Southampton’s students could get their hands on thousands of pounds of funding by becoming an active part of university societies and organisations.

Applications opened this week for the RBS Enterprising Student Society Accreditation (ESSA) initiative and awards, which promotes the enterprising work carried out by university societies and the people behind them.

By becoming accredited by ESSA, societies have the chance to win cash through the awards, as well as receive a meaningful qualification, recognised by leading employers, to add to CVs.

Eight societies from Southamp-ton’s two universities – the University of Southampton and Southampton Solent University – achieved accreditation to the scheme last year.