Union President Salomé Doré tonight presented the first ever ‘Loughborough Recognition Awards’, a one-off online event to celebrate the fantastic work of LSU’s Sections over the past academic year.
In the absence of physical award ceremonies, almost all of LSU’s Sections came together to congratulate the best of Loughborough Students’ Union, and recognise the hard work the Sections do to create the best student experience in the country.
Salomé said that she refused to let the pandemic stop us “recognising our incredible volunteers”, asking Section Chairs and Executive Officers to each pick 5 volunteers who deserve celebration for their work within LSU.
The 8 Sections involved were Action, Rag, Education, Enterprise, Media, Societies, Sport (the Athletic Union), and Welfare & Diversity, and between them 40 awards were bestowed upon individuals and groups on the evening.
Action
Action Chair Pippa led Action’s awards, and praised projects including Operation Jingle Bells, the annual Food Drive. and the numerous hall reps who help Action across campus – who help make Loughborough “a great place to live in” for everyone in the community.
- Project of the Year – Culture in the Community
- Mayor of Charnwood’s Community Volunteer of the Year – Liam Baddley & Tom Dunbavvin
- Best New Volunteer – Verity Howes-Yarlett
- Best Overall Volunteer – Amy Murray
- Action Lifetime Achievement – Liam O’Hara
Enterprise
Section Chair Ash presented this year’s awards alongside Emma Bishop. In Enterprise’s 9th year there has been a tremendous amount of work completed within the section, including starting the CUBE, increasing work in hall committees through FREEC, and even moving office. Both stated that this year’s awards would commend the hard work of their volunteers across the University.
- Department Committee of the Year – Computer Science
- Hall Committee of the Year – Hazelrigg-Rutland
- Group of the Year – The Green Pea
- Volunteer of the Year – Lara Pearson
Education
Ana-Maria Bilciu led this year’s Education LRAs, saying that she was proud and humbled that the Education section was able to be here celebrating this evening, and was pleased that the section had made so much progress towards what LSU Education should be. The Education awards celebrated five volunteers who had gone above and beyond for the section:
- Sanmaré van der Bijl
- Laura Dench
- Daisy Tipping
- James Phenix
- Tymele Deydier
Media
Media Chair Chris Leroux presented the Media Recognition Awards alongside Alumni Helen Crossley and Ben Croucher. During the ceremony, Chris also announced that he would be renaming Media’s edit suite after alumni Jack Connor-Richards for his exceptional dedication to LSU Media over the past decade.
- Label Volunteer of the Year – Franke Stevens
- Lens Volunteer of the Year – Andrew Batu
- LCR Volunteer of the Year – Michael Harry
- LSUTV Volunteer of the Year – Meg Jocson Ong
- LSU Media Overall Volunteer of the Year – Joe Goodbody
Rag
Maz presented this year’s Rag Awards, who opened by saying that “joining Rag was one of the best things I have ever done… from Choose a challenge to the Poppy Appeal, it’s been a blast”. An outstanding group of volunteers and fundraisers were nominated this year, but the winners were:
- Offcoming Hall Rep Award – Drashti Patel
- Best Oncoming – Gyula Farkas
- Star Fundraiser – Olly Larcombe
- Rag Chair Award – Sanya Chhugani
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Fraser Barclay
Societies
Unfortunately Abbie was not able to present the Societies LRAs, so Giulia – Societies Administrator – presented in her place. She opened by commending the hard work of everyone in the section, and thanked them all for their “dedication and passion this year”.
- Best New Society – Train & Gain
- Best Academic and Careers – Loughborough Space
- Best Culture and Faith – Afro-Caribbean Society
- Best General Interest – Cook & Bake
- Best Outdoor and Sports – SCOGUI
- Best Performance and Arts – Irish Dance
Sport (Athletic Union)
Lauren Durkan and James Greer presented this year’s Sport Awards, celebrating the “phenomenal dedication” of committee members in the Athletic Union ahead of the virtual AU Ball later on in the Summer. The five winners of Committee Member of the Year were:
- Cydney Koeberg
- Harry Venables
- Sarah Trojnacki
- Lucy Saunders
- Jon Simonetti
Welfare & Diversity
Welfare’s awards were led by Matt Youngs, who asked the audience to reflect on the importance of welfare in lockdown, with the ethos of Welfare & Diversity vital to the recovery from the novel Coronavirus. The Welfare & Diversity awards at the LRAs recognised five “Rising Stars” who have put in a significant positive contribution to the section:
- Chantal Bar
- Carl Ntifo
- Jack Mcfarlane
- Raquel Ribeiro
- Gabo Ortiz Vieira
If you missed the evening’s events, you can re-watch the ceremony on the LSU Facebook page here.
