Celebrating commitment to wellbeing
It was double delight for the joint winners of a prestigious prize celebrating partnership practices across the University.
This year’s Wellbeing accolade was jointly awarded to Sashenka Jones and the Cleaning and Catering team
The Wellbeing Award – one of the categories in this year’s Leeds Partnership Awards – recognises the effective collaboration between staff and students working across schools and services.
Nominations this year demonstrated how initiatives have involved students, and provided dedication to their wellbeing.
Those in this category tend to be noted for raising awareness, supporting individuals and/or actively referring others at Leeds.
Honoured and surprised
Sashenka Jones, Student Education Service
Sashenka Jones, from the Student Education Service (SES), received her award in recognition of her efforts as a Wellbeing Ambassador.
Of particular note was her efforts to help build relationships between colleagues while working from home.
Sashenka said: “I am honoured and surprised to have won the Wellbeing Award.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed finding new ways to encourage my team to focus on their wellbeing, especially with the challenges faced in the past two years. I volunteered to be a Wellbeing Ambassador in the SES and feel passionately about trying to create a positive/inclusive atmosphere within teams.
“Thank you for the recognition!”
One of her nominators picked out the various team-building activities Sashenka arranged – from quizzes to ‘guess which fridge belonged to each member of the team’! These ensured people took a break from work while helping everyone get to know each other a little better while working from home.
Dedication in difficult times
The award was collected on behalf of the Cleaning and Catering team by Peter Bolger and Jill Roberts
The work of the Cleaning and Catering teams during the pandemic was also highlighted in the Wellbeing Award.
In particular, their tireless efforts in coming to campus to look after the entire Leeds community during periods of lockdown were noted in their nominations.
Jill Roberts, Head of Cleaning Services, said: “On behalf of Cleaning Services, I would like to say how delighted we were to receive nominations from the University community that led to us being awarded the Wellbeing Award.
“It was an honour to represent cleaning services at such a prestigious event and a real achievement being the only non-academic service nominated.
“We have faced many challenges during the past two years, and have strived to improve and promote a more professional service. Therefore, the recognition and award are very much appreciated.”
One of the people nominating the team for the award highlighted their friendliness and ability to help keep everyone else going through difficult times.
They added: “Their support has been unwavering and it would be great if they were recognised for their dedication to Leeds during this COVID period.”
Find out more
The annual Leeds Partnership Awards celebrate the achievements of staff and students who truly put into practice the agreement setting out our shared commitment to work together to support all aspects of our University community.
The winners were announced during a gala celebration on Monday 9 May.
The LUU Instagram feed will also feature reactions from some of the winners.
More in-depth profiles of each of the winners will appear on the For Staff website during the coming weeks. These will also be promoted via the weekly All Staff enewsletters and the Staff Twitter account.
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