Thursday 13-07-2017 - 09:24

The University of Bristol Students’ Union (Bristol SU) has received the Diversity and Most Improved Employee Engagement Awards at the National Union of Students’ Awards.

Bristol SU was one of four recipients of the Diversity Award, following a change in structure of the NUS Awards this year. This year no overall winner was named for each category, but four award beneficiaries were named to demonstrate good practice in each area. This is connected to the ethos of collectivism and collaboration that is being built as a movement.

Des Ibekwe, Equality, Liberation and Access Officer at the University of Bristol Students’ Union said:

"It is an incredible privilege that Bristol SU has received the NUS Diversity Award. This is entirely due to the passion, tireless hard-work and drive to improve the experiences of marginalised and oppressed people by our activists, student volunteers and staff. From our courageous Trans Students' Network fighting for facilities and support, to the fearless BME Students' Networks leading ground-breaking campaigns; our student volunteers time and time again fight to improve the experiences of their peers. With this remarkable achievement that rightly acknowledges and awards our student volunteers and staff, it is important to also acknowledge there is still more to be done!" 

Bristol SU was also named as Most Improved Employee Engagement Winner after seeing a huge increase from 79% to 94% of all staff and student staff saying that “they would wholeheartedly recommend Bristol SU as an employer” in the annual staff survey. This achievement comes at the time of the launch of a new national employer brand “Careers in Students’ Unions”. The Students’ Union sector employs 22,000 people nationally and remains an exciting and progressive sector to work within.

Samantha Budd, Chief Executive Officer at the University of Bristol Students’ Union said:

“It is wonderful to see the achievements of our members and our staff recognised nationally within the Students’ Union movement. Diversity is something that Bristol SU is particularly passionate about and is one of our core values. Being named as Most Improved Employee Engagement Winner is particularly significant given the launch of “Careers in Students’ Unions” which shows that we are diverse, skilled and inclusive workplaces looking to attract and retain talented people.”

The awards were held at the NEC in Birmingham on Wednesday 5th July. Over 144 nominations were received for the NUS Awards 2017.