Union wins top environmental award

UCLan awarded gold at the NUS Sound Impact Awards

It was third time lucky for UCLan Students’ Union as a gold award was scooped at the NUS Sound Impact Awards.

UCLan Students’ Union added 244 points to its score to improve on the previous two years, where a Silver Award was achieved, to score a total of 609 points and be ranked fifth in the UK.

The Sound Environmental Impact Awards is an accreditation scheme to help Students’ Unions do their bit for the environment.

The UCLan team receive the Gold Award at the NUS Sound Impact Awards. From l-r, Lee Bradshaw (former UCLan SU Campaigns officer), Sarah Buckland (UCLan Environment & Sustainability manager), Peter Hill (UCLan Safety, Health & Environment Advisor, Gavin Jones (former UCLan SU President), Peter Shilton Godwin (UCLan SU Chief Executive), Hardeep Singh Kohli (NUS Sound Impact Awards host)

Former President Gavin Jones was delighted at receiving the Gold award.

He said: "It is a great achievement for UCLan Students' Union to be nationally recognised for our commitment to our environmental and ethical values. Winning gold is a true reflection for all the time staff and sabbaticals have been spending on our values and ensuring that this is always at the top of our agenda.

"It's comforting to know the Union cares about the environment, and does anything it possibly can to cut carbon emissions and boost recycling initiatives. It is always nice to me a member of an award winning organisation, and to hold a gold award in this field is great for UCLan's reputation on both a local and national level."

The judges said in their comments they were impressed by the installation of solar panels on the roof of 53 Degrees and a waste audit carried out by masters students.

Former Chairperson of UCLan Students' Union People & Planet society, Steph Steele, said: "I recall the time we were awarded with fifth place in the Green League last year, and saying that there was still room for improvement. Well, we got there!

"Achieving gold in the Sound Impact Awards is incredible and as a student I am proud to be part of such a growing environmentally and ethically minded Union. My only concern is that now the Students' Union has achieved such high standards, its values will disappear.

"There's still so much we can do as a staff and student community, to not only help spread awareness on such woeful topics, but to improve our facilities and investment too. But I guess for now we can celebrate what UCLan, with its big green heart, has accomplished!"

Len Lewis, Executive Director of Operations at UCLan, said: "This is a fantastic achievement and recognises the collaborative efforts of the Students’ Union and UCLan to continuously improve our operations.

"We have worked together on a range of initiatives to promote better management of the environment, which included the installation of a 48kWp solar photovoltaic array on the roof of our Students’ Union building, one of the largest of its kind in the country."

Anna Heywood, Project Founder and Sound Impact judge, said: “The Unions have really stepped up a significant level this year and have surpassed themselves.

“It has been so exciting to see how Unions have been doing everything they can to green all aspects of their operations and universities in a race to the top, and every point they have gained has been good news for the environment.”

At the Awards Night on April 7 2009 in Liverpool, writer, comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli - best known for presenting The One Show on BBC1 – announced that there was just one point between the top three scoring Unions.

Loughborough Students’ Union came first in the Sound Impact Awards with a total of 646 points.

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Union solar panel array officially launched

People & Planet Society praise "immense" green achievement

Related links

Loughborough students scoop environmental award

Sound Environmental Impact Awards 2009 winners

16 April 2009