keelesu.com

Keele SU runs an advice service called ASK, and it covers a wide range of student problems — academic, housing, money, wellbeing and more. You can use it whether you are a new student trying to find your feet or a continuing student dealing with a specific issue. The list of topics below is drawn from the ASK section of the Keele SU website, so it reflects what the union itself advertises rather than a general guess at what students might need.

What ASK covers

According to the Advice and Support section of keelesu.com, ASK deals with these areas:

• Academic — course-related problems and academic queries
• Academic complaints — formal complaints about your academic experience
• Discipline — disciplinary matters
• Employment — work and employment issues
• Family — family-related concerns
• Graduate Guide — guidance for students approaching or past graduation
• Housing — accommodation problems
• International Students — support aimed at international students
• Legal — legal questions
• Money — financial issues
• Wellbeing — health and wellbeing support

That spread matters because it means ASK is not just an academic helpdesk. Housing disputes, money worries and wellbeing concerns sit alongside complaints and disciplinary cases, so you do not have to work out in advance which service you need — if your issue falls in one of these categories, ASK is the entry point.

Advice for new students

The site also highlights "ASK's Advice for New Students" as a distinct item on the homepage. If you have just arrived at Keele, this is the natural starting point: it is written for people who have not yet learned how the university and the union work, and it sits alongside the other new-student content the SU promotes, such as joining a club or society and meeting your elected officers.

How to actually get help

The homepage navigation shows Advice and Support as a top-level menu item, with ASK sitting inside it. To use the service:

1. Go to keelesu.com.
2. Open the Advice and Support section from the main menu.
3. Find the ASK area and pick the topic closest to your situation — for example Housing, Money or Academic Complaints.
4. Follow the guidance or contact route given on that page.

The expected result is that you either get the information you need directly, or you are pointed to the right person or process. The site does not spell out opening hours, appointment systems or response times in the material available here, so treat the topic pages themselves as the place to confirm how contact works.

Where this fits in the wider SU

Advice is one of several things Keele SU provides. The same site promotes clubs, societies and volunteering, sports clubs, student voice work such as campaigns, elections and student networks, and commercial services including the Co-op, the Clubhouse, Dirty Dipz and Keele Print House. If your question is about representation or campaigning rather than a personal problem, the Student Voice section — campaigns, elections, student networks, union delegates, voice reps and elected officers — is the more relevant route.

Quick check: is ASK the right service for you?

If you are unsure, start with ASK and describe your situation — the topic list is broad enough that most student problems will land somewhere in it.

Keele SU runs a mix of food and drink venues, a convenience store, and bookable services for students and, in some cases, the wider public. The main food and drink options named on the site are The Clubhouse, Dirty Dipz, and the Keele SU Co-op, while the services side covers a Booking Hub, Keele Print House, minibus bookings, and an online shop. Below is what each one is for and how to use it.

Food and Drink Venues

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse is described as a space for everyone, offering "great food, a relaxed atmosphere and a space to catch up with friends." It also hosts recurring events, including a weekly Curry Club with "plenty of options & pints," a Postgraduate Pizza Party, and a Big Pub Quiz & Karaoke. If you want a sit-down meal or a social evening on campus, this is the main venue to check first.

Dirty Dipz

Dirty Dipz is positioned as a student-friendly food outlet, serving:

• Crispy tenders
• Loaded fries
• Thick shakes
• A range of dips

The site calls it "the go-to destination for student-friendly meal deals," so it suits a quick, filling meal rather than a formal sit-down.

Keele SU Co-op

The Co-op on site covers everyday essentials, quick meals, bakery treats, and hot drinks. It is the practical option for groceries, a snack between lectures, or a coffee rather than a full meal.

Events with Food and Drink

Keele SU also runs food-linked events that are open beyond the student body in some cases. Examples from the events listing include:

The site notes that public events and gigs are "open to everyone," so you do not always need to be a student to attend.

Shops and Services

Keele SU lists the following under Shops and Services:

• Booking Hub – the central place to book SU spaces and services.
• Keele Print House – printing services.
• Minibus Bookings – hire of SU minibuses.
• Online Shop – merchandise and other items sold online.
• Student Discounts – discount offers for students.

The site also references a basket and account system, which indicates the online shop and some bookings run through a logged-in account. The pages do not state prices or whether login is required for every service, so check the individual service page before you rely on it.

How to Use These Services

1. For food and drink: go directly to The Clubhouse, Dirty Dipz, or the Co-op during their opening hours. For event-based food (Curry Club, Pizza Party), check the events listing for the date and venue.
2. For bookings (rooms, minibus): start at the Booking Hub, then follow the specific service page.
3. For printing: use the Keele Print House service page.
4. For shopping: use the Online Shop; you may need to log in or create an account, since the site shows a basket and My Account links.
5. For discounts: check the Student Discounts page.

What to Check Before You Go

• Opening hours are not given in the source material, so confirm them on the relevant venue page.
• Prices and payment methods are not stated, so do not assume anything is free.
• Access varies: some events are open to everyone, while others may be student-focused. The site explicitly says public events and gigs are open to all.
• Login requirements for bookings and the online shop are not fully specified; the presence of a basket and account area suggests an account may be needed for purchases.

If you are a new student, the site also points to ASK's advice for new students and the clubs, societies, and volunteering pages as starting points alongside the food and retail options.

Keele SU is the Students' Union for Keele University, based at keelesu.com and operating under the tagline "Putting Students First." It is the body that runs clubs and societies, sport, volunteering, advice and support services, shops and venues, and a year-round programme of events and gigs. It serves Keele University students directly, while some events and venues — such as public events and gigs — are open to everyone.

What Keele SU does

The union's work falls into a few broad areas, each with its own entry point on the site:

• Clubs and societies — a route into joining student groups, meeting people, and picking up new skills.
• Sport — organised through the same get-involved structure as clubs.
• Volunteering — listed alongside societies and sport under "Get Involved."
• Advice and Support (ASK) — a dedicated service covering academic complaints, discipline, employment, family, graduate guidance, housing, international students, legal, money, and wellbeing.
• Student Voice — campaigns, elections, "Have Your Say," student networks, union delegates, voice reps, and elected officers.
• Shops and services — including the Booking Hub, Keele Print House, minibus bookings, an online shop, and student discounts.
• Venues and outlets — food, drink, and social spaces such as The Clubhouse and Dirty Dipz.
• Events and gigs — a mix of public events open to everyone and student-focused programming.

Who it is for

Keele SU is primarily for Keele University students. That covers the advice services, the elected officer structure, societies, sport, and volunteering. Alongside that, the union runs Public Events & Gigs that are explicitly open to everyone, and its venues and outlets serve a wider audience. So if you are not a student, the events and venue side is the relevant part; if you are a student, the full range applies.

Advice and support

The ASK service is the union's advice arm, and its topic list is unusually broad for a students' union. It covers:

If you have a problem in any of these areas, ASK is the starting point rather than trying to resolve it alone.

Student voice and representation

Keele SU runs a representation structure rather than a single feedback box. It includes campaigns, elections, "Have Your Say — Your Ideas," student networks, union delegates, voice reps, and your current elected officers. The officers are described as working across the academic year to make sure your time at the university is the best it can be. If you want something changed, the elections and "Have Your Say" routes are how students feed into that.

Events, venues, and shops

The events calendar is active and specific. Examples from the listing include:

• Black History Month — an annual observance running across October.
• Keele Community Market — a weekly market every Tuesday at Keele SU and the Forest of Lights.
• Postgraduate Coffee Morning — in the Tawney Student Lounge.
• Clubhouse Curry Club — weekly at The Clubhouse, with options and pints.
• The Big Pub Quiz & Karaoke — a recurring social night.
• Live music — including Indie Tunes and tribute-style gigs in the Fanpark.

On the everyday side, The Clubhouse is positioned as a space for food, a relaxed atmosphere, and catching up with friends. Dirty Dipz focuses on student-friendly meal deals — crispy tenders, loaded fries, thick shakes, and dips. Your SU CO-OP covers everyday essentials, quick meals, bakery treats, and hot drinks. Practical services include the Booking Hub, Keele Print House, and minibus bookings.

How to get involved

1. Join a club or society — the "Get Involved" section is the entry point for societies, sport, and volunteering. This is the main way to meet people and build skills outside your course.
2. Use ASK if you need help — check the advice topic list first so you go to the right area.
3. Check the events calendar — events are listed with dates, times, and venues, and public events are marked as open to everyone.
4. Have your say — use campaigns, elections, or "Have Your Say" if you want to influence how the union works.
5. Use the shops and services — the online shop, print house, and booking hub handle the practical side of student life.

Why it matters

Keele SU's own impact figures give a sense of scale: 4,000+, £20,000, and 1,250+ appear as headline numbers on the site. Whatever those figures attach to specifically, the point is that the union is a large, active part of student life rather than a passive office. For a new or prospective student, the practical takeaway is that Keele SU is where you go for friends, skills, representation, advice, food, and things to do — and much of it starts with a single click into the "Get Involved" or events sections.

Keele SU (Keele University Students' Union) lists clubs, societies, and volunteering as part of its Get Involved section, and the site's own description frames these as ways to "meet new friends, learn new skills, and make memories." If you are a Keele student — new or returning — the practical route is to start from the Get Involved menu on keelesu.com, browse the category that matches your interest, and follow that group's joining instructions. The exact sign-up step (online form, in-person stall, or membership fee) depends on the individual group, so treat the SU site as the directory and the group itself as the final step.

Where these opportunities live on the site

The site navigation groups the relevant options under Get Involved:

Each of these is a separate entry point, so if you already know whether you want a sport, a society, or volunteering, go straight to that page rather than searching the whole site.

Steps to join

1. Go to keelesu.com and open the Get Involved menu.
2. Pick your category — Societies, Sport Clubs, or Volunteering.
3. Browse the listings and find a group that fits your interest. The SU's own framing for this step is to "dive into clubs, societies, and volunteering opportunities."
4. Follow that group's joining route. The SU presents these as opportunities to join; the specific mechanism (membership sign-up, contact the committee, attend a taster session) is set by each club or society, so check the individual listing rather than assuming one universal form.
5. Confirm any cost or commitment with the group. The site mentions a "subscribe" signal but does not publish membership prices, so do not assume joining is free — ask the group directly.

Good moments to do this

• Freshers and the start of term. The SU runs Freshers-related activity and asks students to "Have Your Say on Freshers Week 2026," which indicates freshers is an active recruitment window. New students also have a dedicated advice entry point ("ASK's Advice for New Students").
• Any point in the year. Societies and volunteering are listed as ongoing Get Involved options, not a one-off event, so returning students can join later too.

What you get out of it

The SU describes the outcome in its own terms: meeting new friends, learning new skills, and making memories. Volunteering sits alongside societies and sport as a way to build skills, so if your goal is experience rather than a hobby, the Volunteering entry point is the one to open first.

Common sticking points

• Looking in the wrong menu. Clubs, societies, and volunteering are under Get Involved — not under Events, Shops and Services, or Advice and Support.
• Expecting one sign-up form. Each group handles its own membership, so the joining step varies.
• Assuming it's free. No pricing is published on the site; confirm fees with the group.
• Missing the student-only boundary. These are Students' Union opportunities, so they are aimed at Keele students. Note that some SU events and gigs are separately marked "Open to Everyone," but that label applies to events, not to club or society membership.

If you only do one thing: open keelesu.com, go to Get Involved, and choose Societies, Sport Clubs, or Volunteering based on whether you want an interest group, a team, or skills-based experience.

Keele SU gives students several formal routes into decision-making: Student Voice, campaigns, elections, Student Networks, Union Delegates, Voice Reps, and elected officers. You can use these to raise an idea, push a campaign, or vote for the people who represent you. The right route depends on whether you want to change something specific, join an ongoing campaign, or help choose who leads the union.

The main routes into Keele SU decision-making

The page evidence lists these under Student Voice: Campaigns, Elections, Have Your Say – Your Ideas, Student Networks, Union Delegates, Voice Reps, and Your Current Elected Officers. That grouping matters — it means representation is not one single form or inbox, but a set of connected routes.

If you want to raise an idea or complaint

Start with Have Your Say – Your Ideas if you have a proposal you want the union to consider. If your issue is about your course or teaching, a Voice Rep is the more direct route. If it is about a wider student experience issue, Student Networks or Union Delegates may be the better fit.

For personal problems rather than representation, Keele SU also runs ASK, its advice service. The page evidence shows ASK covering academic complaints, discipline, employment, family, graduate guidance, housing, international students, legal, money, and wellbeing. That is separate from the decision-making routes, but it is often the first place to go when an issue needs advice rather than a campaign.

If you want to change something bigger

Campaigns are where the union coordinates action on issues. The page evidence shows a campaigns section alongside advice and support, food and drink, the online shop, clubs and societies, and entertainment. If your idea fits an existing campaign, joining it is usually faster than starting from scratch. If it does not, the Have Your Say route is the way to test whether other students support it.

If you want to choose who leads the union

Elections are the formal route. The page evidence lists Elections under Student Voice, and separately highlights Your Current Elected Officers, described as working across the next academic year to make sure your time at the University is the best it can be. That means the officers are elected for a defined term, and elections are the point at which you influence who fills those roles.

You can take part in two ways: vote when elections are open, or stand as a candidate yourself. The page evidence does not give election dates or nomination windows, so check the Elections section for the current timetable.

If you want to meet people and build experience at the same time

Getting involved does not have to mean formal representation. The page evidence shows clubs, societies, and volunteering as a major route into student life, described as a way to meet new friends, learn new skills, and make memories. Student Networks sit alongside this — they are both a representation route and a way to connect with students who share something in common.

A practical order to follow

1. Identify what you want: a personal issue, a course issue, a union-wide issue, or a role.
2. For personal issues, go to ASK.
3. For course issues, go to a Voice Rep.
4. For union-wide ideas, use Have Your Say – Your Ideas or join a Campaign.
5. For representation around shared interests or identities, join a Student Network.
6. To influence leadership, take part in Elections — vote or stand.
7. To contact the people already in post, use Your Current Elected Officers.

What to check before you act

The page evidence does not state deadlines, meeting schedules, or how long a response takes. Before submitting an idea or standing in an election, check the relevant section for current dates and any eligibility rules. If your issue is urgent or personal, ASK is the safer starting point than a campaign route.