Friday 3rd May saw society members from across Leeds University Union come together to celebrate their collective achievements over the year, in a prestigious awards ceremony that was extra special for Her Campus Leeds.
In attendance after being shortlisted for the “Best New Society” award, I think we were just happy enough with the excuse to sit there and drink wine for 4 hours, and certainly weren’t expecting to win anything. Our category was the first to be announced, and we were up against stiff competition from the likes of Leeds Friends of Syria, Eastern European Society and ZooSoc.
So when Amos Schonfield, the incoming media rep for next year, revealed the winners of the category to be “Her Campus”, I’m not sure that we could quite believe it. We’d won! As I’d never been to the Riley Awards last year, and our award was first, the acceptance protocol was unclear, so rather than descending en masse, just myself and Fran, our new editor, took to the stage. Tottering uncomfortably (wine + heels + nerves = bad idea) up the steps, it dawned on me that there might be the expectation of a speech. All previously rehearsed waffles suddenly disappeared completely from my mind. Blinded by the stage lights, and suddenly lost for words (I’ll blame the mixture of shock and happiness), I happily accepted the award and handshake from Amos, and unsurprisingly, had a microphone thrust into my hands.
For all those who missed it, I have no shame now, but it may have been one of my more embarrassing moments at the time: “Thank you so much, er, thank you, we didn’t really expect to win, we thought that Leeds Friends of Syria would, well done to all the other candidates, but yeah, just, thank you”… cue tottering back off the stage to our seats.
What I really wanted to say up there, was just how proud I’ve been of all our members this year, all their great work and their dedication to what has really been a small start up society. The recognition we’ve received, the Riley award being an example of that, makes all the hard work worth it, and I’m so proud to have led HC Leeds through such a successful year. Thanks very much to Ed Elliott, Activities Officer, for pushing through our application for society status, to all the other societies that we’ve worked alongside this year, and again, to our wonderful, beautiful, amazingly talented members. It has been a pleasure to work alongside you all over the past few months, and I hope that I can continue to do so over the coming year, and that we can build on the success that we’ve found so far. Finally, congratulations to all the other winners and nominees at the Riley Awards, especially our friends at Dance Exposé for winning Best Show, and LSTV for winning Best Media Society.
If I’d managed a speech like that on stage, the ridiculous amount of wine consumption that followed would have been even more deserved. As it stands though, I think the award itself was reason enough to celebrate. All in all, an amazing evening with some fantastic wins and amazing performances, and one that made us feel incredibly proud to be a part of such an amazing student union… UNAY!
A full list of the evening’s winners can be found below:
Best New Society – Her Campus
Best Collaboration – LUU’s Sikh society & Wing Chun society
Best Longstanding Collaboration – LUU Backstage and LUU Stage Musical Society
Best GIAG – Dance
Best Publicity – LUU Music Society
Best Campaign – Leeds Marrow
Most Improved Society – Mixed Martial Arts
Best Fundraising – Islamic Society
Best Show – Dance Exposé present 9 to 5
Best Event – Canoe Society for the National Student Rodeo 2013
Special Recognition and Lifetime Achievement Awards – Various
Best in Category for Culture – Malaysian and Singapore Society
Best in Category for Dance – Freestyle
Best in Category for Departmental – Leeds Law Society
Best in Category for Faith – Leeds Jewish Society
Best in Category for General Interest – Sign Language Society
Best in Category for Martial Arts – Jiu Jitsu
Best in Category for Media – LSTV
Best in Category for Outdoor – Hiking
Best in Category for Performance – LUU Stage Musical Society
Best in Category for Political and Campaigning – Leeds Labour Society and Amnesty International Leeds
Best in Category for Sport – LUU Women’s Hockey Club
Best in Category for Welfare – Leeds LGBT
Best in Category for Volunteering – Leeds RAG
Inspirational Impact Award – Leeds Law Society
Best Society 2013 – LUU Women’s Hockey Club
Image sources:
Caroline Bryce, Fran Foulkes, Bryony Rae Taylor, Rosanna Pound-Woods