April University of Galway societies take home six National Society BICS awards

University of Galway Societies were the big winners at this year’s Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards taking home an impressive six awards including Best Event, Best Individual and Best Mental Health.

The awards secure University of Galway Societies as record holder, having won 88 awards since the inception of the BICS. 

Riona Hughes, University of Galway Societies Officer, said: “The societies have made a spectacular recovery after Covid and returned to full activity this year, with more than 4,000 events. Societies build communities, they create a vibrant campus life and opportunities for students to learn valuable life skills and make friends. I am very proud of our success at BICS which is a testament to the outstanding commitment of all of our students on committees.”

The University of Galway societies were successful in the following categories:

• Best Departmental Society: WiSTEM Society
• Best Event: Anime and Manga Society for the Akumakon Convention which saw over 2200 attendees, links with the Japanese Embassy and €15,000 raised for Amach, Galway LGBTQ+ resource centre.
• Best Individual: Nessa O'Connor, founding member and Auditor of Granny Society, Akumakon Panel room coordinator, Drama Society costume designer, secretary of Fansci and member of the Hub Well Crew.
• Best Fresher: Sava Beekmann, committee member of Timelord, Bród and Granny Societies.
• Best Mental Health: Medical Society for 'Shave a Life', which raised over €30,000 for the Samaritans.
• Best Photo: Zoo Society for their photo of Lenny, an eight year-old gecko sporting a hat on Society’s Day. 

BICS is a national organisation that was founded in 1995 and whose role is to provide a national forum for the societies in Ireland’s Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Education.

University of Galway has 125 actively running societies representing over 11,000 students, and has raised €105,000 for charity.

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