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CCSU Celebrates Awards is a joint initiative between the Students’ Union, Careers & Enterprise, Graduate Futures, the Student Recruitment and Outreach Team, and the Global Engagement Office that annually recognises the contributions of our student volunteers and representatives at Canterbury Christ Church University.

This year, staff and students will be able to nominate students for the following awards:

Student Voice

• Student Representative of the Year
• Community Organiser of the Year

Mentoring

• Undergraduate Peer Mentor of the Year
• Postgraduate Peer Mentor of the Year

Ambassadors

• Trailblazer
• Campus Champion
• Ambassador of the Year
• International Student Ambassador of the Year

The 'Make It Happen' award

There will also be the opportunity to celebrate students who do not formally support the CCCU community with the Make It Happen award. As an awards team, we will finalise 10 outstanding students who will be recognised with this award, receiving a certificate and a voucher.

With each award section, we need you to include the Full Name of the student (Course where asked) and why you are nominating them. Your nomination can be text or in a video. These nominations will be sent to students following the awards ceremony on Wednesday 27th May. If you do not have a nomination for some of the sections, please put N/A (Not Applicable). 

Nominations open at 10:00 on Thursday 16th April and will close on Thursday 7th May at 17:00.

To nominate a Student Representative (Course and School), a Community Organiser, a Peer Mentor, and an Ambassador, complete the nominations form: Nominate a Student for the CCSU Celebrates Awards 2026!

Student Volunteers

Student volunteers who have met the requirements for Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, will be celebrated alongside our other award winners.

To meet the requirements, students who volunteer inside and outside of the university must log their hours on the Volunteering Log. This includes any hours completed and skills gained since September 2025.

Awards Breakdown:

• Bronze: 50 hours and 2 skills
• Silver: 100 hours and 5 skills
• Gold: 150 hours and 8 skills
• Platinum: 250 hours and 12 skills
• Diamond: 350 hours and 15 skills

Students will have until Friday 24th April to log their hours, to ensure they receive their certificate.

GradForce Completers

This year we will also celebrate and recognise over 25 GradForce Completers who will receive a certificate in recognition of completing the programme over the academic year. 

GradForce is a confidence building employability programme for final year students and recent alumni, especially those from underrepresented groups, designed to get them ready for graduate level employment.

Alongside the completers, a select number of students will be awarded one of the following awards, as decided by the Graduate Futures team:

• Rising star
• Self starter

• Breakthrough

   

Save the Date

To ensure you can celebrate and be celebrated, mark Wednesday 27th May from 16:30 in your calendars for the CCSU Celebrates Awards 2026!

More importantly, block out 14:00-19:00 on the 27th for the Summer Fete! This will be an end of year celebration brought together by the Students’ Union and the University. Expect student stalls, games, music, food and more, all outside Verena Holmes.

For more information - CCSU Events: Summer Fete