Back in May, Loreto College held their inaugural Social Responsibility Awards celebration. Here they tell is about the Awards and the inspiration for them.

The Loreto College Social Responsibility Awards celebration, inspired by the University of Manchester’s ‘Making a Difference Awards’, took place in mid-May. Members of the Loreto family were asked to nominate worthy recipients, who have made a real difference in their own communities or further afield.

Opening proceedings, Principal Ann Clynch welcomed everyone and reminded the audience that this was Loreto’s opportunity to recognise in a formal way the often-unsung achievements of so many members of the wider Loreto family. These sentiments were reinforced by the guest speaker, theologian, sociologist and feminist Dr Elaine Storkey, who emphasised the importance of the social dimension of all of our lives.

College related extra-curricular activities, such as the highly successful Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, received due recognition, as did the extremely effective OxBridge mentoring scheme. We heard of numerous charitable endeavours in the Manchester area, focusing on the under-represented and vulnerable from Albania, other parts of Europe, South Asia and Africa. Loreto alumni are working with NGOs in some of the most deprived communities in the world and with the UN in Beirut, in addition to some sterling work they do with the University of Manchester.

The Principal rounded off a marvellous evening with three special awards: Sir Howard Bernstein, whose energy and vision has done so much for the city of Manchester; Imelda Poole, for fighting against the evil of human trafficking in Albania and other European countries and Patricia Goodstadt, for her devotion to Loreto education as Principal of the sixth form college and Loreto Grammar School – also a highly influential voice in the continued evolution of education in the Catholic sector and champion of the disadvantaged.