Lancaster A&E nurse to receive top university award for being ‘exceptional role model’

Cherish Otoo will be among a series of prizewinners to receive an award in recognition of achievements such as academic marks, dissertations, work placements and community impact.

She will be given the Spirit of Cumbria prize, which is awarded by the University of Cumbria to students who exemplify its values in being Progressive, Personal and Engaged and are exceptional role models in and outside of the university.

The award will be given to Cherish next week during the university's July round of graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2022.

Seven graduation ceremonies will be taking place at Carlisle Cathedral between July 19 and 21 to celebrate the academic achievements of the latest students to complete programmes of study with the University of Cumbria.

We reported in June how Cherish, who qualified as a nurse at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust in February, was awarded the Most Inspirational Nurse and the Mary Seacole Award for her outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion at this year’s Nursing Times Student Awards.

She was given her awards at a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in May.

Cherish, who had previously worked for the trust in a non-clinical role, was one of the first people in the UK to enrol and qualify as a nurse through the University of Cumbria’s Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship programme, which was the first of its kind in the country when it launched in 2018.