Award success for student charity event

A boxing showcase organised by students which raised more than £10,500 for charity has won a prestigious Student Live Event of the Year award.

Fighting Stigma – which raised funds for men’s mental health charity Release – was organised by Nicola Clarke, Kenzie Mackay, Adele Mullan and Toni Woods as part of a class assignment at University of the West of Scotland (UWS). 

Each year, BA Event Management students are given a grant of £100, and are tasked with organising a charity event.

ABOVE: Nicola Clarke and Kenzie Mackay (photo by Tracy Ross Photography)

The ambitious quartet worked with a local boxing gym, the local authority and medical providers to meet complex legislative requirements to ensure the evening could go ahead.

They worked to gain sponsors, allowing the event to have an LED video wall, pyrotechnics, a professional singer, a piper, a live auction and an afterparty; alongside a card of 12 boxing matches.   

Nicola Clarke – who acted as Project Manager for the night – said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award, and even more delighted to have raised £10,512 for a fantastic local charity.

“Release works to reduce the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, and does incredible work to tackle the rise in male deaths through suicide. It such an important cause, and being able to support them in this way meant a lot to all of us.  

“None of us had organised an event like this before, and the feedback has been extremely positive; to the point we’re in the process of organising a follow-up event which will take place in August.

“We’re very grateful to our sponsors, and to The Park Hotel in Kilmarnock, which hosted the event”

ABOVE: Adele Mullan and Toni Woods

Dr Jenny Flinn, Lecturer in Event Marketing, praised the team: “This was an ambitious event for students with limited experience, and their dedication and professionalism shone through.

“Fighting Stigma was slick and well organised, raising an astounding sum of money for a brilliant cause.”

Other student events run as part of the task included an art event in Glasgow which raised £1,300 for Beatson Cancer Charity, a Western-themed bingo event which raised £830 for Accord Hospice and an event showcasing female entrepreneurs, which raised £392 for Women’s Aid.

Dr Briony Sharp, BA (Hons) Events Management Programme Leader, said: “This particular assignment is a great opportunity for our students to design a unique event which makes a positive change, raising money for good causes.

“I’m really pleased that Nicola, Kenzie, Adele and Toni have been recognised with this award, and I am delighted at the funds raised by all of our students – they should all feel proud of the difference their efforts will make.”

Robbie Muir, Chairperson of Release, added: “We are over the moon for Nicola, Kenzie, Adele and Toni - their hard work and ambition in setting up the Fighting Stigma event was unreal. We worked alongside them to make sure we could provide substantial promotion of our service at the event. 

“Being a small charity, £10,500 is an absolutely amazing amount of money and has already allowed us to scale up our awareness campaigns to help us reduce the stigma around men’s mental health. We look forward to hopefully working with them again. What they’ve achieved is truly outstanding.”

Find out more about studying BA Events Management at UWS.