Friday 18-05-2018 - 14:55

Our student groups have been taking the national awards scene by storm this year. Only this week I had the pleasure of going down to the National Societies Awards in Cardiff with a group of Durham students, all who were either shortlisted for or won national awards. It’s a fact familiar to many students that it’s not just the degree that makes your time at Durham truly worthwhile, but all the people you meet, skills you develop, and experiences you have through the diverse opportunities on offer.

And it’s the successes of those students who are really making the most of Durham that these awards recognise, whether that’s their putting together the tools to help other students learn new skills; reporting determinedly and creatively on issues relevant to our community; representing and welcoming students from underrepresented backgrounds; or organising incredible large-scale events for the enjoyment of their friends and the benefit of charities.

In Durham we have an incredibly high standard of student media, demonstrated by Palatinate’s recent success at the Student Publication Association awards and Purple Radio’s win at the I Love Student Radio Awards. Palatinate won best publication, while Tania Chakraborti also won Best Reporter and Eugene Smith came highly commended in the same category. Purple Radio won Best Training Initiative, an award that recognises their development of a programme that allows everyone to produce high-quality student radio. Matthew Calvert said, ‘Our [award] for Best Training Initiative was primarily awarded for the creation of The Purple Handbook. This is an online knowledge base developed by myself and Alok Kumar, containing articles which guide members in all aspects of broadcasting.’

At NUS LGBT+ Conference, Durham Trans Association won LGBT+ Society Development of the Year, and at NUS Trans Students’ Conference they also won Trans Campaign of the Year. President of the Association, Luke Armitage, said, ‘It's really great to see the real progress trans and other LGBT+ students have been making nationwide. We are very grateful to everyone in Durham who has contributed in any way to the Trans Association this year.’

And finally, we had a whole five student groups shortlisted at the National Societies Awards this week: Intersectional Feminism society, DICCU, Trans Association, It’s Not OK at Durham and Durham Charity Fashion Show (DUCFS). It’s Not OK at Durham took home Best Campaign, Project or Initiative and DUCFS won Best Society Event. Iona Cameron, President of DUCFS, said, ‘We took DUCFS to new levels this year and to have 10 months of our hard work recognised at a national level is really something special.’

It’s great to see recognition of our student groups at such a high level, but it’s fair to say, Durham has far more game-changing student groups than can be recognised nationally. This is why Durham SU holds our own Annual Awards. The shortlist has been announced, and I’m looking forward to celebrating all the hard work Durham students have put in outside of their degree. If you’d care to join us to commemorate a year's worth of activities, representation and positive change for the student experience, you can purchase your ticket here.