University News Last updated 22 September
A Birmingham City University alumnus beat nearly 500 nominees to win a coveted Volunteer of the Year award from the BBC, thanks to his continued work in championing underrepresented racial minorities.
Eltayeb Bashar, who graduated from BCU with an LLB Law degree in 2023, clinched the accolade for the Hereford and Worcester region, receiving the award from the Mayor of Worcester – fellow BCU alumni Tor Pingree.
He won the award due to his continued efforts with his registered UK charity, The Anti-Racism Initiative, which aims to bring communities together. “My sister and I moved to Worcester over ten years ago, when I was 14. We loved our new city, but we noticed a lack of representation for the Black community,” Eltayeb explains. “We wanted people from all backgrounds to feel at home in Worcester, so I set up the charity.”
Eltayeb was nominated for the Volunteer of the Year award by a family member and is humbled to have been considered along with so many other inspiring initiatives. “All the nominees in my category are doing exceptional work,” he says. “If I had to pinpoint why my work stood out, it probably comes down to the overall scale of our impact, including the important legal and societal precedents we have helped establish in Worcester.”
On that subject, Eltayeb is thrilled that The Anti-Racism Initiative is making a tangible impact in his adopted hometown.
“I’ve been fortunate to work alongside other community leaders to foster greater unity across the county, co-founding Worcestershire's first official Black History Month, Windrush Day Celebration, and the Our Cultural Heritage event, which have drawn thousands of attendees over the years,” Eltayeb explains. “I’ve also lectured hundreds of trainee teachers at the University of Worcester on building inclusive classrooms, and seeing them actively implement my recommendations has been incredibly rewarding.”
It’s been a successful period for Eltayeb and his endeavours. In 2025, he won Youth Activist of the Year at the Inspirational Youth Awards. The year before, he secured the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust prize for human rights, receiving a tour of Parliament. He’s since studied a LLM (Master of Law) in International Human Rights, been invited to participate in the prestigious NATO Youth Summit and started an international human rights association named the Global Rights Alliance.
For the future, Eltayeb will be attending the United Nations World Food Forum in Rome as a civil society delegate, bringing those insights back to inform his role as Director of International for the University of Cambridge Sustainability Society.
All the while, he remains motivated by his determination to eradicate global conflict and seclusion.
“Seeing my extended family become displaced by the Sudanese civil war affected me profoundly,” he explains. “It’s driven my commitment to champion human rights. Closer to home, being lifted up by a community that supports me at every turn inspires me to give back. I believe very strongly in the essential nature of public service, we all have a responsibility to rise to the occasion, and I hope to inspire others to answer that same call.”