“After 6 years focusing hard on making these awards a success I’ve learnt a lot about myself and about our vibrant and increasingly fragmented community. Resilience has served me well when gatekeepers have limited access to resources and in some cases actively encouraged others not to engage with my work. Some have been happy to step over others to get what they want, forgetting to send the ladder back down. They are not behaviours or values that I live by or want to be associated with, and they often deprive LGBTQIA+ people the opportunity to be joyful in what can often feel like a really exhausting and crappy world that always favours those in power.

The last 12 months in particular have been hard work and as much as I care about the work that I do, I’ve struggled with maintaining what I consider to be good mental health and neglected self care routines that are important to me as a Queer leader trying to be a positive role model to others. Couple this with a consistent shortfall in funding for the event over the last 3 years, and I’ve had to reflect upon what I’m trying to achieve with the work that I do. As a result I’ve made some important decisions and started planning how I will ensure that I am taking better care of myself, whilst I continue to advocate for and support the LGBTQIA+ community.

That’s why this will be the final Queer Student Awards - delivered by my consultancy.

Now, just so I’m Queer with you, I have come to this decision because I firmly believe that these awards need their own dedicated home if they are to continue. I hope that you will be relieved to learn that the work to create the foundations for this has already begun and that I intend for them to become the new home for the awards (with a new name and shift in focus to announced) alongside other ambitious events and activities that will seek to collaborate with other LGBTQIA+ organisations and community groups in the shared pursuit of supporting more Queer youths, all year round.

The QSA Pride List which launched at the start of this month - featuring all 26 finalists was part of this plan. The transition is going to take time and to ensure that I give myself some time too, the awards are likely to take a pause for 2027 and return in 2028. The Pride List will ensure that Queer Leaders and Safer Spaces continue to be celebrated in their absence.
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