Room Bookings

(Guild, University or Chaplaincy)

&
Outdoor Events on campus

As a student group, you can book rooms to host your activities in the Guild of
Students, the Chaplaincy or in Arts, Learning Centre or Nuffield. This guide gives
information on the rooms you can book, and the processes needed to request
them. It also includes information on holding events outside on campus, such as a
stall or marquee outside the Main Library.

In this Guide
Pages 1-3: Guild rooms (including venues list on page 2)
Page 4-5: University rooms (including venues list on page 5)
Page 5: Outdoor events and stalls
Page 6: Having food on campus

Guild rooms
Guild rooms can either be booked on an individual basis or as a block booking for
a term. For individual bookings, complete a Room Booking Enquiry Form which can
be obtained at Guild reception, by emailing [email protected] , or
from the Student Groups department.
Termly bookings open two or three weeks before the end of each term for the
following term; look out for updates in the weekly groups newsletter email.
Bookings are first-come, first-served.
The most popular times for rooms are 5-9pm on weekdays, so if you can move your
meeting to earlier in the day, you might have a better chance of getting the room
you want. We have a small number of rooms but a large number of groups
wanting to use them, so you may need to book University rooms instead (see
below).

We advise you to check out the rooms before booking them to make sure they
meet your needs. If you’ve got any general queries, talk to Guild Reception.
Rooms are available from 10am onwards. During term-time, rooms can generally
be booked up until 10pm (apart from on a Saturday and if there is a Full Building
Event such as Sports Night) unless you have made special arrangements.

Room Capacity Notes

Green Room 14 (usual) Hard floor, piano; no IT
20 (max)
Harvey Milk Room 16 (usual) Carpet; Built-in projector, computer with
30 (max) speakers
Bryn Gough 16 (usual) Carpet, no IT
20 (max)
Basement rehearsal 16 usual Carpet, no IT
space 25 (max)
Pankhurst Room 10 Carpet, no IT; piano

Tolkien Room 12 Carpet, built-inn projector, computer with

speakers
Room of Requirement 10 Carpet, no IT; no disabled access
McKellan Room 16 Carpet, no IT; no disabled access
Debating Office 6 Carpet, no IT; no disabled access
Mandela Room 16 (usual) Built-in projector and computer, speakers,
45 (max) carpet.
Rosa Parks Room 20 (usual) Hard floor.
60 (max) Built-in projector and computer.
Amos Room 20 (usual) Built-in projector and computer with
60 (max) speakers. Hard floor
Guild Council 230 Built-in projector, computer and speakers,
Chamber tiered seating
Dance Studio 50 Built-in sound system. Hard floor; no
furniture as standard
Beorma Bar 40 (usual) Hard floor; no IT; bar can be staffed with
100 (max standing) minimum bartake (£135 if requested)
Underground 110 (seated) Hard floor; no IT; stage; bar can be staffed
550 (standing) with minimum bartake (£350) if requested;
usually no furniture

Debating Hall 200 (seated) Hard floor; stage; usually no furniture unless
550 (standing) requested; no IT
Outside of term times, the building is open for room bookings between 9am and
5pm Monday to Friday (closed at weekends). Groups must ensure that the times at
which they book a room include set-up and set-down. Groups are responsible for
ensuring that the rooms they use are returned to their original layout and are left
clean and tidy; if staff need to remove items or provide cleaning beyond regular
use, group may be charged the cost of labour.

All meetings involving film showings or guest speakers require a Speaker Request
form to be submitted at least 14 days in advance (see Guest Speaker guide).

If involving any food, you need to submit a catering request with 14 days notice.

If portable IT equipment is needed, it must be booked through the Student Groups

department, groups are responsible for collection and safe return of equipment.
If you require sound/lighting from Tech Services, you must contact them directly
and discuss details/provide payment at least 14 days before the event.

The Guild may be obliged to provide security at a cost payable by the Group if
the nature of the event warrants it. If excessive numbers turn up to events (e.g.
above stated room capacity limits) charges may be applied to the group
retrospectively if staff need to be re-tasked to supervise your meeting.

Furniture cannot be moved/borrowed from other committee rooms unless first

authorised by the Events and Room Bookings Co-ordinator. If you need additional
furniture, you should request it with at least 7 days notice.

Groups are responsible for the return of room keys they sign out. The Guild reserves
the right to charge the last user for replacement locks if a key is not returned.

Any event that involves costs (e.g. tech or minimum bar take) will require a retail
voucher (available from the Student Groups department) to be submitted to the
Events and Room Bookings Coordinator at least 7 days before your event.

Stalls can be booked to be held in Mermaid Square

The lawn outside the Underground can be booked for events; depending on the
activity it may also require a University outdoor event form (see above)

St Francis Hall/Chaplaincy
The Chaplaincy have a few rooms available for student groups to use. Their
availability may be limited at certain times, and the religious and faith groups have
priority, but they’re worth trying if you need a venue close to the Guild. For
information and bookings, ring 0121 4147000 or email
[email protected] or via the website,
www.chaplaincy.bham.ac.uk or go in and ask in person.
University rooms
Any Guild groups can hire rooms in the Learning Centre, Arts and Nuffield buildings
(and the Avon Room) for free on weekday evenings (unless it is for a high-profile or
controversial event, in which case security charges may apply).
At weekends, only the Learning Centre is available (Saturdays 10am-7pm).

Arts Building: Various rooms, capacities from 20 to 215 people

Avon Room (University Centre): 400 people capacity
Nuffield: Various rooms, capacities from 8 to 119 people
Learning Centre: Various rooms, capacities from 16 to 88 people

You can view current availability of University rooms via the following link:
https://onlinetimetables.bham.ac.uk/timetable/current_academic_year/ (via the
‘Locations’ or ‘Out of Hours’ links. Remember that availability can change
between the point you check and the point when your booking is processed.

To book a room, complete a University room booking form available via request to
the Student Activities Counter, email it to [email protected], you
will hear back in a few days – the Student Groups department check these forms
and forwards to the University Room Bookings department, who will respond to
your request. At least 3 working days notice is needed as an absolute minimum, so
get your requests in as soon as possible.

You can book University rooms on a one-off basis, or for recurring for meetings
within a term (you can’t book beyond the current term).

You can’t use University rooms if your activity is likely to be noisy or disrupt nearby
rooms, or if you’re having food and drink.

If the building needs to be opened specially for you (i.e. late evenings and
weekends), you will be charged the cost of security time (minimum £100), so we
recommend the Guild or Chaplaincy for those times.

Please note that the University do not accept society bookings for outside of term-
time; if you want to book a Uni room outside of term-time you will need to contact
the Conference Office/Venue Birmingham (www.venuebirmingham.com) and
book like an external client would, there would be a charge for this so we
recommend using the Guild or Chaplaincy for bookings during holidays.

You cannot attach external devices (other than portable storage) to University IT –
for example, you couldn’t attach a games console to University
monitors/projectors.

You could either request a specific room/building, or just state your size
requirement and they will assign an appropriate room
List of University rooms available to book on weekday evenings:
Building Name Room Capacity Category
Arts Building 120 (Main LT) 215 Lecture theatre
Arts Building LR1 128 Lecture room - fixed seating
Arts Building LR2 60 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building LR3 98 Lecture room - fixed seating
Arts Building LR4 60 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building LR5 84 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building LR6 134 Lecture room - fixed seating
Arts Building LR7 134 Lecture room - fixed seating
Arts Building LR8 60 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building 201 60 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building 119 20 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building G13 20 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building G14 20 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Arts Building G37 16 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Uni Centre Avon Room 420 Flat floored, pallet chairs (no tables)
Learning Centre UG05 50 Flat floored, Fixed tables
Learning Centre UG06 50 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Learning Centre UG07 70 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Learning Centre UG09 84 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Learning Centre UG10 40 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Learning Centre LG14 84 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G07 14 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G13 68 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G17 119 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G18 22 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G19 20 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G20 8 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G21 8 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs
Nuffield G22 20 Flat floored, moveable tables and chairs

Outdoor & Major events on campus

If you want to hold an outdoor event on University premises, you need an ‘event
on campus’ form with more than 30 days notice, if you are want to do any of the
following:
Stall (e.g. outside the Library) – excludes ones in Mermaid Square.
Temporary structures (such as a marquee, gazebo or inflables)
Displays (banners/posters/vehicles/exhibitions)
Leaflet distribution/flyering/Market Research/Surveys
Charity collections (excluding those in the Guild)
Download the form from the Guild website or request from the Student Groups
department. Be as detailed as possible, and include insurance/other
documentation if involving external companies.
Food/catering
If your event involves any food or drink preparation or consumption (whether
home-made or provided by an external catering company), you need to fill out a
catering form at least 14 days before the event, giving food safety information
which is checked by the University hygiene manager. You must provide written
information about allergens/ingredients when giving out any food, for each
different item, so that everyone is informed of the contents.
For example: a cake stall-you’ll need an allergens list for each type of cake.
Please ensure that anyone involved in sourcing or providing foodstuffs is aware of
the requirements. The Guild has a legal duty to remove any foodstuffs that do not
have allergen information provided.
Allergenic ingredients must be indicated in list of ingredients with clear reference to name of the substance or product as listed in Annex II of the Food Labelling
Regulations.

The Annex II outlines the 14 allergens (and products thereof) that must be labelled or indicated as being present in foods and are:

 Cereals containing gluten such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt or khorasan
 Crustaceans for example prawns, crabs, lobster, crayfish
 Eggs (to include pasteurised egg)
 Fish (to include fish derivatives/stocks/sauces)
 Peanuts
 Soybeans
 Milk (including lactose)
 Nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia (or Queensland) nuts
 Celery (including celeriac)
 Mustard
 Sesame seeds
 Sulphur dioxide (>10mg/kg or 10mg/L)
 Lupin
 Mollusc for example clams, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid

If getting food from Joe’s, you don’t need a catering notification (and can pay via
a retail voucher issued by the Student Activities Counter).

If you want an external caterer, there are two recommended suppliers:

V & S Catering: http://www.vandscatering.co.uk/ Telephone: 0121 7076969
Email: [email protected] (still requires catering notification form)

Fresh Thinking, the University caterers, www.venuebirmingham.com/freshthinking

Telephone: 0121 414 6250. Email: [email protected]
(no catering notification form required).