Union wins silver at 2008 Sound Impact awards

For the second year running the University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union has been awarded a silver Sound Impact award.

These are national environment awards organised by the National Union of Students to reward Union’s for limiting their impact on the environment. UCLan SU scored 365 points to finished in fourth place out of 70, just missing out on a gold award by 8 points, but were up by 49 points from last year’s score. 

Students’ Union president, Chris Lowden, said: “This award was achieved with a lot of hard work from everyone in the Union but special thanks must go to Pete Fisher-Godwin, Danny Weir and Peter Hill.  

“Students now recognise the importance of the environment and I feel that having this award shows that we as a Union are committed to reducing our environmental impact.”

Len Lewis, executive director of operations at UCLan, said: "This award show that our Students' Union is a national beacon of good practice when it comes to environmental issues.

“Their pioneering work reflects the range of environmental projects currently taking place across the University including our plans to install a solar panel roof on 53 Degrees."

Auditors at the National Union of Students Services Limited (NUSSL), who created the Sound Impact Awards, said: “[There was] an impressive knowledge shown by staff and officers involved in completing the workbook. Officers are dedicated to raising awareness of sustainable living amongst students, running fun and energetic campaigns. UCLan are committed to ethical retailing, promoting Fairtrade and free range products in shop and catering areas.”

The Students’ Union environment representative, Sarah Burnham, was pleased with the result. The 20-year-old public relations and business student said: "I am very pleased we have maintained such a high standard; it is a testament to the hard work and dedication that the Union commits to its environmental performance.

"As we keep pushing ourselves to do better other unions are doing the same, prompting continued improvement across all participating unions. The Sound Impact awards make sure environmental issues remain a primary concern and I hope we continue to push our Union forward and go for gold next year."

The University of Central Lancashire’s health and safety advisor, Peter Hill, who worked with the Union on entering the awards praised the Union’s commitment to the environment.

He said: “This is another great achievement by the SU and a just reward for all the hard work the team has put in over the last year. “It is fantastic to see environmental initiatives being so firmly entrenched in the SU's policies, procedures and day to day activities, we increased our score significantly over last year and it’s a shame we so narrowly missed out on a gold award, lets hope its third time lucky next year!"

Related links

National Union of Students Services Limited (NUSSL)