KCLSU Awards 2011 Programme
[Page 1]
[Front cover]
[Tuesday 31 May 2011]
[Tutu’s, Macadam Building, Strand Campus]
[Page 2]
Campaigner of the Year
Lukas Kudic Gloster
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
Mike Kalmus-Eliasz
Campaign Group of the Year
KCL Sexpression
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
KCL Marrow
Fundraiser of the Year
Ammar Zaki
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Rachel Adams and Chloe Clark-Papasavas
Fundraising Group of the Year
Islamic Society
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
KCL Marrow
Volunteer of the Year
Rachel Adams
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Faheem Ahmed and Francesca Eddy
Volunteering Group of the Year
KCL Pro Bono Society
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
KCL Marrow and Bangladesh Society
Student Media Contributor of the Year
Matt Quinton
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Matt Abbott, Esther Beadle and Freya Pascall
Student Representative of the Year
Francesca Howes
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Faheem Ahmed and Ana da Silva
Academic Representative of the Year
David Bendell
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Henrique Carvalho and Katarzyna Siolkowska
Vice President’s Shield
Duana Cook
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
Kevin Wanxin Luan
President of the Year
Mike Nose Ehima
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Rachel Adams, Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, Ali Ghassemi and Neeraj Shah
Best New Society
KCL Wilderness Medicine Society
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
KCL Interfaith Network
Society of the Year
KCL African and Caribbean Society
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
Bangladesh Society, Dance Society, Islamic Society, KCL Marrow and KCL Radio
Burt Brailsford Award
Amy Nagle and Ali Goodbrand
Vice President’s Cup
Gemma Legg and Matt Camilleri
Sports Person of the Year
Rachel Howard and Antonio Infantino
Team Colours
KCL Men’s Table Tennis 1st
KCL Men’s Rugby 1st XV
KCL Women’s Volleyball
Most Improved Club
KCL Women’s Rugby Club
congratulations to the other nominee in this category
KCLMS Men’s Football Club
Club of the Year
KCL Table Tennis
congratulations to the other nominees in this category
KCL Men’s Rugby Club
KCL Amateur Boxing Club
[Page 3]
in the academic year 2010/2011, the following were awarded
The President’s Wreath
in recognition of an extraordinary contribution to KCLSU and the King’s College London community and
for improving the student experience
Isobel Ige - Isobel is a prime example of the high calibre staff within the college and is an invaluable
member of the Geography department. She goes far beyond her job requirements to ensure that first
year students receive as much support in their first week as possible, whilst also being responsible for
department deadlines, trips, lectures, lab work, and timetables. Isobel has also been instrumental in the
success of the student staff committees and the course reps within the department.
Amit Malde – A pillar of the venues team, and of KCLSU for nine years, Amit inspires confidence and
respect in all those students fortunate enough to work alongside him. Striving to make our venues safer
and more inviting for all, Amit has shown an unparalled passion and dedication to King’s and KCLSU
that will be sorely missed by student staff and managers alike.
Ian McFadzean – By taking the time to understand the needs of students and ensuring they have the
very best experience, Ian has transformed the school of biomedical sciences into a beacon of best
practice. Whether defending students on misconduct committees, introducing schemes to combat
plagiarism or merely backing ideas from the students' union in committees, Ian is always sure to push as
hard as possible in the name of students.
Mona Vaidya - Mona has worked tirelessly to improve student engagement with the health centre,
helping KCL Sexpression to write their sexual health website and providing STI testing kits for them to
test students - resulting in more students tested by the health centre than before. She has also worked
with KCL Radio to produce health podcasts posted on the King's Health Centre website. Additionally
Mona, has shown a sterling commitment to student welfare in giving talks to international students at
their Fresher's fair, launching an art project to help students claim the health centre as their own and
further engaging students on a number of different levels.
[Page 4/5]
in the academic year 2010/2011, the following were awarded
Half Laurels
in recognition of an excellent contribution to KCLSU and the King’s College London community.
Chukwumbudike Aghaji - DK has been actively involved in Student council in 2009- 2011, running for
chair in at least one of those years. This year Council enabled KCLSU to be at the forefront of the Higher
Education Funding campaign, giving us an unprecedented amount of local and national exposure and
influence.
Fiona Allen - In addition to juggling a challenging course, Fiona is also the community relations officer
and chair of the SHINE committee this year. She ensures that all children are suitably matched with their
mentor and that the child-mentor relationship progresses throughout the period of the year. Fiona also
finds the time to continue mentoring a child at Snowsfields primary, for the fifth year.
Laura Arowolo – Founding member of the KCL Impresarios this year, a new society aiming to bring
bright ideas held by other KCL societies to the forefront through events management. They were key in
fundraising for selected charities, including the Evelina Children’s' Hospital and the Pakistan aid fund.
They recently held a successful fashion show which raised money for the Amar Jyoti Trust. Laura has
also been a regular contributor to ROAR.
Daniel Asserati - For the entirety of his time at King's, he has been a hugely popular member of the
Football Club but his influence and reach goes far beyond that. Dan was elected Club President for his
third year; responsible for generating increased funding for the club, organised the first KCL/KCLMS
preseason tournament, now an annual event, and arranging the club tour. Also a member of the very
first Sports Council, Dan worked on the Social Development Group to ensure healthy competition
between Medical and non-Medical students. In his final year, Dan was elected on to the Student Council
and greatly assisted in the campaign against the rise in tuition fees. Dan was awarded a MyScholarship
in 2009 and 2010 for maintaining academic excellence on top of all his extra-curricular commitments.
Catherine Cashell - A very active and involved member of the King's College community, Catherine has
represented KCLMS Netball and been heavily involved with both RAG and MedSoc where she held the
positions of ‘Events organiser’ and ‘Treasurer’ respectively. She was instrumental in the success of
RAG2007 which saw one of the most successful RAG weeks in memory and took enormous pride in
being heavily involved in the opening of a new liver ward at King’s as a result of the success.
Thomas Clayton - As Student Council Chair this year, Thomas has been eternally reliable, passionate
and eager to engage others in the work of council. He attended Trustee Board meetings, spoke at the
AGM and was at the heart of the KCLSU effort for the DEMOlition March against a rise in tuition fees in
November. He was also successful in proposing a motion for a new representation system in halls,
which we will see being phased in from October 2011, and this year has been the KCL Cricket Club
treasurer.
Ana da Silva - Ana has led KCL Disability Awareness to new heights and has selflessly served students
within King’s. In addition to being voted onto the NUS disabled students committee to represent and
support all disabled students studying in London universities, Ana has been further assigned to
becoming an NEC representative where she is continuing to push and support disabled students on
national level but still maintains a one on one interaction with all students who require her support.
Richard Daniels - Richard has been an active member of the KCLSU and KCL community throughout
his time at university, involving himself in a variety of areas of student life. He was the President of the
Jewish Society and NUS compositor in 2008, elected onto the RAG committee before turning his efforts
to student council in 2009 and 2010. He was extremely vocal in introducing and passing motions to
amend several radical motions, bringing them in line with mainstream student body opinion including a
motion supporting the UCU strike on the condition that exams and exam marking/feedback are not
disrupted and allowing a safe space from hate speech on campus. Richard is passionate and driven
about student rights and politics Richard has been extremely committed for a number of years now.
Elliot Dapple Chidwick – Elliot’s talents on the turntables are much loved by a great number of students
who listen to his entertaining music show on KCL Radio or who catch his sets in The Waterfront on a
Wednesday night. He is deserving of this award for his continual contribution to the social aspect of the
King’s community.
Johnny Dixon - An active member of the KCL Engineering Society for the past two years, a member of
the Engineering SSLC and a fond member of the division Johnny has been integral in the lobbying of the
college against the closure of the Engineering department, and is currently working with college to
improve facilities on campus. Jonny is also the founding member of the KCL Pub Quiz society which has
raised considerable funds for breast cancer research charities and was also amongst the first involved
members of the KCL Pod and played an active role in supporting the move from KCL Pod to KCL Radio.
Francesca Eddy - Francesca has been volunteering for KCL Sexpression for almost 5 years teaching
Sex Education in a number of schools across London, donating her time and effort to improve the
volunteering equipment used by Sexpression as well as forging strong links with healthcare
professionals. Francesca has made the Sexpression website almost entirely by herself, and
impressively, the national Sexpression committee want to use it as a model.
Rebecca Elvin - Rebecca won a number of international and King’s scholarships to take the MA in
Conflict Resolution in Divided Societies in the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Programme. Since
the moment she arrived she has channelled every ounce of her energy into making the student
experience on the post-graduate programme an enjoyable experience. As the hub around which the
student body co-exists she has created a close community atmosphere/experience amongst the Masters
students through her enthusiasm and gusto. At the centre of bringing the former Prime Minister of
Lebanon to King’s and running events for the students, the highlights of which included visits from the
UK Ambassadors to Jerusalem, Baghdad and Beirut. Rebecca has remarkably managed to balance her
activities and achieve outstanding academic results consistently producing work close to publishable
quality.
Amy Evans - Amy has stood out as one of the most committed members of academic board this year,
attending meetings outside of board meeting with other representatives and promoting the role to other
postgraduate students to ensure they felt able to feed in any concerns/ideas.
Nathan Gauge – As Events Director and President of KCL Surgical Society, Nathan has displayed great
management and leadership skills, along with an unrivalled dedication to the society. He also was key
for the success and smooth running of the Trauma Conference which was enjoyed by a great number of
students.
Hari Hanan – In organising new, exciting and inclusive events for the MedSoc Freshers week, Hari
captured the attention of the new students leading to their increased involvement throughout the year.
His energy and his playful yet welcoming personality has contributed greatly to the increased
participation the health schools have seen over the last two years. As President Hari has continued his
role in overseeing events but has strived to increase involvement and participation across all areas of
university life including the GKT musical and Xmas show, House system and also RAG. Hari’s efforts as
have had an incredibly positive impact on the experience of students at Guy's.
Rohan Hooda - Rohan served as VP of KCL Emergency Medicine Society, and was the real driving
force behind the great events which occurred through his tenure, organising events, lending guidance to
new event managers and was always on hand and willing to do whatever it took to make an event
happen. Rohan was an integral figure in the success of the Trauma Conference.
Safa Jahan - Safa has taken huge steps in the college community as Chair of the School of Medicine
Thomas Addison House system. She has organised House and inter-house events throughout the year
increasing student participation within the House scheme.
Mohammed Kashif Khan – Rebuilding a previously defunct society is no easy task but Kashif’s
revival of Mathsoc has set the foundation for future generations of mathematicians to reach their full
potential. The MathSoc team created a new website with forums allowing students get their questions
answered within 24 hours, incorporated extracurricular events with academic activities, conducted
several meetings with senior staff within the Department, to air student concerns. Additionally Kashif
voiced the concerns of pupils as Student Representative; and also volunteered for ‘Operation Christmas
Child’ .
Natalie King - Natalie King has been a very committed member of KCL Sexpression for several years
serving on the committee as treasurer, and also getting fully involved with arranging events for SHAG
week, supporting and publicising the week, and most impressively helping to test a massive 53 people
for Chlamydia at the Sports night in Guy's bar. Natalie has been an amazing asset to KCL Sexpression
this year.
Tharani Mahesan - Tharani is a dedicated student who in her five years at King's has shown
tremendous dedication to a number of societies. Last year Tharani was president of the student medical
education committee. This committee acts as representation for the medical school, ensuring the student
voice is heard, and also organises revision and information events. She is also an active volunteer within
SHINE, liaising with six schools to ensure that mentoring ran smoothly and that the children who are part
of the program made the best use of the opportunities this provided them with. Additionally Tharani
continues to actively contribute to the wider King's community as a member of student council and as
student staff.
Tarek Najm - Tarek has always been an active member of the student body. As a Venues supervisor he
has endeavoured to engender a sense of fun and teamwork amongst the student staff - organising
parties and raising morale when ticket sales were low by taking the initiative to promote nights in his
spare time. Academically, Tarek has worked as a representative on the Engineering SSLC and in the
KCL Engineering society not only helping to engender that same sense of community amongst his peers
but effectively representing his colleagues where possible, in particular fighting the corner of international
students. He has been a member of KCLSU Student Council for 2 years including successfully running
for Chair in 2009 – 2010 and becoming an NUS delegate for 2010 – 2011.
Freya Pascall - As KCL radio's features editor she played a major role in the radio's coverage of the
recent KCLSU elections. Over the past 18 months, Freya has dedicated much of her free time to KCL
Radio, which we are now well and truly experiencing the benefits of. Acting as Features Editor, she had
a large part to play in the first live broadcast from Varsity. She has also invested lots of time into the
elections and that week racked up as many hours as the candidates, something which has gone
unrecognised, in the aim of engaging as many students as possible in the voting process.
Shian Patel – Shian has contributed greatly to university life as both a senior member of MedSoc and as
a writer/director/actor in the Christmas Show. As MedSoc Events organiser and subsequently as Vice
President he worked tirelessly to come up with ideas and set up events that would appeal to as many
students as possible. He was also the director and writer of the show performed at the UH Revue in
2010 which resulted in GKT winning the Moira Stewart Comedy cup ahead of the other London Medical
Schools. He has also been outstanding at nurturing talent and encouraging the participation of younger
members of the university.
Will Pettersson - Will has been an active and involved student at KCL since 2005 and is currently
studying a PhD at the IOP. In 2010 Will took on the demanding and time consuming role of chair of the
IOP Student Forum. Will has worked to ensure the legitimacy of the forum, furthering its role in
developing the student experience at the IOP and ensuring a level of partnership between students and
staff.
Matt Quinton - As Student Editor of ROAR this year Matt has forgone sleep to ensure the timely
publication of ROAR on numerous occasions and also sat on the panel as part of the ULU Student
Media Awards 2011. This Year Matt has also been a reliable member of Student Council. Notably,
during the elections he helped organise the ROAR special edition, and managed the roar blog current
content and updates of the election, bringing this to a wider student audience. He has been managing to
juggle his studies, Roar and working part-time for The Sun, and really proved himself to be a fantastic
journalist during the Spring Elections.
Alireza Shirz Nejad - It is hard to think of an area of student life that Alireza is not involved in. He has
been president of the King's College London Engineering Society in 2010 - he has been heavily involved
in the KCL Radio and has also volunteered a lot of his spare time to supporting the VP Academic Affairs
with raising plagiarism awareness. Ali is also the second year rep for the KCL Engineering SSLC and
has always been effective at bringing up issues and following them through. He has gone above and
beyond that would be expected in many of the roles he holds and therefore deserves a laurel award.
Freddie Slaughter - Freddie is a keen committee member of the KCL Film Soc and presents a very
entertaining and popular music show on KCL Radio. His talent as a DJ is renowned among students,
and he performed at the welcome fair 2010. He plays at the Waterfront every Wednesday to the delight
of the sports crowds and I believe he deserves a half-laurel for his services to the social life of students
at King's.
Marcus Tan - has spent all 5 years of his time at King's involving himself in many societies, both medical
and non-medical. Marcus was first vice-president of the Japan Society. He was also vice president, and
currently president, of KCL Integrative Medicine Society. He has also helped establish links with the new
KCL Radio Society. Marcus’ passion for the piano has also lead him to produce Delicious Piano Music
through KCL Radio. In addition to showcasing his own talents, he has also proactively sought out other
suitable participants, encouraging them to give their best, and through these efforts helping the radio
station secure 200, 000 listeners in December 2010 alone!
Zayd Tippu - Zayd has been at the heart of Marrow’s record breaking fundraising efforts. He organises
clinics to sign up volunteers and events, maintains excellent links within the university body and plays an
important peer to peer support role teaching others all he has learnt.
Sammy Wu - Sammy Wu has been a member of KCL Sexpression for several years, including holding
the position of joint president last year. She has committed a lot of time to the cause during her
intercalated BSc helping at many Sexpression events including testing a record 53 people for Chlamydia
at the Sexy Sports Night.
[Page 6/7]
in the academic year 2010/2011, the following were awarded
Laurels
in recognition of an outstanding contribution to KCLSU and the King’s College London community.
Rachel Adams - Rachel has worked tirelessly for Project Zimbabwe for the last 3 years, establishing a
sustainable collaborative peer education link between students here at King's and at two separate
universities in Zimbabwe. Her commitment to fundraising and increased awareness for the cause is
without question and has led to such success that the projects are now linked with organisations such as
THET, KHP, ZHTS and the IDU. King’s medical students are even able to do electives in Zimbabwe
funded by the ICS scheme from the Department for International Development, using the links and
projects that she has set up there. Her tenacity and endeavour have been a true inspiration for all those
who have been involved with MedYouth and Project Zimbabwe.
Francesca Allfrey - Fran co-formed KCL Radio(formerly the Pod) in 2009 and has been their station
manager since - assisting in the running of the station, showing extremely high levels of dedication and
facilitating student interest, as well as maintaining it. This year she has trained a number of students to
use the equipment, provided scores of podcasts for the College and of KCLSU events and led the team
to deliver its first live broadcast for The London Varsity. Her dedication and passion for student media is
unlikely to diminish as she takes over the mantle of Vice President of Student Media and Engagement
next year.
Ahmad Bakhiet - Ahmad’s devotion and service to all aspects of the university community is exemplary.
He is currently a Laboratory Demonstrator, helping PhD and MSc students deliver Computer Science
Laboratory sessions to first year undergraduates. He was previously a Senior Student at King’s College
Halls organising social activities and providing advice and guidance. Now he is the Network Coordinator
responsible for supporting over 450 students daily. Ahmad organised the first ever KCL Business Club
‘Apprentice Challenge’ where the team raised over £500 for charity in under 3 hours. He has also found
the time to be the Academic Representative for his year group, bringing forward all the concerns of his
fellow peers and also served the college on a wider scale both as Chairman of the Student Council and
Chairman of the Accommodation Scrutiny Committee ‘08-‘09.
Esther Beadle – Taking on the role of Deputy Editor of ROAR, Esther has often been found in the
Macadam Building in the small hours ensuring deadlines are met to bring students the latest news and
views with the classical humoristic edge King’s students have come to expect. Esther has been at the
forefront of student media developments, working closely with KCL Radio, starting a music radio show
and the ROAR blog. She works extremely hard at promoting student media to a wider audience and has
imparted her skills and knowledge to a number of others to build on her good work. As a student
councillor Esther was a key figure in the HE Funding Campaign, actively engaging with the HE Funding
Working Group and working tirelessly to promote the Political Tube Crawl, the e-petition, and gather
support from well-known faces on twitter. Her recent campaign during the Spring Elections showed her
to be a truly fantastic representative and asset to KCLSU.
David Bendell - As Secretary of the Nightingale school council last year and chair this year David has
shown consistent levels of dedication to ensuring the Nightingale council is an effective representative
body for nursing students. It is clear that other members respect his efforts and the close relationships
he has built with academic staff. David truly believes in democracy and for the rights of nursing students
in particular. His consistent dedication to the nightingale school council over the past few years
alongside his commitment to his course has been key to the successful running of the council and
integral in his emergence as an incredibly effective body.
Eric PO Berggren - As a student councillor in his first year of university he provided balanced
arguments and always advocated the importance of council. Although not a councillor this year he still
turns up to meetings and voices his opinions, often providing alternate views to those of council. Eric has
been a dedicated course rep, co-ordinated a record breaking Poppy Appeal at King’s and also helped lay
trustee Steven Rhodes organise the Duel Day dinner, with more current students attending than ever
before, helping to build strong alumni relations.
Duana Cook – Duana brings the work of the Anthony Nolan Trust to the students of King's in an
incredibly original, bright and simple way, giving people a chance to be a potential life-saver. Not only
does she organise recruiting people to join the bone marrow register, she has been at every clinic,
committee meeting, fund-raising event and attends each with her big smile and welcoming approach.
From glow stick selling at truffle shuffle to running donor clinics at guys, waterloo, strand and halls of
residence too she brings the work of Anthony Nolan to life across campus. Outside of Marrow, Duana is
actively involved in going round to school classrooms and teaching children about Leukaemia and the
bone marrow register, so that when they are older they can take that knowledge and hopefully make a
difference themselves.
Chike Eduputa - Chike has demonstrated a remarkable service towards student life in KCL and KCLSU.
In his first year, he joined the KCL BiomedSoc, YELP, KCL LINKS, KCL SIFE, and KCL Business
Society and also took an active participation in events organised by the KCL ACS. He has held the
positions of Vice-President of KCL BiomedSoc and YELP Communications officer, and also a member of
the KCL SIFE Foundations team. Chike’s commitment to the wider community also includes mentoring a
first year Biomed Student, GCSE students at Lilian Baylis and Peckham Academy. He is a Student-Staff
Liaison for Biomed and has shown further dedication to his own development by his involvement in the
piloted KCLSU Leadership Skills and Student Trainer courses whilst maintaining his roles within a
number of student groups.
Anna-Karin Faircloth - An active member of KCL dance soc, holding the position of vice president
twice, representing King's at nationwide university dance competitions as a member of the KCL Fusion
Dance troupe and mentoring with Shine for three years, Anna has shown a consistent dedication to
contributing to university life during her time at King’s. This year, Anna has also been on the KCL fashion
show committee, for which she was choreographer.
Munthir Ghaleb - Munthir has demonstrated his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty to
help others where he can in his role as Senior Student-Network Support Coordinator but also through his
involvement with the Computing Society as Founder and President) and the Arabic Society as President.
Suki Hichens – Few can rival Suki ‘s passion and commitment to the King’s community. She has been a
senior student at Wolfson house, a student council member, worked at Strand Reception and Guys
Student Centre and founded the Live at Home students Network. This year Suki played a pivotal role as
Chair of the higher education funding working group of Student council, to assist KCLSU to be at the
forefront of the Higher Education Funding campaign, giving us an unprecedented amount of local and
national influence.
Rachel Johnston – Heavily involved in the KCLMS Netball Club, the Kenyan Orphan Project (KOP) and
the MedSoc Fashion Show Rachel has proven her ability to turn her hand to almost anything and excel
at it. She has played to a very high level for KCLMS Netball for 5 years, acting as treasurer in 2007/08,
whilst for KOP fundraised over £300, travelled to Kenya to help with the building of a feeding centre for
the orphans and organised the fundraising for a night shelter for the orphans during her presidency in
2008/09. As co-chair for the MedSoc Fashion Show, Rachel brought the skills she has learnt in other
positions to help the show raise over £1000 for RAG and be an overwhelming success.
Dalia Nelson - Dalia is passionate, driven and determined in her quest to unify the culturally and
religiously diverse students at Kings. She was initially involved with the Jewish Society in 2008 but soon
realised that a platform for faith integration and cohesion was severely lacking at King’s. Following
political unrest abroad which began to feed into student politics in 2009, she became more involved with
KCLSU and founded the KCL Interfaith Network with the aim of promoting religious tolerance, education
and understanding on campus through events such as Holocaust Memorial Day, Faith against Fascism,
A Winter Celebration of Faith and more recently A Festival of Faith and World Culture. Dalia was an
integral part of arranging a successful dialogue between the Principal, Dean, KCLIN and all of the
presidents of KCL faith societies and has forged links with Interfaith organisations on a national
level.NUS are even using KCLIN as a model example for other universities. In other areas, Dalia worked
as a student ambassador for 2 years and is current elected SMEC year representative.
Humza Osmani - As Founder and President of the KCL Motorsport Club, Humza has added a popular
sport to our University’s sporting armoury. Having solely created the Club, he formed a diverse
committee and provided multiple low cost karting events for students, most recently organising a team
for a national competition, in which he also raced. He has also been busy teaching students within the
University; involved in the official ‘Peer Teaching Scheme’. His love for teaching has also extended to
the ENT Society, for which he is also the Treasurer. As sub-editor of the GKT Gazette, he has worked
hard to bring the latest scientific news from King’s and the world to students, thus maintaining the News
section of an internationally read magazine. Humza has been a true Ambassador for King’s; a Student
Ambassador for over 4 years, Humza has represented King’s at multiple Open Days, volunteered to be
King’s representative at his old school, represented King’s in the local South London community through
the Cardiology Society’s schools programme. Nationally, Humza continues to represent King’s in the
‘Association of Surgeons in Training’ as King’s Representative and has been appointed London
Representative for the national student group, ‘Future Orthopaedic Surgeons’. Both of these roles have
involved him liaising with the Surgical Society to advertise national events for students, as well as
discuss ways in which to improve student access to teaching events and conferences.
Maryam Rafique - During her time at King’s, Maryam has spent five years deeply involved with and
actively trying to develop KCLSU. She has been an active participant of many societies and groups,
contributing significantly to promoting the views and voices of university students. Maryam volunteered
as a peer facilitator for 'Extreme Psychiatry' a popular and expanding initiative to improve psychiatric
history taking amongst medical students, run by older students, established doctors and professional
actors. She was instrumental in efficient organising and running of the sessions as well as providing
constructive and illuminating feedback for the younger students so that they may feel more confident and
knowledgeable when dealing with psychiatric cases. In her final year she has been vice president of the
Clinical Practice Society, which once again promotes the education of medical students. Maryam has
helped the society hold 6 mock OSCEs helping over 150 students and held several workshop days,
arranging for junior doctors to be the examiners to provide expert feedback. She has been a
continuously positive contributor to improving education and skills amongst a wide variety of medical
students.
Lauren Taylor – A passionate and inspiring leader, Lauren has implemented a lot of Sexpression's
values and continued to strive to achieve our aims. Lauren has put so much effort into Sexpression this
year and her work led to just under 100 students being tested for Chlamydia in just one week. Lauren
writes regular newsletters and engages volunteers with wider issues associated with sexual health whilst
continually organizing events and sexual health lessons in schools. She is very passionate about sexual
health and has used that to motivate hundreds of students.
Amit Thakrar – Amit has used his website design skills to help and support a number of different
societies and charities, using his experience within these groups to become a valued and well known
student amongst the medical school and has helped improve accessibility to societies. Through his work
with KCL Surgical Society, Amit has helped transform the face, brand and prestige of the society,
continuing to help organise and run events like the annual Trauma Conference. He is a Committee
member of the Student Medical Education Committee this year. Last year Amit was also an Executive
Committee member with the Sexpression organisation where he launched the society's website, which
offers advice and information on a wide range of issues. He has also been involved in a number of
charitable societies: helping run the Hindu Society’s first Hindu Awareness Week, acting as an Executive
Committee member of the charity SMART, launching the KCL Cathsoc’s first website, and volunteering
with the student support charity Nightline.
Wie Zhen Lim - Zhen has contributed greatly to KCLSU and is an invaluable member of the King’s
community. As Vice President of the KCL Malaysian Singaporean Society, Zhen almost single-handedly
organised the Fresher’s Induction held in Malaysia. She sits on the Supreme Council of the United
Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian students, maintaining good ties and relations with other
Malaysian societies in order to ensure the success of KCLMSS’s two flagship events, the annual
clubbing event and the annual musical production. Together with this, she juggled the role of
Communications and Research Officer of the KCL Pro Bono Society, raising the profile of the society
amongst students this year by compiling, editing and designing an information booklet on the eight
different volunteer projects available with KCL Pro Bono and secondly by organising a talk by Cherie
Booth QC. Zhen also serves on the KCL Law Forum working tirelessly to represent the views of her
coursemates to the forum and to seek ways to improve the LLB course.
[Page 8/9]
in the academic year 2010/2011, the following were awarded
Honorary Life Membership
In recognition of an excellent, outstanding and wide ranging contribution to KCLSU and the King’s
College London community
Annushka Amar - Annushka was an officer with a passion and drive for improving the student
experience at King's. Even before taking office Nush was involved across the King’s
community. In her first year she was a course rep and geogon society social secretary and first
year rep. In second year she was a student councillor (again in her third year where she was
Strand fora rep) Rag strand rep and lacrosse social secretary and in third year she brought Rag
to strand as the strand events officer, and again reprised her role as lacrosse social secretary,
also coaching the sport after an injury meant she could no longer play on the team. As an officer
Annushka always ensured students were always consulted setting up the Sports Forum, which
is now embedded into the structures of KCLSU, to allow improved communications between
KCLSU and sports clubs, and enable the feedback and opinions of all students involved in
sport, to shape the development and direction of sport at KCLSU and King's. Nush was also
part of the group who set up the Live at Home Students Network providing support through a
buddying scheme and social events for live at home students at King's. In her year in office she
achieved a huge amount including fighting hard for a trial of new cafe facilities in the Maughan
library, conducting a study of facilities at Tommies and Denmark hill campus, much of which is
currently being acted upon by college estates, organised Duel day dinner in conjunction with
KCLA, an event she has continued to help with this year as an alumni, and was generally an
extremely passionate and committed officer often. Nush was professional, personable and an
effective advocate for KCLSU through all contact with students and College staff alike.
Improving the student experience was at the heart of everything Nush achieved and her
contribution to KCLSU and the King's community will be remembered for many years to come.
Ali Ghassemi - Ali is an inspirational student. He has been involved with numerous societies
and was President of no less than 4 during this academic year alone. He has organised
countless events including those for the KCL International Students’ Network to welcome
international students, several charity dinners and other charitable concerts, parties and events
each raising substantial sums of money. The highly successful 2010 ‘Jaam-e-Jam’ in particular
raised £1,500. Ali has spent much of his time with Iranian Society, not just being a proponent of
Iranian Culture, but building links between and collaborating with other societies. He has worked
closely with non-King’s organisations, such as the UK Iranian Film Festival in order to benefit
Kings Students and has been instrumental in launching a new professional website showcasing
KCL Iranian Society. Ali has also been involved with United Universities London Iranian
Societies over the last 3 years and President of it thus year, guiding and assisting 8 separate
universities’ Iranian societies.
Ali Goodbrand- A prominent member of student council, our next winner has committed to
getting involved with all areas and campaigns that students have been passionate about this
year. As an elected member of the student activities review committee, he has worked on
engaging with a variety of student societies and sports teams from the unofficial Law Soc to the
newly ratified Think tank. He has also liaised with the College on enhanced learning which has
helped assist with the College’s review and future plans. In the sporting world, he’s become a
one man committee for the entire rugby squad, running the high profile London Varsity – the
success of which we saw earlier on video. Not content with this, he’s also put together a 5 year
plan to develop the inter-university competitions through sponsorship and involvement of more
sports. His passion for opening sporting opportunities for students at King’s drove him to take a
significant role in the campaign for Wednesday afternoons to be free for non-academic
activities. On top of all this, he has found the time to chair the sports forum over the past year. A
truly deserving winner, our next HLM goes to Ali Goodbrand.
Robin Hampton - Rob is a true and passionate supporter of KCLSU. He is often described as an
inspiration by all who worked with or indeed met him and his recent departure to New Zealand
has affected many people. He started at King’s College in 2003 as a History Student, working
for KCLSU’s Venues team as a student staff member in his second year, working his way to
Senior Venues Manager within four years. During his final two years at KCLSU, Rob studied for
a Masters alongside his full-time position at KCLSU. Rob’s list of successes at KCLSU
impressive, ranging from organising successful event such as Superbowl Sunday, Truffle
Shuffle and Roll With It, to commandeering Afterskool Klub, now our regular Saturday club—
night from LSE. He was the driving force behind acquiring kclsutickets.com, reducing the price
of tickets while securing a new income-stream for KCLSU. Rob pushed KCLSU to the forefront
of the London live music scene, and also played a leading role in KCLSU’s Green
achievements. He never stopped striving to make KCLSU the best Students’ Union in London
and for that he should be applauded.
Laura Hyde
The passion, enthusiasm and drive to improve the student experience at KCLSU that out next
winner has are unrivalled. For the last 7 years she has supported the officer teams through
coaching and support, guiding their decision making and providing them honest feedback for
their development. She was responsible for the provision of advice, policy, representation,
volunteering and student activities at KCLSU. Working with her staff teams to provide a vision
for these key services, as one of KCLSU’s directors, she ensured that students at King's receive
the best experience alongside their academic studies. KCLSU was without a Chief Exec for the
first 6 months of 2010 and this individual, along with the other members of KCLSU's Senior
Management Team, provided the leadership KCLSU needed to continue to move forward and
prepare for the following year. She was a great support and mentor to all she worked with and is
sorely missed by the staff and officers at KCLSU. An inspirational leader and ever a champion
of KCLSU.
Kaanthan Jawahar - Kaanthan’s record of involvement in student life is astonishing. He already
holds full colours, a full shield, full blues and was awarded Laurels last year. Having co-founded
and treasured for the Indie Music Society, he has been treasurer for MedSoc, KCLMS Hockey,
KCLMS Cricket, and RAG during a year in which £80,000 was raised for medical charities. He
was vice chair of the KCL Fashion Show and he is currently the KCLMS Hockey Club Captain,
the MedSoc Fashion Show Event Manager alongside sitting as a member of Student Council.
Doing all of this alongside a medical degree would be enough activity to fill most people’s days,
but Kaanthan has also given KCLSU 3 years of dedicated service as a student staff member.
Not satisfied with a medical degree and 100% commitment to student life, he is also currently
completing a Masters at the Institute of Psychiatry before embarking on the final year of his
medical course. He is truly an exemplary student with an amazing number of achievements
under his belt.
Scott Lust - Committed, popular and selfless, Scott worked tirelessly to improve the lives of
others as the Law forum chair and as a Stamford Street senior student. Tragically, he lost his
life earlier this year but through the lasting impact he has had on life and lives at King's, his
memory still carries on.
Mike Nosa Ehima - Since his arrival in 2005, Mike has been heavily involved with KCLSU and all
areas of student life at King’s. On a sporting front, he represents KCLMS 1st XI Football team
leading his team to an unbeaten season in the ULU league as Captain in 2009 winning the UH
Cup Final for the first time in a decade. He is currently the President of KCLMS Men's Football
Club, has served as Chair of the Sports Council and worked as KCLSU sports administrator. In
2006 Mike co-founded the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences Society and served as a
course-rep from 2005 - 2009. His greatest involvement has been with the African and
Caribbean Society (ACS) holding three committee positions over the years culminating in a term
as President this year. Mike has helped the society to make great strides, building links with
employers to provide opportunities for our students and improving its reputation at King’s and
beyond; its annual showcase, Culture Shock, was watched by more than 800 people.
Mike has previously been awarded Full Laurels, Full Colours, Full Medical School Blues and
this award adds to the long and entirely appropriate list of Mike’s achievements.
James Owers - James’ ideas and passion are never ending. Having co founded The Pod and
supported its evolution into the KCL Radio we know and love James has made a significant
contribution to student media, winning student media contributor of the year award last year,
and left a real legacy for students after him. James has successfully worked with his
counterparts at Roar! to form a close knit group of students with a passion for student media.
He has also been an extremely reliable Student Council member this year, sitting on an estates
forum and being proactive in sending suggestions and ideas to KCLSU officers and staff.
James’ work with KCL Radio is extensive; he is its programme controller, assisting in the
running of the station, showing extremely high levels of dedication to facilitating student
interests. Through this involvement he has produced a large number of podcasts and his hard
work has enabled the station to go live during this academic year.
Uzair Patel - The number of societies and charitable events that Uzair has been involved in
during his time at King’s is phenomenal and wide-ranging, including KCL fashion show, GKT
musical theatre, GKT Gazette, Waste-less, London citizens, KCL Labour, SIFE and KCL MUN.
He has even abseiled down Guy’s Tower. Uzair has also been actively involved in Student
Council this year and was a recognisable face during the Higher Education Funding campaign,
even dressing up as Santa to engage the general public in a petition. Not only has Uzair
contributed heavily to the King’s community this year, he has also been a great ambassador for
King’s externally as a notable crime fighter - preventing a mugging and stopping a scooter gang
and subsequently keeping Roar! in news stories.
Sophie Raynor - Sophie is not just a truly dedicated medical student but is also strongly
dedicated to the charity SHINE which she set up herself. SHINE centres around a mentoring for
Key Stage 2 children who benefit from both academic and pastoral support. Sophie not only
founded the charity, but later expanded it, launching it nationally – something that very few
people would ever have the motivation, skills, commitment to do. Through SHINE Sophie has
undertaken a number of valuable studies, including research into children’s experience of
bullying and now spends much of her time supporting mentees and managing the charity. On
top of her medical degree and tireless work with SHINE, she also finds the time to support both
teenagers applying for medical school and younger medical students through their studies,
advising and teaching them and assisting with Widening Participation on medical open days.
SHINE is now one of King’s most successful volunteering groups and has made a significant
impact on the both the children and volunteers that take part. On top of all of this she is also a
dedicated and well loved member of the King’s College Choir, demonstrating the breadth of her
talents.
Rebecca Samuels - During her 8 years at kings, Rebecca has always been heavily involved in
the student community, and this is not just isolated to the medical campus. In her
undergraduate years she was a member of the venues team working at KCLSU’s bars and
clubs. She has also more recently managed to juggle the rigours of final year medicine and the
responsibilities of being a trustee of the Union, where she was instrumental in helping to find a
replacement for the CEO. She was also on the RAG committee that saw the biggest total
collected for a RAG week. She has been heavily involved in the production of the GKT
Christmas show in which she has also appeared no less than 8 times, as well as representing
the Medical School at the UH revue. In her third year, she was voted in as president of MedSoc
where she organised the London-wide protests against the removal of free accommodation for
junior doctors. She has also worked as a student ambassador with the BMA and ULU
Medgroup and played for KCLMS Women’s Rugby. Rebecca is a truly outstanding King’s
student.
Helen Smith - Helen is not only an excellent student but participated in a vast number of extra
circular activities with enthusiasm and dedication. These have not only benefited members of
the King’s community but that of the wider society. Her many activities and achievements
include 2 years with the MedSoc Christmas Show Backstage Crew and 3 years on the MedSoc
Fashion Show committee including Sponsorship and Co-Chair. Helen has also worked with
many campaigns, including running for Medecins Sans Frontiers, working as a committee
member for Stop Aids for three years running and in 2007, Helen went to Kenya with the
Kenyan Orphan Project and continued to work with them as a committee member in 2009 –
2010. She has also shown a commitment to Tae-Kwon-Do racking up 5 years’ involvement
during which she has taken on roles as treasurer and vice president and through this has won a
number of competitions gaining Gold, Bronze and Silver medals in 2008.
Hesham Yafai - Having set up the Creative Writing Society in his first year, Hesham provided
opportunities for many students to be involved in creative writing through the Creative Writing
Society novel. A founding member of KCL Action Palestine and the current president he has
been involved in organising all manner of fundraising activities and events over the past few
years. He has also been a Student Ambassador for the College for the past 2 years and
worked on Widening Participation with Aim Higher, working with pupils in disadvantaged
schools in London. As a Student Council member this year he has actively fought for student
issues and united students in their campaigning. His hard work has been recognised by many
London based students given his recent successful election to the position of editor of the
London Student newspaper and will therefore continue to serve students in London.