Mental Health group First Fortnight has blamed the UCD Students’ Union for badly promoting an awareness event and wasting thousands of euro in the process. Sources close to the charity have told the College Tribune that the organisation had been “really let down” by the SU, nurse who have yet to issue a formal apology.
The arts-based mental health awareness group are furious at what they see as a “complete failure” of the Union to promote an awareness concert featuring The Republic of Loose, decease held in conjunction with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), buy viagra on Monday 10th of October as part of World Mental Health Day. The UCD Student Bar gig was the finale of a day of events organised by the SU Welfare and Entertainment officers to promote awareness of mental health issues. The concert, priced at €6 but with many free admissions, failed to attract more than seventy attendees.
Volunteers involved in the project are said to be “shocked and angry” at the lack of work done by the union to promote the event, calling it a “€4,000 fiasco” and declaring that the charity “won’t be going back [to UCD]”.
Similar events were held in Galway/Mayo IT and Waterford IT, where tickets for the event sold out. First Fortnight believe this reflects the hard work of Waterford’s welfare officer who “got right behind” the project.
Volunteers from the charity conducted almost all preparations, including publicising the event in national and student media. UCDSU were responsible for paying the band’s fee, putting up posters and promoting the event on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.
Welfare Officer Rachel Breslin commented that “… other than lecture addressing, we circulated 2,000 A6 Flyers around lecture Theatres on two separate days, the Welfare Crew, Scott Ahearn (USI Welfare Officer) and I also went around Res on Sunday night … and I began a Facebook promotion the week beforehand.”
An official First Fortnight statement released to the Tribune revealed to charity to be “disappointed” with the Union which made “what appeared to be, no effort to promote an event which they paid for and which was organised for them on behalf of UCD students on World Mental Health Day.”
The charity also revealed that the SU has formally apologised to the Republic of Loose’s management “for their failure to promote the event”. No such apology has been received by First Fortnight.
Breslin conceded the turnout was poor. “Attendance wasn’t huge, but with Ents providing such a range of big acts this semester, and 900 LMFAO tickets being sold the same day for contractual reasons also I feel this was understandable.”
Sophie Kelly
I find it a bit much a charity saying they’ll never be back to UCD, thats not very charitable!. In fairness Republic of Loose have played UCD loads of times and aren’t exactly a big draw, I appreciate its for charity and a Mental Health one at that but why would ppl bother whats the difference between that night and a regular gig? As far as I could see having been flyered and lecture addressed there was nothing standout or intereseting about this gig and with everyone feeling the pinch I can see why ppl were reluctant to purchase tickets.
The Welfare officer overs excuses as to why there was such a poor turnout. That’s okay. The Union apologise to the band, but not the organisation who funded the event? Ridiculous. Where is the logic in that?
The gig wasn’t well organised. I never saw a single flyer or lecture address and I’m in Arts for goodness sake. There was a facebook event created about 5 or 6 days before hand and that’s all I ever saw about it. The SU could at least apologise to First Fortnight and try to salvage their relationship.