This academic year, you've all showed up for the Leeds Beckett community and achieved so many great things. You hosted amazing events, raised a lot of money for charity and impacted the uni experience of many. You should all be proud!
This academic year, you've all shown up for the Leeds Beckett community and achieved so many great things. Despite adjusting to post-pandemic life and an everchanging political & social climate, you still hosted amazing events, raised a lot of money for charity, and impacted the uni experience of many. You should all be proud!
As you may know, the Union’s Awards recognise the amazing contributions made by our students. We’ve seen some incredible contributions made to the Leeds Beckett community this year, from innovative and entertaining events to equality and diversity campaigns on campus.
None of this would have been possible without the 24,000+ members of LBSU.
VOLUNTEERING AWARDS
This award recognises the achievements and hard work of those students, projects and societies that thrived towards a positive social change within the local Leeds Community through campaigns, fundraising activities, volunteering, and leading a project.
The first winner of the Volunteering Award is... Thomas Sims!
Thomas received two nominations recognising his hard work and dedication to the LBU Poetry Society, Open Mic Poetry Events and competitions. As a result of his hard work, he has supported his peers, created opportunities through building cross-university relationships and has left a lasting legacy for the Society and English with Creative Writing course. His care and attention to his teammate's work has facilitated another student on the LBU team to win special recognition for writing the single best poem of the competition, chosen from a field of many dozen excellent young poets from across the country.
Congratulations Thomas!
The next winner of the Volunteering Award is . . . Eleanor Claxton!
Eleanor received a brilliant nomination highlighting her dedication to student led projects, supporting staff to recruit volunteers and helping them feel welcome and appreciated. The student led projects require a lot of motivation, dedication and resilience to sustain and we thought this should be acknowledged and reflected with the award. Eleanor has also spoken very passionately about sustainability through the Ted X talks that she has organised. This appears to have been no easy task and would have taken a lot of organising, alongside her placement.
Congratulations Eleanor!
The final winner of the Volunteering Award is... Lydia Moy!
Lydia has received a nomination for her hard work with a local charity Family Action. It is not an easy task joining an external organisation, understanding their role requirements and blending this commitment with university. The feedback about Lydia is that she is social, adaptable and motivated to supporting the families assigned to her for extra support. Lydia has clearly represented herself and the Students’ Union in a positive and high impactful way and we thought this should be recognised.
Congratulations Lydia!
SOCIETIES AWARDS
Nominations for this award recognised societies that have delivered consistently throughout the year – perhaps they have organised a student-led event that has really stood out from all the others this year - an event that was perhaps unique, gigantic, interesting, inclusive, loads of fun, or all of the above! Or they might have promoted inter-society collaboration, or been active in the community.
The first winner of this award goes to... The Outdoor Society!
The Outdoor Society contributed to the social life at Leeds Beckett University in so many ways, by offering consistent opportunities for all students to improve their physical and mental health. They brought Leeds Beckett students to breathtaking parts of the UK including landmarks within Yorkshire and the Humber. These include local places like the challenging walk from Scarborough to Whitby, the Yorkshire Three Peaks, and many National Trust sites. Finally, the Outdoor Society is bringing a team of students to complete The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on 24 and 25 May in order to raise money for the MNDA Association and the Leeds hospitals charity. They even managed to get the Vice Chancellor, Peter Slee, involved!
Thank you & congratulations!
The next winner this award goes to is... The Gaming Society!
The Gaming Society received so many nominations! Their members wanted to make sure that the society and their leadership were given the recognition they deserve; most of them said that the society is very welcoming and that the community is super friendly and inclusive. They ensured that all members could get involved with the society by organising events both online and in person every week. From events like cosplay, going out, quizzes, and game nights. Here’s a nice quote one of the nominators shared with us, "It made me feel at home and comfortable meeting new amazing people and having a great time alongside my studies."
Thank you & congratulations!
The final winner of this award goes to... S.T.A.R Society!
The S.T.A.R Society has worked so hard this year! They've put pressure on the university and worked incredibly hard in trying to get Sanctuary Scholarships for Asylum Seekers. They collected over 500 signatures so far. They also organised guest speakers and charity talks. Their members are so passionate about making change and improving the lives of students.
Congratulations to all the winners!
The panel also wanted to highlight the hard work of the We Own It Society, the Vietnamese Society and the Society of Architectural Knowledge who all went above and beyond for their members this year.
VOICE AWARDS
This award is for a student who has dedicated themselves to representing and speaking up on behalf of their peers to improve life at Leeds Beckett for all students. Perhaps this person is a Course Rep who has tirelessly collected student feedback and used it to influence course improvements, or maybe they are an active campaigner on issues that affect students on campus and in the wider community.
The first winner this award goes to is... Speech & Language Therapy EDI Steering Group!
The panel chose the Speech & Language Therapy EDI Steering Group for a Student Voice award as the students involved in this initiative have demonstrated a significant contribution to improving the lives of students on their course and achieving meaningful and measurable changes. The scale of a project like this is significant and is undertaken voluntarily alongside their study. The project is multi-faceted, engaging with multiple stakeholders and tackling very important topics and setting admirable yet achievable goals. The fact that these students were recognised through more than one nomination speaks for itself. They are a credit to themselves, their course and the university.
Thank you & congratulations!
The final winner this award goes to is... Zalika Roberts!
The panel chose Zalika for a Student Voice award as her commitment to her role as a Course Representative shone through in the nomination and evidenced key changes to the programme delivery on her course as a result of her representation of her peers. In addition, the panel were impressed that Zalika appears to have gone above and beyond in her support of others by taking on the role of a peer mentor for students in lower year groups, being approachable and providing much needed support to students based on her experience.
Congratulations to all the winners!
The panel also wanted to recognise the hard work of Emma Stevenson and Caitlyn Rhodes!
Emma and Caitlyn should be recognised and highly commended for their efforts to secure over 100 signatures on their petition to demand period products be supplied free in all Leeds Beckett University toilets. They have identified an incredibly important issue that impacts many students and have actively taken action to try and achieve meaningful changes to the student experience. We look forward to seeing the outcome of their next steps, with the support of LBSU, to lobby the university.
Well done!
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARDS
Our final award is the Outstanding Contribution Award. This award isn’t a category you can be nominated in and is chosen using nominations from all of our awards.
Leeds Beckett Students’ Union aims to make students’ lives better and we’re proud to say that the students who are involved with us are bright, brilliant and engaging individuals who donate their time to our societies, to volunteering, campaigns, and to attending our Have Your Say Forums.
The Outstanding Contribution Award goes to a student who has been involved in multiple areas of the Students’ Union and has made a huge positive impact on the lives of students at Leeds Beckett.
The first winner of this award is... Shumirai Tanatsirwa Katerere!
Shumirai is the African Caribbean Society President. He worked extremely hard to revegetate the society after a difficult time for the community and give a large platform to black students to connect and make friends at university.
Thank you & congratulations!
The next winner of this award is... Latoyah Wong!
Latoyah has been giving a lot of her time to Leeds Beckett Students’ Union and the university in various ways, as a BAME Ambassador, as a Course Rep and so much more. She passionately uses her student voice to champion for change.
Thank you & congratulations!
The final winner of this award goes to... Natalie Lennox!
Natalie is the Disabled Student Convenor at LBSU, and she has gone above and beyond for our community this year. She selflessly worked to make disabled students' lives better through all the work she's been doing this year.
Thank you & congratulations to all the winners!
Once again, congratulations to all the nominees & winners! You truly are the movers, shakers, and go-getters of Leeds Beckett Students’ Union. The SU would not be the same without your ideas, initiatives, and vision.
LBSU x