Nominated by: Fencing

• They have run multiple campaigns for charity this year, the main one being to collect 1000 cosmetic products to donate to the Beauty Banks scheme, a charity looking to end hygiene poverty. They have been collecting for this through bake sales, sock sales, a JustGiving page, and collection points on Campus.
• They are often present at sporting events to support members of other clubs, helping to create a sense of community on campus
• They are often very vocal on social media, doing well to publicise their achievements and the achievements of their members, as well as to publicise charity and fundraising events.
• This year they have also been giving back to the community by running a cheer club down at Strodes College for the Sixth Formers.

Nominated by: Riding

The club that we would like to nominate for the spotlight award this year is Cheerleading and Dance. There are a number of reasons why we think this club would be a worthy first recipient of the Spotlight Award:

• We can’t think of another club who as had more of a social media presence this year. Frequent updates across all of their platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Instagram stories. It’s been great to see the improvements in their teams from an outside perspective through these platforms.
• Their “Bear of the Week” scheme has been consistent and seems to us like a fantastic way to encourage new members to get more involved and boost morale in non-competitive teams.
• Their “Bring a friend to cheer” initiative has been highly successful, some of our committee members attended one of these sessions and they were very enjoyable. A great way to introduce and encourage new members.
• Cheer have been very supportive of other clubs fundraising endeavours this year, often sharing ours and other clubs events on Facebook or promoting them through their Instagram.
• They have run multiple fundraising events, most noticeably, their ‘Big Bears Beauty Boxes’ campaign, which they have done a great job of promoting and making accessible all over campus.
• On top of this Cheer and Dance continued to be extremely successful at their competitions this year, taking a huge amount of highly dedicated members a long way in order to compete.

All of these initiatives have been introduced this year, showing a great improvement in the club and we hope they continue the great work they’ve done this year and would love to see them win this award.

Nominated by: Men's Football

Men's Football recognises the importance the Mixed Martial Arts Organisation has played this year assisting other groups on campus and hence nominate them for the spotlight award.

MMA have identified the ever-present threat and adversity girls on campus endure in respect to being victims of assault both physically and sexually. This has been a something they've been working in conjunction with year-round, bringing fourth their 'this girl can' campaign in which they set up events and encourage girl's university-wide and all female sports teams to partake where they're taught self-defence and the ability to observe when assault may be imminent. What's more, the campaign's objective is to simultaneously empower females and encourage them to try new things, thereby assisting them in their prospects after university and all future endeavours. We feel such important work has gone somewhat unnoticed and should be recognised as MMA have gone above and beyond to assist clubs around campus and acted as role models.

Nominated by: Cheerleading

Fundraising and community development work - Members of the club and many committee members took part in the 2018 Big Sleep Out for the Trinity Homeless Project. This project raises awareness and funds to reduce homelessness in the UK. They also did fundraising for their Big Sleep Out and donated any extra to the project. Their fundraising included attending SU nights to sell glow sticks and face paint.

• They also did a swap with MMA to support the ‘This Girl Can’ movement
• They did holistic talks on mental health awareness
• They did a naked calendar to raise funds for their club and body positivity
• They also have an upcoming ‘Women in Business’ trip to visit a female run and owned horse carriage business.

Incredibly supportive of us in fundraising and charity events - not only did they promote our Beauty Boxes campaign on their social media, they also made their training sessions a drop off point for donations for their members, making it easier for them to donate to our cause.

Early training sessions – not on campus and team have to go out before lectures. Consistent placing in competitions getting at least 3rd, often 2nd and 1st. At every competition team members have earned individual placings

Tight budget – riding have worked on an increasingly tight budget but still offered all the activities they have in previous years and managed to compete.

Nominated by: Women's Rugby

Women’s Rugby would like to nominate Women’s Football for the Spotlight Award this year. Their determination to inspire women to join sport has been immense. For instance, their #FEMALEISFIERCE campaign week highlighted that women are strong, passionate and can work together in sport to make their voices heard. They consistently put women in the spotlight, giving them a platform and a voice within the campus society. We have collaborated with them on numerous events: participated in the Women in Sport panel together, the Disability Sports Day, had a joint social, fundraised for Bloody Good Period through a charity football match and swapped training sessions. Women’s Football is a proactive club who strive constantly to do more for their community. They are outstanding fundraisers, brilliant at highlighting the injustice within the world of sport and breaking down stereotypes. It is not, however, only the visible charity events that they should be commended for, bit it is the behind-the-scenes support that they provide. Women’s Rugby and Football’s committee have worked close together, and they have supported us like no other club. They are honest, reliable and so willing to support us in any way. We have managed to become a group of like-minded friends and our predecessors would be proud that whatever divide may once have existed between the clubs, has been seamlessly sewn away. Women’s football are passionate, respectful, hardworking individuals, who as a club, form a powerful force to be reckoned with. We are utterly sure that they will continue to grow year on year and continue to do outstanding things at Royal Holloway. No club works harder than them, and for this, Women’s Football fully deserve the Spotlight Award.

Nominated by: Women's Football

Women's Football would love to nominate Women's Rugby for the Spotlight Award. We have worked with them in a number of events-- we have swapped training sessions (tried out one another's sport), had a joint social, fundraised for Bloody Good Period together,participated in the Women in Sport debate with both our presidents on the panel, took part in Disability Sports Day together, they supported us immensely in our #FEMALEISFIERCE campaign, and our committees and members have grown close as friends through this collaboration. Football and rugby share many of the same values, so it was exciting to work with them and see our campaigns be strengthened by one another's support. We have seen their hard work, values, and commitment to sport on and off the pitch, and we can testify that they set a precedent for women's sport and Holloway sport in general. Their committee is highly motivated and would do anything for their club--indeed we are inspired by their achievements this year and hope the best for them.

In past years, Women's Football and Rugby had somewhat of a rivalry (albeit harmless), but this year we deliberately eschewed this for friendship, and both clubs have benefited from collaboration. We now see them as some of our biggest supporters on campus, and we are incredibly excited to continue working with them and supporting them for years to come. We are happy to put the spotlight on them-- they deserve it!