DSU’s successful fight to halt the closure of Leicester Central Fire Station has been shortlisted for a national award.
De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU)’s successful fight to halt the closure of Leicester Central Fire Station has been shortlisted for a national award.
The campaign, led by DSU’s outgoing Deputy President Education, Amie Chapman, has been included on a competitive shortlist for the Campaigns Award at the prestigious 2016 (National Union of Students) NUS Awards.
The fight was also supported by De Montfort University (DMU) and ran alongside similar campaigns from other major local organisations after proposals were made to close Leicester’s Central Fire Station, which covers large swathes of the city including DMU, the University of Leicester, both the King Power and Welford Road stadia and Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Amie said: “I am totally over the moon that DSU made it into the top five out of hundreds of applications. I was in shock and did not believe it at first!
“If we win this award, it would be a demonstration of the hard work the union puts in each year to change things for the better for DMU students. It’s rare and very special to even be nominated so to win at the national awards would be huge.”
Amie continued: “This campaign engaged with the community of Leicester in a huge way and brought results not only for thousands of students but for the hundreds of thousands of residents living and working in the city.
“Leicester Central Fire Station covers our campuses, hospitals, stadiums, our homes and shops. It saves lives on a daily basis.
“I really hope we win this award, it would mean so much to all of us, our city, and our fire brigade who are now DSU's best mates!”
Samuel Hilton, Student Engagement Coordinator at DSU, helped organise the campaign and said: “It definitely feels like the students’ union was a pressure group of more than 22,000 people in this case, used in a precise way to target the decision makers. The students just rallied around it from the off.
“Now it is just a case of letting people know how useful their campaign has been.”
The winner of the award will be announced at the 2016 NUS Awards ceremony on Thursday 7 July 2016.
The nomination comes hot on the heels of another national award for DSU, after our very own Games Development Society was named Best New Society in the UK at the inaugural NUS National Societies Awards earlier this month. You can read more about that award here.