Celebrating Contribution - CASES Volunteer of the Year Awards 2025

The CASES Board is delighted to announce its winners of the Volunteer of the Year Awards 2025.

The awards were established to recognise all the hard work and dedication from all the volunteers working on behalf of the Association.

Following the promotion of the awards during Volunteering Week in June, a sub-board reviewed the applications and agreed on the following winners:

CASES Volunteer of the Year 2025 - Dr Ash Willmott MCASES (Anglia Ruskin University)

CASES Volunteer (Committee Member) 2025: Winner – Amelia Dingley MCASES (Brunel University of London); Runner-up – Prof John Dickinson FCASES (University of Kent)

Meet the winners

Dr Ash Willmott MCASES (Anglia Ruskin University) 

“As a CASES volunteer, I chair the Climate Action and Sustainability Advisory Group (CASAG), helping shape CASES’ strategy around climate resilience, human health and performance in challenging environments, and sustainable practices across SES. We’ve recently outlined the first steps towards CASES’ Sustainable Laboratory Practices, which introduced guiding principles, applied recommendations and a framework to help members implement sustainability in SES.

“We’ve also been successful in embedding these initiatives in both undergraduate and postgraduate CASES’ endorsement schemes, where it’s now part of the application inclusion criteria, and we look forward to hearing examples of good practice within the recently announced CASAG awards scheme.

“One project I am particularly proud of this year is the development of the “Equipment Flip Scheme”, where members have already shared unused/unwanted equipment, worth in excess of £20k, amongst the association.

“Winning the Volunteer of the Year award is a real honour and it’s great to see these projects being recognised by fellow members and the board, and I’d like thank all of those who have supported and worked hard on such initiatives.” (Header photo - Dr Willmott presenting at a Physiological Society event on behalf of CASES in June 2025). 

Amelia Dingley MCASES (Brunel University of London)

“Since launching the Technical Special Interest Group at CASES in November 2024, I’ve had the privilege of co-chairing the group and working with a brilliant advisory team of technical colleagues from across the UK and Ireland. The group brings a wide range of expertise, experiences, and perspectives, and together, we’re working to ensure technical roles are recognised as essential to enabling teaching, research, and innovation across the sector.

“Volunteering with CASES has given me the opportunity to highlight the importance of technical roles, creating initiatives that make the work of technical colleagues visible, recognised, and valued, while shaping a supportive and sustainable landscape for technicians to thrive. A highlight this year was seeing CASES become a supporter of the Technician Commitment in April, followed by our September launch event which brought together over 60 technicians, suppliers, and supporters of technicians.

“I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported and championed our projects, particularly to the fantastic TSIG advisory group, CASES and Dr John Fernandes, Dr Tori Sprung, Dr Sanjoy Deb and Chris Stock whom, supported my ideas from the very start.

“Winning the Volunteer of the Year (Committee Member) award means a great deal, not just personally, but because it reflects the collective effort and impact of our advisory group.”

Prof John Dickinson FCASES (University of Kent)

“I am currently the CASES Outreach Panel Chair and I also sit on the CASES Conference Scientific Planning Group and the CASES Policy and Advocacy Advisory Group.

“I have been a member of CASES for over 20 years and have seen some excellent initiatives that I have benefited from in the past. About five years ago I felt I wanted to try and contribute to the organisation more. I had previously had a lot of success delivering outreach projects locally in Liverpool and Kent and thought about how CASES could better deliver outreach. So, in a mad moment I emailed Ian (CEO) and Zoe (Chair) and suggested some ideas for CASES outreach and this started the last five years of volunteering with CASES.

“It's just nice to be given a pat on the back and acknowledge for the work myself and members of the CASES Outreach Panel have engaged with. I’m delighted that Outreach is having a light shone on it too!

"The key projects for the Outreach Group are the School and Colleges Poster Competition that has run for the past two years and engaged with 100s school and college students and the organisation and delivery of public talks at he CASES annual conference.

"CASES now has 36 Outreach Hubs from institutions in every country of the UK and the number of Schools and Colleges that CASES has engaged with have gone from 30 to over 150 in the two years we have run the CASES poster competition."

The recognition of the above Volunteer Awards will be made at the 2026 Conference taking place at Manchester Metropolitan University on 3 and 4 June.

The CASES Board thanks all our volunteers for their ongoing hard work, support and efforts for CASES and our members. Hearty congratulations are extended to all the winners for their well-earned accolades.

If you are interested in volunteering as a CASES member, please get in touch with one of the committees, divisions or special interest groups, or email enquiries@cases.org.uk for advice on your steps into volunteering!

Read a full review of all the volunteering efforts from across the CASES membership in our latest Annual Report 2024-25.