The Freelancer Awards is an opportunity for Brunel students and recent graduates to develop their freelancing skills and be titled ‘Brunel Freelancer of the Year’ with a chance of winning a share of £15,000 funding, generously supported by Santander Universities.
Each year we look for outstanding student and recent graduate freelancers to celebrate whilst helping them to raise their professional profiles. We specifically look for those with a side hustle alongside their studies or graduate roles, or alternatively freelancing full-time.
Being a freelancer can be a lonely road, so we wanted to help our freelancers blow their own trumpet for once whilst also supporting them to develop their general freelance skills through our online skill development workshop held in May, and win funding to further their freelance journey.
This year we received 30 entries from freelancers across Brunel from a wide range of industries, sharing their freelance experiences so far and why they love their side hustle. Following this, we selected 10 fantastic freelancers to win a share of the £15,000 prize fund, with 4 winners being crowned a ‘Freelancer of the Year’ and the remaining 6 runners-up.
Meet our 2023 winners
Andrea Soteriou - Brunel Freelancer of the Year
- Freelance skill: Videography and Photography
- Started freelancing: 2021
Current UG Design (BA) student Andrea is a freelance videographer and photographer alongside her studies, providing creative direction and visuals for brands, events and promotions.
https://aexs.myportfolio.com/
Instagram @aexscamera
Click here to view Andrea's video entry
Louis Hitchcock - Brunel Freelancer of the Year
- Freelance skill: Photographer
- Started freelancing: 2021
Current UG Design (BA) student Louis freelances alongside his studies, working with music artists and their management to build brand identities through photography, with a core focus on capturing emotions within live performances.
https://www.louishitchcock.photos/
Instagram @louishitchphotos
Click here to view Louis’ video entry
Michael Barrett-Wright - Brunel Freelancer of the Year
- Freelance skill: Sustainable design, including developing new sustainable materials and using waste as production inputs, product design, circular business model innovation, community projects and consulting.
- Started freelancing: 2023
PG Environmental Sciences (MSc) 2022 graduate Michael studied Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Design at Brunel and has a passion for design, creativity and nature. Michael now carries out sustainable design work full-time for clients both internationally and domestically from his workshop in The Remakery, Brixton.
www.seedsgrow.org
Rachel Faturoti - Brunel Freelancer of the Year
- Freelance skill: Sensitivity reading, writing and editing
- Started freelancing: 2018
Current PG Creative Writing (MA) student Rachel currently freelances alongside her studies as a British-Nigerian sensitivity reader, screenwriter, poet and author of the middle grade novel, Sadé and Her Shadow Beasts and young adult novel, Finding Folkshore.
https://twitter.com/RachelWithAn_E
Instagram @authorrachelfaturoti
Aykut Adala - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Product Design
- Started freelancing: 2020
CurrentPG Design (MSc) student Aykut freelances alongside his studies and has completed a wide range of impressive projects relating to product design.
https://aykutadali96.wixsite.com/portfolio
Click here to view Aykut’s video entry
Carys Toko - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Sports media video editor
- Started freelancing: 2020
BSc Biomedical Sciences 2021 graduate Carys freelances alongside his full-time role as a cancer research scientist at the Institute of Cancer Research. Carys has completed some impressive freelance projects surrounding producing video content for the football industry.
https://cttmedia.myportfolio.com
Instagram @cttmedia
Click here to view Carys’ video entry
Jemmar Samuels - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Writing, public speaking, social justice education and facilitation, campaigning, and content creation
- Started freelancing: 2017
UG Politics (BSc) 2020 graduate Jemmar is an award-winning writer, activist, public speaker, and filmmaker and has even received a BAFTA as a filmmaker. Jemmar is currently freelancing full-time alongside undertaking a master’s degree part-time in International Relations of the Americas at University College London.
https://linktr.ee/thejemmar
Instagram @thejemmar
Click here to view Jemmar’s video entry
Julita Napieralska - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Product Design Consulting & Workshop Technician
- Started freelancing: 2022
Recent UG Design (BSc) graduate Julita is a current freelance workshop technician at CRL and freelances on the side as a Product Designer for multiple companies in the co-working space.
www.julita.co.uk
Priscilla Toko - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Digital content creator
- Started freelancing: 2021
UG Psychology (BSc) 2021 graduate Priscilla is a freelance content creator who uses her platforms to express herself musically, artistically and showcase recipes with the aim of uplifting others on social media.
https://www.tiktok.com/@priscillaaaaaa_x?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Click here to view Priscilla’s video entry
Sarah Melbourne - Runner-up
- Freelance skill: Power Platform Developer & Technical Specialist Driving Agile Collaboration and Impactful Solutions
- Started freelancing: 2023
PG Computer Science (MSc) 2020 graduate Sarah freelances as a highly skilled and results-driven Power Platform developer with a passion for leveraging technical knowledge to deliver transformative solutions, covering tasks such as; crafting personalized corporate identities, designing logos, and creating impactful websites.
https://www.melbournesolutions.co.uk/
Instagram @melbourne_solutions
If you're interested in freelancing and would like some support with getting started, request a 1-1 with your hub business consultant here.