The Student Publication Association is run by a team of five Executive Committee members, elected annually at the SPA’s National Conference.
The Executive Committee is in charge of the day-to-day direction of the SPA and are the individuals most responsible for delivering the Association’s varied initiatives and programmes.
The other teams that comprise the SPA are our Trustee Board, Regional Officers, and Project Officers.
Our 2023/24 Executive Committee is comprised of the following individuals. Previous officer teams can be found here.
Chair – Matt Ward-Perkins
Matt is the SPA’s Chair, and former Conference and Events Officer. As a student, he was editor of York Vision, as well as holding roles in York’s student radio and television societies.
Outside of the SPA he works in the output production team at CNBC and volunteers in events roles for the Student Radio Association and Pride in London.
Matt can be found on Twitter here.
Training & Opportunities Officer – Ella Robinson
Ella is the SPA’s Training and Opportunities Officer and Editor-in-Chief of The Mancunion, the Best Student Publication in the UK and Ireland 2022, managing a team of over 400 volunteers.
She won Best Journalist in the North in 2022 and was highly commended nationally. This year, she led The Mancunion team to win Best Newspaper Design, Best Website, and Best Overall Digital Media at SPANC23.
Ella is very passionate about student journalism and making it more accessible, setting up a mentor scheme with Mancunion alumni, helping to organise the largest ever Women in Media conference, and recently she was a judge for the Amnesty International Student Journalist Award.
Ella can be found on Twitter here.
Conference & Events Officer – Jess Walmsley
Jess is the SPA’s Conference and Events Officer and former Editor-in-Chief of The Mancunion. Jess has plenty of events organising experience from leading multiple Mancunion training days and hosting a range of speakers from regional and national publications and being a former chair of the largest Women in Media Conference to date.
She is completing a degree in International Disaster Management & Humanitarian Response at the University of Manchester. Alongside her degree, Jess has acted as an Editorial Advisor for The Mancunion.
Jess has a keen interest in student media and increasing opportunities within the media for all demographics. Working as this year’s LGBTQ+ representative for UoM Feminist Collective, Jess has strived to push for more representation of the community in all she does. Jess also works as a Media Cubs leader, teaching children the skills of the newsroom.
You can find Jess on Twitter here.
Communications Officer – Justine Noble
communications@spajournalism.com
Justine is the SPA’s Communications Officer.
She has recently finished a degree in History and International Relations at King’s College London, where she was a News Editor at Roar News. Currently, she is working towards an MA in International Journalism at City, University of London.
In her free time, Justine enjoys playing the guitar, exploring new neighbourhoods in London and cooking.
Sponsorship Officer – Rory Buccheri
Rory is the Sponsorship Officer, former Arts Editor and Head of Food and Drink at The Gaudie.
They work as a freelance journalist covering food, entertainment, and travel, and are passionate about NB and queer representation in the media.
Before joining the SPA, Rory worked as a student-facing Careers and Graduate Adviser at the University of Aberdeen.
Rory can be found on Twitter here.