Cardiff University Students’ Union (Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Caerdydd in Welsh) is the students’ union for Cardiff University and the largest in Wales, and, like most other students’ unions, aims to promote the interests of its students. It is located in Cathays, Cardiff, spanning between Senghennydd Road on the north-east side and Park Place on the south-west side.
The Union building is situated directly over the main railway going north from Cardiff to the South Wales Valleys, adjacent to the Cathays railway station. It has a shop, a restaurant, a pub and houses the studios of Xpress Radio (which is broadcast throughout the union), gair rhydd (Welsh for ‘Free Word’) student newspaper and the newly developed CUTV (Cardiff Union TV).
Facilities
The Union has an in-house nightclub, Solus, which holds events throughout the week. The union’s pub is called “The Taf”. This is usually mistakenly believed to be a reference to the River Taff which runs through Cardiff, but it is actually a contraction of “Tafarn”, the Welsh word for “pub”. The union’s Great Hall has attracted bands and musicians since the 1970s, such as The Runaways, Deaf School, Max Boyce, The Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs, The Darkness, Beck, Motörhead, Super Furry Animals, KT Tunstall , Sum 41 , Pendulum , Madina Lake , The annual Kerrang tour and Cascada. The Great Hall also serves as one of Cardiff University’s exam venues during exam periods. There is also a games room with various amusement machines, as well as snooker and pool tables, a counselling service, and a postgraduate centre.
In addition to the main union building, there is a smaller, alternative function room, known since 2005 as CF10 (after the postcode in which the Union is located). CF10 is the Union’s student restaurant/café, and has formerly been known as Seren Las, the Finistere and “The Dyfed”.
In the summer of 2008 part of the union was given a revamp. Part of Solus, the union nightclub was knocked through to open up a big space for a new coffee/ sandwich shop called ‘The Kitchen’. It still has a fully functioning bar which opens on club nights.
Presidents
Presidents of the Students’ Union of University College, Cardiff; University of Wales, Cardiff and the current Cardiff University Students’ Union include:
- Neil Kinnock 1965/66
- Charles Kessler 1977/78
- Bill Rammell 1982/83
- Sanjiv Vedi 1983/84
- Jeff Woods 1984/85
- Graeme Fairbrother 1987/88
- Simon Cox 1988/89
- Steve Young 2000/1
- Tom McGarry 2001/2
- Caroline Noyes 2002/3
- Finbarr Graham 2003/4
- Gary Rees 2004/5
- Pete Goodman 2005/6
- Joe Al-Khayat 2006/7
- Jonny Cox 2007/8
- Andy Button-Stephens 2008/9
- Eddy Carey 2009/10
