Awards

Access and Community Engagement have won numerous awards for our work over recent years including:

Awards and Best Practice 09/10

vinspired Regional Youth Volunteering Bridge Award - Parklife Community Cohesion Festival
vinspired Regional Youth Volunteering Transform Award - Blind in Business Mentoring Support
Community and City Pride Business and Community Partnership Project of the Year Runner Up - Corporate Social Responsibility Project
Leeds for Life Citizenship Awards Outstanding Contribution to Society - Abi Foster
Leeds for Life Citizenship Awards Health and Wellbeing Award - Sexpression

Awards and Best Practice 08/09

Heritage Lottery Award for the Leeds Hippos Project
Yorkshire Young Achiever Award - Jordan Denton
Adult Learner Award -Eleanor Longden
Access Programme Award - Katie Johnson
Volunteer of the Year award - Helen Johnson
Project of the Year Award - Green Streets
Green Gown Award - Green Transport Plan

Awards and Best Practice 07/08

NIACE, ESF national award winner - Ozzie Wooden Tops (Amaze Yourself)
NIACE Adult Learners Yorkshire and Humberside - Chris Lister (Amaze Yourself)
Lifelong Learning Centre, Leeds University Award winner - Chris Lister (Amaze Yourself)
West Yorkshire Learning Partnerships Management, Leadership, Innovation and Enterprise Award winner - Philip Kirby (Amaze Yourself)

Awards and Best Practice 06/07

Exceptional Project Winner - Higher Education Volunteering Awards for the Young People in Public Care Project
Shortlisted for Times Higher Award - Excellence and Innovation in the Arts for collaboration with Opera North
Yorkshire Young Achiever in Education – Chantelle Ainsworth (Access to Leeds Student)
Yorkshire Young Achiever – Stephen Bloxham (Skipton Building Society Scholar)
Times Higher Awards –shortlisted for Skipton Scholar programme
Shortlisted civic pride award – Corporate Social Responsibility programme
HEACF volunteer of the year - Ben Spier, mentor
71 best practice guide entries to HEFCE document
Mentoring company of the year

05/06

Big Issue Big Difference Award – Refugee Support Network
Times Higher Awards finalist - Grey Panther
Mentoring Company of the Year
Civic Pride Award – Up Your Street Project
Yorkshire Young Achiever Education - Jawad Sakhi
HEACF volunteer of the year - Kirsten Edmondson and Nicola Pullan
4 best practice guide entries to HEFCE document

04/05

NIACE award - Optimise
Awarded matrix accreditation for Pre-Entry Guidance
Yorkshire Young Achiever Education - Lacey Bates (Robert Ogden Scholar)
HEACF special award volunteer – Elizabeth Sheppard
HEACF awards arts activities award
HEACF awards cultural outreach programme

Case Study Accredited Volunteering

The University of Leeds, through the Access Academy, offers accredited volunteering for students who take up placements in local schools. Six departments at the University of Leeds offer a 10 credit module in subject-specific volunteering. The modules are developed by the departments and placements are co-ordinated centrally by the University's Access Academy. Approximately 140 students participate through sports science (50), mathematics (25), physics and chemistry (20), earth sciences (5), modern languages (15) and geography (25). »» Read More

Case Study Community Engagement

This case study aims to explain the strategic approach adopted by the University of Leeds to building links with the community. The University is at the forefront of community engagement, being one of the first to develop a community relations strategy, employ a full-time community liaison officer and develop a community-sensitive housing strategy. This strategic approach has given focus and purpose to project development and enabled community engagement to become embedded in the core activities of the University »» Read More

Case study University of Leeds Evaluation

The University of Leeds through its Access Academy provides a comprehensive infrastructure and dedicated staff resource to support volunteers, working in local schools, in all aspects of their placement. A team of nine staff ensures the service to over 500 volunteers continually improves and evolves every year to enable the University to provide the best student experience and provision to local schools. »» Read More

Case study University of Leeds Infrastructure

The University of Leeds through its Access Academy provides a comprehensive infrastructure and dedicated staff resource to support volunteers, working in local schools, in all aspects of their placement. A team of nine staff ensure the service to over 500 volunteers continually improves and evolves every year to enable the University to provide the best student experience and provision to local schools. »»Read More more

Case study University of Leeds Jump Start

The City and Regional Office is responsible for ensuring that the University makes a full contribution to the social, economic and educational development of the city and region. The University recognises that it can play an integral role in the regeneration of local communities and recently launched a programme of activity to support the regeneration of east Leeds, which led to the development of the Jump Start initiative. »»Read More

Case study Leeds University Community Initiative (LUCI)

Leeds University Community Initiative (LUCI) was piloted during the 2003-04 academic year as a grant scheme available to students and staff from the University of Leeds. It attracted a considerable amount of interest and a total of £6,632 was awarded to 11 successful applicants. The project aimed to generate interest among staff and students to deliver their own innovative and engaging projects to support the communities in which they live. »»Read More

Case study (2005) The University of Leeds Recruitment

The University of Leeds' Access Academy recruits over 500 volunteers every year to take part in a wide range of volunteering projects. The main recruitment drive takes place in the third semester for all returning students and a smaller recruitment drive during freshers' week for first-year students. An extensive recruitment campaign has been developed by the University to inform all students of the benefits of volunteering and opportunities to volunteer. »»Read More

Case study (2003 updated in 2005) The University of Leeds Refugee Support Network: encouraging non-participating students to volunteer

During the academic year 2002-03 the University became involved in the Refugee Support Network (RSN), a self-help group set up by primary and secondary school teachers working with pupils whose first language is not English. The pupils come from different backgrounds, most being children of asylum seekers and refugees, others moving to the UK because of their parents' work, but all have immediate need of language support. The University is well placed to support such a demand due to the large numbers of international and language students. »»Read More

Case study (2005) University of Leeds Staff Volunteering

For the last two years the University of Leeds has taken part in a city-wide appeal -Cares@Christmas - to collect gifts, including food hampers, goodie bags, sets of toiletries and kitchen essentials, for local charities. Seventy-three staff volunteers have contributed to the appeal to date which has enabled the University to collect over 8,000 gifts to make a difference to the people of Leeds during the festive period. »»Read More

Case study (2005) University of Leeds Training

The University of Leeds' Access Academy undertakes training for over 500 student volunteers annually to take up placements in local schools. The training is a compulsory part of an overall procedure to ensure that the students are both prepared for their placements as well as being informed about the school's responsibility in supporting their volunteering activity. »»Read More

Case study (2004) The Up Your Street Project

The Up Your Street Project is a joint initiative between the University of Leeds and Community Action at Leeds Metropolitan (CALM). The aim of the scheme is to improve the environmental image of the areas of high student population that is a cause of concern to some local, long-term residents.

The need for the project has been established in conjunction and consultation with local communities. The University of Leeds Community Liaison Officer regularly attends local meetings of residents' groups and community involvement teams and the project is a joint response to addressing this need. »»Read More