UON heroes feature in national campaign to recognise the work of Estates teams

A new campaign to highlight the work of estates and facilities colleagues in HE features our very own UON heroes.

The Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE) has launched a campaign, #AudeCovidHeroes, which recognises the vital role that estates and facilities colleagues in universities across the UK have played during the pandemic.

Focused on sharing the stories of individuals and teams who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic, the celebration campaign features some recognisable faces from across our university community, sharing the story of everyone at UON supported each other to keep the University open and working in the face of Covid.

Ami Renda and Melinda Papp, from our housekeeping team, Roland Playford, Sous Chef, and Catarina Guerreiro from the Residential Life team, tell the story of how teams from across UON responded to the pandemic, including their tireless work implementing government guidelines on campus, adapting buildings and teaching spaces and providing support to students, including coordinating the delivery of hundreds of food parcels for self-isolators.

Becky Bradshaw, Director of Estates and Campus Services said: “UK universities remained open throughout the pandemic, providing much needed support to students and the communities around their campuses. Teams within these institutions adapted, learnt new skills, and offered volunteer time to help those in need of assistance.

“As AUDE Secretary, alongside my UON role, I’m proud to be celebrating the professionalism, determination and sheer hard work of Estates and Facilities teams across higher education.

“Here in Northampton, the actions of our own Estates and Campus Services teams enable the university to support the communities of Northamptonshire. We provided accommodation for key workers who couldn’t safely return home each evening because of the risk of the virus, delivered food parcels and gave pastoral support to isolating students, configured and reconfigured our campus to allow for social distancing to enable essential teaching to continue. I’m immensely proud of the work of the Estates and Campus Services teams throughout the pandemic. It is wonderful to see our team featured in the national campaign.”

You can watch the campaign video here and follow the campaign on social media using #AudeCovidHeroes