I began my social impact journey sort of out of nowhere when I applied to volunteer for CGHR’s The Whistle in their project they were doing alongside Humans for Rights Network, and I was successful in my application! I was thrilled to get started, and I was assigned to compile legal information for asylum seekers and refugees about the process of claiming asylum in the UK, and their general rights and protections under UK law.
From this, I decided I wanted to apply myself further to the asylum process work I was doing, so I joined SolidariTee — a charity which raises money for organisations supporting asylum seekers with legal and psychological aid . I headed up their Cambridge branch, managing 3 sub-teams of individuals and setting our direction.
I also spent a short amount of time with another organisation, looking into the motivations behind violence towards asylum seekers following the firebombing of a migrant processing centre in Dover.
Following this work’s more active approach, I decided to explore human rights work more broadly, and this is when I began working pro-bono as an active case researcher for the Woods Foundation. I explored the facts and information in respect to the case of an individual currently serving life without parole in Alabama, USA, who maintains their innocence.
The pro-bono work I totalled over the year led to me achieving the Platinum Pro-Bono award (the highest attainable) at this year’s Pro Bono Awards hosted by the Law Society.
As well as this line of my work, I also try to make an impact socially in Cambridge. I am the current President and previous Social Secretary at Northern Society, aiming to improve access for Northern students and create a place of inclusivity here. I plan to set up a northern access scheme while in this role, to show northern students from comprehensive schools that Oxbridge is an option for them alongside the wide variety of other options they can pursue post-secondary education.
I also, alongside 2 of my close friends, revived Emmanuel’s Policy and Politics society after a long hiatus, where we aim to bring individuals who are experts in policy to students in a non-partisan, non-populist approach, so they can truly learn about how policy is developed, created, and implemented, and gain an appreciation of what makes policy ‘good’.
I am very grateful and honoured to have received the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Award, and I am extremely grateful to Cambridge Hub and the judging panel for presenting me with this award.
