The Open University took home a Silver Award in the ‘University of the Year’ category at the sixth annual UK Social Mobility Awards.
The winners of the 2022 UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs) were announced at an Awards Fundraising Gala held at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Thursday 13 October.
The OU was a finalist at the awards and Thursday’s event was the first time in three years that the gala returned as an in-person event.
It saw organisations and institutions committed to advancing social mobility across the UK come together to celebrate their work and share best practise.
The 2022 awards received the highest number of entries since they were launched in 2017. Entrants came from a range of industries including education, finance, law, media and retail.
Business professionals from all over the UK attended the London gala to watch as the winners were announced.
Professor Marcia Wilson, Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, said:
“It was an honour to have been chosen as a finalist and an uplifting event to have been involved in. We are proud of our entry, which showed how we provided £3.8m in emergency financial aid to 3,500 students; reached 14.1m unique visitors to our free learning resources on OpenLearn and raised £158,000 for life-changing scholarships in our 36-hour Giving Day challenge.”
Tunde Banjoko OBE, Founder of The UK Social Mobility Awards, added:
“The UK Social Mobility Awards is a vehicle to raise awareness of social mobility and showcases the individuals and organisations who are dedicated to its advancement.
“The number and quality of entries we received for this year’s awards is an indication of the increasing significance of social mobility to UK business.
“All the UK Social Mobility Awards finalists are making a tangible difference to social mobility in this country and this recognition is extremely well-deserved.”
