For the first time in ages, Student Media has held their own awards evening—and what a night it was! The combined power of the entirety of Cardiff Student Media (CSM) made for a great night surrounded by friends and collegues, showing how far CSM has come in deepening the collaborations between us all. COVID had a massive impact on all areas of CSM, as it limited our ability to collaborate amongst our groups and as a collective. It’s taken a few years to get back to a busy media office and a more interconnected media environment. I am very proud to be a part of this year’s media leadership team and the Media Awards this year was a great example of how far we’ve come. Myself, Tomos, Ben, and Alanya hosted this year’s awards with over 50 up for grabs. For Gair Rhydd, we had 8 in total and a range of nominations from across the newspaper. From Opinion to Sport, Politics to Taf Od, the breadth of skills possessed by members of Gair Rhydd was put on full display. You can see the full list of winners below in the infographic! I have to give a big shout-out to Nancy, who organised the whole night and kept the music playing and the PowerPoint rolling. Without her, the night wouldn’t have been possible! I dusted off my hosting skills and announced all the winners for Gair Rhydd and also tried to be the CSM hype man to mixed reception. The drink vouchers were flowing just like the certificates. Celebrating the best that CSM had to offer made for a very memorable night and hopefully this continues with the next generation of leaders. To top it all off , the after party at Heidi’s made some memorable moments for student media, with Tomos joining the staff of Heidi’s for their classic rendition of Hey! Baby. My highlight of the night was the announcement of the next Editor-in-Chief, Belle, with Tomos announcing the next Station Manager, Adam, at the same time! Can’t wait to see everyone again at the SVMAs on Friday 10th May!