UPDATE: The student forum returned a vote to hold a referendum to affiliate the society. The referendum will happen online at http://swansea-union.co.uk from midday Wednesday 13th until midday on Friday 15th.

IN a major u-turn, Swansea University Students’ Union has admitted that their decision to ban the Pole Fitness Society was “wrong”.

Three weeks ago, the union’s trustee board voted unanimously to ban the society, causing a storm of protest from students and the pole fitness community.

In a letter to the society, the trustees said that pole fitness was too closely linked with pole dancing and that it was “intrinsically linked to the sex industry”.

But at a recent student forum, the society’s president Bethan Morris, seconded by women’s officer Rosie Inman, presented a motion to affiliate the Pole Fitness Society with the students’ union through a student vote.

Voting will take place on Monday 11th November online at http://swansea-union.co.uk after major technical difficulties meant the vote scheduled for Friday 8th November was suspended. If a majority vote for the motion, the society will re-affiliate with the union.

However a vote against the ban could still be blocked as student forum decisions are not constitutionally binding until the trustee board, which banned the society and wrote the provocative letter that started the protest, approves the vote.

Bethan Morris, president of the society, took the u-turn as a major victory: “I’d just like to say how happy we are that the union has apologised for their mistakes and that the situation will not only be rectified for pole fitness but that new legislation will be put in place to stop it happening to any other society.”

Students’ union president, Zahid Raja, admitted the trustee board’s decision was “wrong” and that “more student input was needed”.

Raja however refused to comment whether the trustees still believed that pole fitness was “intrinsically linked to the sex industry”, until after the student vote.

Bethan Morris explained why she took action: “We submitted the motion because we felt that the union were out of order in their decision. The subsequent behaviour however – ever since the motion was submitted – of Zahid and the full-time officers has been nothing but cooperative and helpful.

“We’re eagerly awaiting the result of the referendum next week, although we see no reason why pole fitness will not be reinstated so hopefully it’ll be plain sailing from here on. We’re really excited to become a fully functioning Swansea University society again.”

A students’ union spokesperson refused to comment on the matter until a trustee meeting next week, and Rosie Inman, the women’s officer, had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.