Kirsty Reed is one of a few selected graduates who received Warwick’s OSCA prize, which celebrates gifted students who campaign for good causes, fundraise, start small businesses and work with local charities.

Why Kirsty was nominated

Kirsty was nominated by GSD’s Head of Department Marta Guerriero and Associate Professor Gioia Panzarella for the award, who wrote in their joint supporting statement:

“Kirsty is an exceptional final-year student in Global Sustainable Development (GSD). She is an incredibly hardworking and passionate student, who truly embodies the University’s objective to embed learning experience in real world impact and promote meaningful change among young people and the wider society.

During her time at university, through a number of extra-curricular efforts and projects, she has offered remarkable contributions to youth development, disability inclusion, education co-production and community engagement.

Kirsty has volunteered and worked at the National Deaf Children’s Society. In recognition of her work, she was a keynote speaker at two national conferences on deaf children and education: the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (where she delivered a keynote on mental health, wellbeing and her experience as a deaf young person in education) and the National Deaf Children’s Society (where she spoke about co-production for deaf young people’s inclusion in education).

Kirsty has also been working part-time as a swimming teacher for Warwick Sport, she is Training Officer at Warwick Lifesaving Club, and has volunteered as Welfare and Inclusion Officer at the British Universities Lifesaving Clubs Association, where she has led on issues of inclusion and contributed to the implementation of the newly created Diversity and Inclusion Policy, supporting equal access to this sport in British universities.

Her commitment to youth development and inclusion is also demonstrated by her work as a mentor for the UniversityGo programme with ThinkHigher, supporting access to higher education for care experienced young people across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Besides all the above, Kirsty is an incredible student, consistently showing dedication towards her studies through excellent results and enthusiastic participation.

Overall, Kirsty’s engagement with university life has been truly remarkable. At Warwick, she has also been contributing to an Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning supported project in Critical Employment Literacy as a student co-creator, advocating for the need for employability to be politically aware, empowering, holistic and collective. Working on this wider-University project, but specifically with GSD students, she ensured the relevance of the project to the GSD community. This is just one example of Kirsty’s commitment to student voice and co-creation, and her dedication to the GSD department, and in particular our community and the needs of our students.

Kirsty’s energy and passion have contributed significantly to Warwick’s community and the wider society. We strongly believe that her work towards the promotion of inclusion, participation and co-creation within education and beyond deserves recognition.”

What's next for Kirsty

Upon receiving the award, Kirsty commented:

“It was a huge privilege to receive an OSCA during the ceremony for my contributions outside of my studies including my work with the British Universities Lifesaving Clubs' Association and ThinkHigher in addition to involvement in projects related to inclusion, participation and student voice.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me on this journey including my friends, family and especially my BSL interpreters who supported me to access my degree. The opportunities Warwick has given me have been countless and if I could give one piece of advice to someone starting out it would be simple; I would say throw yourself in and say yes to new opportunities!”

Kirsty graduated on 22^nd July and will soon be starting an exciting new position as a Research Officer for RNID – a national charity that supports the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. We wish her the best of luck in all her future endeavours!