The Community Award Longlist NSVAs 2022
Recognising those individuals, societies or projects that have had positive, meaningful impact on a wider community.
For this award. ‘community’ could be the student community in their university or college, or could be the local, national or international community.
Art Club Regular Project
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
The Art Club Regular Project has been conducting weekly 2 hour recreational, wellbeing-oriented sessions at ECL Day Centre which helps adults with autism and/or learning disabilities. Activities such as making collages, painting on canvases, designing and painting Valentine’s Day heart-shaped wooden pieces, or painting on T-shirts were made accessible to the clients at the centre, as well as providing them with fun, engaging, relaxing experiences. The Art Club committee has collaborated professionally and effectively with the clients and the centre's staff , demonstrating great initiative.
What is special about this nominee?
What makes this project special is the dedication and passion of the committee towards providing the clients at the centre with meaningful and fruitful activities that contribute to their welfare. The project leader has gone above and beyond to create session plans that would suit everyone involved, to make them comfortable and help them have fun, while also leading every session. Collaborating with a centre of this nature is extremely important to the community, raising awareness about mental health and helping break barriers of integration.
Clubbing Crew
Clubbing Crew (CC) is a student-led volunteering project for adults with learning disabilities. The group attends SU club nights during which student volunteers are on hand to provide support to the participants so that they can enjoy a fun night out that they may not usually be able to experience.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
CC increases opportunities for adults with learning disabilities to socialise in a unique environment. For some, CC is their main social activity and after 2 years of covid, this project is even more vital. 93% of regular participants from 2019 returned this year, proving just how popular the project is! It benefits the wider community but also creates its own community of participants from 11 neighbourhoods across the city. CC’s impact is summed up perfectly by participant Jodie: “I have been coming for 10 years […] all the volunteers are very friendly, happy and helpful and make it fun!”
What is special about this nominee?
There are many daytime activities for adults with learning disabilities but CC is the only one empowering them to access club nights that most would be unable to attend without the volunteers’ support. In the UK, there are exclusive club nights for people with learning disabilities but the USP of CC is its inclusivity. Highlighting this, one participant’s mum said it had been the first time Jack had been out without his mum or support worker since before the pandemic. The independence, freedom and socialisation that participants gain from attending a mainstream club night is unparalleled.
International Student Advisory Board
International Student Advisory Board - ISAB are a focus group of 30 international students who discuss what’s working and what can be improved about the international student experience.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
ISAB work with visiting student support teams to feedback on areas for improvement. Some examples include improving banking and healthcare access and creating videos explaining strike action for international students, putting together the International Winter Festival and contributing a talk on “Increasing Cultural Competency On Campus”. They’ve also lobbied Accommodation to allow for students to be allocated diversely rather than allocating the same nationalities together. They worked with 10 teams to create 34 changes this academic year to improve the international experience.
What is special about this nominee?
Change takes a while to negotiate and many of the ISAB members will not feel the benefit of the changes they propose though they do so out of the passionate belief that everyone should feel a sense of belonging on campus. They’ve been tenacious, motivated and have routinely left their comfort zones to further changes needed by pitching in on event support and public speaking. I believe their work deserves national attention as an example for all global university communities who wish to centre students who feel as if they live on the periphery of campus life.
It Happens Here
It is the 'It Happens Here' campaign - an anti-sexual violence campaign in Oxford
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
It Happens Here seeks to prevent, protect and empower survivors. We are working with Oxford Colleges to persuade them to sign the NDA pledge (Can't Buy My Silence). Through It Happens Here's hard work, Lady Margaret Hall has signed NDA pledge . We have also asked JCRs to pass motions within their colleges to mandate their principal to sign the pledge. We have introduced our "Safe Spaces" Initiative which is a group healing project for survivors by survivors, to provide safe spaces every week to allow survivors to come forward and engage in activities like yoga classes with other survivors.
What is special about this nominee?
Each of the team work incredibly hard, oftentimes sacrificing their degree to ensure that they help survivors on a personal level and local level. They have overcome many challenges, like governing bodies unwillingness to change the current state. They have used many methods to engage students and to encourage governing bodies to change their attitudes and listen to them, for example, the media, protests, JCR motions, interactions with JCR committees. Unlike other campaigns, they are not bounded by personal motivation and pride, rather a simple desire to improve Oxford for all its students.
James Hathaway
James Hathaway, Law Student, volunteered as Assistant Ward Psychologist whilst furloughed as he believed in the work of the organisation and to boost his CV. The role was on an acute adult inpatient ward for those incapable of supporting themselves due to complex mental health care needs.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
James trialled a new bibliotherapy session for patients. After reading research papers he designed a programme focusing on a literary theme each session and finding texts that were appropriate for this. The focus was poetry as it was proven to be effective in getting patients to talk about powerful emotions without it being too direct. This proved extremely popular with service users who gave positive feedback, with some even requesting texts to be incorporated. Service users requested it be permanently implemented and run on a weekly basis and staff are looking to implement on other wards.
What is special about this nominee?
James overcame the negative emotions associated with being furloughed and sought ways to make a real difference in a very difficult setting. At a time when ward visits were restricted these bibliotherapy sessions provided welcome support to service users. “Being furloughed impacted my confidence and started to impact my mental wellbeing, volunteering helped me to continue to feel valued and maintain confidence in my skills. This volunteer role has assisted me in achieving my Trainee Contract and my ultimate dream as qualifying as a Solicitor.”
Molly Wroe
LGBTQ+ Officer 21/22
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
Molly organised the first in-person Big Gay Festival at the Students' Union, bringing together local LGBTQ+ artists and drag queen to create an event for the queer student community that was the first of its kind. 62 students attended, rating the event between 8-10 for overall experience and, crucially, 9/10 for how welcoming and inclusive they found the event. It was lovely to see students attending both with friends but also by themselves and befriending people during the event. Friendships have flourished since TBGF took place, highlighting the demand for safe space events on campus.
What is special about this nominee?
Molly managed to tap into a community that we had never previously been able to access. Many of the students we saw at the event were not the usual SU 'bods' and had not previously engaged with us. Molly was also able to cultivate their relationship with local artists to put the event on with a tight budget and create a positive basis for the next event. We are so proud of them! It was especially nice to see people from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures coming together, both part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies.
North East Solidarity and Teaching (N.E.S.T)
North East Solidarity and Teaching (N.E.S.T) is a student volunteer project that supports refugees and asylum seekers with English classes and integration support. N.E.S.T aims to educate and empower the forced migration communities in the UK and across the world celebrating culture and diversity.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
Since 2016, N.E.S.T has grown from a project with 6 volunteers, 1 Syrian family and one weekly session, to an established award winning and internationally recognised project with 6 employees; over 400 student volunteers; over 500 refugees and asylum seekers of all ages and over 30 live weekly sessions. N.E.S.T provides a range of learner services, individualised casework support and two youth programmes. N.E.S.T is an established partner in the region’s response to support refugees and asylum seekers, working with a cross-sector network of referral agencies, delivery partners and funders.
What is special about this nominee?
N.E.S.T mobilises the student population to catalyse change, making use of young people and creating responsive programmes of support focused on meeting needs. N.E.S.T provides a solution to a societal need with a model equally beneficial to those volunteering as to the recipients of the support. The development of online services means they are able to deliver services to learners who have moved within the UK and internationally to refugee camps. N.E.S.T represents hope and a better future for these people. They provide resources and support so the community can realise their goals.
PlayTeam
PlayTeam is a medical student-led committee within the Paediatric Society. They lead a volunteering initiative for children at St Mary's Hospital, coordinating daily student volunteer groups to engage these children in play, hoping to make their time in hospital a little easier and a lot more fun!
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
Groups of 5 volunteers attend hospital 4 times a week for 2h, bringing games to engage children on the paediatric ward or A&E. Groups play with 6-8 children per session. Feedback from parents and staff has been extremely positive; children feel happier (it can be boring and scary to be stuck in a hospital bed all day!), parents get a break and nursing staff feel supported. Feedback from 56 volunteers demonstrated that 100% agreed PlayTeam was an enjoyable experience for them and the children. All also agreed that it was an opportunity to develop communication with children and teamwork.
What is special about this nominee?
This year’s committee is particularly special because they were able to re-commence the volunteering initiative after it came to a halt in March 2020. Despite COVID-19 restrictions easing throughout the country, this did not apply to hospitals; children in hospital have very few (or zero) visits, play zones closed and volunteering/entertainment initiatives were stopped. The pandemic has also significantly deteriorated student wellbeing and burnout amongst health professionals. PlayTeam supports all these stakeholders, improving overall wellbeing of students, staff and children in hospital.
The Love Your Community project
The Love Your Community project is a student-led social action project at Royal Holloway, University of London led by Daniel Philips, Aisha Mueena and Amie Armitage.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
Love Your Community is a project that has delivered a diverse range of initiatives and events in the last academic year. The project is constantly adapting and has had a significant impact on the internal community of the university as well as the community in the Egham and Englefield Green area. Internally the project delivered a pen pal scheme aimed at alleviating loneliness in students effected by isolation in the pandemic. They have organised poppy appeals, a soup kitchen for local homeless people and a care package campaign that gathered 144 boxes of gifts for front-line NHS workers.
What is special about this nominee?
The leadership of the Love Your Community project have displayed exceptional imagination and an engaged interest in supporting the local community. The team’s ideas are inventive, refreshing and original. Love Your Community has volunteered extensively throughout the pandemic and have constantly adapted their activities so that they can make a significant impact, working around restrictions and requirements. The project is an excellent example of student ingenuity and the project’s initiatives are inspired by the needs of the local community as well as the student community at Royal Holloway.
Theatre in Schools
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
Theatre in Schools’ drama workshops are interactive, consisting of crafts, drama games, storytelling and group improvisation. Each workshop revolves around an international fairy tale, exposing children to different countries’ stories. The group improvisation sees children and volunteers put into groups to come up with short plays and perform them with props in front of others. The workshops allow children to come out of their shells and express their creativity, with quieter children growing confident and even volunteering to narrate their own improvised stories after several workshops.
What is special about this nominee?
The workshops provide a relaxed and accessible space to introduce young children to amateur drama. Held on weekends, the low pressure environment provides children of students and university staff opportunities to meet each other outside of their regular school hours. The group improvisation allows children to let their imaginations roam, share their ideas, and work together with new people, with past attendees coming up with stories about a knight stopping a robot apocalypse, sword-wielding lesbian princesses and many more. The workshops are fun and equip them with communication skills.
Kazakh Society - Central Asian Spring Festival
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
CASF brought together over 2,000 people, from 12+ nationalities to UCL to celebrate the tradition of Persian new year. As one of the only events celebrating this in London, it was a beautiful day of live performances & food that was enjoyed by not only UCL's central Asian community, but the UK as a whole, with people travelling for hours to enjoy the festivities, bringing families & friends of all ages. There was a market platforming cultural businesses and embassy representatives sharing their cultures, providing this underrepresented community an opportunity to come together for free.
What is special about this nominee?
UCL Kazakh Society put countless hours of work into organising this large-scale, complex festival to provide their cultural community with the otherwise non-existent chance to celebrate together and you could see the importance it had. They also thought beyond, about their communities who were unable to attend, donating all of the profits raised through sponsorship and donations to charities supporting central Asian countries in need (eg Afghanistan). It is undeniable that there was a real deep and passionate love for their culture and community that motivated this festival and its impact.
Student Hospital Fun Team
UCL Student Hospital Fun Team. Project: Fun Team x Hopscotch. A new project with Hopscotch Women’s Centre, a charity working in Camden with Afghan refugee families since the 2021 crisis. From Nov 2021-Mar 2022 we ran three 1.5hr children’s play sessions each week in the ‘bridging’ hotels near UCL.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
This project welcomed the refugee families into the community, providing a fun, positive, friendly and inclusive environment. Volunteers organised games, made crafts and read books with the children, despite language barriers and cultural differences. The sessions were also able to give parents a break, particularly as most of the children did not have school places. A written comment from a Hopscotch staff worker: "the children were so happy to see this team and would ask every day if they're coming".
What is special about this nominee?
The society and volunteers quickly responded to a major global crisis and took initiative in a very practical way. They exemplified that refugees should be welcomed by and integrated into the local community, especially after such adverse experiences. Volunteers selflessly and consistently went into the hotels to give up time to help. A written comment from a Hopscotch staff worker: "“lovely, dedicated, polite and friendly team who the children looked up to and wanted to see more of”.
Student Hospital Fun Team
UCL Student Hospital Fun Team. Project: Fun Team x Hopscotch. A new project with Hopscotch Women’s Centre, a charity working in Camden with Afghan refugee families since the 2021 crisis. From Nov 2021-Mar 2022 we ran three 1.5hr children’s play sessions each week in the ‘bridging’ hotels near UCL.
How has the person, event, group or initiative impactful?
This project welcomed the refugee families into the community, providing a fun, positive, friendly and inclusive environment. Volunteers organised games, made crafts and read books with the children, despite language barriers and cultural differences. The sessions were also able to give parents a break, particularly as most of the children did not have school places. A written comment from a Hopscotch staff worker: "the children were so happy to see this team and would ask every day if they're coming".
What is special about this nominee?
The society and volunteers quickly responded to a major global crisis and took initiative in a very practical way. They exemplified that refugees should be welcomed by and integrated into the local community, especially after such adverse experiences. Volunteers selflessly and consistently went into the hotels to give up time to help. A written comment from a Hopscotch staff worker: "“lovely, dedicated, polite and friendly team who the children looked up to and wanted to see more of”.