The ABCD Award is for students who have gone ‘Above and Beyond the Call of Duty’ whilst volunteering with the Students’ Union. The award is nominated and chosen monthly by volunteer managers to recognise the great work that our student volunteers do. We are excited to announce the winners for this academic year:
Rainbow Mbuangi - Disabled Students Representative
Rainbow has long been a keen advocate for disabled students since he started at UCLan, and has gone above and beyond in his role as Disabled Students Representative by volunteering to deliver inclusivity training for Club & Society committees. Rainbow ran three fantastic sessions over three days of committee training the week prior to Freshers', educating almost eighty students about how they can be more inclusive to students with disabilities when running their societies by giving them a taste of what it can feel like to be blind. Rainbow's session was interesting and engaging, and has clearly had a significant impact, with many students saying it was their favourite part of training! Rainbow has worked incredibly hard to promote and advocate for Disability Sport within UCLan. He has ensured that there are options for students to engage with sports during Disability History Month ranging from sports like Goal Ball, Boccia to Wheelchair Basketball. Rainbow has work with the Team at Sir Tom Finny Sports Centre as well as the Inclusive Support Team, showing passion and enthusiasm.
Daniel Guest and Ester Blaxhall - Burnley Christian Union
They both held a Christian union coffee morning during welcome week, where they stayed on to help the Nursing students with their Macmillan’s coffee morning. Daniel and Ester sold cakes at our Big Hello and gave the proceeds to the Nursing students for the Macmillan charity. Absolute stars!
Avery Greatorex - Students Council Member
Avery has been a member of Students' Council for 2 years, and this year was elected Trans* Students Rep. Whilst in this role, she has supported the Union on several Union based activities, including Student Trustee interviews. Avery has also launched 2 campaigns for a progressive preferred name policy at UCLan and for a Union stance in support of banning Trans conversion therapy in the UK. Avery has campaigns across campus on this, including spending her time at UCLan Pride behind the stall explaining to so many people why this is so important. Avery even gave her first ever public speech at UCLan Pride, which was powerful, informative, and called students and staff to action. She has huge plans to extend her campaigns further afield and is involved in every stage of the planning, ensuring it is right for the students she represents. She is a phenomenal representative, passionate to make people's lives better and we cannot wait to see her very bright future.
Iain Simpson - School President without Council for Engineering and Computing.
Nominated by our volunteer manager Stephanie Lomas, Iain has had an incredible start to his year in office and has made a big impact on the Student Voice regarding the Computing Side of the School. He made a conscious effort to liaise with staff members within the school to ensure that course rep elections were happening, give students insight into what that role meant and has communicated with his course reps to ensure that they attended training, whilst answering any questions that they may have. Iain is well known within the school for carrying a pack of sticky post its wherever he goes, consistently finding students to provide feedback and making sure that staff members know about it before it becomes an issue. He has also been doing work on the culture within computing studies and is working with the senior leadership team of both the school and the Students’ Union to ensure that students voices are heard and championed. All School Presidents have the opportunity to have one to one support sessions, and Iain is in my office weekly to discuss what is going on in his school, how he can communicate wider work to his course reps, feeding into/challenging the academic representation system itself – as well as feeding his post it notes habit. Iain has certainly made an impact on both his school and on the Students’ Union, and I look forward to seeing him go from strength to strength in the years to come. Certainly, a representative to watch!
Manya Raj - Student Council Member
Manya Raj is the Asian Students Rep at Student Council. She took the time to read over 1,000 nominations and scored them during exam and deadline season, as well as being vocal and articulate in advocating for shortlist and winners. Additionally, she represented the university at the NUS National Conference
Nisha Ogunrinde - Islamic Society
We wanted to nominate Nisha as Head Sister of UCLan Islamic Society for all the amazing work she does as leader of the society, and everything she's done to work with the Union to help us become a more inclusive space. It's been a tricky few weeks for ISOC and Nisha has bore the brunt of a lot of it but has dealt with everything with grace and maturity. The stall that ISOC had on the bottom floor of the Union was the most impressive stall we've seen in a long time, in how creative and engaging it was to anyone passing by. We could certainly learn from it ourselves! Nisha's 'Big Idea' around prayer rooms on campus has led to so many amazing changes both in and around the Union, and her constant collaboration with us on how we can better support Muslim students will mean that Nisha's legacy at UCLan will last long after she graduates.
Jodie Roberts - Student Council Member
In our newly created Care Experiences Representative role on Council, Jodie is thriving, navigating the SU to articulate the need of their community through a Big Idea, and a small get together to engage their community. Jodie has opened discussion around Students who are care leavers or care experienced and continues to work on them. Jodie exemplifies what an effective rep does to make change for their community.
Holi Celebration - National Hindu Students’ Forum, Indian Society, Malayali Society and the Tamil Society
This event stands out as a shining example of community cohesion, cultural celebration and creative collaboration. The Holi Celebration orchestrated by these societies was not just a festival, but a vibrant tapestry of colours, cultures and camaraderie. The organisers went above and beyond to ensure that the celebration was inclusive and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. Through engaging activities, performances, and food offerings, they fostered an environment where everyone felt a sense of belonging. The event was a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of the organizers. Every aspect of the celebration was thoughtfully curated to delight and inspire attendees. Beyond the revelry and merrymaking, the celebration served as an opportunity for cultural exchange and understanding. By showcasing the rich traditions and customs associated with Holi, the organizers promoted cross-cultural appreciation and dialogue among attendees. In conclusion, the Holi Celebration was a resounding success, leaving a lasting impact on all 150+ people who attended.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to aiding your communities, we hope you can inspire more to do the same.
To learn more about how you can get involved, make change, and represent students, visit https://www.uclansu.co.uk/get_involved/volunteering/