This Volunteers Week, we are delighted to recognise the contribution that our alumni volunteers make to the Westminster community through the Westminster Alumni Volunteering Awards.

Westminster is fortunate to have hundreds of active alumni volunteers, who selflessly give back to the University by donating their time to support and inspire students and recent graduates.

Through a range of different programmes and events, our alumni volunteer as speakers, mentors, hosts and ambassadors, giving students more opportunities, support and motivation to reach their full potential.

With the launch of the new Westminster Alumni Volunteering Awards, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate five outstanding alumni volunteers and partners for their contribution to the Westminster community.

The Awards

The Awards include five categories, reflecting the breadth of volunteering opportunities at Westminster and the range of ways our alumni get involved. The categories are:

• Alumni Speaker of the Year Award: For alumni who have delivered an outstanding presentation, lecture, workshop or panel discussion to students, colleagues or other alumni.
• Exceptional Support of Students and Recent Graduates Award: For alumni who go above and beyond to provide professional development support to students and recent graduates, through either one-to-one or group sessions.
• Going the Extra Mile Award: For alumni who have provided dedicated support across multiple initiatives or activities.
• Long Serving Volunteer Award: For the marathon alumni volunteers who have supported Westminster for at least three years, giving their time over and over again.
• Volunteer Partner Award: For non-alumni partners who, recognising the potential of Westminster students, generously offer specialist knowledge and insights to support their development.

And the winners are…

Applications were open for colleagues and academic staff at Westminster to nominate the outstanding alumni volunteers they have worked with over the past year. All nominations were assessed by a judging panel at the beginning of May, and after careful consideration our winners have been chosen:

Alumni Speaker of the Year Award – Peggy Elechi (Business Management BA, 2021) and Karl Donaldson (Psychology BSc, 2019)

Exceptional Support for Students and Recent Graduates Award – Ivy Edemafaka (Professional Practice Architecture PG Dip, 2020) and Sam Badcock (Marketing Communications BA, 2020)

Going the Extra Mile Award – Haroon Omar Mahdi (Interactive Media Practice MA, 2018)

Long Serving Volunteer Award – Dr Emily Rosado (Journalism MA, 1999)

Volunteer Partner Award – The Howard de Walden Estate

Volunteering at Westminster

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all our volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteering to support our students and recent graduates, visit our webpage to see how you can get involved.