University News Last updated 07 March 2012
Outstanding staff, students and alumni have been recognised for their work at the Tell Us Your Story awards.
The awards are part of the University’s Upgrade Your Future campaign, which was recently shortlisted for a Marketing Excellence Award by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
To complement the external campaign, the University launched the Tell Us Your Story competition which has uncovered and highlighted the stars of the University who are making a difference to the University community: staff who go the extra mile to support students, students who are working hard to upgrade their futures and alumni who have gone on to achieve success in their chosen fields.
The competition was fierce, with judges deliberating over more than eighty submissions from across all areas of the University. Each of the winners received an iPad 2 in recognition of their achievements.
We were delighted by the responses we received, which showed once again the level of support we offer our students and how many of them go on to make the most of it.
“It was fantastic to see these achievements being recognised and I’m looking forward to seeing more members of the University community getting involved next year.”
David Tidmarsh, the University’s Vice-Chancellor
Staff winner: Graham Wright
Lecturer and Mooting Society Director Graham Wright was announced as the winner of the staff category.
Graham was nominated for his commitment to students and the Mooting Society, to which he regularly devotes his spare time.
Thanks to Graham, the University now boasts one of the most successful mooting societies in England and has enjoyed considerable success at a national level. University students have reached five finals over the last few years and have regularly beaten teams from some of the country’s most prestigious universities including Oxford and Cambridge.
Student winner: Siobhan Freeman
Law student Siobhan Freeman was named as the winner of the student award. Siobhan’s personal story is one that demonstrates how much can be achieved with hard work, commitment and the right mindset.
Siobhan returned to university as a mature student and a single parent to a young daughter and has strived to do her best, representing the University in mooting competitions and taking part in the mentoring scheme.
Her hard work has paid off, she was recently awarded a highly prestigious £6,000 law scholarship from Lincoln's Inn, one of the UK’s four Inns of Court which prepares students for the Bar.
Alumni winner: Ben Croft
Ben Croft was named as winner of the alumni category. Ben’s CV is an impressive one, with a track record of career success from a young age.
Since leaving the University in 2006 Ben has travelled through six continents and lived in five of them. He has started three businesses and is currently President of the World Business and Executive Coach Summit, all at the age of 28.
Ben also runs a successful international marketing consultancy that has had offices based out of Brisbane, New York, the UK and Buenos Aires, where he currently resides.
In the last year Ben also found time to complete the New York Marathon for Breast Cancer Research and whilst in Africa spent a month at an orphanage in Zambia helping to care for Aids orphans before leading a fundraising campaign that raised £3800 to help give the orphanage electricity.
Kathryn Jones, Director of Marketing and Communications, added: “I’d like to pass on my personal congratulations to all of our winners, finalists and indeed everyone who was nominated. Thank you for taking the time to get involved.”
View all of the staff,student,alumni nominations.