AYRSHIRE College staff and students walked away from the inaugural Scottish Diversity Awards celebrating two award wins from two shortlisted nominations.

The Herald and Genanalytics award ceremony celebrates organisations and individuals who are embracing diversity in the workplace. Ayrshire College was the only college to win on the night.

Equality and Inclusion Adviser Sara Turkington earned individual recognition by winning the ‘Rising Star’ award sponsored by amiExecutive, while the College’s ‘#ThisAyrshireGirlCan’ campaign was named ‘Best Diversity Marketing and Social Issues Campaign’ sponsored by People Make Glasgow.

Sara has been instrumental in raising awareness of LGBT issues by instigating ground-breaking Conversation Cafés in the College's Ayr, Kilmarnock and Kilwinning campuses. The Conversation Cafés informed the ‘Translating LGBT+’ conference held earlier this year which was the first of its kind for Ayrshire. The conference enhanced the knowledge of professionals working in the public and voluntary sectors. 

Sara has also been instrumental in forging new partnerships for the College, significantly with the Scottish Transgender Alliance.

‘#ThisAyrshireGirlCan’ was the Student Association’s flagship campaign to encourage more female students into male-dominated industries like science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The campaign was embraced by the College and has been cemented as its overarching strategy for encouraging and supporting more girls and women into STEM.

The campaign started as a social media campaign and was transformed into an extensive marketing campaign that includes video and blog case studies, events with influential female guest speakers, and a mentoring network for female STEM students.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP endorsed the campaign on International Women’s Day at the College’s Kilwinning campus where she spoke to over 150 female school pupils and college students.

Heather Dunk, Principal of Ayrshire College, said: “We are delighted to win both of the awards we were shortlisted for at the Scottish Diversity awards.

“Sara is a truly inspirational person who continues to break new ground in order to raise awareness and understanding of LGBT issues. She also works tirelessly on a wide range of important areas like mental health and sectarianism.

“We are also very proud of our Student Association and staff who, with the support of employers like Hyspec, GSK, Prestwick Aircraft Maintenance Ltd, Spirit Aerosystems and Woodward, have made the ‘#ThisAyrshireGirlCan’ campaign such a success. We aim to change mindsets with this campaign, ensuring that no young woman is put off careers in sectors like engineering. The response to the campaign has been overwhelmingly positive.”