President and principal of Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), professor Colin Bailey CBE received an Outstanding Contribution award in the UK Social Mobility Awards (SOMOs) on October 3.

The awards are an initiative created by Making the Leap, a charity whose mission it is to transform the futures of disadvantaged young people in the UK, to recognise organisations prioritising social mobility.

Bailey won the award for making “one of the leading universities in the country an absolute citadel for social mobility” and his contributions in making social mobility “talked about within Queen Mary’s walls”.

Social mobility has been described as the relationship between where you start life and where you end up in adulthood. This includes the differing income level, occupational class, housing, education status that you may have in comparison to your parents. 

The aim of social mobility work is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background, has the same access to opportunities. 

Bailey said he is privileged to be able to lead Queen Mary and work with people who promote and support social mobility with true commitment. 

“I’m very grateful and proud to be accepting this award, which I accept on behalf of everyone at Queen Mary University.”

Juned Miah, 25, Making the Leap volunteer and QMUL alumnus, was also at the event. He has a personal connection to social mobility, starting with his parents moving to the UK from Bangladesh without being able to speak English.

Growing up in poverty, Miah shared his journey with EastLondonLines.

During his GCSEs his father fell ill. In 2015, the start of Miah’s A-Levels, his father passed away and this was his “time to step up as man of the house.” He worked to help support his family and ended up dropping out.

After enlisting in a BTEC course in 2016, he did work experience shadowing an accountant and decided that was the path he was going to take. 

When choosing a university, Miah told ELL that Queen Mary were the only London based Russell Group “willing” to take him in with a standalone BTEC. 

“The university is known to be very diverse and that’s one thing I really love… they don’t care about your background.”

He studied BSc Accounting and Management, graduating in 2021, and says that QMUL “became a very welcoming place” for him where he could socialise and network.

Miah currently works as a graduate analyst for BNP Paribas, a large international investment bank, following taking a “sideways path” after being promoted to assistant management accountant at his previous workplace. 

Miah said he had “no idea Queen Mary was going to be there [the SOMOs 2024]” and that he recognised Professor Bailey’s name when it was announced. 

“I felt so happy! I was thinking, that’s my university!”

“It felt really good. It felt rewarding in a way because all that hard work that Colin puts in is clearly demonstrated as a core value for the university and thus it pours down through the filter to the students as well.”

Miah told EastLondonLines that he volunteers often due to his past and those that supported him, organisationally and personally: “It feels like it would be greedy for me not to give back and that’s the stuff that the university has helped, that’s the stuff that Colin has helped as well, instil in my mind.”