A De Montfort University wins the Aziz Inclusion Award 2025

We recently hosted our inaugural Social Impact Awards and it was a special moment to bring our annual Inclusion Award into this wider celebration of social impact. This year is particularly meaningful as we mark the 10-year anniversary of The Aziz Foundation.

The Inclusion Award shortlist featured The University of Law, The Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Salford, and De Montfort University (DMU) – all of whom are doing incredible work to make campuses more welcoming and inclusive for Muslim students.

After careful consideration, DMU was announced as this year’s winner for going above and beyond in embedding inclusive practices that make a real difference to students’ lives. Dr Tom Weir (who was also recognised with our Academic Ally award) accepted the Aziz Inclusion Award on behalf of DMU – watch his acceptance speech in the video below.

The judging panel, consisting of Ibrahim Mohammed (Alumnus and Ambassador), Ayesha Ahmed (PR & Comms, Movember - fundraising for the Prostate Cancer Foundation), Rahima Aziz BEM (Trustee, The Aziz Foundation), Nahid Roshanli (The Council of European Jamaats), and Dr Zain Sardar (Programme Manager, The Aziz Foundation), were particularly impressed with:

🔹The insightful, co-created research from the DMU Muslim Friendly Universities Research Project (Principal Investigator: Richard Hall)
🔸Research on how the student loans regime impacts Muslim student access and participation
🔹The proactive advocacy of the Muslim chaplain, Imam Mohammed Laher
🔸The development of faith services, particularly the prayer spaces at DMU
🔹The high level of engagement with the Foundation throughout the partnership

We would like to thank the judges for their careful deliberation, as well as all other nominated institutions. DMU’s dedication to inclusion is inspiring and it was a privilege to celebrate their work at our first Social Impact Awards.