Shortlisted finalists for 2025 Annual Awards unveiled by AUCSO

The winners will be crowned on Wednesday 9 April 2025 at the AUCSO Gala Dinner and Annual Awards, with the ceremony taking place at The Slate at the University of Warwick.

The ceremony forms part of the 2025 AUCSO Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting, with the former running from Monday 7 April to Wednesday 9 April 2025 at the University of Warwick and hosted by Mark Kennell, head of community safety and security.

This year’s Annual Conference is themed ‘Safe Spaces’ and will see over 200 delegates attend from organisations in the UK and Ireland, Australia, the USA and Qatar as well as a large contingent from Europe.

Shortlisted finalists 

The 2025 AUCSO Annual Awards celebrate the outstanding work security teams have transacted within their institutions during 2024.

The Annual Awards shortlist is as follows:

AUCSO Security Officer of the Year

*Peter Goddard (University of Exeter)

*Leroy Williamson (University of Salford) 

*Leroy Gayle (University of Salford)

*Raju Dhakal (University of Reading)

*Thomas Meredith (University of Staffordshire)

*Mohammed Nawaz (University of Birmingham)

Awarded to the security officer who has consistently performed to a high degree of excellence and professionalism, duly going ‘above and beyond’ the usual expectations of their job role.

AUCSO Security Team of the Year

*Delta Team (Coventry University) 

*Alpha Team (Coventry University)    

*Security Team (Oxford Brookes University)

*Campus Support Team (Edge Hill University)          

*Security Team (Northumbria University)    

*Security and Safety Team (Teesside University)         

*Security Services Team (University of Reading)      

*Campus Safety and Security Team (University of Staffordshire)

Awarded to the security team whose teamwork or involvement in an incident has required them to perform outside the requirements of their job role, displaying courage and determination in dealing with incidents and supporting the campus community.

AUCSO Security Manager of the Year

*Lorna Wallington (University of York) 

*Russell Wardale (Edinburgh Napier University)

*Ahmed Mohamed (Oxford Brookes University)

*Dave Davis (Hurst College)

*Barry Palmer (SOAS)

Awarded to the security manager who has introduced innovations which have added value to their institution, positively participated in the wider security community, led on positive changes in reducing security risks and consistently demonstrated leadership across the security team.

AUCSO Initiative of the Year

*Cardiff Metropolitan University

*Leiden University

*University of Birmingham

*University of Reading 

Awarded to the security team who has introduced a unique and innovative initiative which has added value to the security operation and the institution that it actively supports and protects.

Strong competition                                  

Commenting on the shortlist, AUCSO’s chief operating officer Julie Barker observed: “We are delighted to unveil this year’s Annual Awards shortlist, which showcases an incredible range of universities from across the UK and Europe.”

Barker added: “As in previous years, the competition has been extraordinarily strong, with so many outstanding submissions making it a real challenge to narrow down the entries. We’re eagerly anticipating the opportunity to celebrate the winners at our 41st Anniversary Annual Conference in April.”