The Student Publication Association (SPA) was formed in 2012 by David Gilani, a sabbatical officer at the University of Southampton, who also served as the association’s first Chair.

Two years later, in 2014, we took on board our first team of regional officers, to support members on a local level, and ensure they were able to access a greater level of backing for regional awards and recognition.

In 2015, we expanded to become an international organisation, after members voted unanimously at that year’s annual general meeting to expand to the Republic of Ireland. We welcomed our first Irish publication later that year.

In 2020, we registered as a charity in England and Wales and held our first ever online national conference, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It proved to be our biggest and cheapest ever. 450 people registered for tickets, and for the first time, we were able to offer it completely free of charge to all attendees.

Having grown to an organisation now representing over 175 student publications, the SPA continues to provide support, training and recognition to student publications, and works with partners such as PA Media, Newsworks, City University of London, Bloomberg and the Association of British Science Writers.

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Previous committee members

Past chairs

David Gilani, University of Southampton, 2012 – 2013

Chris Williams, Cardiff University, 2013 – 2014

Sophie Hannah Davis, Nottingham Trent University, 2014 – 2015

Jem Collins, University of Kent, 2015 – 2016

Dan Seamarks, University of Westminster, 2016 – 2017

Dan Falvey, University of East Anglia, 2017 – 2018

Conor Matchett, University of Edinburgh, 2018 – 2019

Owain Evans, University of Exeter, 2019 – 2020

Ben Warner, University of Sheffield, 2020 – 2021

Charlotte Colombo, University of Southampton, 2021

Chay Quinn, University of York, 2021

Ruby Punt, SOAS, 2022

Marino Unger-Verna, King’s College London, 2022 – 2023

Matt Ward-Perkins, University of York, 2023 – 2024

Past digital media officers

Daniel Chesterton, University of Portsmouth, 2013 – 2014

Aubrey Allegretti, University of Sussex, 2014 – 2016

Dan Falvey, University of East Anglia, 2016 – 2017

James Chesson, University of East Anglia, 2017 – 2018

Xavier Voigt-Hill, University of Southampton, 2018 – 2019

Position abolished in 2019, revived as a Project Officer in 2020

Fiachra Johnston, University College Dublin, 2020-2021

Talia Andrea, King’s College London, 2022 – 2023

Past communications officers (membership & communications officer pre-2019)

Steph Powell, Southampton Solent, 2013 – 2014

Kerry Sclater, University of Southampton, 2014 – 2015

Megan Downing, University of Southampton, 2015 – 2016

Fraser Whieldon, University of Kent, 2016 – 2017

Jessica Frank-Keyes, University of East Anglia, 2017 – 2018

Sarah Redman, University of Exeter, 2018 – 2019

Mila Georgieva, University of Dundee, 2019 – 2020

Ben Warner, University of Sheffield, 2020

Imy Brighty-Potts, University of Southampton, 2020 – 2021

Matilda Head, University of Cambridge, 2021

Fiachra Johnston, University College Dublin, 2021

Marino Unger-Verna, King’s College London, 2022 – 2023

Ben Warner, University of Sheffield, 2022 – 2023

Justine Noble, City University London, 2023 – 2024

Past conference & events officers (marketing & events officer pre-2019)

Hannah Bracegirdle, De Montford University, 2013 – 2014

Philippa Skett, Imperial College London, 2014 – 2015

Brad Johnson, Hertfordshire University, 2015 – 2016

Hannah Mylrea, University of Southampton, 2016 – 2017

Megan Baynes, University of East Anglia, 2017 – 2018

David White, University of Dundee, 2018 – 2019

Chay Quinn, University of York, 2019 – 2021

Katie Evans, University of Southampton, 2021

Ruby Punt, SOAS, 2021

Matt Ward-Perkins, University of York, 2022 – 2023

Jess Walmsley, University of Manchester, 2023 – 2024

Past sponsorship officers

Annissa Warsame, University of Exeter, 2019 – 2020

Uditi Singh, University of Sheffield, 2020 – 2021

Shannon McDonagh, University of East Anglia, 2021

Uditi Singh, University of Sheffield, 2022-2023

Rory Buccheri, University of Aberdeen, 2023-2024

Past training & opportunities officers (development officer pre-2019)

Natasha Sawires, De Montford University, 2013 – 2014

Elliot Davies, St Andrews, 2014 – 2015

Jon May, Swansea University, 2015 – 2016

Gemma Shields, University of Aberdeen, 2016 – 2017

Conor Matchett, University of Edinburgh, 2017 – 2018

Owain Evans, University of Exeter, 2018 – 2019

Edd Church, University of Exeter, 2019 – 2020

Charlotte Colombo, University of Southampton, 2020 – 2021

Bethany Dawson, University of Surrey, 2021

Tabitha Lambie, Lancaster University, 2022 -2023

Ella Robinson, University of Manchester 2023 -2024

Previous SPA officers

South west officers

Megan Downing, University of Southampton 2014 – 2015

Hannah Mylrea, University of Southampton 2015 – 2016

Tommy Parker, University of Bath, 2016 – 2017

Owain Evans, University of Exeter 2017 – 2018

Edd Church, University of Exeter, 2018 – 2019

Aaron Loose, University of Exeter, 2019 – 2020

George Brown, University of Exeter, 2020-2021

Lars Mucklejohn, City University of London, 2021-2022

Milan Perera, University of Bristol, 2023-2024

South east officers

Jem Collins, University of Kent, 2014 – 2015

Sean Howlett, University of Hertfordshire, 2015

Fraser Whieldon, University of Kent, 2015 – 2016

Rowena Field-Carter, University of Essex, 2016-2017

Owain Evans, University of Exeter 2017 – 2018

Carly May-Kavanagh, University of Southampton, 2018 – 2019

Jessica Hubbard, University of Sussex, 2019 – 2020

Shan McDonagh, University of East Anglia, 2020-2021

Anvee Bhutani, University of Oxford, 2021-2022

Isabella Ankerson, University of Exeter, 2023-2024

London officers

Marion Legrand, University of East London, 2014 – 2015

Zaki Dogliani, University of Bristol, 2015 – 2017

Abbie Cheeseman, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2017 – 2018

George Cook, City University of London, 2018 – 2019

Natalie Rose, University of Middlesex, 2019 – 2020

Chris Matthews, University of East Anglia, 2020-2021

Midlands officers

Katrina Chilver, De Montford, 2014 – 2015

Sian Elvin, Warwick University, 2015 – 2016

Katie Wilson, Nottingham Trent, 2016 – 2017

Ben Baruch, University of Nottingham, 2017 – 2018

Eleanor Gray, University of Nottingham 2018 – 2019

Jack Harvey, University of Coventry, 2019 – 2020

Francisca Quádrio, De Monfort University, 2020-2021

North officers

Jon May, University of Sheffield, 2014 – 2015

Chloe Coleman, University of Sheffield, 2015

Joss Woodend, University of Sheffield, 2016

James Dix, Northumbria University, 2016 – 2017

Jessica Murray, University of Sheffield, 2018 – 2019

Grace Dean, Newcastle University, 2019 – 2020

Tom Moorcroft, Newcastle University, 2020-2021

Matt Ward-Perkins, University of York, 2021-2022

Joe McFadden, University of Manchester, 2023-2024

Scotland officers

Racheal Miller, St Andrews University, 2014 – 2016

Conor Matchett, University of Edinburgh, 2016 – 2017

Polly Smythe, University of Edinburgh, 2017 – 2018

Mila Georgieva, University of Dundee, 2018 – 2019

Alexander Arnaudov, University of Dundee, 2019 – 2020

Maurice Alexander, University of Aberdeen, 2020-2021

Jordan Hunter, University of Glasgow, 2021-2022

Wales officers

Tom Eden, Cardiff University, 2014 – 2015

Hannah Butler, Cardiff University, 2017 – 2018

Maria Mellor, Cardiff University, 2018 – 2019

Chloe Edwards, Cardiff University, 2019

Jack Robert Stacey, Cardiff University, 2021-2022

Lowri Lewis, Cardiff University, 2023-2024

Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland officers (NI only until 2015)

Kylie Noble, Queens University Belfast, 2014 – 2015

Niamh McGovern, Queens University Belfast, 2015 – 2017

Robert O’Sullivan, University College Cork, 2017 – 2018

Dylan O’Neill, Dublin City University, 2018 – 2019

Sam Cox, Trinity College Dublin, 2019

Matthew Moynihan, University College Cork, 2020

Dan Webb, University College Cork, 2020-2021

Jack Walsh, University College Cork, 2023-2024

Online officers

Emily Townsend, University of Essex, 2015 – 2016

Bridie Pearson-Jones, University of Southampton, 2016 – 2017

Lucy Skoulding, University of Warwick, 2018 – 2019

Position abolished 2019

Alumni officers

Michael O’Connell Davidson, Cardiff University, 2015 – 2016

Jack May, Cambridge University, 2016 – 2017

Position abolished 2017-2019

Katie Jenkins, University of Exeter, 2019 – 2020

Roo Pitt, University of East Anglia, 2021

Caoilfhinn Hegarty, University College Dublin, 2021-2022

Tabitha Lambie, Lancaster University , 2023-2024

Advocacy officers
Ciara Ritson-Courtney, Newcastle University, 2019-2021

Tabitha Boyton, Northeastern University London, 2023-2024

Admin support officers
Alex Vince, Southampton Solent, 2015 – 2016

Fiona Grew, University of Edinburgh, 2016 – 2017

Position abolished in 2017

Opportunities officers
Abbie Cheeseman, Royal Holloway University of London, 2018 – 2019

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Life members:

David Gilani, University of Southampton (2013)
David Gilani was voted as a life member by members at the AGM in 2013 for his work setting up the organisation. 

Jem Collins, University of Kent (2016)
Jem Collins was voted as a life member by her peers in 2016 for her exceptional work in expanding the organisation as chair. She remains a trustee of the organisation.

Aubrey Allegretti, University of Sussex (2016)
Aubrey was voted a life member by his peers in 2016 for his two years service as digital media and his dedication and commitment to the organisation. He remains a trustee.

Bridie Pearson-Jones, University of Southampton (2016)
Bridie Pearson-Jones was voted as a life member by her peers in 2016 for her work in student media.

Ben Jackson, City University (2016)
Ben Jackson was awarded life membership in 2016 for his work in student media, where he saved LondonStudent from the brink of extinction. All outstanding commitment winners are awarded lifetime membership.

Elliot Davies, St Andrew’s (2017)
Elliot wrote the first constitution of the SPA and was awarded lifetime membership for his continued commitment to the organisation.

Sophie Davis, Nottingham Trent (2017)
Sophie stepped up to host the second SPA conference after all of the elected committee disapeared. She was voted a life member in 2017 in recognition of her efforts.

Abbie Llewelyn, University of York (2017)
Abbie was awarded life membership in 2017 for her work in student media, where she successfully crowdfunded to save her paper, York Vision. All outstanding commitment winners are awarded lifetime membership.

Billy Dowling-Reid, Queen Margaret University (2018)
Billy was voted a lifetime member at the AGM in recognition of his work setting up Mediargh, the first media and journalism job website to refuse to list unpaid internships. Following his death from cancer, the Outstanding Commitment Award was renamed after him.

Bill Coles (2018)

Fintan Hogan, Kings College London (2024)
Fintan was awarded life membership in 2024 for his work on ROAR, including the creation of one of the country's first student newspaper apps. All outstanding commitment winners are awarded lifetime membership.

Molly Cantwell, University of Limerick (2024)
Molly was unanimously voted a lifetime member at the AGM in recognition of her work following the tragic death of the paper's editor-in-chief Joe Drennan. As well as leading the paper and supporting the team, she also covered the court case following his death.

Owain Evans, University of Exeter (2024)
Owain was 
unanimously voted a lifetime member at the AGM for his work leading the SPA through the Covid-19 pandemic and registering the SPA as a charity, as well as his continued independent support.