College social action awards finalists revealed

Staff and student fundraisers and social action volunteers up for this year’s Good for Me Good for FE awards have been announced.

There are 24 teams and individuals on the shortlist this year for the second annual awards recognising exceptional social action efforts in colleges.

The finalists were announced from the main stage of the Association of Colleges annual conference in Birmingham. 

Good for Me Good for FE was launched in 2021. It is now a network of nearly 150 college and charity partners coordinating and calculating the value of staff and student volunteering and community fundraising.

There are eight categories, each with three finalists. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the House of Lords on December 6, hosted by Baroness Barran.

Students Norman Smith from Dudley College, Beth Williamson from Nottingham College and Jack Stone from LSEC are each up for student volunteer of the year. 

And staff members Nichola Thomson Dewey from Barnsley College, Rich Williams from Nottingham College and Rob Stevenson from Burton and South Derbyshire College are vying for the staff volunteer of the year award.

Among this year’s judges were the FE Commissioner, Shelagh Legrave, AoC chief executive David Hughes, NCFE chief executive David Gallagher, and the awards patron and former education secretary, Baroness Nicky Morgan.

Lincoln College’s Penny Taylor has been shortlisted for the second year in a row. Taylor won the staff volunteer of the year award last year for her work with local supermarkets and businesses to create a non-means tested foodbank at each of the college’s sites.

Announcing the shortlist, Good for Me Good for FE co-founder and London South East Colleges CEO Sam Parrett, said “standards for this year’s awards were exceptionally high, reflecting the inspirational social action that is taking place at colleges across the country.”

“We are very much looking forward to revealing the winners at the House of Lords on 6 December and celebrating the many exceptional teams and individuals who make our colleges so very special.”