University of Sheffield Union of Students

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**University of Sheffield Union of Students**

Established	1906
Institution	University of Sheffield
President	Dave White
Other Sabbatical Officers	Education Officer: Mark Ansell, Welfare Officer: Caroline Toogood, Womens Officer: Jen Rickard, Finance Officer: Luke Graham, International Students' Officer: Luis Añanguren, Sports Officer: Will Hunting, Activities Officer: Jess Barnecutt
Location	Western Bank, Sheffield, England
Members	c. 23,000
Affiliated to	National Union of Students, Aldwych Group
Homepage	www.shef.ac.uk/union

The University of Sheffield Union of Students is one of the largest Students' union buildings in the UK, with two bars, four club venues, a chain of coffee shops, over 180 student societies, an independent pub (the Fox & Duck in Broomhill) and a turnover of around £10,000,000. Its mission is "to act in the interests of all our members" and has a vision to be "the outstanding student-led organisation in the UK."^[1]

The Union is run by a variety of working, representative and standing committees, presided over by the Union Assembly and eight elected full-time sabbatical officers. It is a constituent member of the National Union of Students (NUS).

The Union holds a variety of student club nights throughout the week at the Fusion and Foundry and the Octagon Centre. These include pop music nights Juice! (Wednesday) and Pop Tarts (Saturday), as well as Drum and Bass/Hip Hop night The Tuesday Club and Indie rock night Fuzz Club. Chart and dance night, Frouk, is held in the Octagon on Fridays as the Fusion and Foundry hosts monthly nights such as Climax, Cuba Libre, Stuff't Olives and Urban Gorilla. Several times a year, large, multi-venue events, such as Freshers Mania and Carnival, are held, attracting over 3000 students. Other one-off events include the International Cultural Evening, Christmas Cracker, Big Night Out, Scary Tarts and Freshers Ball.

Bar One is a more traditional student bar, while The Interval is described as a "continental style cafe/bar". Both bars host regular pre-club nights with a variety of music and special events such as Union Christmas Day and ExamSlam along with serving a wide range of food and drinks. Upon the opening of Bar One, it was the longest union bar in the country. The union also features one of the largest beer gardens in Sheffield.

The Union, under its obligation as part of the NUS to provide 24-hour support for students, funds Sheffield University Nightline, a telephone and email based listening and information service run by student volunteers from the University.

A Union group publishes The Steel Press newspaper fortnightly, while another runs Sure Radio, which broadcasts throughout the Union building during term-time and over the Internet. A third group maintains a news-based website, Sheffield Base.

Film Unit, the Union's Film Society, shows four films a week during term time: independent and arthouse films on Wednesdays, mainstream films on Fridays and Saturdays and classics on Sundays. Films are played in a cinema with a capacity of nearly 400, equipped with commercial 35mm film projectors and a Dolby Digital sound system. suTCo (Sheffield University Theatre Company) produce nine plays a year at the Drama Studio, a studio theatre converted from a church, as well as the biennial 24 Hour Charity Musical - rehearsed, choreographed, designed and produced within a 24 hour period.

The union supports a large number of sports teams, which compete in the BUSA championships. The annual Varsity Challenge takes place between teams from the University and its rival Sheffield Hallam University in over 30 events.

Left to right: the Hicks Building, students' union/University House (conjoined), walkway to the Octagon Centre and the Education Building (in background)