Postgraduate student wins MDC Excellence Award for Local Community Impact
A postgraduate researcher from the School of Social Sciences has been recognised for her outstanding civic engagement, receiving the 91直播 Doctoral Academy Excellence Award for Best Contribution to Society 鈥� Local Community.
Megan Hadfield, a PhD student in Criminology, was honoured for her work with the , a 91直播-based organisation supporting people experiencing homelessness. Megan has been volunteering at the Centre since 2019, and her long-standing commitment has evolved into a pioneering initiative that has already made a tangible difference.
While serving on the Centre鈥檚 Board of Trustees, Megan identified a communication gap affecting service users whose first language is not English. Drawing on her role within the School of Social Sciences鈥� Social Responsibility Committee, she proposed a new volunteer project specifically for individuals with second-language skills. With the committee鈥檚 backing and in collaboration with the Booth Centre, the pilot programme launched in 2024.
Megan has played a key role in coordinating between the University and the Centre 鈥� scheduling training, creating information sheets and leaflets and setting up volunteer recruitment. 鈥淚t has been a pleasure to help with this, and I can already start to see the incredible impact it has had,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he Booth Centre is such a wonderful organisation and benefits the wider community, so anything I can do, however small, to help them help others, I鈥檒l do it.鈥�
Reflecting on the award, Megan said:
I was not expecting an award for this, so it was a really lovely surprise. It鈥檚 just really nice to know that people are aware of this project and see it鈥檚 potential. I cannot talk about this recognition without highlighting the hard work of others towards this project. It was a team effort, with the Social Responsibility Committee supporting it through every hurdle, the Booth Centre for being so excited and engaged with this project, and particularly to Conor Miller, facilities manager at the Booth Centre, who has worked so hard to grow and coordinate this project from the Booth Centre side.
Megan received her award at the MDC Excellence Awards ceremony, which took place on Tuesday 17th June. The event celebrated the exceptional contributions of postgraduate researchers across the University, and Megan鈥檚 recognition highlights the power of community-focused research and the meaningful impact students can have beyond academia.