On Thursday 26th October Sheffield Hallam enters its 25th anniversary year as a university. 25 years ago Sheffield City Polytechnic, or ‘The Poly’ as it was affectionately known then, became a fully-fledged University and ever since we have continued to grow, diversify and extend our influence across the city and beyond.
And of course, no birthday celebration can be without cake; therefore on Thursday 26th October you can buy £1 birthday cupcakes from outlets at City and Collegiate with 40p going towards The Hallam Fund, which provides additional and much-needed support to our student and academic community so they can overcome barriers and access the best opportunities.
We will also celebrate this anniversary by featuring a series of twelve stories in Eview over the coming year, from staff who have been part of the University for 25 years or longer and remember the transition from ‘poly’ to University well. The first in this series is Facilities’ Bev and Dave Weaver, husband and wife, whose eyes met at Collegiate Crescent after starting at Hallam just five days apart!
You can read more on Bev and Dave’s story in the next edition of Eview (1 November) as well as this Autumn’s Review magazine, released end of October which also features Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor, reflecting on how far we have come as an institution and what our ambitions are for the next quarter of a century.
Get involved
If you have stories and memories of Hallam at this time (or even better photos/videos!) that you would like to share with Eview we want to hear from you – get in touch via eview@shu.ac.uk or Twitter (@HallamStaff).
More on Hallam’s history:
- We were established in 1843 as the Sheffield School of Design on Glossop Road and later became the School of Art. We developed in the late 19th Century with a number of other institutions including the teacher training colleges at Collegiate Campus and technical colleges.
- Those institutions coalesced together into the Sheffield City Polytechnic in 1969. From there, we self-developed as one of the country’s strongest and most influential polytechnics.
- University status in 1992 embedded the contribution of the polytechnic and has allowed the University to grow, to diversify, and to extend its influence.