That’s a wrap on Student Impact Awards 2026

That’s a wrap on Student Impact Awards 2026

That’s a wrap on the Student Impact Awards 2026! We had such an incredible evening celebrating the amazing students and staff that work RHSU to make student life better here at Royal Holloway. 

Royal Holloway wouldn't be the community it is without our student leaders. From representation and campaigning to events, advice, sport, and community students have shaped every part of campus life. We saw 426 students step up as reps, over 1965 survey responses shared, and 2,502 students vote for their Officers and Priority 8 making sure student voices were heard louder than ever. From Varsity’s 40 fixtures on and off campus (even if we lost) to celebrating with over 550 students at Colours Ball and 140 at Society Awards and also gave £47.5K to student groups, helping ideas, societies, and projects come to life across campus. Together, students helped run 25 campaigns, including 14 led directly by students themselves and supported 668 students through advice services. And the energy didn’t stop there. We hosted 45 Give It A Go events, 60 student group events in the venue, welcomed over 50,000 students through our doors. The Student Impact Awards was centred around celebrating these incredible students and staff at Royal Holloway. 

We’ve listed our winners and shortlist below and we are so proud of what they have achieved.  

Click the button below to learn more about what each Student Impact winners and shortlist have achieved this year.  

Community Leader of the Year  

Winner: Huda El-Jamal 

Shortlist: Dominika Biel and Naomi Tchesse 

Academic Community of the Year  

Winner: Josh Walker 

Shortlist: Raaina Kumar and Zainab Shaikh 

Student Campaigner of the Year  

Winner: JJ Littleton 

Shortlist: Jakob Bird and Hania Ahmed 

Honourable Mention: Poppy Coates 

Student Inclusivity Champion of the Year  

Winner: Bana Asqalan 

Shortlist: Millie Berry and Clara Unegbu 

Student Advocate of the Year  

Winner: Marie Cordingley 

Shortlist: Molly Hanning and Nathaniel Stone 

Student Staff Member of the Year  

Winner: Freya King 

Shortlist: Poppy Coates and Eleanor Pickavance 

RHSU Staff Member of the Year  

Winner: CJ White 

Shortlist: Annika Swansbury and Francesca Hailey 

University Partner of the Year  

Winner: Alice Gibson 

Shortlist: Nick Barratt and Tom Pease 

President and Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to University Life 

Winner: Delilah Ferry-Swainson 

Shortlist: JJ Littleton and Charlotte Smith 

Honourable Mention: Nathaniel Stone 

Thank you  

You should all be so proud of all your achievements it is really challenging to do all the amazing things you’ve done especially alongside your studies whether you’ve received an award or been shortlisted we had 156 nominations this year and it was so difficult to choose our winners!  

We would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to the teams across the Students’ Union and the University who have dedicated their time to support you all. 

We have absolutely loved being your Sabbatical Officers this year and getting to see all your achievements first hand. Thank you so much for coming and helping us celebrate the inspirational students and staff who work with RHSU to contribute to making student life at Royal Holloway better.