Pride of Newcastle University Awards

To be shortlisted for the Pride of Newcastle University Awards:

• you will have nominated yourself, or been nominated by someone else, for a Celebrating Success Award
• you will have won a category at a Celebrating Success Awards level as an individual, part of a group or society. This includes any Newcastle University campus, including our campuses in Malaysia and Singapore. Special arrangements will be made for students outside of Newcastle to celebrate their success locally. Alternatively, you will have been put forward from affiliated University awards.
• your contribution to the University or our wider community should be demonstrated
• your activities must have taken place during the last 12 months
• you must not have received academic credit for any part of this achievement. This includes those relating to work you have done on behalf of a business (excluding The Contribution to the Workplace Awards)
• students involved in the judging panel or organising the awards cannot be nominated for an individual award, but can be part of a wider team that is nominated

The decision of the judging panel is final and no feedback will be given on individual nominees.

Winning students, societies or projects cannot enter the same category of the following year.

In assessing nominations, judges will be looking for evidence of how the nominee has made Newcastle University particularly proud within one of the category areas. This will be through outstanding:

• innovation
• effort
• contribution
• skill development
• enterprise
• impact

For each 'Outstanding Contribution' award, the winning entry will receive £250 and the runner up will receive £50.

All Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught winners will also receive recognition of the award on their degree transcript.

For any society winners, prizes will go to the winning societies, not to the individual who completed the form.

These awards are presented to former students. They are an acknowledgment from the University of their achievements and successes. They recognise alumni who have made an impact on industry, society and their community. Winners are presented with a Vice-Chancellor and President’s Medal and a framed certificate.

This award is for students who have used their skills and enthusiasm for arts, media and culture to communicate ideas or ideals.

It could be through:

• organising events
• exhibitions
• journalism
• working with groups within the university or local community

No matter the medium, this award is for students who have used their talents in a positive way.

This award is for students who have worked with community groups or voluntary organisations to help them achieve their goals. This could include volunteering, fundraising, campaigning, educating or training.

It recognises students who contribute to their wider community, and make a difference.

This award is for those who have encouraged integration of people who might have experienced isolation for reasons such as:

• race
• culture
• age
• gender
• sexual orientation
• disability
• social class

This could be at the university or in the wider community.

Nominations show the positive ways they have gone out of their way to be inclusive.

This award is for those who have promoted healthy living and wellness through campaigns or activities. Examples include stopping smoking, eating healthily, and widening access to health provisions.

This award is for those who have promoted or encouraged healthy living and physical activity through sport.

Nominations show innovative ways of encouraging healthy living through sport.

This award recognises those who are dedicated to enhancing the student experience. This could be through a well-run and inclusive student society or independent action.

This could include:

• raising funds
• organising events
• helping others develop new skills
• increasing inclusivity within the student community

This award recognises those who have developed skills while working on issues that matter to students. This award recognises where students provide a voice and drive change.

This is a major part of student life, including roles such as:

• Course Rep
• Hall Rep
• Community Rep
• Part time Officers (PTOs)
• Campaign Volunteers

This award is for students who have made a positive difference to sustainability or the environment. This could be through:

• volunteering
• campaigning
• running competitions
• creating new inventions

Nominees are passionate about the issues currently facing us. Their activities involve inspiring others to become environmentally aware, or encourage behaviour change.

Examples could include:

• developing sustainable projects
• creating green spaces
• reducing energy consumption
• encouraging recycling
• supporting green travel

This award celebrates placement students, interns and on-campus students. It recognises their impact on an organisation. Nominees have gone above and beyond, or have brought innovative ideas to inform positive change.

Winner: Katie Siddall

Getting involved across all three branches of NUSU student media, Katie has shown their dedication to student-led journalism this year. They started the year as Head of Sport for The Courier and Head of News for Newcastle Student Radio, introducing an ‘A-Z of Sport’ showcase of campus clubs and active societies. This has been a huge success, and with reems of engagement it has allowed The Courier to appeal to brand new groups of students. Katie has been the host of 3 podcasts covering a wide variety of current affairs topics that are at the heart of real student issues, including disabilities, the student housing crisis, and local LGBTQ+ spaces. They have reached out to members of these communities to get involved with these projects, giving a voice and on-air representation to marginalised students. Katie has also made a significant contribution to NUTV, through presenting the Elections Results Show and moderating a very tricky elections debate. They also volunteered their time to interview all candidates for the part-time Liberation Officer positions and edit the interviews (a brand new skill).

Runner-up: James Turner

James has completely revamped Newcastle Student Radio this year, making it easier to understand and more accessible to those who want to be involved. After the station was severely impacted by Covid-19, James has worked tirelessly to ensure that they are providing opportunities for all students. Through the creation of a podcast studio this year, James has expanded the means of which NSR is creating content, keeping the station modern.

Winner: AMSA Newcastle

AMSA Newcastle has put up a lot of great projects this academic year, especially in areas of community service and medical education. The club strives to bring awareness on public health matters through volunteering, while simultaneously providing opportunities for the students of NUMed to work with the public to gain healthcare experience. They run academic workshops such as Premed Workshop 2023 (where 80+ pre-university students experienced what medical school is like, including talks, panel discussions and most importantly skill sessions like CPR, auscultation and bandaging). They also organised volunteering opportunities for students like visits to orphanages and care homes, where volunteers spend time with the elderly and children, and monthly soup kitchens where students helped to distribute food in the city to roughly 30 people per visit. Additionally collaborated with the Ministry of Health to organise a one day event at a local primary school to raise awareness of dental hygiene. Not only have they promoted community service, but they also provided the student body with better work-life balance by holding various volunteering events related to medical education. The events held by them were very successful, gaining positive feedback from the student body.

Runner-up: Speech and Language Therapy Society

The Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Society is for students on the Speech and Language Therapy Course at Newcastle University, including undergraduates and post-graduates. The society has held events throughout this academic year to support studying through socials, educational talks, and revision support sessions. The SLT society has brought in external SLTs to speak about different areas in the SLT field and answer questions from students. Through fundraising SLT society has raised £2,263.76 in total this year for five different local charities. The society has constantly been raising awareness about the different client groups that SLTs work with and the profession itself through taking part in national campaigns such as Developmental Language Disorder Day and Swallowing Awareness Day. The society was also involved in other national campaigns not just limited to SLT focused issues but also other areas of importance such as World Mental Health Day, University Mental Health Day and Race Equality Week.

Winner: Lauren Gilbert

As Disability Officer, Lauren has led on a large number of projects to improve the experiences of disabled students at Newcastle. These include appearing on panel discussions, passing motions at Student Council, and running a campaign during Invisible Disabilities Week to sign the Students’ Union up to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard scheme.

Runner-up: Sexpression Newcastle

Sexpression Newcastle is the local branch of the wider nation charity, Sexpression UK. They focus on empowering young people to make informed decisions surrounding sex and relationships. Not only does the Newcastle society do incredible charity work by providing Relationship and Sexual Health Education in local schools delivered by their members but they have also hosted some amazing events, such as their Big Sexy Quiz which raised money and awareness for The Outsiders Trust. They are also the only society this year to be awarded the prestigious Gold Earn Your Stars Award for making societies more accessible, showing their dedication to increasing and prioritising inclusivity.

Winner: Jack White

Jack has been part of running club society for over 4 years, and in that time has taken on roles such as Kit Secretary, Events Officer and President. He has made a huge contribution to the society throughout his time at Newcastle University, graduating this year. The society currently has over 100 members and provides social events, as well as at least two runs a week for members. He has supported disabled students, as well as international and exchange students who are only here for a short period of time to ensure they can fully participate. This makes him a serious contributor to one of the biggest, most inclusive and accessible societies promoting health and fitness at the university, and his efforts are instrumental in making health happen for hundreds of students.

Runner-up: Maxime Levasseur

Working with the Students’ Union and the New Croft Sexual Health Centre, Maxime secured funding to set up a free subscription and delivery STI-testing service called ‘Check Us Out’. Maxime has found an innovative, low-maintenance solution to an issue affecting students and created a project with so much potential for the future.

Winner: Ladies Hockey Club

The Ladies Hockey Club have 7 teams playing both local weekend and weekly BUCS Wednesday student fixtures throughout the year. Success has been a regularity this year, with multiple league promotions and victories, most notably the Ladies 1st team who have been promoted to National League! The club have also held fundraisers for Movember and for the Pakistan Flood Crisis, showing their impact reaches beyond the Athletic Union.

Runner-up: Esme Court-Johnston

Esme has been a valued member of the Women’s Basketball Club throughout her time at university. She has played for both A and B teams, became team Captain, and finally President, so has taken on large amounts of organisation and responsibility within the club. Esme is a member of the Athletic Union Executive Committee on top of her club work so is involved in making positive change for all AU clubs, and additionally helps coach intramural basketball to strengthen the pathway into the Women’s Basketball Club for students to play competitively. The club has seen incredible growth and success over the last few years, both in performance and engagement, which could only have been done with committed, passionate student leaders such as Esme.

Winner: Cerys Bodey

Cerys has done so much work to improve student wellbeing, dedicating hundreds of volunteer hours across several student-focused projects and initiatives. As the ‘public face’ and a Coordinator of Nightline, Cerys spends countless hours to keep the service running smoothly, ranging from training volunteers and ensuring their wellbeing to promoting the service to the wider student body through Go Volunteer, so those who need it can find it. She transitioned the project out of Covid-times and into a post-Covid set up, participated in nationwide Nightline events, and ran sessions for the university’s Mental Health Day. Nightline is an essential service for university students and without Cerys, it wouldn't be able to function as successfully as it does. Cerys is also a School Rep for SELLL, and Secretary of the Student Staff Committee, organising student showcases and ensuring representation at student council and beyond for her cohort.

Runner-up: Modern Languages Society

Modern Languages Society is one of Newcastle’s largest societies, open to all those studying a Modern Languages degree as well as international students or anyone interested in learning about different cultures. The Society have shown a commitment to supporting their members through their Welfare Wednesdays, as well as by providing academic support through their language conversation socials (often collaborating with other societies) and cultural evenings, giving their members opportunities to practice their speaking skills. On top of that they have also hosted an incredible Winter Ball, with a Summer one to follow, run a netball and football team, provide pastoral support through their Welfare Officer, as well as organised an amazing trip to Amsterdam.

Winner: George Wood

George has been praised by his course mates for his approachability and dedication to raising their concerns with staff and seeking solutions to issues. In particular, third year students have expressed their gratitude for George’s efforts in gathering detailed feedback about their concerns around examination and taking this to the Degree Programme and Director and Chair of the Board of Examiners.

Runner-up: Srishti Jain

Srishti has been phenomenal at her job this year and has proven to be a transparent and extremely accessible point of contact for the students at NUMed. Throughout the year, she has eased dialogue between the staff and students and made it easier for students to voice their opinions to a level no other rep had managed before. She has made an impact to the lives of students by addressing concerns regarding support for mental health and safe transport from accommodation to placements as well as to campus.

Winner: Alexandra Neill

Alex has done fantastic work to raise awareness of the issue of food waste within the School of Natural Environmental Sciences (SNES) on campus. She initiated and organised SpudFest, an event showcasing the research of SNES colleagues on campus that also served to raise awareness of the issue of food waste. The event saw the distribution of over three tonnes of surplus potatoes from NU Farms in the process. She has also co-ordinated the distribution of the remainder of the NU Farms surplus potatoes to Newcastle and Wansbeck food banks.

Runner-up: Elle Young

Elle has demonstrated a clear passion for inspiring young people to become Climate Changemakers as part of her role in KATS (Kids Action Thru Science) here at Newcastle University. She has been an integral part of the project from the outset and has helped it to develop each year through her dedication and hard work. She is driven, enthusiastic and has made a huge impact on the project, both locally and globally, which will leave a lasting impact beyond her own involvement.

Winner: Alex Moore

Alex’s contribution has exceeded the initial objectives of the placement. His work has stretched to all corners of the Natural History Society of Northumbria encompassing areas of communications, engagement, youth work, citizen science and project planning. He has provided vital insight as a young person towards strategic planning and audience development sessions – these have yielded some fantastic ideas for development. This is NHSN’s first full-time student placement and because of Alex, they plan to offer similar opportunities on a reoccurring basis going forward, enabling future students a valuable placement option.

Runner-up: Ellie Iveson

Ellie excelled as a placement student at Egger; she volunteered at the successful careers open day and the company’s Christmas event and then rose to the bigger challenge of managing all required tasks when the online marketing manager resigned midway through. Her impressive ability to remain calm and collected whilst implementing a new CMS system for the whole company was recognised by her managers, along with her stamina and resilience when needing to deliver within limited timescales. Ellie then trained the new manager, building a formidable partnership which has been highly valued by the organisation. The consistent high quality of Ellie’s work has been recognised by all colleagues and inspired them to nominate her for this award.

Winner: Phil Beahon

Featured in the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2014 Law graduate Phil Beahon and his brother Tom founded the global premium sportwear brand Castore in 2015.

The company has experienced stratospheric growth since it launched with support from the University’s business accelerator programme START UP Founderships. In addition to a growing online and high street presence - including two stores in Newcastle - Castore partners with world-class athletes, sports teams and brands including Andy Murray, Newcastle United FC, England Cricket, McLaren, Rangers FC, Oracle Red Bull Racing and Reiss (to name a few). Castore has four distribution centres globally including a new 150,000 sq. ft automated distribution centre in the North West, which features advanced technology to boost the brand’s continued growth and has generated 150 new jobs. Sold in more than 50 countries, the company employs over 700 people in the UK and Europe. With a passion for innovation to support every individual to optimise their athletic performance, Castore’s philosophy is “Better Never Stops” and both co-founders are the embodiment of that; driving rapid expansion in a fiercely competitive market. It is their uncompromising vision that has established Castore as a leading British sportswear brand and both founders as influential voices. In under 7 years they have achieved scale on a level that is nothing short of remarkable and with major investors onside and 8 championship-winning ambassadors including Andy Murray (tennis) they’re only just getting started.

Winner: Dionissios Assanis

Winner: Andrew Jenkins

Winner: Stuart Bailey