Nominees celebrated at second Faculty Office Appreciation Awards

09 Feb 2026

A special event took place in Christie’s Bistro last week to recognise the nominees of this year’s Faculty Office Appreciation Awards.

Following the success of last year’s Faculty Office Appreciation Awards, PS colleagues from across the Faculty Office were invited to gather in Christie’s Bistro last Wednesday to celebrate and express gratitude for the hard work and dedication of their peers.

The informal celebration gave colleagues a chance to take a break from their desks and catch up with one another over tea, coffee and cake. It fell on the day before Time to Talk Day 2026 – a day centred around having open conversations about wellbeing – and the event was a great reminder for colleagues about just how important it is to show appreciation for, and check in with, each other.

The Faculty Office Appreciation Awards were introduced in 2024 as a way for colleagues to remind each other how much they are valued, whether that be for their work on a particular project, or simply for brightening up someone’s day. This year we received an incredible 363 nominations for 162 colleagues, with all nominees receiving a personalised message of appreciation from their nominator.

The awards complement University-wide reward and recognition schemes already in place, such as Rewarding Exceptional Performance and the Distinguished Achievement Awards.

Hannah Cousins, Faculty Head of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience, helped to organise the awards. She said: “The Appreciation Awards are a great chance for colleagues to simply say thank you to each other without the need to demonstrate specific criteria or sustained performance. This is our second year of running the awards and we've had brilliant engagement, with around 70 colleagues joining us to celebrate their nominations together.”

Erin Barrett, Senior Research Communications and Engagement Officer, shared her thoughts on the event: “It was a wonderful opportunity to come together and recognise the hard work carried out within the Faculty Office. The chance to meet, connect and celebrate with colleagues was made especially meaningful by acknowledging the dedication and effort that takes place behind the scenes in Humanities.”

If you're interested in finding out more about the awards, please contact hannah.cousins@manchester.ac.uk.

Congratulations to all nominees!