The Tower Hamlets Civic Awards recognise individuals who live, work, or study in the area and help improve the quality of life for others. The awards celebrate outstanding service to the community, achievements in sports, arts, or culture, contributions that enhance the quality of life beyond paid duties, and success in business combined with community involvement.
Nominated by the Centre for Public Engagement and Civic team at Queen Mary, Dr Kathleen McCarthy (School of the Arts) and Professor Alastair Noyce (Wolfson Institute of Population Health) were recognised for their work in improving the quality of life for local people and Dr Sara Paparini (Wolfson Institute of Population Health) was recognised for community involvement in research.
Dr McCarthy, Professor Noyce and Dr Paparini lead work that makes a significant contribution to Queen Mary’s civic work in, with and for east London and the priority themes on ‘healthy and sustainable futures’ and ‘pathways for life’ in our Civic University Agreement. Their work with Tower Hamlets Education Partnership, Osmani Trust and Positive East features in three films on Queen Mary’s research partnerships with voluntary and community sector organisations in east London.
Dr Sara Paparini is the social science lead for the SHARE Collaborative and leads the ‘Partnership for Black People’s Health’ project, engaging Black African and Black Caribbean communities in co-produced research to mitigate health disparities. Her work with the ‘Harnessing Collective Power’ initiative, commissioned by Tower Hamlets Council, amplifies community voices in local policymaking, empowering residents to participate in research and policy development.
The awards ceremony took place 23 April in Mile End Park’s Ecology Pavilion. In the presence of distinguished guests and leaders from local organisations and government, award winners were celebrated for their service to Tower Hamlets. It was truly remarkable to see the breadth of recipients’ commitment to their local community, from improving people’s health, supporting children and young people, and investing in education and local infrastructure.
Dr Philippa Lloyd (Vice-Principal Policy and Strategic Partnerships) and Professor Alison Blunt (Deputy Vice-Principal for Impact [Culture, Civic and Community]) have congratulated the Queen Mary academics for their recognition – “Many congratulations to Alastair, Kathleen and Sara on receiving Tower Hamlets Civic Awards. The awards recognise their outstanding work with local partners and communities on health and education, both key priorities for Queen Mary’s civic and community engagement in Tower Hamlets and across east London”.
Below is a short film made by the QMUL CPE team showcasing the work the SHARE collaborative does in partnership with Positive East (a voluntary sector organisation), as well as other types of community engagement we are actively involved in. Please take some time to check this video out.
Thank you to Tower Hamlets for hosting this award ceremony and for honouring the amazing work Dr Paparini is involved in at the SHARE collaborative. For further information on the remaining categories and the work Dr McCarthy and Professor Noyce were awarded for, please follow this link.