As always it was total madness at Manchester Freshers Fair! Newcomers to uni and city life get a proper Mancunian welcome from over a hundred stalls set up in the main hall. The floor outside becomes covered with a carpet of unwanted leaflets and free shot vouchers and you wonder how you ever managed without thirteen free pens from Argos. By the end of the day your ears are ringing from the screams of the cheerleading society and that random guy in the corner playing the drums and then because it’s Manchester it starts to rain and you have to take shelter at the stand giving away free pot noodle. But where else do you have the opportunity to join so many things and meet so many people? The atmosphere is unlike anything else.

Stuck between the Respect stand and Conservative Future we were made to feel ever so radical and the big black bus promising revolution and free vodka that kept coming and parking next to us was quite apt! It was an excellent two days and we were able to sign up 85 people to the new Communist Students Society. Nothing like this has ever been done before in Manchester and we look forward to making an impact on student politics on campus. We will be made even stronger by the launching of new societies in nearby Leeds and Preston and the continuation of Communist Students in Sheffield. Last year we stood candidates in the university elections there and ran a successful campaign based on communist politics. This is the politics that will ensure free and democratic education in the future. Stand by for more of the same in Manchester!

We will be emailing our contacts about forthcoming meetings and events. Look out for our leaflets in the Students Union.

Emily Bransom

emily@communiststudents.org.uk