We’re over the moon to share some fantastic news with you! Our team at the University of Brighton just won a national award for our work in tackling the shortage of blood and organ donors in the UK. How brilliant is that?
We were honoured with the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE), which is a big deal in higher education. Only a handful of teams achieve this prestigious recognition each year, and we’re so proud to be among them!
Our journey began in 2020 when we set up the Donor Research team with funding from NHS Blood and Transplant. Our main goal was to raise awareness about blood and organ donation among young adults, especially in minority ethnic populations, where the shortage was most acute.
To make a real impact, we came up with the idea of the student Champions. We teamed up with first- and second-year students from diverse degrees and ethnic backgrounds at the University of Brighton and Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Together, we worked tirelessly to promote awareness of donation.
It’s been incredible to see our team grow from a few members……
to a strong group of over 20 students and staff.
We’ve delivered teaching sessions and workshops to raise awareness, and we’ve even collaborated with the talented artist Sarah Akinterinwa to create comics targeting minority ethnic groups. We have also teamed up with Wowbagger Productions and The New Black Film Collective to create innovative events!
We’re extremely grateful for the significant funding we received. Last year, we got a £440,000 boost from the Community Investment Scheme, and this year, we were awarded a share of £685,000 funding from the Government’s commitment to promoting donation in minority ethnic communities.
Our project lead, Simonne Weeks, emphasised that our mission is to create a fairer and more equal society through awareness of donation. We strongly believe in empowering students like Joey Fanstone, one of our co-founders, and giving them equal roles alongside academics.
We’re not just about achieving recognition; we’re all about making a difference. Our work has had a significant impact on staff, students, and the wider community. We’re driven by the values of inclusivity, partnership, and creativity, and we’re thrilled that our efforts are being recognised nationally.
The best part is, we get to celebrate our achievement at an awards dinner in autumn 2023! But we won’t rest on our laurels; we’re already gearing up to welcome new students and spread our message even further.
If you want to know more about our work, feel free to check out the link to our Donor Research team’s socials!
And don’t forget to register your choice for organ donation or sign up to become an blood donor together, we can save lives!
Follow us on https://linktr.ee/uobdonorresearch