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celebrating LGBTI+ rights. This year,
Pride was inside – in our homes and in
our hearts.
When it has been unsafe at home or
school or in the workplace to be ‘out’
as who you are, online spaces have
been lifelines to help many LGBTI+
people connect with others in our
communities. Pride Inside was a
partnership between different groups
to build on that connectivity and create
various spaces for our communities
to celebrate who we are and who we
love.
That’s why this year, it’s more
important than ever that LGBTI+
people and their allies have
opportunities to come together,
celebrate how far we’ve come as a
movement and support each other
where we still have further to go."
Funding boost for pioneering
stroke rehabilitation research
A Keele academic’s research into new
ways of helping stroke patients is set to
develop even further after she secured
two prestigious awards from the
National Institute for Health Research
(NIHR).
Dr Alison Aries, a Lecturer in the
School of Allied Health Professions
and a Clinical Academic at the Royal
Wolverhampton NHS Trust, has been
successful in achieving a Clinical
Research Network scholarship, as well
as a Clinical Academic Post-doctoral
fellowship, from the NIHR.
Both of these awards will allow her to
continue her research which is focused
on the neurological rehabilitation
of stroke patients. In particular, her
research explores the importance of
sensory stimulation of the lower limb,
especially the foot, to facilitate motor
activity and improved function after
stroke.
Dr Aries first became interested
in this area through her work as a
physiotherapist and led a study on
the topic for her PhD which yielded
positive results. Her study highlighted
the potential for taking this work
further to a larger trial to assess the
effectiveness of these interventions,
and thanks to these new awards she
will be able to further develop her
research skills and ideas in this field.
Dr Aries thanked her colleagues,
including her lead PhD supervisor Dr
Sue Hunter, for their help in moving
this research forward and said: “I feel
very proud to have achieved these two
awards; I now feel confident I can take
this important research forwards, with
a view to improving quality of life for
stroke survivors in the future.”
Sporting success for Keele athletes
at national competition
Talented students at Keele have shown
their athletic qualities by representing
Keele on the national sporting stage at
a number of recent competitions.
Keele had its best medal tally in ten
years with two bronze and one silver
medal in February's British Universities
and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Nationals,
with the students putting their abilities
to the test against tough competitors
from across the country.
The nationals saw more than 5,000
athletes from universities all over
Great Britain taking part in sporting
competitions in events such as
swimming, running, and martial arts
at some of Sheffield’s most iconic
sporting venues.
The students are all supported by
Keele’s Talented Athlete Programme,
designed to help students sustain
a high level of sport whilst studying
and including access to facilities,
physiotherapy and funding.
The athletes who took part in the most
recent BUCS competition included:
James Watson (Swimming)
Beth Johnson (Tae Kwon Do)
Mark Pearce (Cross Country and
Steeplechase)
Stephanie Phennah (Sabre Fencing)
Louise Webster (Shot-Put/Athletics)
Thomas Lish (Judo)
Stephen Whatley (Sabre Fencing)
Rhian Costall (Archery) - pictured
The prestigious competition
also provided an opportunity for
physiotherapy students at Keele to
hone their skills, providing sports
massage and rehabilitation exercises
to the athletes under the guidance and
advice of physiotherapy academics.
Keele’s lead strength and conditioning
coach, Nina Walker, said: “I'm hugely
proud of what the athletes have been
able to achieve and it has been a
pleasure to watch them compete at the
BUCS Nationals 2020 in Sheffield.
“The results from all of them are a
testament to their talent, how hard they
work, and how well they manage not
only the pressures from full-time study
but the time and effort required to excel
in their sport at such a high level."
Benn Digweed, a teaching fellow
in physiotherapy at Keele, added:
“We are hugely proud of what these
athletes and others within the Keele
Talented Athlete Programme have
achieved alongside their full-time
studies.
“The programme is also supported
by students from Keele’s MSci
Physiotherapy and BSc Rehabilitation
and Exercise degree programmes,
who provided sports massage and
rehabilitation. This gives them a unique
opportunity to gain experience working
with high-performing national and
international student athletes, and to
enjoy being a part of these athletes’
success.”
Keele launches sustainability drive
to combat single-use packaging
Food and drink bought on campus
can now be provided even more
sustainably thanks to the introduction
of a campaign to reduce waste
takeaway food packaging.
Following the success of the Drink,
Rinse, Repeat campaign to promote
reusable coffee cups on campus and
reduce single-use plastics, a new
campaign to encourage the use of
reusable food containers called Eat,
Rinse, Repeat has now been launched
at Keele’s eateries and shops.
The scheme is part of a pilot supported
by Friends of the Earth, and students