Bristol SU Group Accreditation (formally Balloon Accreditation Scheme) is designed to help recognise and reward affiliated student groups who provide an excellent experience for their members. The scheme is designed to help groups build on their strengths whilst also identifying weaknesses in their existing offer. Achieving accreditation shows your members and potential members how much they are valued and gives them confidence in your ability to provide an outstanding student experience through your group.
Bristol SU Group Accreditation runs from 1st August 2023 - 30th April 2024 and is made up of 20 criteria. All affiliated student groups can take part in the scheme and work towards being awarded one of three levels of accreditation for 23/24
A Bristol SU webpage is your first chance to make an impression on potential new members. This is where people come to look for official affiliated student groups they can get involved with and become part of a community.
To meet this criterion your Bristol SU Webpage must contain the following information
Guidance on editing your webpage can be found here
Guidance on branding your group can be found here
The deadline for this criterion to be met is 31 October or 1 month after affiliation for new groups to align with the start of the academic year.
The deadline to submit this criterion is 30 April 2024
Demonstrating your affiliation to Bristol SU helps to reassure both potential and returning members that your activities are supported by a larger organisation who can provide resources and guidance within a university setting.
To meet this criterion, you must:
Access to Bristol SU logos and brand guidelines can be found here
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Give it a Go! provides a fun and friendly way for new students to get involved with Clubs, Societies and Volunteering Projects, allowing them to ‘road test’ groups before committing to membership.
We encourage all groups to get involved in this scheme, regardless of your core activities.
To meet this criterion your Give it a Go! Session(s) should:
We encourage running sessions during both term one and two but understand this is not appropriate for all groups. For more information on Give it a Go! visit our webpage.
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Developing your committees' skills is at the core of making sure your group runs smoothly and continues to help build memorable experiences for your members. We provide training and support throughout the year on a variety of topics to help student group leaders develop new skills and build memorable experiences, but it’s not just Bristol SU training that counts!
The sessions can be:
To meet this criterion your 5 training sessions should:
All Bristol SU Training will be advertised on our webpages and in regular communications to committee from the Development Team.
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
As student group leaders you have a responsibility to represent your members and their opinions at democratic events throughout the year. Make sure your members voices are heard and help shape Bristol SU and the wider University.
Here are some of the democratic events that you can attend:
To meet this criterion, you must
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
A strategic plan helps to focus the energy, time, and resources of everyone in your committee. Enabling you to run a sustainable group that will provide relevant opportunities to your members for years to come.
To meet this criterion, you will need to:
Our template strategic plan and guidance can be found here
Deadline for this criterion is 16 December 2024
A robust budget is an essential document that all groups should have and use throughout the year. Without a budget to guide you, putting on events and activities can become financially unachievable.
To meet this criterion, you will need to:
Our template budget can be found here
Guidance on managing your finances can be found here
Deadline for this criterion is 16 December 2024
Through donations of goods, facilities and / or funding, external organisations can help with your group's development, allowing you to improve your offer to members through discounts, training opportunities and more.
To meet this criterion, you must either:
Guidance on sponsorship can be found here
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Getting regular feedback is an important part of running a successful group. Your members can tell you what events are working, what they want to see more of and how you can improve the member experience. How you collect feedback and what you choose to collect feedback on is up to you.
In the past we have had submissions that included:
To meet this criterion, you will need to provide
Submissions for the Bristol SU Rate My Group Survey do not count towards this criterion
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Collaborating with another student group can be hugely beneficial to both the committee involved and the wider membership. You get to practice teamwork and negotiating skills, enhance your groups exposure and (hopefully) gain some new members! In the past groups have collaborated on awareness campaigns and skills sharing activities.
To meet this criterion your collaboration must :
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
External partners are any groups, charities, businesses, or organisations outside of Bristol SU and the University of Bristol. Working with people outside of the university bubble is a great way to get your group known in the wider community and can provide excellent opportunities for development of your committee and members. In the past collaborations have included charity events, sporting events, collaborations with other universities and training workshops.
To meet this criterion your collaboration must
Student groups that are linked to an external charity or organisation cannot use activities with these partners for this criterion.
Working with an external speaker to host a talk does not count as a collaborative event or activity
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
A successful group is a fully inclusive group. Making sure your programme of socials reflects the diversity of your membership will help you maintain members year on year. One way to do this is to make sure that you offer 100% alcohol-free socials as part of your social offer.
To meet this criterion, you must:
A social should be an event that is not related to your core aims and be focused on helping people have fun, get to know each other, and build a strong community. For example, networking after a careers event would not count as a social but running a mixer to help people find potential house mates would. To help inspire you, we have developed a tool for generating alcohol-free event ideas.
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
All affiliated Bristol SU groups have an Equality Officer as part of the core committee structure. This role enables capacity for EDI to be at the heart of all group activities, so progress can continue to be made year on year. This does not mean that sole responsibility for your group's development within EDI falls to just one person, this should be championed by all committee and members.
To meet this criterion, you should:
Our template equalities action plan and guidance can be found here. This should be used as a starting point only, and your submission should clearly show how you have used this to improve EDI in your group
Guidance on improving EDI within your group can be found here
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
The Climate Emergency impacts student groups and their members in a number of ways. This criterion recognises those groups who go out of their way to limit their impact on the plant and enable their members to do something positive to combat the Climate Emergency.
As a group you could:
Groups can apply for a Sustainability Grant of up to £500 for activities focused on sustainability and/or combatting the Climate Emergency. For advice and support on running your group sustainably contact bristolsu-sustainability@bristol.ac.uk. Also check out the new sustainability webpages for more inspiration.
To meet this criterion, you must:
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Fundraising helps to promote the message and goals of your group and/or a charity as well as raising vital funds to keep initiatives going. This criterion recognises groups who go out of their way to raise essential funds for their group or a charity.
Your fundraising can be for your group, the Sanctuary Scholars Fund or a local, national, or international charity (registered in the UK).
To meet this criterion, you must:
Information and advice on how to donate to charities whilst keeping in line with charity law can be found here.
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Being part of a student group is a great way to learn new skills and enhance your employability. This criterion recognises groups who go out of their way to provide these opportunities for members.
Examples of what groups have done in the past include:
To meet this criterion, you must:
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Recognising that your group is part of a wider community, and working with that community, can be hugely rewarding for members. This criterion recognises groups who are making a difference by utilising the skills of your members.
In the past groups have supported Bristol SU Volunteering Projects or worked with local charities, schools and community groups by running workshops and events.
To meet this criterion, you must:
Evidence submitted for this criterion cannot also be used for criterion 11.
For advice and support when volunteering please contact bristolsu-volunteering@bristol.ac.uk
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Each spring Bristol SU run the Rate My Group (RMG) survey. This is an anonymous survey that helps groups measure member satisfaction year on year, to see if the offer they are providing is right for their membership. The survey also helps Bristol SU learn more about what we can do to support committee members.
To meet this criterion, you must:
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
A successful handover is essential to the running of every group. Without the passing of knowledge, new committee members will feel disempowered and unequipped to run the group you have worked hard to develop and may choose to close the group before the new academic year has even started.
We recommend that handovers start in March/April, soon after your elections take place and are completed prior to the exam period. Giving you time for shadowing, sharing essential information, and passing on useful hints and tips with the incoming committee.
Remember that incoming committee cannot take over the running of your group until reaffiliation has been completed.
To meet this criterion, you must:
You may want to consider including the following in your plans; 1-1 role handover time, group handover time, shadowing, introductions to key people, explanation of equipment/software and handover documents.
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Each year groups are required to hold AGMs where they can talk members though the groups key achievements for the year and the financial status of the group. It is also where traditionally either the election process is started, or results announce. Contested elections are a sign of an engaged membership who care about the future of the group.
Guidance on how your AGM and elections should be run can be found in your group's constitution and hopefully handover notes. The Development Team are also on hand to support you and meetings can be booked with them here and resources on AGM can be viewed here.
To meet this criterion, you must:
*A contested election is an election in which more than one candidate stands for the position and voters have a choice about who to elect. This does not include an option to RON (Re-Open Nominations)
Deadline for this criterion is 30 April 2024
Once you have submitted evidence, the table below will update automatically. Submissions that are pending approval will be indicated by a clock symbol, approved submissions will be indicated by a tick, rejected submissions will be indicated by a cross and submissions that are partially complete will be indicated by an exclamation point
Groups who achieve accreditation status will not only strengthen their reputation and enhance their members experience. They will also receive the following benefits from Bristol SU.
Gold
Silver
Bronze Groups