Making a Difference Awards
The Making a Difference Awards for Social Responsibility recognise the outstanding achievements of our staff, students, alumni and external partners, and celebrate how they are making a difference.
The awards recognise the impact our staff, students, alumni and external partners are having on the social wellbeing of our communities and wider society, and offer the opportunity to share best practice about social responsibility initiatives and encourage others to get involved.
The 2026 Awards are now open for entries
Deadline 14 January 2026
More information about the Awards can be found at the below links.
- Why get involved?
- Who can enter?
- Award categories
- Entry guidelines
- Entry form (we strongly recommend that all entrants read the entry guidelines before completing the entry form and review the questions on the form in the Word document version).
Previous awards
Find out more about the wide range of initiatives and projects that have received recognition in previous years:
Award ceremony
The 2026 Awards ceremony will take place in the University’s Whitworth Hall on Wednesday 6 May.
You can watch the 2025 Award ceremony on the University’s YouTube channel.
Challenge Accepted
This year’s Making a Difference Awards will have a special focus on our global fundraising and volunteering campaign, Challenge Accepted which aims to to drive transformative change across research, student support, innovation and culture and back bold solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
Briefing session for entrants
If you are interested in entering or nominating someone for a Making a Difference Award why not attend our online briefing session on Monday 1 December at 2pm for some top tips and advice on how to submit a great entry. Please email Grace Bartholomew to sign-up to the session.