Plymouth College of Art Students’ Union is excited to announce that our members have made the longlist for several categories at The National Societies & Volunteering Awards. The NSVAs Longlist was announced on 23/04/2021 and we were over the moon to see our members had made it to not one but two categories.
The Photographic Society have made it to the longlist of The Collaboration Award after being nominated by the Students’ Union for their Photography Symposium with local artist Robert Darch and local company The South West Collective. The society is led by second year BA (Hons) Photography students Harry McCallum, Mia Hollywood, Jaymee Lewis and Dan Dayment who didn’t let the pandemic get in the way of their activities, instead organising an amazing online event that was open to everyone and was the most successful society event of this academic year in terms of both number of attendees and positive feedback post.
The Symposium “A Conversation between Robert Darch and The South West Collective” featured a talk by Robert Darch, who is a British photographer based in the South West. His work centres around the relationship between physical geography & material culture of locations whilst they combine with contemporary culture and how they influence perception. His narratives are built upon both fictional and non-fictional sources that he builds a narrative that help contextualise a response to a place in his photography. It also featured a talk from The South West Collective, a company run by Plymouth University photography graduates Sam Fradley and Emma Booth. Their aim is to promote art of all forms, including photography, and local curators in the South West. The Collective hopes to open an educational and creative space for artists to learn, grow and adapt as creative individuals.
The second success was that of our very own Student Union President, Harriet Moore. Harriet has made it to the longlist of The Extra Mile Award for going above and beyond for students this entire academic year. She was nominated by several students for running a food bank for students from her flat when the January lockdown was announced.
When the January lockdown was announced, Harriet didn’t want students to miss out on the vital support they received from the Student Union Food Bank, so she took everything home and began running it from her home. She would pop out between meetings to safely deliver to those students who were vulnerable or isolating or facilitate socially-distanced collections. These vital supplies not only contained food, but toiletries, period products, personal alarms and more - to ensure our students had everything they needed to focus on their studies rather than worrying about financial hardships or finding a supermarket delivery slot.
Harriet said “What a nice way to start the weekend… Thanks to those of you who have nominated me for The Extra Mile Award at The National Societies & Volunteering Awards. It's so nice to think someone put me forward for this, and I can't believe I've been longlisted alongside the 12 other wonderful nominees!”.
One student said “Harriet has done so much for us this year, I’m so thankful for all her help and support - I don’t know anyone who deserves this more than her!”.
Stuart Witton, General Manager of Host Students Plymouth, said “You have gone above and beyond for your students throughout the pandemic. This is very much well deserved. Whilst working alongside you, you have always had the students best interest at heart. It's a pleasure knowing you and working in partnership with an outstanding SU team.”
About The National Societies & Volunteering Awards
The National Societies & Volunteering Awards celebrate societies and student volunteering in the UK. The National Societies & Volunteering Awards were created in 2020 by Organised Fun, the home for student opportunities in the UK. They are produced in partnership with the Student Volunteering Network. In universities and colleges across the country, students have been creating inspiring events, running wellbeing programmes, volunteering in schools, hospitals and food banks. They’ve worked hard to make their committees more inclusive, and to reduce barriers to education.
Over 480 nominations were submitted for this year’s #NSVAs from over 75 different higher and further education institutions. The nominations included hundreds of examples of students going above and beyond to support their peers, create inclusive and Covid safe digital events and to volunteer in their local communities.