First of all, please tell us a little bit about the Countryside Society…“The Countryside Society’s aims are to provide an opportunity for everyone to enjoy the rural way of life, to work with rural organisations and charities, to work with the local rural communities and to raise awareness of the issues facing the countryside to the student population. The society is broken up into different sections; agriculture, riding and polo, charity work, fishing, Caledonian and education. We do all sorts of activities, such as farm visits, ice cream making, fishing, riding, polo, lambing, reeling, rural pub crawls, educational talks, Pimms and picnic, hunt balls, and trips to the horseracing. We also have our annual Charity Caledonian Ball, which is always a sell out and attracts people from all over the country. In 2013, the event raised thousands of pounds for rural charities.” The 2014 Caledonian Ball, organised by Catherine and the Countryside Society exec, will see Lancaster University host students from Cambridge, Imperial, York, and St. Andrews, alongside several other universities. It will be a unique evening of traditional Scottish dancing, live music, and delicious food, raising money for some fantastic causes including the Countryside Alliance Foundation, the Addington Fund, and the Riding for the Disabled Association.
Why did you decide to start your own society?“During my first year, I noticed a lack of awareness by some students about the issues facing the countryside. As someone who has seen how these issues affect family, friends and neighbours, I felt that I should at least try and help educate people on these issues. I was able to find like-minded individuals to help form the committee, and we got about setting up the society. It makes me really happy to see the society flourishing and I am sure that when I hand over the society, to Charlotte Gomez, that it will continue to thrive.” Charlotte Gomez is a 20-year-old first-year student majoring in Marketing who will be taking over as president in April.
What’s your number one piece of advice to someone wanting to start their own society?“Just be determined, if there are any obstacles that get in your way, just find a way over them or around them- there is always a way.”
What’s been your favourite thing about being president of the Countryside Society?“As President of the Countryside Society, I work closely with similar societies in around 15 different universities, with rural organisations, rural charities, the rural media and students at Lancaster University. The people I have met are incredible and I really admire them all for what they contribute to the countryside, to their organisations and to us.I also love, despite our age, how the society have been able to help. Last year, the Addington Fund were raising money to help transport spare fodder to those farmers in Cumbria who had lost all their supplies in the bad weather. As a society, we got together to discuss ideas and within five days were fundraising. Even if we could only help a little, we wanted to be able to contribute. Every single person involved in this fundraising put their heart into it. Whether it is our big events, like the Charity Caledonian Ball or Fashion Show, I love knowing that we are contributing to some fantastic charities.”
If you are interested in finding out more about the Countryside Society, you can like their Facebook page, Lancaster University Countryside Society. Membership is £2 for the academic year and you can sign up by contacting Catherine Bennett or Charlotte Gomez on Facebook.
Inspired by Catherine’s story? Anyone at Lancaster University can start their own society. If you’ve got an idea, just chat to LUSU by visiting their headquarters in Alex Square, or contact them by email or phone; contact details can be found on the LUSU website.