Blog

Winchester Student Union ranked ‘greenest’ in England

The National Union of Students (NUS) has ranked Winchester Student Union at the University of Winchester as the greenest student union in England in this year’s Sound Environmental Impact Awards.
This year a record 83 student unions took part in the scheme with only five, including Winchester, reaching the prestigious Gold Standard. In addition to being ranked top student union in England, Winchester Student Union scooped up The Ecologist Communications Challenge Award for creating a short film featuring a modern day Charlie Chaplin who promotes good environmental practice.

“It feels amazing to be ranked first in England for these awards,” said Andrew Hodgson, General Manager of Winchester Student Union who also came up with the idea for the black and white film made by second year BA Media Production students, Chris Key and Lewys Brown.

“We weren’t expecting to win,” he added. “It has been absolutely fantastic and a real morale boost for all the officers and staff involved. We consider the greening of our environment to be one of our top priorities and this is reflected in our five year strategic plan.”

This year’s Sound Impact judges described Winchester Student Union as ‘showing a strong commitment to campaigning and behaviour change’. Recent initiatives detailed by Winchester include the ‘Big Tidy Up’ campaign, ‘Lug a Mug’ coffee scheme, mobile phone recycling, the use of Fairtrade and ethically sourced products, and energy saving efforts such as 75 per cent of lighting changed to LEDs with the target of 90 per cent by next year.

The Sound Environmental Impact Awards are run by the NUS, sponsored by The Co-operative in partnership with The Ecologist. Winchester Student Union received their prize at a ceremony presented by Roy Walker, former ITV Catchphrase presenter, at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.

Last year, Winchester was ranked 11th overall and received a Silver Standard award.

The union with the highest green score in the UK in 2009/2010 was Edinburgh University Students’ Association.

For a digital photo please click here. Caption: Winchester Student Union receives the Gold Standard at The Sound Environmental Impact Awards. From left to right: Jez Davis, Andrew Emmerson, Tom Manville, Andrew Hodgson, Gemma Burt, Alex James (Heat Radio, presenter) and Richard Coles (The Ecologist).