Student Volunteering Awards 2025

Published: 4 Apr, 2025

On Wednesday 2 April, 160 students, staff and charity partners came together at Aungier Street for the annual TU Dublin Student Volunteering Awards.

Representatives from LauraLynn, LIFT Ireland, Team Hope, Failte Isteach, FoodCloud and Dublin Simon Community were among our guests. Catering was provided by the FoodCloud Kitchen, and the Courtyard room was decorated by Change Clothes Crumlin for the occasion.

Our Students who connect and give their time to support individuals and communities without financial gain are recognised through our annual volunteering awards. 240 awards were presented to students in the form of medals, certificates, and plaques in recognition of their volunteer achievements. Our Student Volunteering Awards provide an opportunity for students to reflect on their achievements and the positive impact they are making on others and in the world.

Student volunteers embody the most hands-on demonstrations of our Strategic Pillars: People, Planet and Partnership. Our students involved in any volunteering activities qualify for our TU Dublin Pillar of the Community Volunteering Award, including:

• Society or Sports Club Committee Members
• Peer Mentors
• Access Student Leaders
• Class Reps
• TU Dublin Students’ Union RAG or Welfare Crew, or another initiative
• Any volunteering activity or project at TU Dublin or beyond, e.g. coaching for a local sports team, fundraising for a cause, charity shop assistant, climate activism, etc.

If students who are volunteering log sufficient hours (20, 40, or 60), they receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal.

We highly value leadership and entrepreneurial activity at TU Dublin. Staff nominate those students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their volunteering, and we award these student leaders a ‘Lead the Way' certificate.

We have 12 categories of Volunteering Awards, too. These awards recognise the best of volunteering projects that our students participate in and often initiate themselves - on and off campus. The recipients of these awards are nominated by others or complete an application process. Adjudicators support the decision-making process on awardees.

Award Winners

Best Charity Challenge Award

• Awarded to Giovanni Salvatore & Anthony Vlasov for their Run to 40 Debra Ireland Challenge

Best Christmas Appeal Volunteering Award

• The Nutrition Society for a hugely successful Christmas quiz

Most Innovative Fundraising Award

• Olivia Nasyrova, Abdullah Zaidi and Mahmoud Mohamed for their Charity Auction for Afghanistan

Most Creative Volunteering Award

• Faith Omotayo for her Scratch Workshop for girls

Best Educational Volunteering Award

• Charlie Beaudelot – for volunteering activities in a variety of educational projects, helped SpunOut to develop their Empathy Academy and also worked with YouthMedInfo, which is a volunteering project that aims to educate young people about medications in an accessible way.
• Eda Hadzhaoglu – led the team that has organised the recent TEdX event which was hugely impressive. She volunteered countless hours to organise 9 speakers, secure €4.5k in funding, and selling 300 tickets.

Most Inspiring Social Justice Volunteering Award

• Abdulai Mansaray and Brendan Igoe

Best Health & Well-being Volunteering Award

• The award goes to both Ethan Levins and Giada Franzolini

Best Green Volunteering Award

• SVP Society Re-Fridge team
• Aleksander Biegalski, Alex Siedlok and Cosmin Clopotaru for their Re-turn Volunteer campaign on our Bolton St Campus.

Best New Venture Volunteering Award

• Adam Purcell & the new TU Dublin Inter-Primary School Chess Tournament and Ethan Levins – for his initiative Football for Grief

Best Co-curricular Civic Engagement Award

• Aoife O Donnell & Áine Hughes for their Halloween Wheelchair Costumes for Lauralynn Children’s Hospice
• Yvonne Stack, Grace Shimmons, Kate Maguire, Aisling Breslin - Healthy Campus Sustainable Cookbook project

Best Newcomer “Jump-in” Volunteering Award

• Lívia Ferreira Guimarães Neves
• Davide Catania
• Ahmed Ali Shaikh

Best Volunteering Image Award

• Karishma Lalit Koul
• Faith Omotayo & CS++ Volunteer team