Guild Awards 2024: Celebrating success
It was an evening of celebrations, glitz and triumph for School of Medicine students and societies at this year’s Guild Awards at Mountford Hall, with winners clinching three impressive awards.
The Guild Awards recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the University or wider community through their dedication, passion and hard work.
Category: Biggest Impact on the City of Liverpool Award
Winner: SNOGS
This is awarded to those who have gone above and beyond to positively impact the city of Liverpool and this year, the Student Neonatal Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society have hosted multiple teaching and fundraising events.
SNOGS President Katie Howick, who has been on the committee for the past four years, and Secretary Natasha Elliott have worked tirelessly with fellow committee members to raise money for their charities, including their Christmas paint pottery evening, bake sale, and annual charity conference. The latter raised money for both Liverpool Women’s Hospital Chairty and Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service, and their collection points collected products to donate including sanitary items, toiletries, baby items and toys.
Katie says, “Winning this award is an incredible achievement for the society and it was very special to win the biggest impact on the city of Liverpool especially after fundraising for charities we really believe are doing amazing things for the city.
We had two fundraising events this year which have been great successes and we have been in contact with both the Liverpool Women’s Hospital Charity and Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service throughout the year and learnt about the great work they both do.
The highlights this year
We have had many highlights over the past year. Firstly, the Medicine Fresher’s Fair where we spoke about the society with new students and took on board ideas of event suggestions. We had some great teaching events both in person and online, organised alongside our Teaching Rep (Laura) and Events Rep (Lilly), including a Christmas Paint Pottery Fundraiser and Annual Charity Conference called ‘Innovations in Women’s Health.’ This term we have been focussing on providing events to help with exam preparation. We have had a revision day and tickets sold out very quickly and an in person OSCE practice with fifth year examiners.
Getting involved
Our Society has organised teaching events, awareness events and charity fundraisers throughout the year for anyone to get involved with. We also regularly post on social media about important topics to increase awareness and keep in touch with other University societies. We also work with the Guild on the SNOGS in Schools program where volunteers go into schools to deliver sessions on topics such as breast and cervical cancer and contraception.
Future plans
Natasha and I are both graduating and will be passing on our roles to the new committee. There are plans for a national conference, inviting selected charities to deliver talks and to continue the charity donations. I’m sure they will continue to run some great teaching events and collaborate with other societies to ensure everyone can be involved."
BME Medics with Professor Hazel Scott, Dean of the School of Medicine
Find out more
Find more on Facebook and Instagram - @livsnogs.
Category: Guild Values Award
Winner: BME Medics
This category recognises an individual or group who have embodied the Guild Values, creating something extraordinary in the face of adversity.
Change is at the heart of what BME Medics do and they have run many events throughout the year to foster an inclusive environment for all students and have prioritised listening to their members’ feedback throughout the year.
The committee engage in the EDI student-staff liaison group to ensure they are raising any opportunities for creating a more inclusive culture and continue to highlight racial disparities in the healthcare system and break down stigma for conditions that tend to affect people from ethnic minority backgrounds more.
BME President Rhema Otache says, “Winning the Guild Values for us was the icing on what has already been an incredible year for BME Medics society. The Guild values encourage societies to be: fun and friendly; ambitious; innovative and agile; representative and involving; professional and responsible; sustainable.
We feel the BME Medics really embodied those values this year. We created brand new events such as our Brews and Beauty fundraiser for Mary Seacole House, kept up with our amazing teaching sessions and highlighted cultural diversity through the Culture Ball and our social media pages.
Getting the Guild Award shows that the BME Medics is making a difference and bringing about change within the University, the city and the healthcare system. This is at the core of the BME Medics society and something I will be forever proud of being a part of.
BME Treasurer Hazel Owusu-Yianoma reflects on the incredible achievement: “The Guild Award reminded us that we are making a difference and that we hold values that the University upholds. It encouraged us to keep making people feel welcome and set goals for ourselves which will last long into the future.
This was a wonderful night and I enjoyed celebrating the achievements of various societies and students in the University. It was an honour to be recognised for the effort we have put in throughout to pour into the lives of our society members.
It was amazing to me that I have been in this society since I was in first year and it has developed and grown so much since then.
What a journey and how amazing to meet others in the University who have made a big difference. University really helps us to grow and gain new skills and pour back into the lives old those around us and this night proved this.”
Vice President and final-year Student Doctor Megha Prakash has been a member since her second year and has felt the community-spirit the BME truly embodies: “I think the awards that we were nominated for and the one we had the honour to win really embody what we strive to achieve as a society. It has been a place to meet like-minded people and peers who have supported me in my journey throughout medical school, and it brings me a lot of joy to know that as a society we seem to have positively impacted so many of our members too. We are leaving the society in very good hands, and I cannot wait to see everything the new committee accomplishes!
BME Medics enjoy their Brews and Beauty fundraising event at LUSH
The highlights this year
Rhema: “I think my favourite event of the year was the Beauty and Brews event at Lush. That experience was really close to my heart as it highlighted the difficulties women with afro hair face in the beauty industry but also taught our members to celebrate the diversity of their own hair. We also raised money for the Mary Seacole House charity which is doing great work for mental health care among ethnic groups in Liverpool.”
Hazel: “One of my favourite events this year was our Welcome event for the year one students. I absolutely loved watching the first-year students come in knowing no one and leave with some new friends. The games night gave them the opportunity to get to know each other to meet older students. It really warmed my heart to be able to create space to set them off to a good start in medical school.
Future plans
Rhema “In terms of my personal plans, I am graduating and heading off to Manchester to start work as an FY1.”
Hazel: “I too am a final-year student who will be working in the east and making the most of being in the countryside."
Find out more
You can find out more about the BME Medics committee on their Instagram (link) and Facebook (link) pages @bmemedicsliv.
Category: Course Rep of the Year
Winner: Siona Mitra
Each year, this award goes to a Course Rep who has gone the extra mile to improve the student experience and make sure students’ voices are heard by the University.
Year 5 Course Rep Siona Mitra says, “My heart did a double take before I realised I had won the first award of the night. Winning this award is truly a dream come true and I feel so honoured to have received not one but two awards at this year’s Guild Awards.
It’s such a privilege to have been a voice for students over the past five years and be recognized for it.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me by helping provide feedback, voting for me as your course rep three times and for trusting me to be a voice for medical students.
I am incredibly lucky to say that this is the second time I have won this award. I won the award as Year 2 Course Rep in 2020-21 for my work on ensuring international students had a voice whilst remote learning during the pandemic. This time I have won the award as a Senate Rep for the faculty of Health and Life Sciences. It can be a struggle trying to manage medical school alongside extracurriculars so winning the award really helps me show others that it is possible to do it all!
It felt like a culmination of all the hard work, dedication, and passion I have poured into representing and advocating for my fellow students over the past years. Balancing the demanding course and clinical rotations with my responsibilities as a student rep was often challenging, but receiving this award made it all worthwhile. It was a validation of my efforts to create a positive impact and support my peers through the highs and lows of medical school. The recognition also reinforced my commitment to leadership and service in the medical community, inspiring me to continue striving for excellence and making a difference wherever I can.
The highlights this year
I have had so many highlights throughout the past year it’s hard to pinpoint one, but I think ensuring the medical school’s timetable is considered alongside Guild events has been my biggest success. While it may seem simple, it was not something that had been done before. Medical students engage mostly within their own medical student environment and usually only take part in medical societies however this is usually due to the issues with our timetable. As a medical student very interested in a variety of things beyond the realm of medicine, I fought hard to make this easier for anyone in a similar position to me in the future.
I have truly enjoyed being an advocate for the medical school. I have enjoyed being a friendly face that people can come to regarding concerns they want to be escalated but also any positive things that have been going on. I hope I can continue to do so in the future.
Getting involved
Being an international student very far away from home has been a big part of my journey. I submerged myself into a plethora of activities and leadership activities to fill my time and make the most of my time far away from home.
Beyond being a student senate rep, this year I am also the president of Singapore Society and Kpop Society (which won the biggest guild award that night – Society of the Year) along with being the Secretary of Liverpool Paediatrics Society.
Future plans
Next year, I will hopefully be starting as an FY1 in London and I will continue advocating for change in my new community. I have always tried to be a big voice in whichever community I am in and will continue to as a doctor in the near future. I am going to use the skills I have gained through my various experiences as I move into my working life and am truly grateful for all the incredible opportunities the University of Liverpool’s School of Medicine has given me.
Top Tip
No role is too small, and everyone must start somewhere. Take a chance and put yourself forward for any role that interests you no matter how big or strong you have no idea the impact you as an individual can make. Take every chance you can. You will not experience medical school again so do not let any opportunities pass you by!”
Congratulations to all this year's winners!
Discover More
- See a full list of winners via the Guild's website (link)
- Learn more about Course Reps and their role in influencing positive change on the student intranet (link).