2023 BUCS Awards Shortlists

Celebrates a student volunteer who has contributed to university and/or community work. This can include working in domestic or international competitions or performance or participation driven projects and programmes.

Hannah is the current Vice President Intramural on the Sports Union Executive Committee and a 6th year Medicine Student. She has been involved with volunteering in Intramural (IM) sport for the past four years, as Medic’s Netball Captain (2019-21), IM Netball Officer (2020-21), IM Coordinator (2021-22) and Vice President Intramural (2022-23), and her knowledge and experience has been invaluable to plugging the knowledge gap on how the programme runs. Without Hannah, our IM programme which provides intra-university sport competition to nearly 2000 students would have likely not been able to run at the level it has this year.

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a coach who has ensured that players’ mental and physical health remained a priority over the last year. It recognises everyone who has a coaching role; whether they be students, volunteers or paid coaching staff.

Claire Cruikshank, Head of Women's Rugby at The University of Edinburgh, has had a monumental coaching year! Selected by World Rugby for the Coaching Intern Programme, she balances numerous international commitments with managing Edinburgh’s successful National League team. 

This award recognises a sports department or institution who have been creative in their digital engagement; whether that be a digital event, running virtual challenges, or other innovative ways they've supported students and staff digitally. It celebrates the improvement of awareness, engagement or participants using digital marketing.

The Sport & Exercise and Sports Union Marketing Teams have been shortlisted for their work making the viewing of sport even more accessible through live streaming, the inventive promotion of opportunities to be active through our Festive Film, Elf and Fitness, and the promotion of student, staff and alumni success at the Commonwealth Games through our Brilliant at Birmingham campaign.

Celebrates a member of staff at a BUCS member institution who has worked tirelessly to support student sport at any level in the last year.

Gary McArthur is the Head Groundsman at Peffermill Playing Fields. Gary was born at Peffermill and has spent his whole life there, working there for over 40 years. Gary is a huge supporter of university football, volunteering every spare hour out of work to do jobs for the men’s football club.