SEED recognition at the Making a Difference Awards
12 May 2023
Dr Jonny Huck, SEED Director of Social Responsibility, reports on the successes
[Pictured are Jamie Woodward, Niki Banks, Diana Mitlin and James Rothwell.]
This week saw the 9th Making a Difference Awards, which seeks to recognise the excellent socially responsible work that is undertaken by staff and students from all parts of the University, as well as the external organisations and communities with which we work. SEED has traditionally been well represented at the Awards, and this year was no different, with two awards and three High Commendations for projects from within SEED.
Tom Fryer, a PhD student in MIE, won the Award for Outstanding contribution to widening participation, in recognition of his project Write on Point: UCAS personal statement support for students from under-represented backgrounds. This project has already provided UCAS personal statement support to over 1,400 students from under-represented backgrounds, and continues to make a difference to students every year, helpting them access higher education. You can see a video about Tom and the project here. Congratulations Tom!
Our second award was for Outstanding contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion, which went to Diane Harris (MIE) and Laura Richards for their project Advancing gender equality through global collaboration. This project is aiming to advance gender equality within the University sector through the creation of a global community of people to advance gender equality in their institutions. You can see a video about their work here. Congratulations Diane and Laura!
We also saw ‘Highly Commended’ awards for three SEED teams, the first of which was Jamie Woodward, James Rothwell, Rachel Hurley and Jiawei Li (Geography) for their project: Microplastics in UK rivers – getting to the bottom of the problem, which was recently featured in the film Plastic Warriors, which premiered at an event on campus last week, including a Q&A with the directors.
The second Highly Commended team was Sophina Choudry, Erica Burman, Julian Williams, Ishba Rehman, Jaina Yasmeen Bharkhda and Sidra Iftikhar (MIE), with their project: The Pakistani Communities Call to Action (PaCCT) in Rochdale project, which sought to address the needs and concerns of Pakistani communities in Rochdale during COVID-19, particularly around experiences of individual, institutional and societal racism. The action plan, including a description of the next steps is available here.
Our third Highly Commended project was Decolonising development pedagogies while supporting inclusive development practice, which was a collaboration between Diana Mitlin, Nicola Banks, Maria Rusca and Sophie King (GDI) and Community Savers, CLASS, Muungano wa Wanavijiji and Shack/Slum Dwellers International. This project comprised a series of teaching innovations to decolonise Development Studies teaching and give students first-hand insight into the strategies and practices of community activists fighting for more inclusive urban development in Manchester, Kenya and Uganda.
Congratulations to all three Highly Commended teams for all of their fantastic work!
These awards are a great way to celebrate all of the things that we do in the University that ‘Makes a Difference’ both to communities (both local and further away) and the people that work and study on campus. A full list of all of the winning and highly commended projects is available here. It also acts as a great source of inspiration for new projects, which could be built out from our existing research, teaching and operations, or perhaps comprise something completely new! If you have an idea that you think could make a difference – please do get in touch with me at sr.seed@manchester.ac.uk.
Dr Jonny Huck
Director of Social Responsibility