The award ceremony this month, hosted by CEO Rajesh Nair, celebrated ideas as varied as supporting local charities, clearing up local parks and allotments, and even pen-pal letter writing.

The graduates were split into 15 teams, with each team given a sponsor, who was either a previous graduate or a member of the company's young professionals' network, Magnet UK.

"You have gone into the community and made it a better place by supporting some incredible charities and community events." Rajesh Nair, CEO Tata Steel UK

The overall winning team was called "Writing Hope" which aims to reconnect vulnerable individuals in the community by facilitating pen pal relationships. They said: "Our goal is to alleviate the isolation felt by care home residents following the global pandemic and improve mental health through meaningful connections and the art of letter writing."

Rajesh Nair said: "Having a long-lasting impact on the community is vital within these challenges; they leave a legacy behind which has so many benefits for the community and for the graduates as individuals.”

The winners were as follows:

• Long-term sustainability Award presented by Richard Sidebottom, Director of Mills, DSO & Technical.
  • The winner was Northern PipeLime (team members Jacob Salt, Farooq Turkistani and Rachel Bell - sponsored by Robert Sandercock).
• Innovation Award presented by Director of R&D, Sumitesh Das
  • The winner was Writing Hope (team members include Jordan Allan, Kyle Channing, Niamh Davies, Rhydian Preece, Issac Lewis and Christopher Austins - sponsored Abigail Thomas).
  • Highly Commended: Hope House Helpers (team includes: Emma Wright and Jake Hidden-Deverson - sponsored by Chris Cattrell)
• Inspiring others to act Award presented by Anil Jhanji, Chief Commercial Officer.
  • The winner was Support for SLAB (team members include Chloe Vaughan, Daanish Chilwan, Eugene Catangui, Ian McNeil and Richard Burney, sponsored by Caitlin Welsh).
  • Highly Commended: Team Pipeline (team includes: Thomas Linwood, Kaleem Butt and Lewis Gillespie - sponsored by Bejamin Hamandishe).
• Community impact Award presented by Martin Brunnock, Director of Communications and Public Affairs.
  • The winners was Cat-Llan Cabbages (team members include: Brydie Connolly, Owen Blackman, Kiana Alimohammadi, Oliver Newton-Coombs, Subhaan Khan and Benjamin Carey - sponsored by Tomos Griffiths).
  • Highly Commended: Community Crusaders (team members James Tomkins, Mary-ann Moss, Simon Bennett, Thomas Williams, Torrey Stillman and Zak Wilson. Team sponser: Joesph Tobin).
• Digital Award presented by Chris Jaques, Chief Human Resources Officer 
  • The winner voted to have the best video was Margams N’ Roses (team members include Luke Haworth, Rhian Howlett, Scott Jones, Thomas McNee, Yazan Hammouda and Jack Bowen - sponsored by Nicole Esposito).
     

The overall winner of the Graduate Community Challenge, winning the Judges Choice Award, was Writing Hope. The team was presented the award by Rajesh Nair, CEO Tata Steel UK.

Rajesh summed up the event: “Every team is a winner in this. You have gone into the community and made it a better place by supporting some incredible charities and community events.

“Well done and congratulations to everyone who took part and for our award winners.”