Nominations for this year’s Proud to Be Staffs awards are now open and you have the opportunity to get the hard-working people here at the university and union the recognition they deserve.
Katie Ferneyhough won the coveted Union Core Staff member of the year at the last ceremony as part of the GreenPad team. She has since moved on from working at the union, now plying her trade with the NUS, but we got in touch with her to share her memory of winning the award.
“It was an honour to even be nominated,” Katie told us. “Which I know sounds really cheesy but it’s true. When you work at the Union everyone given 110% every single day, so to stand out within an already incredible team was just amazing.
“On the night when they announced my name I couldn’t believe it! I am terrible with things like that so I was really embarrassed, but it was a massive honour to receive that award in front of everyone, and I was really proud to be there alongside my incredible student volunteer team and all the wonderful people at the SU.”
It’s not always easy to explain why you’re good at something, but we asked Katie to give her take on why so many people thought she deserved to win.
“I think for me it came down to passion. I have so much passion for what I do and think that’s what shone through. It gives me the drive to consistently go the extra mile, because every second not being used to educate people about conserving the world around us is a second we shouldn’t lose, so I always tried to use every opportunity to make a difference.
“It’s also really important to recognise the hard working people around you which enable you to do your job, I couldn’t of done all the things I did without my incredible manager Lisa and the incredible hard work from my volunteer team, as well as countless other contributions from the wider Union team, so getting the award reflected on their amazing work just as much as mine.”
“There are incredible staff members working behind the scenes every day to deliver an incredible student experience, and getting that recognised at an individual level is a great way to say a big thank you to staff.”
Of course, the awards are much more than a simple pat on the back for union and university staff. As Katie explained, they give the hard-working individuals across the board the recognition they deserve and show everyone why they should be Proud to be Staffs.
“Proud to be Staffs to me means that I’m part of the Union family for life,” she said. “I will always be proud to have been part of the team at Staffs, they taught me a huge amount and I have never worked with such incredible, passionate students.
“Of course I will always be proud, luckily for me I still get to come to the campus frequently so I’m never too far away. How can you not be proud to be part of such an incredible team?”
To submit a nomination for someone you know at this institution that makes a huge difference, please go to www.staffsunion.com/proudtobestaffs.