Lancaster University students seeking a Tuesday night out will have to look further than Toast, as the colleges involved with the ‘Mashed’ social decided to end their involvement with the nightclub in Week Two of this term. The decision leaves the newly elected JCRs of Lonsdale, Pendle and County searching for an alternative event after poor turnout forced their hand.
After the continuation of last year’s ‘Fusion’ socials at Cuba was halted due to monetary irregularities on behalf of the nightclub, the colleges involved decided to instate Toast as the host of this year’s follow-up to ‘Fusion’.
Matt Power, President of Lonsdale College JCR, voiced his sadness that the ‘Mashed’ socials had not been as popular as had been hoped, and suggested that the nightclub and colleges had done all they could to provide a catalyst for a successful social event.
“Mashed had the potential to be a great night. Toast is an excellent venue, they put on some innovative drinks such as college fishbowls, and Simba is a DJ who always attracts crowds,” Power said. “However, the three colleges involved (Lonsdale, Pendle and County) sat down in Week Two and discussed how the night was sadly not working due to a lack of popularity. Reasons suggested were the huge success of Monday nights at Revolution and Elements, and similarly the Carleton on Wednesday.”
Power went on to describe the next step for the JCRs.
“For the rest of this term, our JCRs will be working hard to deliver the best socials possible. As for a weekly night for the colleges involved in Mashed, we are yet to decide how it will progress. We all appreciate Toast’s hard work and there is a feeling of disappointment that Mashed didn’t achieve the success we thought it could.”
Richard Johnson, a third year History student in County College, attended ‘Fusion’ socials last year, and also attended Toast for a ‘Mashed’ social in the first term of this year.
“Cuba Tuesdays were a really good night out, good atmosphere and usually packed, Mashed at Toast failed to live up to the standard set by Fusion. I think it was poorly promoted and had overpriced drinks. I would gladly welcome a return to Cuba for Tuesday nights.”
A return to Cuba could be problematic though, as Matt Saint, President of County College JCR, revealed the reason behind the move of the Tuesday night social to Toast.
“Fusion at Cuba stopped last year for a combination of reasons, mainly that the previous management owed money to LUSU and that they were also difficult to work with,” he said. “This resulted in the JCR execs who they were working with getting annoyed after publicity was provided late or not at all, drinks offers not being put on after discussions on what they would be and decorations not being provided for that week’s theme.”
When questioned on the unpopularity of Toast for the ‘Mashed’ socials, Saint cited the size of the nightclub and, like Power, the success of other student nights in Lancaster as some of the possible reasons for the downfall of the college’s socials.
“I think ‘Mashed’ was unpopular because it was trying to be ‘Fusion’ at a different venue. The size was an issue as Toast is considerably smaller than Cuba. Toast is a great venue, but I think it attracts a certain type of student and some people possibly weren’t willing to give it a go. The rise of Monday nights was also obviously a factor with Revolution and Elements doing so well at the moment.”
Saint’s final word on future Tuesday night socials seemed to be one of caution and careful planning.
“We are looking into starting a new night with another venue in town but the colleges involved with ‘Mashed’ are wary of rushing into anything as we need careful planning and feedback to be looked at before starting anything new or it’s likely to fail. With the help of the Social and Events Group we will maybe have something ready for summer term. We are looking at several venues and Cuba have indeed shown an interest, but we need to make sure all finances with them have been set straight first.”
