Hey  reader…  

The Investigations section might be new here, but that won’t stop us from getting the down-low on the details of this year.  

We’ve wrapped up some of Concrete’s finest facts and figures for 2024 – breaking down the 6,000 distributed copies, 28,755 online views, 100+ new Concrete members, and looking forward to what’s to come in the new year.  

So stay tuned – or rather, watch out – to see what happened at Concrete over the last 12 months… 

You read Concrete top to bottom, far and wide… 

Concrete, أسمنت or Concreet? Sound familiar? Whatever you read it as, we were made to feel like Mr. Worldwide this year, with people from 118 different countries tuning in to read the website. With our geographical home, the United Kingdom, sitting in first place, the top five were also supported by views from the USA, Egypt, Ireland and Netherlands.  

As they say in France – the country seventh in line with most viewers – Merci beaucoup! 

The early bird catches the worm… 

If you’re reading this on a Tuesday at around 11am, then you’re not alone. This day and time has regularly remained the most common day and time for viewing across every issue release – no doubt in line with the paper’s release dates. Or perhaps instead you’re a Beefeater at Buckingham Palace, giving that it’s the exact same point as the changing of the guard. Either way, we love the consistency. 

You supported us every step of the way. But you were here when others needed you too… 

In May, an article titled ‘Fighting for Survival’ was published, detailing UEA graduate Alaa Shatila’s journey from war-torn Gaza to Cairo. Written by Co-Editor-in-Chief, Jamie Bryson, the story quickly rose to the number one viewed feature, and continues to sit in first place for the year, accruing a spectacular 6,700 reads online.  

Concrete shared a story, but you all supported a life, with the go fund me link, helping to raise over £10k to help Alaa’s family escape and survive the horrors of war, being accessed 1,281 times through the Concrete website. 

You stayed environmentally friendly…  

Concrete’s logo might be blue and yellow, but you guys kept it green, with 51 searches on Ecosia leading to our website.  

The search engine – launched in 2009 – has so far planted over 220,000,000 trees across 35 countries, and estimated that with every search, 1kg of CO2 is removed from the air.  

In other words, by supporting us online through Ecosia, you’ve helped stop over 50kg of carbon emissions. That’s the equivalent amount as produced from heating up an electric sauna five times, or manufacturing 35 litres of milk. Well done you eco queens and kings! 

 If we were hot off the press, then we were boiling on social media… 

With over 600 new Instagram followers since May – bringing our total following to 2.4k – it’s hard not to call Concrete a social media sensation…  

No, really. In early September, our profile had a reach of approximately 27,000 people. That’s more than double the amount of undergraduates enrolled at UEA this year.  

Since starting as Head of Online in the same month, Ella Pamment has increased our socials reach by almost 500%, amassing an incredible 90,000 viewers on Instagram in November alone. In other words – Kim Kardashian, watch out! 

You wanted more…and more… and more 

In October, Concrete saw its speediest ‘sales’ to date, with over half of the 1000 print copies produced being snapped up within a week of printing.  

Issue 403 welcomed new and returning students at the doors of The Hive, and just like the name suggests, papers flew out like bees.  

But that’s not all…This year, for the first time, Concrete has also upgraded to 32 pages per issue, allowing room for a new Investigations section and special reports – you’ll be hearing more from us next year!  

So, with roughly 70,000 words for you to read each month across 32 pages, make sure to give your eyes a rest between studying over the January break! 

 Concrete wasn’t just for the news… 

While we pride ourselves on bringing you the latest news across campus, we like to think of Concrete as more than just a paper to read…and so do some of you.  

We’ve compiled a list of some other ways we’ve been used… 

“I once saw someone use it to wrap their Bread Source order in” 

“Propping up a wobbly table in Scholars’ lounge; it worked surprisingly well” 

“I’ve taken a couple of [papers] home to use in my hamster cage” 

“I think I paper-mache’d my boyfriend’s halloween costume with it when he dressed as Megamind”  

You guys admitted to some shared truths… and we’re listening 

Although Concrete is in no way affiliated with the similarly named Concrete Confessions Between UEA Seshions page on Facebook, we, like many others, still tune in to see who fancies who, and which team was best dressed for sports night.  

But this year, some topics have hit home. We found ourselves in the spotlight when a postgraduate post mourned the loss of Scholars’ Bar following an investigation into the SU published in issue 404.  

And you had some important feedback for our Sex Survey 2024, with one post explaining that “Just look at the Five Ls graph! How are you supposed to know where the overlap is?”. 

Whilst we can’t change the past, we can work on the future…  

We’ll be back with our ‘Sex and Relationships’ special issue in February, filled with sexier graphs, saucey surveys and our biggest investigation to date. Big things are coming…😉 💋

Check out Features, Opinion, Sport, Film, Music and more online for the rest of our Section Editor’s round ups of 2024! Plus a few extra important latest UEA and local News stories! 

Other than that…

Image Credits: Jamie Bryson/Concrete