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Click each title to ready about GSU at each campus over the last 90 years:   Avery Hill      Greenwich      Medway
You can click on the pictures below to see bigger versions; all pictures open in the same window.
        
Avery Hill

The Avery Hill campuses opened in the 1980s after Avery Hill College - which was previously on site - was incorporated into Thames Polytechnic, which would later go on to become the University of Greenwich. There were two campuses at Avery Hill - Southwood Site (where you are now) and Mansion Site which was situated on the other side of Avery Hill Park. The spaces where the SU used to be are marked in yellow below (image 1).

The Students' Union has had an office and outlets on both campuses over the last few decades.

Our office was in Jane Seymour Court, where the Sodexo office is now. 

Jesters used to be our bar in The Dome, where the gym is now. There used to be a Wednesday club night called Excess and a Friday club night called Dizzy!

Sparrows Bar was on the Ground Floor of the Sparrows Farm building. It started as a pub before being refurbished into a nightclub space in 2008/09. It was around this time that Jesters closed, and Sparrows became the main bar on campus. Sparrows stayed open for another 10 years and even won Best Bar None Gold awards before closing in 2018 (image 2). 

Our shop on the Southwood site - now called the Tudor Café - started as a unit half the size; it then grew and became The Village Shop; it was refurbished in 2017 and then again in 2022.

 

Decorative1: old campus map showing Mansion site
Decorative2: Memories from Sparrows
Decorative3: Grey, Fry and Somerville buildings with the connected house
Decorative4: Excerpt from a union student guide in the 1990s

 

The Engine Room was our shop and cafe on the Mansion site, similar to The Village Shop.  

The Southwood campus footprint has changed over the last 90 years. There used to be four buildings connected by a house in the middle where Grey and Fry buildings currently are (image 3) - there was even a dive bar in the basement, which is where the Library sits now.

Southwood site has also played to range of sport - both throughout the year with friendly and league competitions, and our annual Varsity event over the last 10+ years - GSU used to play Team Medway, before switching partners to London South Bank in 2020.

Of course, we do more than run bars and shops. The SU has always supported students as they start university (see the picture of a 90s student guide below) and advocated for things that make the student experience and community better (image 4). 

Today, GSU runs the following services at Avery Hill: 

  Our home is in The Dome - visit our reception for info and queries or just come in to use our space with friends, study, or attend one of our events and activities. 
  The Tudor Café sells takeaway food and coffee, snacks, sweets, merch, groceries, and toiletries.
  Candy Shack in The Dome, which is open for events and socials.
  Advice Service drop ins with our Advisers, offering free, confidential and impartial advice. 
  Give It A Go - free or low cost activity to try new activities and meet other students.

We have been and are at the heart of the community at Avery Hill, and look forward to doing so for the next 90 years and beyond. 

 
        
Greenwich

The Union was started in 1934. The Principal of Woolwich Polytechnic at the time said
"It has been evident for some time that a serious lack of co-ordination existed between the various athletic and social activities of the Polytechnic, and especially between the students and the older members of the Athletic Club." They proposed that all activities be brought together under one group. 

So, at one of the Polytechnic's Council Meetings in November 1933, the decision was passed to create the Woolwich Polytechnic Union (of Clubs and Societies). The diagram alongside/below (image 1) shows the first Clubs and Societies to ever exist as part of what is now Greenwich Students' Union - we have over 120 now!

One thing that students at the Polytechnics and the University have done consistently over the last nine decades is write (image 2). There has been a union magazine, paper and/or handbook in almost every decade since the 1930s. They have included news, listings for the local areas, poetry, recipes and opinion pieces over the years. Greenwich students have never been afraid to share their craft and speak their mind!

 

Decorative1: The first structure and Clubs and Societies of the union
Decorative2: Covers of union magazines and handbooks over the years
Decorative3: Students in the SU bar in the 1970s
Decorative4: Officer Team for 2018/19 opening our end of Dreadnought!

 

Greenwich Students’ Union has had a few homes in and around Greenwich! 

In recent decades, the SU was based in Woolwich, the main campus for Thames Polytechnic (image 3). The SU building was what is now the Bathway Theatre. It was closed and renovated in the 1980s and reopened as the SU building.  It included a bar called the Deep End, as the building used to have a swimming pool (where The Deep End in Medway gets its name from for the same reason!). 

We were there into the 1990s, then moved to the Cooper Building on King William Walk in 2000, now the Cooper Powerhouse.

We had social rooms, a pool room, a small shop, staff offices and Bar Latitude, our student bar (even though the building is closer to the longitude line that runs through Greenwich, so should have been named Bar Longitude!). We also ran a small shop in Dreadnought called Le Cafe.

In 2014/15, we became involved in the development of the Dreadnought building and creating our new home there, as well as rebranding and renaming ourselves in September 2018 (image 4).

Today, GSU runs the following services in Dreadnought. 

  Visit our reception for info and queries or just come in to use our space with friends, study, or attend one of our events and activities.
  Activities and events in The Atrium and our Student Group rooms 
  Advice Service drop ins with our Advisers, offering free, confidential and impartial advice. 
  Lower Deck is the best student bar in Greenwich. Visit in the daytime for lunch with friends, and then stay for the great night-time events!
  Greenwich Lookbook Merch Store, our shop selling sustainable, inclusive and not-for-profit, university-branded merchandise. 

We’re so proud of our legacy and history - we look forward to being here for the next 90 years and beyond. 

 
        
Medway

The Medway campus is a partnership between the University of Greenwich, the University of Kent, and Canterbury Christ Church. As such, the Greenwich Students' Union has been involved in the partnership, ensuring students at Medway are represented and working with the partnership to create fun and engaging opportunities.

At first, we had our own space in Medway. We ran a shop, bar (called The Drunken Sailor) and nightclub (called Sub) in the Jellicoe Building. We also had a small advice service and space for student groups for activity. 

Then, the Universities at Medway Students' Association (UMSA) was formed in 2005 and was led by Kent Union (now Kent Students' Union) - this was in agreement with them and our home institutions to have one collective organisation for students at Medway. The UMSA team ran Sports Teams, Societies, Give It A Go activities, volunteering, a new bar called Coopers, an on-campus shop and the Advice Centre with a combination of Greenwich and Kent Advisers. GSU staff would liaise with the UMSA team regarding their work and the needs of Greenwich students. They were based in the Pilkington Building.

In 2015, the Universities of Greenwich and Kent announced plans to create a new union building, which is now the Student Hub. The former Navy sports hall on the campus was renovated and opened in January 2017 (image 1).

 

Decorative1: The opening of the Student Hub in 2017
Decorative2: Old logos for the union partnership at Medway
Decorative3: Students having fun at one of our recent Hub events

 

Over the years, UMSA changed to Greenwich and Kent Students' Unions Together, to GK Unions - which stood for Greenwich and Kent Unions - and then GKSU - Greenwich and Kent Students' Union (image 2).

In late 2020, there was a consultation between the Universities and their Unions - GSU, Kent Students' Union and Christ Church Students' Union - to discuss the Medway campus and the partnership between SUs. Looking at various pieces of data and student feedback, the review concluded that the best experience for Medway students would be to transfer activity and legal duties from Kent Union to Greenwich Students' Union for the 2021/22 academic year and beyond. 

Since August 2021, we have run The Hub (image 3) and all its activities and services on behalf of our partners. Each union is represented in the space, and we hope all students feel welcome here now and for many years to come!