multi-coloured Confetti celebrating award ceremony
multi-coloured Confetti celebrating award ceremony

The V Awards celebrates the life-changing work of UWL volunteers

Intro

UWL’s annual celebration of its student and staff volunteers took place at Weston Hall on Tuesday 25 April with around 100 award nominees, certificate winners and their guests also enjoying dinner as part of the evening event.

Article body

UWL student VTeam volunteers have given thousands of hours of their own time over the last year to support local organisations and communities, including the Pyramid Club, the Phoenix Project, MIND and Islamic Relief.

UWL Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Woodman opened the evening’s presentations telling the audience how humbled he was by their efforts. “For me, the V Awards will always have a special place because everyone is giving up their time and time is so precious,” he said. “Never has there been a time when your work, your efforts, everything you put in as volunteers has been so needed.

Your investment, knowledge and expertise is changing lives.”

Chairman of the Board of Governors Jennifer Bernard spoke next, thanking volunteers for their outstanding efforts in the local community. She said: “I am pleased to be here and say how much we appreciate those who volunteer and the organisations who host them.”

During the prize giving, 11 Bronze, seven Silver, seven Gold and three Platinum certificates were awarded to recognise students’ long hours of dedicated volunteering. Additionally, 15 students received leadership programme certificates and nine others were recognised for their efforts in peer mentoring.

Staff Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Dr Livia Lantini, Student Volunteer of the Year was Daniela Ferreira, and Peer Mentor of the Year was Oana Balaneanu. Hounslow Foodbox was named Organisation of the Year and the Claude Littner Business School was chosen as Academic School of the Year. And lastly, the VTeam Spirit Award went to Sacha Phoenix Alexander.

Rounding off the event, UWL Volunteering and Civic Engagement Manager Mariana Vieira da Rocha said – “It is phenomenal to see the support that all of you have given to organisations locally and nationally and this year we are really proud to announce that our students have volunteered a total of 3,336 hours.

The things you have done will stay with you and with others whose lives you have impacted for a long, long time.”

  • To find out more about volunteering opportunities at UWL, visit our volunteering page.

Related news