Bristol SU unveil awards shortlist ahead of glitzy annual bash

Bristol SU have today announced the shortlist for this year’s Students' Union awards, ahead of the dinner to be held on Friday June 8th at the Richmond Building.

The night either “celebrates amazing student and staff achievement” in the previous twelve months or is nothing but “a meaningless façade” according to whether you were nominated or not. There are thirteen awards, with three nominees for all but one category, with Santander performing the necessary sponsorship duties.

First up, the Volunteering Award for “a community-based project” will be decided between StreetDoctors, Cristina Rice and Feed The Homeless. The Student Leader of the year will go to either the head of Civ Society, Kickboxing Society or the Wellbeing Network with Siddhant Shah, Victoria Turner and Abbie Jessop the three respective nominees.

Image from the 2016/17 awards

Meanwhile the Education Award for “an academic rep, group or individual” will be battled out between Joe Allen, Conor Mason and Helen Inman. Claudia Bell, Cassandra Lek, Oli Soutar and Janice Choi are the shortlisted quarter for the PLIS employability award.

In a year of intense political activity, only three groups could make the final cut for ‘Campaign of the Year’. ‘Keep Our Communities’, set up to oppose the controversial hall changes, succeeded in overturning the SU’s stance in a referendum on the issue by a nine to one majority and has subsequently been rewarded with a nomination here. The Bristol Student Staff Solidarity Group – which famously occupied part of Senate House for three days – is another worthy nominee on the list as is Reclaim the Night, noted for its campaigning effort on the issues of sexual consent and assault.

For the prestigious student media award, there was shock and surprise as the august institutions of Epigram, Burst and UBTV failed to make it onto the shortlist. Fittingly in ‘the age of rage’, everyone’s favourite anonymous Facebook venting page Bristruths was nominated, with one well-placed source suggesting that the admins were debating how best to keep their much-cherished anonymity. The other two nominees were Second Year Medic Neha Maqsood and some two-bit lowlife hack involved with The Tab.

The SU offices where the magic happens

In a tough year for the SU, four staff members stood out for their exceptional efforts. Jayne Hufford and Rebecca Miller were nominated as a duo for the SU Staff Member Award with Bex Evans and Ann O’Malley- universally known as ‘Democracy Ann’ – completing the shortlist. Joe McAllister, Jane Reynolds and Ali Mokrane were the shortlisted for the wider University Staff Member trophy. Cycling, Badminton and Women’s Rugby are up for the Sports Club Award whilst Students for Global Health, A Cappella and Latin American & Ballroom Dancing comprise the Society Award shortlist.

Elsewhere, Aisha Rana-Desmukh and Chanté Joseph, Lara Lalemi and Neha Maqsood made the cut for the much-treasured Equality and Diversity Award. Finally, Bristol Students Junk Food Café, Roots Community Gardening and Fossil Free Bristol were the trio shortlisted for the Sustainability Award whilst Aashiyana, Reclaim the Night and East Meets West have all been nominated for the Collaboration award.