Harold Riley presents community award to Salford staff

Professor Andy Steele and Harold Riley

A project that trains long-term unemployed people in the skills they need to get back into workplace was recognised at a University of Salford awards ceremony last night (Wednesday, 7 March).

The newly launched Harold Riley Award for Leadership in Community Engagement was held at the University’s MediaCityUK base to recognise the contribution staff make to the community. The award is named after one of Britain’s foremost contemporary artists who has a long and close association with the University.

Salford’s Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) beat off stiff competition to win the award. Social housing charity Bolton at Home nominated SHUSU for providing training for clients with little experience of paid employment or who had been unemployed for a long time.

Harold Riley presented the award to Professor Andy Steele who is head of the unit. Professor Steele said: “Our approach has been to provide local people, through training in community engagement techniques, with the confidence and skills to secure more permanent employment. To date around 100 people from across the North West have gone on to access paid employment and educational opportunities.”

Shauna Morton of Bolton at Home said: “We nominated SHUSU because a very valuable and much needed service was offered to our local community. Thanks to the project many of our people have found jobs or gone into further education.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Martin Hall said: “We had to choose between great nominations and a very competitive shortlist. This shows the vibrancy of community engagement at our university, and the strength of our partnerships with community organisations.”

The awards ceremony will be held every year as part of the University’s wider community engagement agenda.