Finalist in Global Student Prize goes above and beyond

We’re profiling under 25s who give back – through their work, volunteering, or any projects that give back to people and the planet. 

If you thought students at university were there simply to study (of course) and to party – well, you’re wrong.

Through our Gen Z For Good series, we’ve already shown how many students are doing volunteering work, or projects that give back, on top of their studies. 

Take Elliott Lancaster, for example – a student at Keele University. He was recently shortlisted in the top 10 for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize thanks to his work campaigning for mental health, social enterprise, sustainability, and a solution to homelessness.

Elliott also supports a number of charities both locally and nationally, including his work as a volunteer and Trustee of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, I Have a Voice CIC, Spirit of Peace, and the Wolfpack Project, a charity dedicated to reducing loneliness and social isolation amongst young adults.

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The 24-year-old, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, is currently studying a PhD in management at Keele University. He was recognised in the Chegg.org Top 10 for supporting his peers, as well as his community work.

“Service above self is at the core of everything I do, and is my focus,” Elliott tells Smiley News. “I have used my voice to stand up for others, providing local mentoring and virtual peer connections, all to create a national conversation around student hardship and sustainability.”

Elliott led the annual Rough Sleepout at the Keele campus - an awareness and fundraising campaign to assist homeless people in the local area. “This took place after speaking to those impacted when packing and delivering food packages with a local foundation,” he says.  

With Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, he established the Youth Environment Summit Staffordshire to empower young people in schools, colleges, and universities to take part in environmental debates and access skills development sessions. He also chairs the Sustainability Project group, successfully lobbying SWT to become carbon neutral, review procurement policy, and decrease waste and water usage.

But that’s not all. As a board member of I Have a Voice, he’s engaged in encouraging young people from all backgrounds to engage in political debates and become active citizens. 

[Discover more people giving back to the world on Smiley News]

Elliott has also founded Utter Rubbish, a social enterprise, after identifying a gap in recycling council policy and citizen awareness. It uses mobile phone app technology with artificial intelligence to enable local councils to improve recycling rates, reduce fly-tipping and provide live information to residents.

The app is currently being trialled by councils across Staffordshire, whilst conducting integration measures across the UK. 

Recognition for his work

“Being recognised as a finalist is an honour and I am humbled,” says Elliott, speaking about the Global Student Prize. “This would not be for just achieving a first-class honours degree, but empowering other students, solving student issues and contributing to global community cohesion.

“The most important part was being part of a network of other change agents. Through this we are able to implement tangible solutions.”

It’s a lot of work, alongside his studies, but Elliott is unstoppable. “I believe we all have a duty to make this world one we would like to live in,” he says.

“I would like to be seen as a creative disruptor, an individual who is willing to challenge the status quo, and focuses on what can be achieved to support others.”