Another successful year at the University of Leeds Partnership Awards!
It’s always amazing to have our students — and the work done by the LLC — recognised at such a high level.
Each year Leeds University Union (LUU) and the University of Leeds hold a huge celebration called the Partnership Awards. Faculties and services across the University hold local level awards ceremonies to recognise exceptional staff and students in their areas, and then some of these winners are selected to attend the ‘cross-institutional’ awards ceremony. This super-swish event celebrates students and staff who have enhanced the Leeds community by embodying the values of The Leeds Partnership.
The Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC) was part of this year’s cross-institutional awards which took place at LUU on Thursday 4th May. You may recall from my blog last year (or have picked up from all the certificates on our Welcome Desk!) that we received a number of awards in 2022. This year was no different, as we came away with a stunning total of 12 awards!
- Runner-up ‘Positive Contribution to Student Experience and Opportunities’ — Mature Student Advisory Board
- Winner ‘Positive Contribution to Student Experience and Opportunities’ — Middle Ground Network
- Winner ‘School Community Partnership of the Year’ — Mature Student Advisory Board
- Runner-up ‘Innovation’ — Middle Ground Network
- Winner ‘Outstanding Student Award’ — Jo Huett, Kim Crossley and Emma Taylor
- Runner-up — ‘Student Academic Rep of the Year’ — Jo Huett
- Winner ‘Student Academic Rep of the Year’ — Faith Castle
- Winner ‘Academic Personal Tutor Award’ — Catherine Bates
- Runner-up ‘Inspirational Teacher/Supervisor’— Louise Kilburn
- Winner ‘Inspirational Teacher/Supervisor’ — Rebecca Thorley
- Winner ‘Individual Overall Partnership Award’ — Catherine Bates
- Winner ‘Overall Group Partnership Award’ — Middle Ground Network
Following on from this some of our wonderful students, and LLC staff members, were invited to attend the rather glamorous reception for this year’s institutional Partnership Awards celebration. We had the most wonderful time and it’s always amazing to have our students — and the work done by the LLC — recognised at such a high level.
Our wonderful students Jo Huett, Kim Crossley and Emma Taylor were shortlisted for the Outstanding Student Award (out of all the students currently studying at Leeds!) for their brilliant support of their peers.
Bryony Brown, an incredible member of our Mature Student Advisory Board who wrote this fantastic blog for us earlier this year, was the winner of the Outstanding Student Award for her exceptional contribution to the University in so many different spaces.
Last but not least… Our Middle Ground Network (MGN) were awarded with the Overall Partnership Award!
The MGN has been co-created by students and staff with help from the University’s Footsteps Fund, and works to enhance sense of belonging for younger mature undergraduate students at Leeds who have experienced difficulties finding their place — feeling that little bit older than school-leavers, but equally that they don’t identify with the idea of being a mature student either. This ultimately leaves them feeling stuck in the middle, unable to find peers they can truly relate to — which is where the MGN comes in.
Our five ‘student engagement coordinators’ have established the network with staff across from the LLC, LUU and the University’s Student Success team, and currently it has 166 members. They’ve fostered a real sense of community for this displaced group of students, hosting online social networks and numerous events since November 2022. Check out their Instagram to see what they’ve been up to…
Students can still register to join the network — now and into the next academic year — if you’d like to be involved!
We couldn’t be more proud of all these wonderful people and their projects — watch out for a new set of certificates popping up in the LLC over the next few weeks, if we can find space for them all…
