Forge hub to stay open: SU bow to social media pressure

Power to the people

forge press saveourhub sheffield student media student union su

The Students’ Union has today announced that the Forge Press media hub will remain open. 

There was outcry last week after it was proposed the Forge Press offices were to be shut down, and replaced with offices for SU staff.

A petition against the closure garnered almost 2000 signatures, and the hashtag #SaveOurHub trended in Sheffield, with hundreds of students and alumni pledging their support.

Today, a meeting was held with the Forge heads and SU President Christy McMorrow, and it was decided the closure would not go ahead as it would do too much harm to media production.

Victory

 

In a joint statement, they said: “This afternoon we all met to discuss a number of issues relating to room allocations in the SU. It is clear that in the short term, our collective ambition for spaces for Forge Media and other student interest groups are unlikely.

“Therefore we will now look into the possibility of using some of the space on the SU officer’s corridor to house these roles.

“This is not an ideal location for the new roles, and will require a decrease in size for the student officers, but we believe it to be far more agreeable than any solution that would damage the output of student media.”

Forge Press editor Polly Winn told The Tab: “Everyone at Forge is so pleased with the result of today’s meeting, and we’re all so grateful to every single person who signed or shared our petition and sent messages of support.

“It was amazing to see how much of a difference could be made with us all working together.

“It’s good to know that we can negotiate with the union and they will listen to us and respond to our needs and come to a conclusion that we’re both happy with.”