On Wednesday 5 May, the LSE community came together to celebrate the student volunteering and fundraising over the past academic year. The LSE Volunteer Centre was excited to host our 10^th Annual LSE Volunteering Awards with LSE staff, students, and charity partners. We were also proud to announce the award winners, chosen from charity and student nominations.

Whilst it was the 10^th annual celebration, it was only the second time that we had hosted the evening online. In some ways this made it even more special, as it is less common to be with our friends and colleagues in this new normal. We were able to share our virtual gallery, which exhibits some of the fantastic testimonies of LSE student volunteers and all the nominations for 2021.

“This evening’s event is about celebrating the volunteering achievements of LSE students and their dedication to so many important causes. It’s also about saying ‘thank you’. Thanking supportive colleagues across LSE, our fantastic charity partners who continue to create brilliant opportunities for our students and, of course, thanking our students for their volunteering which makes a huge difference in our communities.”

David Coles, LSE Volunteer Centre Manager

We were honoured to be joined by Professor Dilly Fung, LSE Pro-director for Education in the Senior Management Committee for LSE. She congratulated all those who had been nominated and thanked everyone for their work in our communities. The LSE Volunteer Centre has been incredibly thankful for Dilly’s support during this year, constantly championing our work and our mission.

“On behalf of the SMC I can offer you the biggest and most heart-felt thank you for all of the volunteering your have done this year”
Professor Dilly Fung

The LSE Volunteer Centre is delighted to be working in partnership with LSESU RAG (Raising and Giving) and it was great to be joined by Alice Rigo-Saitta (BSc Sociology, 2022), RAG President. Fundraising across the charity sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, with in person events cancelled and an increased need for funds. Despite this, Alice was proud to share that RAG had raised over £68,000 this year through online fundraising!

Our final speaker was LSE alum, Marc Claude (MSc Political Science and Political Economy, 2017) who had been involved with the Volunteer Centre during his time at LSE. Since then, we have had the honour of sharing his knowledge as a mentor within our Community Engagement Programme. In his speech, he spoke charismatically about how important volunteering was during his time of study and how a quote from a friend had made him value volunteering in a different way; “if serving is below you, leadership is beyond you”.

LSE Volunteer of the Year

The LSE Volunteer of the Year 2021 was awarded to Ed Unwin (BSc International Relations, 2022) for his enthusiasm and commitment to various volunteering roles. Nominated by City Year UK, he was put forward for his fantastic mentorship in the scheme and support in the expansion of the organisation. We have also had the pleasure of working with him as a Student Volunteering Ambassador and watching him lead the LSE UN Society, publishing a cook book featuring recipes from different members of the LSE community (even Minouche)!

“Winning this award is incredible. Like many people, this year has been a particularly difficult one for me. I spent a lot of it recovering from becoming badly infected with COVID, I had to write my exams lying down in I was so exhausted. However, volunteering through this year really kept me going. It was consistently my favourite part of the week, during very difficult times. Volunteering has a way of completely changing your outlook on the world. When you’re around so many other passionate volunteers and working towards a real purpose it restores your belief in the inherent goodness of people.  I am so honoured to receive this award and so grateful I was able to volunteer this year. I’d love to encourage anyone reading this who has never volunteered before, wants to volunteer, or used to volunteer to find your own ‘favourite part of the week’ by volunteering this Summer. Thank you.”
Ed Unwin (BSc International Relations, 2022)

Outstanding Contribution to the LSE Community

Kitty Thompson (BSc Government, 2021) was awarded Outstanding Contribution to the LSE Community, for her inspirational work in LSESU Sustainable Futures. She lead on the production of ‘The Great Food Fight‘, a report highlighting the environmental impact of LSE’s food waste and recommending various opportunities to reduce this. Her passion for sustainable business and cross-school collaboration shines throughout all of her work. She has always been keen to involve volunteers, departments and other societies, making sure they are well supported and valued.

“LSE is about so much more than the degree you receive at the end, it is about the dedicated and diverse community you become a part of. Having spent this academic year working with so many passionate members of this community to enact positive change, I am so proud of what we have been able to achieve and I am truly humbled to receive this award.”
Kitty Thompson (BSc Government, 2021)

LSE Voluntary Organisation of the Year 

We were proud to announce City Year UK as the LSE Voluntary Organisation of the Year 2021! City Year UK is an education charity dedicated to empowering young people to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in school. The work that they do has been even more important this year as the pandemic highlights the inequalities in the British education system and the feedback we receive from students is always extremely positive. They have also been a part of our brand new project, the Community Engagement Programme, partnering with a group of students to produce a consultancy piece on an issue within the organisation.

We’d like to say a massive thank you to our winners, nominees and supporters across the LSE community and charity sector. In our mission to inspire and empower students to volunteer, you have in turn inspired and empowered us!