University Gloucestershire Welcome Fair

Park Campus

Wednesday 18 September 2024

On 18 September Cheltenham for Europe had a stall at the Gloucestershire University Welcome Fair at the Park Campus where we promoted the benefits of being closer to and re-joining the EU.

We met a wide variety of students from all over Gloucestershire, and further afield, and who were studying a wide variety of courses.

We were very pleasantly surprised at how interested many of the students were and how willing they were to engage. Many had been only 10 or 11 years old in 2016 when the referendum was called. Some did not know a great deal about the UK leaving the EU but some students were very well informed. Several of the more mature students had been just too young to vote in the referendum and expressed disappointment that they had not had a say in something that was to profoundly affect their lives in a negative way. A few members of the university staff also stopped to talk to us and told us that leaving the EU had adversely affected university funding and had decreased opportunities for students.

The ‘opinionometer’ indicated a profound disappointment in the current UK position.

Interestingly there were lots of don’t knows about the effect of the UK leaving the UK on the music industry. We handed out leaflets regarding the Face the Music run by the European Movement which summarise the difficulty musicians are experiencing (see below).

We also handed out leaflets with a summary of some of the problems the UK is facing having left the EU e.g. fewer opportunities for young people – restrictions to study, work and travel in the EU; delays at borders; price rises and shortage of goods;  businesses struggling with uncertainty and extra paperwork;  farming, fishing and music industries badly affected; polluted rivers and beaches and the reintroduction of some previously banned insecticides.

Again the students were very interested and engaged in our discussions and in the literature provided.

We have sent a report and picture of the completed ‘opinionometer’ to local MPs (Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury). It appears that the opinions and mood of the students who stopped to talk to us seems to reflect the change in the polls relating to the UK leaving the EU.

We have commented that we hope something positive can be done to restore these lost opportunities.

Face The Music – European Movement