Our annual Blues & Volunteering Awards Ceremony returned to the James Watt Centre on 8th May. With over 100 staff and students in attendance, we celebrated the success, dedication and tireless efforts of our students athletes, coaches and over 300 volunteers.
Sports Union President, Alex Chan-Taylor, and University Principal, Prof. Richard Williams, both delivered heartfelt speeches, reflecting on the achievements of the past year and offering warm congratulations to our student athletes and dedicated volunteers.
Volunteer Awards
The Heriot-Watt Sports Union Volunteer Awards honour the outstanding contributions of students to the university community. This year, over 300 student volunteers dedicated over 21,000 hours to support their clubs and Sports Union – taking on roles such as club committee members, assisting at open days, and helping to welcome new and returning students. The awards recognise individuals who have reached key volunteering milestones. A full list of this year’s recipients can be found below.
- Bronze (50 hours of volunteering) – 28 students received their bronze award
- Silver (100 hours of volunteering) – 52 students received their silver award
- Gold (200 hours of volunteering) – 28 students received their gold award
- Gold Plus (350 hours of volunteering) – 13 students received their gold plus award
- Platinum (500 hours of volunteering) – 13 students received their platinum award.
A full list of all our volunteer winners can be found on our socials.
Len Burnett Trophy
The Len Burnett Trophy is presented to a platinum winner that has shown the most significant contribution to their club and/or the SU during their time at University. This year we saw 14 students receiving platinum awards for volunteering over 500 hours during their time at Heriot-Watt. These students were: Catriona Sutherland (Swimming), Emma Capes (Cheerleading), Fraser Holman (Athletics), Gwilym Quigley (Cycling), Holly Dunlop (Badminton), Jonathon Brooks (Swimming), Laurie Hunter (Dance), Logan Norris-Lambe (Ultimate Frisbee), Meron Watkins (Volleyball), Omar Ismail (Basketball), Simon Frandsen (Badminton), and William Coalter (Boat).
Len Burnett Trophy Winner – Holly Dunlop
(Badminton Club & Sports Union Lead Ambassador For Promo & Comms)
Holly has been truly amazing this past year for both the Badminton Club and Spots Union as Lead Ambassador for Promo & Comms. In her first year of volunteering, Holly amassed an incredible 591 hours of volunteering, earning her a Platinum Volunteering Award (an achievement that takes most students 3-4 years to achieve).
Holly has been key in supporting all Sports Union promotions for all of our events, taking her key marketing skills and turning them into outstanding campaigns.
Deputy Principal Leadership Award
Our leadership award is presented to an individual, group, committee or club who have shown exceptional leadership this past year. This year there have been some fantastic examples of students showing immense leadership.
Deputy Principal Leadership Award – Leo Moss (Tennis Club)
This year’s leadership award was presented to Leo Moss for their outstanding work with the Tennis Club as President. Leo’s responsibility within the Tennis Club goes beyond the daily responsibilities of a Club President, working closely with both Oriam and Tennis Scotland in strategic management and development to ensure the club’s long-term growth and success.
Bell Connor Memorial Award
This award was introduced in 2024 to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragic accident that took the lives of 3 mountaineering club students on a club trip to the Cairngorms. This award was brought in to recognise a mountaineer club member who has shown a dedication to passing on knowledge and safety to ensure all trips are a safe place for students.
This year’s winner was Colin Riley.
Blues
Blues are awarded to students who have achieved a consistent and exceptional performance throughout the season, normally culminating in SSS/BUCS representation (if applicable).
This year, we had a record 54 Blues awarded. These winners with their exceptional achievements can be found HERE.
Neil Campbell Trophy
The Neil Campbell Trophy is presented to the blues winner that has excelled in their sport over the past year. The nominees were:
Barney Stewart (Football)
Ben Muncaster (Rugby)
Kori Fital (Karate)
Neil Campbell Trophy Winner – Ben Muncaster
Ben has had a fantastic year in rugby. After already having 5 previous appearances for the Scotland U20 team, Ben earned his first cap for Scotland versus Portugal in November 2024 and made his first appearance in the Six Nations Championship on Saturday 15 March in their debut against France.
Special Sporting Achievements
The nominees for the Joy Wilson Trophy for Fresher Performance of the Year were:
Harris Pagett (Athletics)
Sarah Johnson (Cycling)
Robyn McAlpine (Squash)
The Joy Wilson Trophy Winner – Harris Pagett
The nominees of the Steve Chapman Trophy for Team of the Year were:
Aikido Club
Squash Women’s 1s
Tennis Men’s 1s
The Steve Chapman Trophy Winner – Squash Women’s 1s
The Squash Women’s 1s became champions in the Scottish BUCS Tier 1A without dropping a single game and will now see promotion to the BUCS Premier League for 25/26 for the first time ever. The team even caused major upset against Loughborough in the quarter finals of the BUCS Championship.
Honorary Blue – Ross Campbell
We were delighted to award Ross Campbell an Honorary Blue for 20 years of service to the Sports Union and to student sport at Heriot-Watt.
Ross joined the University in 2001 as a student, but it was his passion that led him to get heavily invovled in both the Football Club and Sports Union. He was elected as Sports Union President for the 2005/06 academic year, marking the start of his professional career and leading to becoming Executive Director of Oriam in 2017, a post he still currently holds.
Ross has always gone the extra mile to support student sport at Heriot-Watt. Over the years, he has mentored 20 Sports Union Presidents and helped countless of student volunteers grow in confidence and leadership. Back in 2010, Ross led a transformative review of the Sports Union, introducing a new club structure and better governance that’s still going strong today.
Ross played a pivotal role in the creation and continued development of Oriam – Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre – securing vital partnerships, shaping facility programming and delivering strategic infrastructure projects. Constantly, Ross has ensured that student sport maintained its importance whilst supporting a number of high-profile sports partners.
Currently, Ross is driving a new sport and active wellbeing strategy at Heriot-Watt, aimed at engaging more students and staff in physical activity, while positioning the university as a national leader in university sport.
Ross is renowned across the sector and at Heriot-Watt for his inspirational attitude, strategic thinking, and lifelong dedication to enhancing opportunities in student sport.
