FD Bulletin – October 2023
Email sent to all FD staff from Ann Allen, Director of Campus Innovation and Development, on Tuesday 31 October. Read more
Latest updates from across the Facilities Directorate
Celebrating the Residence Life Halls Awards 2023
On 11 May, the Residence Life team hosted the Halls Awards in partnership with LUU to celebrate all the achievements of our outstanding Social Committees, Residence Life Assistants and residents of our halls!
Residence Life Assistants (RLAs) are students that live in halls and provide support to the other students living at the residence, while Social Committees are students that volunteer and come together to form a team that organises events and activities for other residents in their hall.
Both teams dedicate lots of time and effort throughout the year to make the halls experience at Leeds supportive and enjoyable so we were thrilled to reward their hard work. We received nearly double the nominations we have in previous years. It was fantastic to see that our students are so appreciative of what they do.
There were winners from across our halls on the night, with the biggest success of the night being Leodis, who took home a massive 3 RLA awards! There was also a fantastic medley performance from the cast of Devonshire Hall’s production of ‘Be More Chill’, which was nominated for Event of the Year.
Attendees included shortlisted students from across our halls of residences, Residential Services and Facilities Directorate staff as well as members of University senior leadership.
Organised by Natalie Cherry (Assistant Manager – Residence Life) and Natasha Pickles (LUU Events Coordinator for Residences) and the rest of the Residence Life team, the event was a huge success enjoyed by everyone who attended.
“It was wonderful seeing so many students and staff come together to celebrate the Halls community and the work going into supporting students in residences. The Residence Life Social Committees and Residence Life Assistants who won awards last week were exemplary of the hard work, dedication and joy that runs through all the work that we do.
I’m particularly happy that we were able to award two students the Halls Hero award, which is an award that any resident can win simply for being a great friend or a supportive flatmate. The number of nominations we received was really exciting and it was lovely to read all the ways in which Residence Life has made an impact on the student experience. Whether it be a great event or a helpful chat with an RLA, residents are clearly grateful for their peers and the work they do.”
– Natalie Cherry, Assistant Manager – Residence Life
Residence Life Assistant Manager wins prestigious industry award
In May the Residence Life Team attended the annual CUBO (College and University Business Officers) Residence Life Conference in Nottingham. The team had the chance to meet other industry professionals, get involved with workshops and come up with new ideas about how to constantly improve students’ experiences in halls.
During the conference, the CUBO Residence Life Star awards ceremony took place. These awards recognise the hard work of Residence Life professionals and students across the country. The big award of the evening, New Professional of the Year, went to our very own Assistant Manager of Residence Life at Leeds, Natalie Cherry!
Natalie was nominated by the Assistant Director of Accommodation and Residence Life, Rebecca O’Hare, and the Residence Life team for all the time and effort she dedicates to helping our students in halls.
Natalie has done incredible work this year. She completely overhauled the Social Committee programme for Residence Life. This is a voluntary role that helps students to develop new skills and organise their own events in halls. Her efforts led to impressive results regarding student involvement with the Social Committees. This included a 38% increase in students volunteering and a 47% decrease in students withdrawing from the programme.
She is also responsible for organising the Halls Awards every year. This is an incredible event where we celebrate the achievements of our Residence Life Assistants (RLAs) and Residence Life Social Committee (RLSC) members. We also reward students that have made other people’s time in halls extra special. This year we received double the number of nominations we did last year, and the event was an overwhelming success.
“I was truly shocked and so happy to win the Residence Life New Professional award. I work with such a fantastic team, and to have them nominate and support me was a really lovely experience. I was happy to be shortlisted in the first instance, so when they announced my name at the awards, I could not believe it!
Thank you so much to my colleagues Sarah, Rebecca, Rita, Dom, Lucy, Josh and Tasha, and also to CUBO for considering me for this prize. I’m really excited to go to America for the ACUHO-I Conference 2023! I think it will be an eye-opening experience and I hope I’ll learn a lot about how Residence Life operates overseas. I’ll be sure to bring back everything I learn to Leeds so that we can continue to improve our service here.”
– Natalie Cherry, Assistant Manager – Residence Life