Liverpool Guild of Students

Not to be confused with Liverpool Students' Union.
Liverpool Guild of Students
Institution University of Liverpool
Location Liverpool
Established 1889
President Sean Turner
Other officers
  • Oba Akinwale
    Deputy President
  • Ananda Mohan
    Vice-President
  • Yasmin Gasimova
    Vice-President
Members c. 22,000[1]
Affiliations National Union of Students, Aldwych Group
Website www.liverpoolguild.org

Liverpool Guild of Students is the students' union of the University of Liverpool.[2] The Guild was founded in 1889, with the building constructed in 1911.

The title also refers to the Guild of Students building, which is the centre point of activity in student life at the University and is run by the four sabbatical officers who are elected annually in an all-student ballot. Following a £14.25m refurbishment in 2013, it now contains a cinema, a theatre, a shop, two dance studios, four bars, a 2,300 capacity gig venue and an underground nightclub.[3] This is as well as administrative offices and society meeting rooms. The Guild regularly hosts live music, theatre and comedy.[4]

Governance

The Board of Trustees are responsible for overseeing the management and administration of the union, making the financial decisions, responding to student demands and ensuring activities are within union aims and remain within the law. The board consists of 12 trustees: the 4 student officers, 4 student trustees and 4 external trustees.[5]

History

The Guild building

Origins of the Guild

The origins of the Guild may be traced back to the establishment in 1892 of two Students' Representative Councils at University College, Liverpool. However, students were forming societies long before this, such as the Athletic Club in 1885, the Medical Students' Debating Society (later known as the Liverpool Medical Students Society) in 1874, the Women's Literary Society, and the Arts and Debating Society in 1888, among others. The University College Magazine documented the activities of these new groups, being first published in 1886.[6][7] The Guild building has been located on Mount Pleasant since 1911.[8]

19th Century

The Guild building is the work of Charles Herbert Reilly and was originally built with the west side for women and east for men, with the architecture of the building reflecting this. The building was built in three stages; the original building, housing the Gilmour Hall (then the debating chamber) was built in 1911. The middle section was built in the 1930s and the largest part, housing the Mountford Hall and the Courtyard was opened in 1966.[9]

21st Century and Refurbishment

In 2013 a £13.8 million refurbishment began on the Guild of Students building, in order to generally improve the building and add a new bar, cafe, and meeting areas.[8][10] The Guild hadn’t been renovated since the early 1990s. The work was long overdue, and the changes where enormous. The Liverpool Guild of Students had been living in a temporary and much smaller home at 3-5 Abercromby Square. During this the Guild endeavoured to continue its services and offer opportunities to its student population and many societies.

History of Live Music

Liverpool Guild Of Students has a long established history in live music and has been providing a venue for events since the opening of its main room, the Mountford hall since 1965. During its history as a music venue, The Guild has played host to some of the biggest names, acts such as The Who, The pretenders, The Clash and Joy Division all having played sell out, main room, shows. More recently the venue has seen shows from James, Scouting for Girls and 30 Seconds to Mars to name a few, in the main room and The Damned, Juliette Lewis and The Futureheads who have preferred the intimacy of the in-house theatre.[11]

Green Guild

Green Guild started in October 2013 encompassing a wide range of initiatives for embedding sustainability across the University community.

Green Gown

In 2015 the Guild was a finalist prestigious Green Gown Award from The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC). The Guild was highly commended by the judges receiving special mention at the awards dinner. Three interrelated themes of Education, Engagement and Outreach were driven by three members of staff and included student leadership at each stage of the award. The total student engagements through the project exceeded 5000 out of a target of 2000 and included:

A total of 151 trained student leaders were recruited (30 Bee keepers, 26 Gardeners, 38 Seed Fund team members, 34 Curriculum Researchers, 16 Student Switch Off Ambassadors and seven Green Impact Auditors) Some were employed to support curriculum research through surveys and leading focus groups on ESD. We worked with a cross-institutional working group to formulate recommendations on ESD now approved for implementation by the Student Experience Committee.[12]

Green Schools

Green Schools is part of Liverpool Guild of Students ‘Green Guild’ project, in which students lead on community outreach. Student volunteers deliver fun and interactive sessions on a variety of sustainability issues and help schools to develop a ‘sustainable social enterprise project’ in their community.

School teams visit the Guild located at the heart of the University campus for a day to plan their project, pitch their ideas to each other and receive a small grant towards their project. The University’s students inspire a younger generation to live sustainably, with themed lessons worked into the curriculum and workshops on project management skills.

From collection drives for project materials to making bird feeders or upcycled products, Green Schools offers support to schools so they can showcase their green project, take part in fundraising and spread ideas for greener living among the community in various areas of Merseyside.[13]

Media

Sphinx Magazine

The Liverpool Guild of Students once published the Liverpool Student newspaper, which was a joint publication with Liverpool Students' Union and Liverpool Hope Students' Union, until it closed down in May 2007 because of increasing costs and declining advertising revenues. Shortly after, in 2007, the Guild produced its own official publication, Sphinx magazine, referring to the original student publication of the Guild established in 1893. Sphinx itself folded by the start of September 2008 due to rising costs and a lack of advertising revenue.

Sphinx Online

In 2008, although not officially organised by the Guild, Sphinx magazine was eventually replaced with the web based venture, LSMedia (Liverpool Student Media). In 2011, under editor Matt Healy, LSMedia was shortlisted for a Guardian Student Media award under the category "Website of the Year".[14] In late 2015, under direct Guild supervision, LSMedia as a society folded due to a lack of student interest, being replaced by a new online version of The Sphinx student publication.[15] The only current print student publication is Ellipsis magazine, which is funded directly by the University.[16]

Radio Station

The Guild is also home to a student run, internet radio station, LSRadio. Founded in 1961 as the Liverpool Amateur Radio Society,[17] a radio enthusiast group that broadcast under the callsign 'G3OUL', the station has gone under many different names including XSLive (1998-2002) and ICON Radio (2002-2011), before rebranding as its current name of LSRadio in 2011,[18] aligning itself with the former LSMedia. You can listen live and find more information and content via the LSRadio website. Notable LSRadio alumni include BBC Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw, Tulip Mazumdar from BBC News, and Hannah Colson from the Ministry of Sound. LSRadio was a member of the Student Radio Association.

Controversy

Liverpool Medical Students Society

In November 2014, an investigation was launched into the activities of the Liverpool Medical Students' Society, following the release of a script for the annual 'Smoker' event, causing public controversy.[19] In January 2016, the Liverpool Guild of Students in conjunction with the University of Liverpool decided to de-ratify the LMSS, and prohibit all activities and communication in official matters claiming, "Deadlines for engaging with an action plan were extended on three occasions, but despite our best efforts, this action plan was not delivered."[20] The LMSS responded, stating that its members had been threatened with formal 'Fitness to Practice' investigations if they did not co-operate,[21] a claim refuted by the Guild.[22] In response to the controversy, a Change.org petition was mounted, calling for the resignation of the Liverpool Guild of Students President, Harry Anderson, for "isolating the LMSS's 1,500 students". As of 21 January 2016, this petition has over 1,300 signatures.[23]

References

As of this edit, this article uses content from "Green Gown Awards 2014 - Social Responsibility - Liverpool Guild of Students - Finalist", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

  1. ↑ "About the University of Liverpool". University of Liverpool. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Liverpool Guild of Students - University of Liverpool". University of Liverpool. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "Step inside University of Liverpool's Guild of Students". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  4. ↑ Lytton, Charlotte (17 April 2013). "Liverpool Hope University guide". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Board of Trustees @ Liverpool Guild of Students". www.liverpoolguild.org. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  6. ↑ Kelly, Thomas (1981). For advancement of learning : the University of Liverpool, 1881-1981. University of Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 560. ISBN 0853232148.
  7. ↑ "Archive of the University of Liverpool: Guild of Students, Student Societies and Student Life". Guild of Students of the University of Liverpool.
  8. 1 2 "Liverpool University £13.8m union upgrade plans released". BBC News. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Joseph Sharples (2004). Liverpool. Pevsner architectural guides. Yale University Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN 0300102585.
  10. ↑ Carter, Jack (15 May 2014). "University of Liverpool venue to reopen next month". Conference and Incentive Travel. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Academy Music Group - The UK's leading owner and operator of live music and club venues.". www.academy-music-group.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  12. ↑ "Green Gown Awards 2015 – Student Engagement - Liverpool Guild of Students - Finalist | Sustainability Exchange". www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  13. ↑ "Green Gown Awards 2014 - Social Responsibility - Liverpool Guild of Students - Finalist | Sustainability Exchange". www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  14. ↑ "LSMedia shortlisted for prestigious Guardian award (archive 2011)". The Sphinx. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "About us - The Sphinx". The Sphinx. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "About". Ellipsis. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "LSRadio: Society Description - Liverpool Guild of Students". Liverpool Guild of Students. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "The History of LSRadio (YouTube) - LSRadio". LSRadio. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Liverpool University probes student rape play script". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  20. ↑ Kondrashova, Natasha (15 January 2016). "Joint statement of Liverpool Guild and University on de-ratification of the LMSS". The Sphinx. The Sphinx. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  21. ↑ Engl, Helen Pidd North of; editor (2016-01-17). "Liverpool University medical society says ban over sexism 'disproportionate'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  22. ↑ "LMSS questions answered". Liverpool Guild of Students. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  23. ↑ Traynor, Luke. "Students demand guild president's sacking after campus ban over rape row play". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
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