Events

Staff Awards 2022

The inaugural University of Suffolk staff awards: “Celebrating Suffolk” was held on Friday 21 October 2022 and the event was a resounding success — bringing together staff from all corners of our institution to celebrate all that we have individually, and collectively, achieved over the past few years. The ideas and meticulous planning of a very small group of colleagues came to fruition in a way, even more special than we could have hoped — and the transformation of the graduation marquee to the stunning celebration venue was remarkable.

The event saw nearly 350 of our staff ‘dress to impress’ and come together to enjoy an afternoon and evening of reflection, laughter, recognition, and celebration. The event was hosted by BBC Radio Suffolk legend, Mark Murphy, who guided us skillfully through the afternoon, with tales of celebration from his career which echoed the theme of ‘Celebrating Suffolk’. We were able to learn of all the great achievements of our wonderful staff – both inside and outside of work, and we cheered the nominees across all the eight categories – with some awards being so difficult for the judges to decide, that we had multiple winners!

We enjoyed ‘The Big University of Suffolk Celebration Quiz’ — a quirky quiz to test the University knowledge of our staff which got us all on our feet and resulted in much laughter in the marquee. The evening entertainment took over with the wonderful Jake Banfield mesmerising us with his magic, delicious food was served, a live band played, colleagues danced and there was joy and merriment until the evening ended.

It was so important to recognise and thank our staff — whether they were winners of awards or not. The camaraderie and happiness in the room was what Celebrating Suffolk was all about — a time to come together, to have fun, and to reflect on all that makes us great — as colleagues, as an educator and as an employer. We are already thinking ahead to next year!

Julie Burton, Director of People & OD

Alison Jones: It was a great evening and lovely to come together to celebrate our achievements over the last two years, and made even more special for me by winning the Outstanding Contribution to Wellbeing Award. I was very touched to have been nominated in the first place and to win was a pleasant surprise. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make it such a fantastic event!