Aspects The Anglia Ruskin University Alumni Magazine
Winter 2011/2012
Cover photo: Storm – see article on page 6
In this issue:
Disasters, risk and doom – page 6
Running a country estate – page 10
New Honorary Award holders – page 16
www.anglia.ac.uk/aspects
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Welcome A very warm welcome to all our alumni, including those from our prior institutions In Essex:
Mid-Essex Technical College & School of Art
Brentwood College of Education
In Cambridge:
Cambridge & County School of Arts, Crafts & Technology
Chelmer Institute
Cambridgeshire Technical College & School of Art
Anglia Higher Education College
Homerton School of Health Studies
Essex Institute of Higher Education
CCAT
Anglia Higher Education College & Anglia Polytechnic University and from all our partner institutions across the UK eastern region and worldwide.
The new Lord Ashcroft Building and courtyard on the Cambridge campus
Check out our postgraduate study opportunities at www.anglia.ac.uk There’s never been a better time to study to increase your skills and employability
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
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Contents 28
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16
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Editor Sue Jacobs Contributors Erin Butcher, Tom Kay, Claire Shearer, Sharon Wuyts
YOUR STORIES 9
A life of continued learning as a mature student
27 Obituary Professor Tony Wigram 4 The Vice Chancellor The welcome message from Michael Thorne
Angela Lucas talks about her ongoing study
15 A new career to help break smoking addiction
11 Winter Law event Write-up of the event in December 2011
Frances Franklin starts up company marketing electronic cigarettes
19 Alumni News Bites Snippets of information on our alumni 13 Anglia Ruskin graduate highlights plight of African rhinos Tony Ellis photographs anti-poaching teams 8 Burmese Days Alan Smart – Director, British Council 7 Committed to lifelong learning Jenny Gray charts her learning experience with us
14 Helen’s route to her PhD Helen Doyle talks of how she succeeded in her study
12 Honorary Award Holder Mark Wood Profile of alumnus and honorary Mark Wood
29 Reunion in Cambridge Sian Harrison organises a reunion for 1980 Modern Languages
27 Ronald Searle obituary 10 The challenge of running an estate The Hon Hugh Crossley talks of his life at Somerleyton
ANGLIA RUSKIN NEWS 28 Campus Developments Update on our outstanding redevelopment
21 Can Anglia Ruskin Transcription Service help you? The services we can offer to businesses
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Development Update News of our development activity over the last 6 months
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Disasters, risk and doom Aled Jones (Global Sustainability Institute) discusses crisis management
21 Employer engagement Our relationships with commerce 22 Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences Latest arts news from the faculty
23 Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education Continuing success and research news
24 Faculty of Science & Technology News from the faculty 5 Graduation ceremonies on four campuses Ceremonies at our joint ventures, Cambridge and Chelmsford
ESPECIALLY FOR ALUMNI 27 Alumni pin Lapel or tie pin of our University crest – now in full colour
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Alumni Success in Business Award Paul Watson is the 2011 winner
29 Being a mentor A mentor and mentee give their view of our scheme
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Last words A message to alumni from Sue Jacobs Links Short messages from alumni Marriages MBA annual dinner In Cambridge this time, on Tuesday 19th June
18 International Focus Alumni profiles and overseas events 25 Lord Ashcroft International Business School Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI)
27 Mission Croatia Special report and information on 2011 trip 30 News in brief Snippets of news from Anglia Ruskin 16 Outstanding individuals given Honorary Awards Our new 2011 Honorary Award holders
26 Research Focus on two of the many projects we are undertaking 31 Sports Report Sports update from Chelmsford and Cambridge 20 Staff Snippets News on staff ventures and successes
FOR UNIALUMNI NEWS
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Mike Thorne Vice Chancellor the moment, up 17%: a long way from the national demise predicted by so many pundits. The greater priority we have been giving research has begun to pay off with increasing levels of success in our bid for European research grant funding and major philanthropic support for two of our research institutes (the Global Sustainability Institute and the Institute of International Management Practice), as well as for Music Therapy research. Recently, the President and Council of the Royal College of Surgeons visited our Postgraduate Medical Institute and were impressed by our facilities, the live surgical demonstrations beamed in from our partner hospitals, and the progress we have made – not least in establishing three Masters degrees in surgery as well as an MD programme. Their visit followed on from us hosting the annual conference of the International Society of Laparascopic (keyhole) Colorectal Surgeons. This was the first time we have been able to host a major international conference on our Chelmsford campus, made possible by its complete redevelopment over the last decade. Similarly, we hosted the launch of Cambridge Cleantech at our East Road campus in Cambridge where a packed 400-seat lecture theatre was addressed on the topic of businesses which support the lowcarbon sustainability agenda – again, something which would not have been possible before the new Lord Ashcroft buildings were completed.
This issue of Aspects includes an article by Dr Aled Jones, Director of our Global Sustainability Institute, on Crisis Management. Thanks to a continuing avalanche of government policy changes, I am not alone among Vice Chancellors in taking a deepening interest in that subject. While each individual change might well have its own internal logic, there are so many of them and their interactions with each other so unpredictable that we are facing what mathematicians formally define as ‘chaos’: namely, changes to so many variables in such a way that it is impossible to predict the consequences. On top of the tripling of fees for UK undergraduates, the removal of the right to work after studying for international students, the new and less predictable visa regime for
international students, the devastating cuts to teacher training numbers and attacks on the funding we get to support the academic success of those coming to university from non-traditional backgrounds, we are now facing student numbers being taken away from us annually and bidding to get them back! As an alumnus you will be pleased to know that, despite this unpropitious government backdrop, your alma mater is doing well. Last September we saw a rise in student numbers in all categories, including international students. And as is reported in more detail later in these pages, our employer engagement work – delivering degrees in the workplace – is going from strength to strength. Applications to study as an undergraduate next year are, at
We are very proud of you, our alumni, and your achievements. I hope you look on your university with pride as its presence grows in the region, nationally and internationally. We have redoubled our efforts to make contact with those not yet firmly connected to our alumni community, be they at the early stages of their careers or by now eminent in their field of work. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the latter in this edition and that you will help us reconnect with alumni wherever possible. We really want to know more about your progress and successes, the better to broadcast our collective achievements. Every good wish for 2012.
Professor Michael Thorne Vice Chancellor
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
UNI NEWS
Development Update
We would like to thank everyone who has supported our Telethon 2011, our first telephone campaign since 2006, raising much-needed funds for scholarships and bursaries, medical research, music therapy and other campus priorities. This has been a highlight of our Annual Fund campaign and we are pleased that we have raised over £38,000, more than doubling our 2006 total. In addition, our alumni have made offers of mentoring and work placements. With 28 of our current students calling from our Chelmsford campus, we talked to over 1,000 alumni during this 3-week campaign. The callers were supported by
shift supervisors, who ensured that they were kept motivated throughout. This provided an excellent opportunity to speak to our graduates about their time here and what they have been doing since and also to update contact, email and professional details. The telethon has also been a great way for our students to build upon their communication and teamwork skills which will be of benefit to them in their studies and future employment. Check out our dedicated website www.anglia.ac.uk/makingadifference for ongoing information about our Annual Fund and other fundraising projects and ways you too can get involved! Raise funds when buying online using our new initiative called ‘Give as you Live’ which enables you to raise funds for our Music Therapy Appeal – but at no cost to you! By simply going to www.anglia.ac.uk/giveasyoulive, you can download the free online application to your computer so every time you shop online at one of the partner stores (including Amazon, ASOS, iTunes, The
Trainline and many more) we automatically reclaim a small percentage. It really is that simple, and the more supporters who sign up, the more we can raise to support Music Therapy. Girton Golf Club, based in Cambridge, held a golf day for us in September 2011 in aid of our Music Therapy Appeal where over £2,600 was raised. A great day was had by everyone, and our thanks go to all those at the club for their efforts in raising this money for Music Therapy. The club has been raising funds for us during 2011 as we are this year’s Captain’s Charity and have raised over £3,800 in total.
Fundraisers at Girton Golf Club wearing their clothes inside out and under their underclothes – all in a good cause.
Graduation Ceremonies on FOUR campuses Over 4,000 graduates and 10,000 guests attended the 2011 graduation ceremonies in Chelmsford and Cambridge last October. It was great to see our graduates so happy and reminiscing with fellow classmates. We also had some very special guests join our ceremonies – go to the centre pages to see all our new honorary award holders. We were also delighted to be invited to attend the Peterborough ceremony at the Black Bull Hotel for the first time in September. We met as many of you as we could to share the Alumni Network benefits and services available
to you. King’s Lynn was on 8th October at St Nicholas Chapel. The weather seemed to hold onto the rain until after the ceremony, thankfully!
If you missed out on purchasing your memorabilia on your graduation day, you can still order your graduation photographs, DVD, yearbook,
t-shirt and hoodies from the companies below: • Graduation photographs – www.tempestgraduations.co.uk • DVD of your ceremony – www.visionsunlimited.co.uk • T-shirts and hoodies – www.campusclothing.com • Gradfinale yearbooks – www.gradfinale.co.uk Congratulations to all of this year's graduates – we hope you and your guests had a fantastic day!
Helen Valentine, Pro Vice Chancellor, Anglia Ruskin University (3rd from left), with staff from King’s Lynn at their graduation ceremony.
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UNI NEWS
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Aspects Winter 2011/2011 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Disasters, risk and doom (flood-proof homes in flood plains) is a critical tool that we should use even though this usually involves higher capital investments up front. Resilient infrastructure doesn’t always mean disaster-proof infrastructure. For example, in some areas where disasters regularly occur it may be cheaper and more resilient to build ‘flexible’ infrastructure – buildings you expect to fall down but are designed in such a way that they are really easy to put back up again. At the end of the day, what we want to try and prevent is the need to deploy the excellent services that society has created to cope with disasters once they have occurred, whether it’s the Red Cross or International Aid.
Forest fire
There are many things that society needs to find ways of coping with, from natural disasters such as earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanoes and extreme weather events to man-made disasters such as global climate change, peak oil, water shortages, poverty and food shortages. Natural disasters cause disruption and devastation on a massive scale and while scientists are getting better at predicting individual events this still remains a discipline in its infancy. Man-made disasters only add to the array of things society needs to cope with. Disasters are only going to get more common and stronger and there are three main ways to cope with the associated risks: • Prevent the risk • Move away from the risk • Manage the impact of the risk Prevention is easier with man-made disasters. To prevent stronger extreme weather impacts needs a global political response to the climate change challenge. To prevent food shortages leading to famine requires better water and soil management, political stability, supply chains set up to
distribute food and the tools to grow a resilient food crop in the first instance. Prevention is the best cure. If as a society we fail to see the value in prevention, then moving away from the risk is our next best option. No one, when sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and asked to plan a society, would put critical infrastructure or people in an area incredibly likely to be hit by a disaster at some point in the future. If someone said that there was a 25% chance that the plane you were going to board would crash before it landed, you’d be unlikely to get onto it. However, people all around the world move to disaster-prone areas all the time. A flood plain is called this because it gets flooded. Building a nuclear reactor on top of an earthquake zone (like Japan or California) is a disaster waiting to happen. However, we are not going to manage as a society to prevent or move away from disasters (and moving away or preventing all disasters would be impossible in any case). Therefore, putting in place good disaster risk management tools is important. The tool of last resort (although often the first one used) is insurance. However, building resilient infrastructure
At the Global Sustainability Institute we work to understand some of the underlying trends that drive the unsustainable challenges we now face and how policy makers, businesses and individuals can respond to these challenges. We focus on what drives individual behaviours and ‘corporate thinking’ and try to understand some of the levers that are necessary to pull to manage the risks associated with these trends. This extends from how to encourage individuals to behave in a more energy-efficient way (to help prevent the risk) to what the East of England can do to adapt to climate change (manage the impact of the risk).
Dr Aled Jones Director, Global Sustainability Institute
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
We are delighted that Paul Watson – BA (Hons) in Primary and Community Care and Specialist Practice (School Nurse) 2007 – has been awarded the 2011 Success in Business Award. Paul is now working as a Team Leader in Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, managing Health Visitors and School Nurses. Paul was featured in last winter’s edition of Aspects, not only for his career in the NHS, but also for his work on a new Asthma Spacer Device, which is being developed in collaboration with Health Enterprise East. This new spacer ‘The Pocketflow’ has had to go through many stages to end up with a product and evidence base that gives it credibility in the medical field. There has been extensive computer modelling, as well
as product testing by independent specialists. These tests have shown that the product is as good as, if not better than, current items on the market. Paul is currently working with a manufacturing company, ViVO Smart Medical Devices, who wish to take this product to market, hoping to have a production model by the end of 2011. This new device has enormous potential and could significantly change the lives of those suffering with asthma, not to mention the cost savings to the NHS. The potential impact of his device on those living with asthma and his drive to succeed make him an excellent role model for our students and is the reason why Paul is a worthy winner of the 2011 Alumni Success in Business Award.
Committed to lifelong learning I seem to be a definite product of lifelong learning and the Anglia Ruskin family. I started on the CIS (Chartered Institute of Secretaries Course) at Mid-Essex Tech in 1969 at the tender age of 16. During the first year I met my husband, Phil Gray, who was doing an HND in Applied Physics and living in residence on the Roxwell Road. I fondly remember the monthly dances held there, as I am sure do many others. We married in December 1970 amid dire warnings from everyone that "it would not last". Well, 41 years later I think we have proved everyone wrong on that one! My husband went on to complete his HND and I attended lots of courses over the years, visiting nearly every campus in the process,
and finally completing my MA in Mental Health between Cambridge and Chelmsford. My eldest son Karl also joined the Anglia family when he completed his Social Work course at Chelmsford. I am now the Director of a Mental Health Charity called HUBB, which provides statutory advocacy for people detained under the Mental Health Act (1983) and also for people who come under the remit of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). To mark our twentieth anniversary as a Charity this year, HUBB has produced a brilliant book called Recovery Is. The book has been written entirely by people who have discovered their own ways to well-being, apart from the foreword, penned by yours truly.
What next? Well, maybe I will get round to that PhD one day after all!
Jenny Gray HUBB Director
STOP PRESS! The date for our annual MBA dinner has now been confirmed as Tuesday 19th June. It will be held on the Cambridge campus and will include a tour of the new Lord Ashcroft International Business School building. Please visit the MBA page of our website at www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni for further details as they are confirmed and to book a place.
FOR ALUMNI
2011 Alumni Success in Business winner
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YOUR STORIES
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Alan Smart CCAT, 1983
Burmese Days George Orwell once wrote about the great divide that existed between the Burmese natives and British colonialists who resided in Burma during the days of the British Empire. Today, Alan Smart, alumnus of the Cambridgeshire College of Art and Technology (CCAT) and Director of the British Council in Burma, is responsible for the far stronger cultural relationship that exists between Britain and Burma today. Since graduating from CCAT in 1983, Alan has proceeded to live a life of vast cultural diversity and unique experience. In some ways, those features are exactly what took him to Cambridge to study at CCAT in the first place. Alan studied for a joint honours degree in English Literature and Art History which captured his interest in both literature and the arts, whilst also allowing him to satisfy his creative instincts. In fact, Alan says it was the largely unique open access to the artist studio that the course offered which swayed him to enrol at CCAT and set him on his journey to where he is today. He still holds very fond memories of Cambridge and “the vibrancy of the whole city that makes it such a wonderful place for students – not to mention the number of pubs!”
“…he can happily recall having to change Valerie Singleton’s (former Blue Peter presenter) waste bin”
His current role as Director of the British Council in Burma sees him managing a team of approximately eighty staff and being responsible for overseeing operations in that country. The British Council are what Alan describes as a ‘cultural relations organisation’, responsible for engaging nations from across the world with British society to help establish formalised structures for education, the arts and greater society in countries less developed than our own, whilst the teaching of English still remains a key component of their work. When talking to Alan, the passion he holds, not only for transferring knowledge and experience to other nations and societies but also for embracing entirely contrasting cultures, is really quite striking.
After graduating, Alan moved to London and spent two years working as a porter for the BBC. Whilst housekeeping duties were not part of a long-term career plan, he can happily recall having to change Valerie Singleton’s (former Blue Peter presenter) waste bin and regularly cleaning the dressing room toilet of Robin Day (former Question Time host and BBC journalist)!
When looking back on his career so far, Alan clearly holds great pride in some of the work he has been involved with. He cites a few personal highlights and achievements that he looks back on fondly, including the setup of a teacher training programme in Palestine, supporting a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Nights Dream on the Gaza Strip and, most
recently, working closely with Burmese politician and activist, Aung San Suu Kyii, following her public release from house arrest, which she had been under for seven years by order of the Burmese government. Clearly, he is not one to shirk a challenge. Despite having first-hand experience of bombings and gunfire, Alan says he would recommend working abroad to anybody who gets the opportunity, whether paid or voluntary. When he first moved to Egypt, he remembers he was earning less than he could have claimed being on the dole in the UK, but he felt far ‘richer’ for the experience and enjoyment of what he was doing. On reflection, it certainly stood Alan in great stead and this was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last year when he was awarded an OBE for his work for the British Council. To read the full version of this interesting article, please go to our website on www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
YOUR STORIES
Angela Lucas BA Hons Humanities, 2005
A life of continued learning as a mature student ‘Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.’ Danny Kaye (1913–1987) Getting older is challenging – life’s markers are passed leaving a future without a designated template and the challenge is how to own that space. Cicely Tyson is quoted, “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew”. How true that proved to be! My five adult children, their spouses and eleven grandchildren are close friends and allies in my life adventures which include being a student at Anglia for two degrees.
“My only qualification on leaving school aged 15 was expulsion”
– the oldest student at age 68. I was granted local authority fees funding for my first degree, but as a senior citizen my income was the basic State Pension credits and, while newspaper headlines screamed, ‘Pensioners have to choose between food or heating,’ I had fares and textbooks into the mix, something which became more of a challenge with a second degree where funding wasn’t available. A second degree? The study bug had bitten and I was truly hooked. Aged 71 I was accepted for training as a Church of England Lay Evangelist, which ran concurrently with my first year studies of Christian Theology with the Cambridge Theological Federation, accredited by Anglia Ruskin. Living outside the normal geographical area which the CTF covers posed some logistical challenges.
Age 64 and time for a new challenge, so I enrolled at the local Further Education college for A Level English. Seeing the young students fill in university application forms the thought came – I can do that!
Two remarkable people walked that journey with me. Firstly, the Director of BA in Christian Theology in Cambridge, who having accepted me as a student at interview, became equally determined to find a way for me to complete. The second is a no-nonsense, elderly tutor who didn’t know what ‘average’ meant. My first essay was met with, “this is not an essay, it’s a suet pudding with too many currants unevenly mixed”. It was to be two years before a compliment emerged, “Finally (long pause) finally, you have got in touch with a brain!”
I applied and was accepted to do a Humanities degree at the Benfleet campus
‘Challenge’ has been the key word. Ageism was an issue with some young students at
My failing was in not coming up to the mark in a prestigious Grammar school. My fifties were a good age – I did a full-time one-year course at College for a Private Secretary’s Certificate, worked in Saudi Arabia, then Egypt, did TEFL and studied Arabic. However, I was always aware that I only ever ‘just passed’ the exams.
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the Benfleet campus. Money, or the lack of, was an ever-present difficulty. In my closing semester, a planned placement opportunity was withdrawn and I emulated Victor Meldrew, muttering, “I don’t believe it! I can’t believe that at this final stage I am going to fail”. It was my Director of Pastoral Studies who found an alternative to enable completion. Would I do it again? Yes! Currently, I am in the second year of studies as Spiritual Director, and in October I begin a Creative Writing degree with the OU. Maybe, one day, my mark will be the coveted ‘A’. ‘I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.’ (Diane Ackerman)
Angela Lucas
YOUR STORIES
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Hugh Crossley BA Hons History, 1994
The challenge of running an estate “you need a ‘good team partnered with good instinct’ to make a success” For many of our alumni, running a family business, starting your own business or being an entrepreneur will be a familiar concept. However, for alumnus the Honourable Hugh Crossley, all three have to be combined on a daily basis. Nestled in the Suffolk countryside is the rather stunning Somerleyton Hall, a large country house and estate managed by Hugh and his wife Lara. The house has been in his family since 1862 when his ancestors, made rich through the industrial revolution, decided to buy a country property away from their home in Halifax. Crossley Carpets was a hugely successful family business and its success in the late 1800s allowed Sir Francis Crossley to buy the 5,000 acre estate for £80,000. That was nearly 150 years ago and the house is now a working home for Hugh, Lara and their son John. Hugh grew up at Somerleyton Hall and attended Eton before arriving at Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge to read History in 1991. He is hugely complimentary about his time with us, starting out by living in a B&B in Hills Road before buying a house in George Street where he lived for the remainder of his university days. They were, he says, ‘great
fun’ and a completely different academic and learning environment compared to Eton. He was able to join societies and use the facilities at Cambridge University, which at the time were open to all students from Anglia. Hugh admits he was ‘obsessed’ with history and worked hard to achieve his degree, graduating in 1994. After this, Hugh went to London, and with his thirst for all things historical continuing, sought to find work in television production. However, this was a competitive industry and after working for Hat Trick Productions (of Have I Got News For You and Outnumbered fame) Hugh went on to work for a landscape gardening company and finally property company Savills. Hugh’s father, Lord Somerleyton, had learnt everything about the estate first hand, having taken it over as a young man. He wanted his own son to have a different experience and so encouraged Hugh into business. It was on a plane back from Yemen, and while being tested on his Arabic by a fellow traveller, that Hugh came up with the idea of his first restaurant business, Dish Dash (a traditional Arabic item of clothing). The plan was to combine his love of the Middle
Hugh and wife, Lara
East and history as well as business. Dish Dash went on to become a success with three restaurants to its name, but disagreements with Westminster Council meant that Hugh learnt many lessons and eventually sold his part in the business in 2009 to become the full-time manager of Somerleyton. Since he took over from his father, the estate has seen some significant changes.
Hugh has always had an ambition to prove himself as more than just an heir by name and has wanted to succeed to show others that he has the drive and acumen to make Somerleyton the success it deserves to be. With Dish Dash behind him, he now feels confident as to where to go with Somerleyton and recognises you need a ‘good team partnered with good instinct’ to make a success.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
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FOR ALUMNI
Law Event Sadly, Lord Crossley is ill with Alzheimer’s and Hugh would now love to discuss the plans and thoughts he has about Somerleyton with someone else who knows what it is like to run such a vast and varied business. In many ways he has spent the last few years working to get the estate back on an even financial playing field. The house has a steady turnover of 22,000 visitors every year but it is still the one part of the estate which makes a loss. This is particularly tough in the current economic climate. Instead Hugh has looked to other parts of the estate to bring in money to help support the house. He has renovated another house on his land and turned it into a successful boutique hotel. He has developed the village pub and he has built a number of log cabins on Frinton Lake as holiday homes, all of which are starting to become profitable. The property portfolio has also been built up and Hugh has outsourced a lot of the farming. Future plans include building and expanding on the hotel and Frinton Lake and there are plans to open a farm shop. Hugh has had to earn the trust and respect of those who live and work in and around Somerleyton, but knows that over time he will be able to prove that trust is well founded.
After all these changes and hard work, you would think the entrepreneur in Hugh would have been satisfied, but the industrialist in him still wants to go further and he is planning to open a new chip shop with a difference in Norwich in the new year. Hot Chip will give the British chip a make over, combining healthy cooking methods with organic unusual dips on the side. It will hopefully expand and become a franchise model and Hugh is very excited about the prospect of having a project outside of Somerleyton. For now though, the challenge of the house is a big one. In recent years it has been harder and harder to get government funds to help upkeep large houses, with money tending to go towards larger estates and National Trust or English Heritage properties. As Hugh puts it “in most business you would cut out the bit not making money but this is also our home. The house is like a drug – it's beautiful and spacious but it is costly and needs investment. These large houses were built for people with disposable income and to be flashy and they need resources to keep them going. My challenge is to leave it a richer place than how I found it”.
Friday 9th December 2011 This was another successful event in Cambridge with a good mixture of alumni, students and staff, so thank you to those who attended. Professor Home gave a talk on the history of the Dale Farm gypsy evictions. He had worked and published on planning aspects of the gypsy caravan site from 25 years ago. Fahd al-Hemeiry, who is one of our current students who is due
to complete his PhD this year, delivered a taste of Shari’a Law. Unfortunately, Fahd only had 30 minutes to fit in what he could from a very wide subject. A big thank you goes to all our guest speakers for an interesting and enlightening evening. Please watch out for our next Law Networking event in Chelmsford in July 2012.
Marriages Mark Beattie (BSc Multimedia and Business Studies 2000) and Jennifer Young were married on 29th July 2011. Mark met Jennifer in a disco club in Chelmsford. She’s originally from Northern Ireland and studied at Queen’s University in Belfast.
Links With so many interesting alumni stories, we ran out of room for our links page! Please visit our online Aspects to read these.
YOUR STORIES
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Mark Wood CCAT, 1974
Alumnus Honorary Award Holder “it’s hard work but at the end of the day, well, I'd do the same thing again.”
When Mark Wood received a letter offering him an honorary degree from Anglia Ruskin, he was a little confused. As a CCAT graduate, like many of you, the connection between where he studied in the 70s and our University today seemed tenuous. On top of this, we were not his first choice of college, but having not quite achieved the A level results he was expecting and having got on well with the lecturer who interviewed him, Mark was glad he joined CCAT in 1971 and was delighted to receive his honorary degree in 2010 and become more closely associated with us. “Cambridge was a wonderful city to be a student in”, Mark enthuses. Although a very different campus to the one today, CCAT was an institution that was growing rapidly and had an excitement about it. The library had just opened and Mark had great fun living with eight other students and the seven cats his landlady owned. The experience taught Mark self sufficiency, the ability to make apple pie, and friends that he still sees occasionally today. “University gives you the luxury of time; thinking and reflecting is not something you have time to do in business.”
Mark has certainly kept himself busy in business for the last 38 years. Since leaving CCAT he has forged a highly successful career in the City. He started by training to be an accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers before moving through and up a succession of companies in London and New York ,including Aviva, Barclays, British & Commonwealth and the AA before becoming Chief Executive of AXA and then finally working for the Prudential. Then in 2006 Mark decided to go out on his own and, having raised more than £500 million in private equity, he set up his company Paternoster which was the first new life insurance company in the UK for 30 years. Mark sold Paternoster to Goldman Sachs in January 2011. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that means Mark is retired, though. He believes you should always have five things on the go, so his current portfolio of work is: Chairman of Lloyds of London underwriter Chaucer; Chairman of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Employee Benefits; Chairman of Digitalis; and Senior Advisor to private equity firm Carlisle (who have just completed the sale of RAC). Finally, Mark is Chairman of the National Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), a charity he is hugely passionate about. Mark became involved with the NSPCC in the early 1990s when he was Chairman of a small bank which was consumed by internal squabbles. In order to try and bring the team together, he suggested they raise £1million for the charity round the corner.
Mark knew the charity was the NSPCC but had no idea what they did or how they operated. Since then he has raised millions for the cause and as chairman is determined to make real change. He is currently particularly focussed on reducing deaths in children under one, who are currently eight times more likely to die a violent death than children of any other age. By alerting a control group of 80,000 new parents to the consequences of shaking infants violently, the charity aims to reduce infant deaths by 40%. Mark commented, “The NSPCC has over 800,000 regular donors. I want to make sure that the charity is the most efficient it can be to give donors the best value for money. I used to think we simply had to accept that charities are less efficient, but since becoming more closely involved, I see that the opposite is true.” Away from work, Mark enjoys spending time with his three children, gardening and watching films, (plus the occasional cigar) – he wishes he could live without sleep. So what advice would he give to other business graduates starting in the City today? “Don’t listen to advice. There are huge demands on people working in business today. When I started there were no mobiles, laptops, iPads etc – I had to save up to buy my calculator! It all made the split between home and business much easier to manage.” Mark also comments that “no one in the City will ever tell you that you’ve done enough; it’s hard work but at the end of the day, well, I'd do the same thing again”.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
YOUR STORIES
Tony Ellis BA Hons Photography, 2011
Anglia Ruskin graduate highlights plight of African rhinos BA (Hons) Photography graduate Tony Ellis has spent time photographing the work of South Africa’s armed anti-poaching teams to highlight the issue of illegal rhino hunting. He was embedded with a unit working in the Kruger National Park, which covers an area of over 7,300 square miles. Poaching hit an all-time high in 2010 with an estimated 333 rhinos killed in South Africa alone. At the current rate the black rhino is expected to become extinct within nine years and it is feared that the entire species could be wiped out by 2025. Tony told us, “My trip to South Africa was an eye-opening experience. The extinction of the rhino is almost certain now; it’s just a matter of time. With poaching attracting sophisticated criminal networks using helicopters, night-vision, tranquilizers and silencers to kill rhinos at night, the challenge faced by game parks and reserves is huge”. The Ranger that Tony accompanied was formerly a member of South Africa’s special
forces and, despite leading a team of 20, he admitted that his current mission is the toughest of his career, not least because of the corruption that takes place. “Those caught poaching commonly get a warning or a 150 rand (£14) fine from the local police, which is not a major deterrent,” explained Tony, who left a job in software sales to fulfil his ambition of becoming a professional photographer. “The majority of the firearms are traced back to the police and it’s believed this is the main source of illegal weapons trading. This cooperation between poachers and corrupt police explains the ineffective ‘warnings’ and very low fines that arrested poachers face.”
The problem of poaching is fuelled by simple economics, with rhino horn commonly being sold for up to £22,000 per kilo.
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It was originally used in the manufacture of handles for daggers and cutlery, but the high price is now due to its demand in China and Vietnam for use in traditional medicine. “The Ranger told me that the guys who are taking the highest risk by tracking the rhinos and then killing them, see about 25,000 rand (around £2,300),” added Tony. “The fact that this beautiful and incredibly valuable animal shares the land with a local population who can be living on less than 50p per day, you begin to see the motivation for these people. There’s no evidence of the effectiveness of using rhino horn in medicine and apparently it’s virtually identical in make-up to human finger nails. My dream is to travel to China and Vietnam to work on photographing the other side of this criminal infrastructure.” You can see more of Tony’s work on his website – www.tonyellisphotography.co.uk
YOUR STORIES
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Helen Doyle PhD, 2011
Helen’s route to her PhD
With a lifelong ambition to achieve the highest academic accolade that I was capable of, after completing my BSc in 1997, I embarked on my clinical Perfusion career which enabled me to conduct research alongside and sparked my interest to study for a parttime PhD at Anglia The first 18 months were busy with study design, data collection and a new relationship on the horizon. My PhD blossomed as did my personal life, culminating in marriage in 2008. Arriving
home from honeymoon, my confirmation of candidature was granted and a pregnancy confirmed. My data collection was almost complete and maternity leave commenced, so I relocated with my husband, prior to our daughter’s birth. Being a new mum was overwhelming for the first 12 weeks, so studying abruptly stopped until sleep returned. Data analysis was limited to naptimes, evenings and one afternoon of childcare a week. With experimental clarification required to cement my findings,
I left hubby in charge of our four-month-old daughter whilst I returned to Cambridge. I was very unwell during this week, so returned home early. I was admitted to hospital due to the detrimental effects of carrying twins and was also advised to expect the worst! My eldest was aged only five months, so my whole world was reeling from this latest discovery. I couldn’t face telling my supervisory team at this early stage as I battled extreme dehydration, sickness, exhaustion and further hospital admissions. At the same time, I vowed to get as much of my thesis structured and written before the twins arrived, knowing the impact of just one baby, and hoped this would soften the news when I eventually told my supervisory team. I was concerned that three children under 13 months would be considered detrimental to my studies. I needn’t have worried, as the team were extremely supportive, if not stunned. When the twins were born, my thesis structure was drafted and two chapters written. I was given a 4–6 month intermission whilst baby routines were established and the dust settled, but not before another house move! The return to my doctoral studies started with an annual review expressing concerns over my ability to complete with such a young family. If ever fuel was added to my fire, this was it! With postnatal depression, I already doubted myself, but this was
my dream so close to realisation. I refused to give it up; how would I explain my PhD failure to my children in years to come? With much supervisory support and an action plan agreed, I returned to my thesis in earnest. Writing up was limited to late evenings and five hours of childcare a week. Ideas and thoughts during nappy changes and feeding were noted down for later consideration. Studying with babies is a rollercoaster of emotions and productivity; their needs always come first and this has to be accepted. With an understanding husband, my thesis was sent to supervisors for comment on Christmas Day 2010, with submission on April Fool’s day 2011! Much anxiety surrounded the viva, with the possibility of my husband being deployed abroad or another imminent relocation of the family. Fortunately, with accommodating examiners and hubby minding three babies, I travelled back to Cambridge. After a very nervous start, I successfully defended my thesis with minor corrections in July 2011. Despite three babies and three house moves, my PhD was completed part-time in six years. Graduation day was a very proud family occasion with my parents, husband and children. Hopefully, my determination to fulfil my dream will inspire my children in years to come.
Helen Doyle (née Dunningham) PhD, 2011
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
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Frances Franklin BSc Hons Social Work, 1997
A new career to help break smoking addiction My career panned out over 20 years in Essex Social Services as a Residential Homes Manager, Team Manager at County Hall, Team Manager at Broomfield Hospital and St Andrews Burns Unit Hospital. During this time I obtained various qualifications through Anglia Ruskin, including Social Work Training (1990), Practice Teaching (1994), PQSW (1997), Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Organisational Development in the Public Services (2001) and MA and Advanced Award in Social Work (2004). I retired from Essex Social Services in 2006 and moved to Hampshire with my husband to be close to family. I then worked in Surrey Social Care as a Locum Care Manager for People with Learning Disabilities until 2009 when I finally retired from Social Work. I had a complete break from work devoting time to my 95-year-old aunt and my youngest 3-year-old grandson who lives in Scotland, taking frequent trips to spend time with him and his parents. However, I began to miss the challenge of working life and in 2011 I decided to go into partnership with my son to start a new venture – Cigair – an internet sales business promoting a healthy alternative to tobacco smoking. This decision was based on my personal experience of losing a close family member and watching other family and friends contract debilitating diseases directly related to tobacco use, which has seriously impeded their quality of life. Although a different direction from my social work career, it has parallels in that it is underpinned by caring about people.
The electronic cigarettes we have developed are a revolutionary smoking alternative that look, feel and taste like a real cigarette and give smokers all the pleasure and satisfaction of traditional smoking without the health, social and economic problems. Most smokers do so because they enjoy the tactile, emotional and physical sensations. Cigair electric cigarettes provide these pleasures. Tobacco smoking is well known to be harmful, but it is hoped this thoroughly researched electronic cigarette will assist people to overcome their deadly addiction. Extensive research and financial investment has gone into the preparation of this business, which is still in its infancy. We have set up promotion stands across the
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UK in an effort to reach members of the public, including Chelmsford for a week last July. It was lovely to be in familiar surroundings. I am enjoying meeting people from all walks of life and listening to their stories. My admin skills have been valuable to the business and I love being part of the working environment again, promoting a product I believe can have positive results – feedback from customers so far has been very positive. Please visit our website at www.cigair.co.uk to see what we are doing. Anyone wishing to purchase our products can enter ALUMNI at checkout to receive an exclusive 10% discount.
Frances Franklin BSc (Hons) Social Work 1997
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Outstanding individuals given This October we were delighted to welcome our new Honorary Award holders. There was a truly international feel this time, with recipients travelling from across the globe and we were again delighted that several are our own alumni. Please go to www.anglia.ac.uk/honoraries to read full profiles of all our new Honoraries and those who have been awarded previously.
November 2011 awards Kate Barker CBE Manish Bhasin (alumnus) Mike Brace CBE Jilly Cooper Kevin Crossley-Holland Frankie Dettori MBE Mary Jane Drummond Joe Greenwell CBE Mark Foster Professor Liu Gonghui Anya Hindmarch MBE Junius Ho (alumnus) John Holder (alumnus) Richard Madeley Sir Keith Mills Dr Jonathan Milner Kylie Minogue OBE Sadaharu Muramatsu (alumnus) Stephen Skelton (alumnus) Mark-Anthony Turnage
Photo by Chris Bourchier
Frankie Dettori MBE Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori MBE is a world class flat race jockey and one of the elite stars of international horse racing. His trademark ‘flying dismounts’, cheeky sense of humour and dapper dress sense have made him a household name. Born in Milan in 1970, his first experience with horses came at the age of twelve, when his father bought him a Palomino pony. At 13 he left school to work as a stable boy and at just 15, came to England to join a Newmarket stable as an apprentice. Frankie’s first success came in Italy in 1986, with his initial British win at Goodwood a year later. He took the 1989 British champion apprentice title and became the first teenager since the legendary Lester Piggott to ride a century of winners in a British season, recording 141 successes in 1990. Frankie went on to ride 233 winners in 1994, securing the first of three British jockeys’ championships. On 28th September 1996, he won all seven of his races, a feat which had never been accomplished before. Frankie has smashed almost all known horse racing records with over 40 victories at Royal Ascot alone. Out of 1,000 races a year, he wins around 200, which he admits is not a bad hit rate.
In addition to his talents as a jockey, he has taken up after-dinner speaking, and has become a partner in Frankie’s Bar and Grill with renowned chef Marco Pierre White. He has also released a cookbook and has a line of frozen Italian foods. Many will also know him from his many appearances on A Question of Sport. In 2000 he was awarded an MBE for services to sport.
Anya Hindmarch MBE Anya Hindmarch MBE is the handbag designer and style icon who is known around the globe for her brand of gorgeous but delightfully- understated bags, clothes and accessories. Anya started her business during the 1980s aged just 18. With an eye for detail, design and quality, her business has grown to a multi-million pound global fashion empire, incorporating 54 branded shops in 17 countries. Born in Essex, it was while in Florence to learn Italian as part of her gap year that she noticed the popularity of the classic leather duffel bag and, seeing the potential, borrowed money to import some to England. Anya sent a bag to fashion magazine Harpers & Queen, resulting
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
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Honorary Awards Scientists in the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity research laboratory on our Chelmsford campus are currently researching blood markers that in the future might be used to identify breast cancer at an early stage. Kylie’s story will serve as an inspiration to everyone involved in this work.
Photo by Darenote Ltd
Sir Keith Mills Sir Keith Mills is an Essex-born self-made entrepreneur who has excelled in the businesses of marketing and sport. His enthusiasm for sport began as a young boy when he was introduced to sailing by his father and witnessed the adventures and affluence of the sailing community. It was a defining moment – rather than watch those with money all his life, he decided that he would make some. in sales of 500. She had started her internationally acclaimed business and consequently never made it to University. Anya went on to design her own bags, which are popular with film stars and celebrities. Her early products were heavily influenced by Italian design principles and all her pieces are based on quality of workmanship, with a British emphasis on humour and bespoke adaptation. They are also influenced by a continued interest in architecture. In 2007, Anya, in collaboration with the global social change movement ‘We Are What We Do’, designed the global sell out Tote bag ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’ and also launched Anya Hindmarch Bespoke. In 2009 she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to the British fashion industry and was nominated as one of the 25 most influential people working in Britain’s fashion industry.
Kylie Minogue OBE Kylie Minogue OBE is one of the most admired and enduring artists in today’s music industry, releasing her first single in July 1987. In 2010 she became the first solo artist in UK chart history to have four No 1 albums spanning four decades and an
incredible 45 consecutive UK top 20 hit singles. Kylie has made the transition from ‘Pop Princess’ to serious artist, a step very few musicians have been able to achieve. In 2005 she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and spent the next 12 months focusing on her treatment and recovery. In 2006 readers of GQ and Glamour both voted Kylie their Woman of The Year. In 2008 she collected the Chevalier de L’ordre des Arts et Lettres. France’s Minister of Culture and Communications acknowledged the impact she had made by publicly discussing her cancer diagnosis and treatment, saying, “Doctors now even go as far as saying there is a ‘Kylie effect’ that encourages young women to have regular checks”. Kylie has won numerous other awards and in December 2007 was awarded an OBE for services to music. Kylie is an inspiration to millions of people worldwide, not only for her music, but for the way she has dealt with her own breast cancer diagnosis and her work promoting awareness through the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, including taking part in the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign, which has raised over £11.5 million.
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Sir Keith worked in marketing and advertising for over two decades, starting as a copy assistant, then moving to marketing, then advertising. In 1985 he founded his own agency, acquiring top named clients including Shell and British Caledonian. He went on to build a lucrative add-on to his business based on customer loyalty by inventing Air Miles, an incentive scheme that filled spare capacity on planes. Sir Keith followed up with the Nectar supermarket loyalty programme, an idea that has transformed British retailing by providing the facility for data capture and customer profiling. In 2003 he became Chief Executive and International President of the London 2012 campaign, seeing London selected as host for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is now Deputy Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Games, but admits to having no sporting background beyond the hobby inspired by his father – yacht racing. Sir Keith, his wife and family are also involved in a new Foundation called Sported, which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people through sport.
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
International Focus Alumni Profile
Pele Peter Tinggom LLB (Hons) Law 1996 Deputy Secretary to the State Parliament of Sarawak “As a proud former student of Anglia Ruskin University (formerly known as APU) I would like to share my brief career development since I graduated back in my own country. Alongside my degree certificate
from Anglia Ruskin I received proper training, guidance, coaching etc, which I believe helped mould me to become articulate, creative, visionary, with problem-solving abilities on issues and deadlocks in decision making. As a result, my service has been sought, even during the economic downturn back in 1997. My first job was working as a legal assistant in one of the law firms in my home town, then as a broker in the equity market and I also worked with the government doing paralegal work, administration, human resource management and development, secretarial, investment, project management and event management tasks. The proudest moment of my career was when I was appointed as a Deputy Secretary to the State Parliament of Sarawak in February 2011. The position is equivalent to the Deputy Clerk of the Parliament in the House of Commons in the
UK and performing the tasks of two officers in the House of Commons, namely the Clerk Assistant and Reading Clerk. If given the opportunity, one day I would like to do my masters degree at Anglia Ruskin University or another reputable University in the UK.
Ambassador Profile Eddie Law LLB (Hons) Law 1999 Legal Recruitment Director in www.eLawyer.com.my “I was doing my final year of law degree course in Chelmsford campus more than 10 years ago. Studying in the UK, especially at Anglia Polytechnic University (as it was then known), was indeed one of the most memorable moments in my life. The sweet memories still linger in my mind today. The experience of living abroad has opened my view of the world and has made my life more
interesting. After I graduated from law school I started my legal career as a private legal practitioner, then I worked with an IT company as their in-house legal counsel. More than three years ago I founded a specialised legal recruitment business and website, the first of its kind in Malaysia, with the aim of assisting law firms and corporations in sourcing legal talents.”
order for them to feel a sense of belonging to their alma mater. Over 50 alumni from all over Malaysia attended the event, including the British Council Alumni representative and Mr Low, the Head of School of Business from KBU College, one of our partners in Malaysia.
Germany – Berlin on 5th November 2011
Overseas events Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur on 1st October 2011
France – Paris on 4th October 2011
The first official alumni event here was successfully organised by Raymond Lee, our Country Development Manager for South East Asia, with our
Country Ambassador, Eddie Law. We wished to show that Anglia Ruskin University is always very keen to maintain relationships with alumni in
We give a huge thank you to Guillaume Bourgeais (BA Hons European Business 2000) and also Alumni Ambassador in France, for helping organise this event.
Our Development & Alumni officer, Sharon Wuyts, flew over to meet graduates for our 7th successful consecutive German event. Wendy McConnell and Stella Duncan joined us from the Lord Ashcroft International Business School for dinner. A huge thank you goes to Christian Ramcke, our Alumni Ambassador for Germany, who helped put this Alumni Network event together, and also to Stella for giving everyone an update on Anglia Ruskin University. Please visit Aspects online for more.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
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Alumni News Bites Shanta Everington (BA Education 1995) has recently published a new book, Baby’s First Year – A Parent’s Guide, covering everything from handling your newborn and adjusting to parenthood, to soothing a teething baby and tackling weaning – no avenue is left unexplored! Shanta is a parent, writer and qualified early years teacher with experience of providing information and support to parents for a range of charities. She is also the author of The Terrible Twos – A Parent’s Guide. Helen Millgate (BA Hons Modern History 1982) was featured back in 2002 with her book, Got Any Gum Chum? about American GIs in Britain during the Second World War. Helen’s new book, written with Maureen Shaw, is again on a wartime theme – War’s Forgotten Women – British Widows of the Second World War. Largely ignored by the government and the majority of the population, this is the story of their struggle for recognition. Widows’ lives were particularly bleak, with their meagre pensions taxed at the highest rate, leaving them barely enough to feed themselves and their children. Helen tells me that there has been a good response to the book, being so relevant these days. They even turned down an appearance on TV’s Loose Women!
Amanda Graves (first class BA Hons Fine Art 2011) was the worthy winner of the 2011 Dr Supanee Gazeley Fine Art Prize. Dr Supanee Gazeley, who is an internationally renowned artist, graduated in 1962 from Cambridge College of Arts & Technology (CCAT), a forerunner of our University. Before focusing on art, Dr Gazeley was a leading figure in the Hong Kong business community for 40 years, helping to make the former British colony a leading player in the global watch and optical industries. Amanda Graves caught Dr Gazeley’s eye this year for her series of abstract images depicting cities, and in particular a piece of work titled ‘Metro-cell’.
Amanda Hall (Diploma in Graphic Art 1978) is an award-winning international illustrator. Based in the UK, she is particularly well known for her many books for the children’s publishing market, whilst also illustrating for both ‘grown-ups’ commissions and educational publishing in the USA and UK. For more information about Amanda’s career, please visit her website at www.amandahall-illustration.com
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Esther Quarcoe (Diploma in Higher Education 2004) was featured when she set up the Disablement Foundation of Ghana, a charity providing health and social care for people with learning disabilities here in Britain and in Ghana and is also affiliated to Down Syndrome International. Esther is now looking for a volunteer for communication and marketing duties, so if any of you would like to become involved with this worthwhile charity, please contact her direct at Info@DfoG.org or telephone 07939 299694.
Pina Santoro-Ellwood (BA Fine Art (sculpture) 2005) has her own studio and works part-time at City College Peterborough teaching life drawing and sculpture. In December 2011 she exhibited some of her work in the Louvre in Paris. Her work was nominated for this prestigious honour after she took part in an exhibition in London earlier in 2011. James Vinciguerra (BA Hons Illustration 1996) has recently created a picture of Trinity Lane, Cambridge, which he is selling as prints. It can be seen in The Lawson Gallery, Kings Parade, Cambridge, or bought direct from http://www.vinciguerra.co.uk. James says, “loved my time at Anglia Ruskin, lovely place”.
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Staff Snippets Our Teaching Fellowship Awards celebrate excellence in learning and teaching practice with the bar set very high. Winning is a significant achievement, with only six awarded each year. This year’s winners are: Dr Toby Carter – Life Sciences Julia Anne Druce – Education Dr Julio D’Escriván – Creative Music Technology Dr John Gardner – English Literature Paula Sobiechowska – Social Care Dr Isabel Williams – Health, Social Care & Education Professor Munir Morad has joined the Faculty of Science & Technology as Deputy Dean. Previously at London South Bank University, he brings considerable experience as both an academic leader and a highly successful researcher.
Professor Rowland Wymer gave his inaugural lecture on ‘Science Fiction and Religion’. After a brief account of some of the many different ways in which science fiction can engage with religious ideas, there was a more detailed
consideration of two novels with an explicitly theological dimension. Angela Cobbold, Senior Lecturer, Operating Department Practice, has been appointed the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) Regional Lead for the whole of Anglia, communicating best practice, promoting high standards and ensuring efficient and effective safe patient care is at the forefront of the perioperative healthcare profession. Professor Roger Buckley and Professor Madhaven Rajan of our Vision & Eye Research Unit (VERU) have been awarded first prize in the Medical Technology category of the Spotlight Competition for developing a small environmental chamber for the preparation of donor tissue used in corneal transplant surgery, meaning a simpler and quicker operation on patients with age-related corneal disease.
Professor Rob Home, Professor of Land Management, Research Co-ordinator, Law, gave an invited paper to an international conference in Spain, entitled ‘The role of kinship, social and economic networks around land rights in Africa’, and follows on from his work last year in Kisumu (Kenya) with a diaspora-development volunteer pilot project. Professor Helen Odell-Miller, Music Therapy and Director of our Music for Health Research Centre, presented the keynote speech at this year’s International Centre for Research in Arts Therapies (ICRA) conference in London. The event was attended by over 100 doctors, arts therapists and other professionals from around the world.
The Oramics machine
Clarissa Campbell Orr, Reader in Enlightenment, Gender and Court Studies, headed to Yale University last autumn to take up a visiting fellowship. The position of Andrew W Mellon Senior Visiting Scholar, offered by the Yale Centre for British Art, is part of a new three-year programme funded by the Andrew W Mellon endowment at Yale.
Recent publications: John White, Lecturer. Film & Media – Westerns, discusses the evolution of the Western through history and looks at theoretical and critical approaches to the genre.
Dr Katy Price, Senior Lecturer in English Literature & Writing, codeveloped an exhibition at the Science Museum in London that explored the roots of modern electronic music, funded by our Cultures of the Digital Economy (CoDE) Research Institute. ‘Oramics to Electronica: Revealing Histories of Electronic Music’ showcased a range of electronic instruments, including the Oramics machine, as well as rare archive footage.
Toby Venables, sessional lecturer in Film & Media Studies (and alumnus, BA English & Art 1987) – The Viking Dead, his first novel. John Gardner, Principal Lecturer in English – Poetry and Popular Protest: Peterloo, Cato Street and the Queen Caroline Controversy. The book investigates the relationship between poetry and protest between 1815–1822.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
We are working closely with international brands such as Timberland, Specsavers, UPS, Harrods, Barclays Bank and the RAF to deliver our degrees in the workplace. Below are two examples of current partnerships.
tuition fees being paid by Barclays, the RDP package includes a salary of £12,495 plus London weighting, study time, a business mentor, pension scheme and share options. The degree is work based and the students are employed by Barclays from the very beginning.
RAF study from their postings High-flying medics are able to study with us from countries as far flung as the Falkland Islands, Cyprus and Afghanistan. We have been chosen by the RAF to provide higher education health courses to its medics, beginning with BSc (Hons) in Health & Social Care, BSc (Hons) Management & Leadership in Health & Social Care, and a Foundation Degree course. All courses are delivered by distance learning so that medics can continue studying when posted overseas. The RAF also plan to roll out a number of postgraduate qualifications for their personnel.
Flight Lieutenant Ric Stubley said, “We currently have RAF medics working in the Falklands, Afghanistan and numerous other countries around the world, as well as in the UK. We have an education centre at our base in Kandahar where RAF medics will be able to access the course via the internet. In fact, when on postings such as Afghanistan, studying for an online degree is a perfect way of filling their downtime. The opportunities now available to RAF medic personnel provide an excellent
path for them to achieve high-value higher education qualifications in their area”.
Barclays Degree Barclays UK Retail and Business Banking launched the Retail Development Programme (RDP) in 2007 to provide their next generation of branch managers. The first group of students started studying with us for a ‘Barclays Degree’ in 2008 and 13 graduated in October with a BA (Hons) Management & Leadership. In addition to the
Johannah Lynch, Barclays UK Retail Bank Graduate Development Specialist, says, “Barclays is proud to have established, in partnership with LAIBS, a market-leading, entry level programme. Talent and leadership development is at the forefront of our learning agenda and the sponsored degree programme has already demonstrated its success in creating a pipeline of talented leaders in our branch network”. Speaking about the course, student Ian Falder said, “It exceeded my expectations, and I had high expectations to start with! I was able to go from being a school leaver to a branch manager of a bank in 18 months”.
Can Anglia Ruskin Transcription Service help you? In a previous issue of Aspects, I wrote an article describing my experiences as the first blind student at Anglia Polytechnic University and the barriers I faced in studying as an Information Systems undergraduate in the early 1990s. These experiences led to the establishment of the Anglia Ruskin Transcription Service, which provides transcription services to support students, staff and other customers, and to external customers on a commercial basis.
Over two million people in the UK have severe sight loss and many disabled people also require information in alternative formats. We can help in a number of ways, including: Braille; digital audio; large print; digital text; tactile graphics; and accessible business cards. The Anglia Ruskin Transcription Service is registered under the ISO 9001, 2008 quality standard and Customer Service
Excellence and is a member of the UK Association of Alternative Formats. To find out more about the service we can offer to improve your business, please contact Janice Green janice.green@anglia.ac.uk or Valerie Williams valerie.williams@anglia.ac.uk or telephone 0845 196 3175.
Steve Carey Manager, Transcription Centre
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Employer engagement
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences accomplishment for John, who has been shortlisted 3 times before, particularly as the shortlist this year – which included outstanding new books by Geoffrey Hill, David Harsent and Sean O'Brien, among others – was considered by many to be the strongest since the prize began in 1991.
Birgitta Sif, Fireflies
The Cambridge Festival of Illustration, 2011 The first Cambridge Festival of Illustration took place from 14th–20th November 2011 in Cambridge. A collaboration between our Cambridge School of Art and the city’s Heffers bookshop, the festival featured some of the UK’s best known picturebook artists and many recent graduates. Among the guests were Quentin Blake, Anthony Browne, Chris Wormell, Nadia Shireen and Marta Altés. The Festival logo was designed by MA Children’s Book Illustration graduate Birgitta Sif. For more information visit: www.anglia.ac.uk/ccbs
John Burnside wins Forward Poetry Prize
Chair of this year’s judging panel, Sir Andrew Motion – another of our Honorary Award holders – described John's winning collection as "a very direct and a very subtle book. There's no doubting its big themes – of mortality, transience and various kinds of catastrophe – but they are handled in a way that rightly allows their menace to seem insidious as well as brutal. This makes the book one to linger over, as well as one to enjoy at first reading".
Anglia Ruskin University has a strong tradition of supporting contemporary poetry, and of nurturing distinguished contemporary poets among its staff and students. John James, Richard Berengarten (Burns), Nigel Wheale and Grahame Davies have all either studied or taught at CCAT, Anglia Polytechnic University or Anglia Ruskin University.
Visualise – New Public Art Comes to Cambridge
2011 saw further international recognition for a poet with strong Anglia Ruskin connections, when former CCAT student and Anglia Ruskin University Honorary Doctor of Letters, John Burnside, was awarded the £10,000 Forward Prize for the best collection of the year for Black Cat Bone. The Forward Prize has been described as the Booker of poetry, and this year's win represents a great personal
Anglia Ruskin University is bringing new public art to Cambridge throughout 2012. Visualise has commissioned a range of contemporary artists and curators to work with us to create exciting public art projects, exhibitions, workshops and events across Cambridge. Visualise consists of three main projects; A public art commission, Art & Technology collaborations and a series of exhibitions which include:
For more information about our MA Creative Writing please visit: www.anglia.ac.uk/macreativew riting
Enigma & N-Dust Liliane Lijn and Jamie Allen An exhibition of the work of Liliane Lijn, leading poet and visual artist, who uses different media including film, text, sound and kinetic sculpture. Accompanied by Jamie Allen, they are working together on an Arts Council England-funded project called N-Dust relating to industry and mythology. Between Susan Aldworth and Karen Ingham ‘Between’ proposes a new model of collaborative research around contemporary notions of embodiment. The project will bring together art, philosophy, and neuroscience. Central to the project’s premise is the desire to move beyond the label ‘sciart’ and to embed the art in a broader cultural context. Poetry, Language, Code & Games Artists Play Artists include: Eduardo Kac, William Latham, Liliane Lijn, Alessandro Ludovico, Paolo Cirio, John Cayley and Jacques Donguy This exhibition, opening in the week of the centenary of Alan Turing’s birth, will focus on the interrelationship of text code and visual image. Throughout July watch out for Guerrilla Artists Film Screenings around Cambridge, in association with Cambridge Film Festival and other local partners. We also have a programme of cultural walks planned and a collaboration with the Institute of Astronomy.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
Happy New Year to all our alumni; much has changed since the last edition, notably the merging of the Faculty of Health & Social Care and the Faculty of Education. This merge brings together great synergy and a real opportunity to further enhance the learning and teaching opportunities at the University. Have a look at our revamped website to find out more www.anglia.ac.uk/fhsce
Researchers study child protection volunteers Research looking at the benefits of training volunteers to support families with children at risk of serious harm and subject to child protection plans has been presented to the Children's Minister, Tim Loughton. The Volunteers in Child Protection (ViCP) project, piloted by UK volunteering charity CSV in the wake of the Victoria Climbié tragedy, sees specially recruited, trained and supported volunteers work in partnership with children's service professionals to support good parenting, improve school attendance and provide structure and extra stability to family life. From March 2010, researchers from Anglia Ruskin measured the outcomes of CSV's project in Southend involving 37 families with children on child protection plans. The research – carried out by Dr Jane Akister, Niamh O'Brien and Teresa Cleary – showed that in 87% of cases involving volunteers, children moved to lower levels of risk as indicated by Child Assessment Framework Levels. This included 11 families who were removed from child protection plans altogether and seven families who reported improved school attendance.
Dr Jane Akister, Reader in Social Work, said, "This study shows what a crucial role these volunteers can play, working with extremely complex families where social services are involved because of child protection concerns. The families are very hard to engage and are suspicious because they are worried that people might take their children away; they see the volunteers as being on their side, helping them to develop confidence in their own parenting. There is evidence of marked improvement after the ViCP intervention. Critical to the success of the programme is that CSV, as an organisation, are extremely effective in the recruitment, training, managing and supervision of volunteers".
Continuing Success Operating Department Practice alumna Yasmin Sesay is celebrating after winning an award at the recent Association for Perioperative Practice (AFPP) awards. The AFPP, one of the professional bodies for perioperative practitioners, awarded Yasmin a Certificate of Recognition for completing the 3M AfPP Academy personal development programme 2011. Yasmin was delighted and said '”I’m so excited to receive this Certificate on completion of the 3M AfPP Academy programme. Winning the award meant that I got the opportunity to complete a fantastic programme that covered subjects which are applicable both to my professional and personal life”.
Essex and Cambridgeshire schools pilot new .NET Gadgeteer .NET Gadgeteer is an exciting new product developed by Microsoft Research to enable the prototyping of a huge range of gadgets. It has great potential in schools as it can be used to teach students simple electronics, computer programming and also some computer-aided design. It's also very motivating for young people to be able to build their own gadgets – a digital camera can be built in about half an hour! There are two school pilots running with Gadgeteer, one in Seattle, USA and the other right here in Essex and Cambridgeshire, being coordinated by Sue Sentance from our Department of Education. The pilot was launched at a teachers' workshop in October 2011 and all the pilot schools were represented, in addition to other interested local teachers. Also present was the Chief Research Officer for Microsoft Research.
Yasmin Sesay and Sue Lord
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UNI NEWS
Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Faculty of Science & Technology intensities for each of the Cambridge players, which can then be monitored in real time whilst the players train using wireless heart rate monitors. Roy commented, “We are very proud to have forged this working relationship with our local club. In the highly competitive world of professional football, every 1% improvement counts. If Cambridge United now have a successful season, we will be very proud to have in some way contributed to their success”.
Students have grand designs
(L-R) Cambridge United Manager Jez George, Sport and Exercise Sciences Programme Leader Roy Luckhurst and Club Strength & Conditioning Coach Scott Taylor
Eight out of ten Crime Scene Investigators prefer cat litter!
Sport and Exercise Sciences announce partnership with Cambridge United
Academics in our Forensic Science Department have revealed a novel tool that could be used to help catch arsonists – cat litter. Most brands of cat litter contain the mineral sodium bentonite, which is a clay formed from volcanic ash. Up close, the clay is full of microscopic tunnels with a network of capillaries which retain the petrol on the surface without reacting. Petrol is a complex mixture of around 200 components and 15 of these are targeted during its analysis to give a positive identification. This is a requirement for the presence of petrol to be proven in court.
Staff and students from our Sport and Exercise Science programme have recently carried out the first of a series of stringent tests as part of an exciting new partnership between our University and Cambridge United to assess player fitness and inform the teams training regime as they look to push for promotion back to the football league this season.
The next stage of the research will see the scientists attempt to adapt the cat litter to improve its ability to detect other flammable materials, particularly diesel. The aim is to develop a universal absorbent to aid detection of a range of ignitable liquids and to contribute to a standard method that is used in fire investigation, and accepted by courts, across the world.
Sports Programme Leader Roy Luckhurst and his team implemented a battery of tests to measure players’ body fat, aerobic capacity, lactate thresholds and maximum heart rate. Tests include hydrostatic weighing to measure body fat levels, a process that involves exhaling for 10 seconds whilst being fully submerged in water. VO2 max tests have also been carried out, which involve recording players’ heart rates to maximum whilst they run on a treadmill with an everincreasing gradient. The resulting data will be used to help set optimum training
Our students – in partnership with Writtle College, Changing Chelmsford and 00:/research architects – demonstrated their self-build skills as part of the Festival of Ideas in Chelmsford on Saturday, 5th November. Students and staff from our Department of the Built Environment worked together with members of the Interior Design and Interior Architecture programme at Writtle College to build a section of an innovative WikiHouse in Chelmsford’s Market Square. WikiHouse is an online resource where architects freely share designs and techniques to allow anyone interested in self-build to order and construct their own home.
A date for your diary Once again our Faculty is proud to be associate sponsors of the Cambridge Science Festival. On Saturday 17th March 2012 we will be holding our ‘Science on Saturday’ event in the Cambridge Guildhall from 10am–4pm, offering many science-based activities and hands-on demonstrations suitable for all the family. It’s a great day out and we hope to see you there.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
Four Students from LAIBS participate in Daimlers Student World Dialogue The topics of global responsibility and sustainability are becoming a major factor of economic, ecological and social life. In its anniversary year of 2011, Daimler took the opportunity to bring representatives of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) together with the potential global leaders of tomorrow – today’s students. In doing so, it created a new platform for exchange and discussion between the current and next generation of globally responsible leaders. The GRLI was founded by the UN Global Compact and the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) with the aim of promoting and developing the next generation of leaders with global responsibility, and we are members of this initiative. Daimler organised this Student World Dialogue during the GRLI’s General Assembly and invited 125 students to attend, explore the issues, and experience the different aspects of global responsible leadership. The dialogue took place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Carl Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany last October. This was an all-expenses-paid trip, funded by Daimler. Students who were interested in taking part were asked to submit their CV and an essay on what globally responsible leadership meant to them. In total, 1100 people from across the world applied, so we are delighted that four students from LAIBS were successful and were invited to take part. These were: Trang Nguyen – BA International Business (Berlin-Cambridge) Annika Eving – BSc in Business Economics Abena Appenteng – MBA Eze Ogbonnia Eze – PhD
Participants of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative’s General Assembly.
This was a really fantastic achievement on the world stage for our students – well done and hearty congratulations Trang, Annika, Abena and Eze.
The latest Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) Inspiring and thought-provoking events took place recently regarding this initiative that we are part of. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the latest General Assembly of the GRLI where the 68 members from businesses and business schools from around the world came together to continue their work on global initiatives for developing the next generation of globally responsible leaders. The general assembly was held at Daimler’s training centre at Haus Lautenbach near Stuttgart and took place in October. I was supported in attending this GA by the Enterprising Academics scheme our university ran over this summer. During the GA I presented the research I have conducted at Adnams brewery which was supported through the Enterprising Academics scheme. The Adnams research will form part of their corporation of the 21st Century research I am involved with at the GRLI.
We also worked on The 50+20 Project during the GA. This project aims to create a breakthrough in the transformation of management education to meet societal and environmental needs of the world in the 21st Century. The GRLI has worked on the business school of the 21st century since its inception in 2004. In January 2011 the GRLI joined forces with the World Business School Council for Sustainable Business and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education Secretariat to form the 50+20 Project. This collaborative partnership combining the efforts of the three organisations is focussed initially on producing a catalytic breakthrough report for the Rio Earth Summit (Rio+20) being held in June 2012. I am now part of the team writing this report for the Rio Earth Summit. At the same time as the GA, Daimler organised a ‘Student World Dialogue’. Members of the GA joined the students on the 4th October and had a most inspiring and thought provoking time.
Dr Jonathan Smith, Chartered FCIPD, Senior Lecturer, LAIBS
UNI NEWS
Lord Ashcroft International Business School
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Research Cyber-bullying affects one in five youngsters in the England Cyber-bullying affects one in five youngsters in England according to research carried out by academics in our Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education. The study, commissioned by the National Children’s Bureau, examined the scale of cyber-bullying and the negative effect it has on young people’s health. Steven Walker, Principal Lecturer in Child & Adolescent Mental Health, led the research amongst over 490 young people aged 10–18 and discovered that cyber-bullying was far more prevalent amongst girls – 18.4% of those surveyed admitted to being a victim of cyber-bullying, and 69% of these were girls. More girls than boys had also witnessed cyber-bullying or knew somebody who had been bullied or who had cyberbullied others. Of those who had been cyberbullied, the most common effects were on their confidence, self-esteem and mental and emotional wellbeing, with 28.8% saying they had stayed away from school and 38.9% having stopped socialising outside school as a result. Most young people thought cyber-bullying was just as harmful as other forms of bullying, but some thought it far worse as the bullying is permanent in written or picture format, could get very personal and could be transmitted to many more people more
quickly. It was also suggested that the secretive nature of cyber-bullying caused additional fear in the victim and because it could take place at any time and in any place, options for escape are limited. Steven Walker said, “Many of the respondents thought that cyber-bullies don’t actually think they are bullying. In the main, they thought that it was seen by bullies as merely a form of ‘harmless fun’, a joke and therefore not an issue. Others thought cyber-bullies are motivated by a lack of confidence and a desire for control, perhaps because they are too cowardly to bully faceto-face. As the use of social media amongst young people continues to grow, unless properly addressed by host sites and government agencies, the problem of cyber-bullying is only likely to get worse”.
Two new research projects for police bodies Two new research projects in conjunction with two different police bodies are about to be undertaken by Dr Samantha Lundrigan, Pathway Leader for Criminology. The importance of partnerships between police and academics was stressed in the recent Science & Technology Innovation Strategy, published by the National Policing Improvement Agency. The strategy called for the closing of the ‘gulf’ between researchers and police and assurances that police were harnessing science, technology and social science to maximum effect.
The first of these projects involves developing an offenderbased interview tool with Cambridgeshire Constabulary. This tool will be designed for use with the area’s Priority and Prolific Offenders. From an academic perspective, the project will enhance understanding of offender decision-making and will explore the psychological and environmental factors that determine where offenders commit their crimes. In practical terms, the development of a tool that allows for a focussed understanding of offender behaviour and geography has obvious operational utility for front-line policing and crime detection.
Other research carried out over the last year:
The second project is working with the Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) of the National Policing Improvements Agency to examine male-on-male stranger rape. SCAS was initiated by the Home Office in 1998 to identify the potential emergence of serial killers and serial rapists at the earliest stage. Together with a colleague from the University of Cambridge, Dr Lundrigan is working on the development of a behavioural model of maleon-male stranger rape. The study will help to remedy the current lack of base-rate information regarding the types and frequencies of behaviours that occur in male rape. This is crucial when trying to determine those facets of offences that are behaviourally important – a central question for stranger-rape investigations.
Where there’s muck… Science & Technology’s Peter Stroh researched the dispersal potential for seeds from a variety of fenland plants via cattle dung collected from two of Cambridgeshire’s National Nature Reserves.
History research project helps restore theatre of Georgian era Academics from our English and History Departments researched how theatre was performed in the 18th and early 19th Centuries, resulting in performances and a contribution to a book. Tiger conservation strategies Simon Evans and Graham Webster of LAIBS carried out research in Ranthambhore (India) and Heilongjiang Province (China) on issues surrounding the economic ramifications of tiger conservation strategies.
The Second Life Toxic Warehouse project Dr Debbie Holley, Education Pathway Leader, and Alan Hudson, London Metropolitan University, received funding to develop a three-dimensional virtual learning environment that is an online warehouse with a number of design flaws that can be visited by students singly or in groups. Mental health problems and the benefits of art Jenny Secker, Professor of Mental Health, led a study to assess the benefits of arts participation for people with mental health problems.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
UNI NEWS
Obituaries Pedestrian-friendly car bonnet Science & Technology researchers collaborated with Cellbond to develop and test a pedestrian-friendly car bonnet design that collapses inwards upon impact, lessening the potential for impact injury.
Professor Tony Wigram 1953–2011 Professor Tony Wigram (PhD, Professor of Music Therapy, 1953–2011) has died after a year’s courageous battle against cancer.
and later worldwide, pioneering and developing music therapy treatment for adults and children with learning disabilities.
Male pill research Mental Health lecturer Dr Susan Walker, researched the potential uptake of the male contraceptive pill, when it becomes available. She surveyed 134 women and 54 men, of whom only 50% said they would use that method.
Tony qualified as a music therapist in 1974 from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. His early life as a music therapist showed him quickly emerging as a leader of the music therapy profession in the UK,
Tony was a brilliant academic, a generous and supportive colleague and an inspiring man. He will be deeply missed by colleagues, students, patients, friends and family.
As we were going to press we heard that Ronald Searle CBE, had sadly died. One of our alumni and an honorary award holder, he was not only the creator of St Trinian’s, but also well known for his work as a graphic satirist. In recognition of his talent, our School of Art annually awards the Ronald Searle Award for Creativity in the Arts.
Professor Helen Odell-Miller Head of Music Therapy
Please visit Aspects online to read the full article.
Studying the toxic effects of BZP Science & Technology scientists, led by Professor Mike Cole and Dr Beverley Vaughan, carried out research into the long-term health risks associated with the taking of benzylpiperazine (BZP), which revealed it causes damage to the liver and kidneys, causing serious illnesses, and that different batches of the drug contain different levels of impurities. Tracking voracious ‘alien invaders’ Abby Stancliffe-Vaughan, Faculty of Science & Technology, is researching in Norfolk and Suffolk into a potential control method of the signal crayfish. Introduced into the UK for farming in the 1970s, it is now causing serious damage to ponds, rivers and canals and out-competing our native white-clawed crayfish.
Ronald Searle CBE 1920–2011
Mission Croatia 2011 Please visit Aspects online to read about the mission and also some reflections from three team members talking about their experiences.
A Symbol of your University • The blue border represents the East Anglian region surrounded by the sea. • Sheaves of wheat represent agriculture.
The University crest has evolved from our full Coat of Arms, granted by the Crown, which has the motto Excellentia Per Societatem – Excellence Through Partnership. But what do the elements of your University crest stand for?
£3.00. Alternatively, it can be purchased online (including postage) for £4.00 for UK residents and £5.00 for overseas.
• Herons are East Anglian birds.
Please visit our online store https://store.anglia.ac.uk/ and search under the Product Catalogue for Alumni Merchandise.
• Crowns represent the royal connections of the region.
Alternatively, visit us in person:
You can wear this high quality pin badge of our University crest either on your lapel or as a tie pin. It is available in person from the Alumni Office on the Chelmsford campus for
The Development & Alumni Office Anglia Ruskin University Bishop Hall Lane Chelmsford CM1 1SQ UK
• Gold roundels represent industry.
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Campus Developments New look Cambridge campus open-access area with 250 new computers to use. Sandy Lynam, Director of Estates & Facilities Services, said a need for more space initially inspired our redevelopment of the campus. “We had the wrong-sized teaching rooms for a modern curriculum. Faculties were having to repeat teach and the students didn’t get to see who else was studying with them, never being able to get together as a single group. We also recognised we needed more student social space that was comfortable and inspiring to be in, and more open-access computer areas to improve our students’ experience of a modern university.”
The courtyard has been designed to be accessible from all sides and is visible from many vantage points.
We have reached a milestone in the history of our Cambridge campus with the opening of the new £35-million redevelopment, very generously supported by our Chancellor, Lord Ashcroft KCMG. Those of you who studied with us even just a couple of years ago will not believe the transformation. Our new building wraps around the centre of our campus, linking
existing buildings, including the University Library and Mumford Theatre. As well as housing our Lord Ashcroft International Business School, the new facilities for students and staff in all our faculties include a 400-seat lecture theatre, two 200-seat lecture theatres, better access to the library, a new home for the i-Centre, a bright new rehearsal space, a café and an
As research shows that buildings and environment affect mood and behaviour, our investment to transform the learning experience is driven by our focus on student success. The building features curved sections, designed to create interesting rooms on the inside, and is built around a central courtyard, filled with tables and chairs, and is enhanced by plants. “It’s nice to see people sitting in the courtyard,” Sandy said. “It’s my favourite feature of the development, and the fact that you can see and access it from so many vantage points in the building.”
Performing arts space official opening At the beginning of November we were delighted to welcome Griff Rhys Jones, a well loved TV presenter and comedian – and our Honorary Award holder – back onto our Cambridge campus to officially open our new drama and performing arts space. The facility, which is part of the new £35 million redevelopment at the heart of the Cambridge campus, provides muchneeded rehearsal and performance space for students at Anglia Ruskin. Griff said, “As an honorary fellow of Anglia Ruskin University I am delighted to be able to return to Cambridge to open the new
drama and performing arts space. In fact, as someone who has frequented a few draughty rehearsal halls in my time, it’s wonderful that the students have something that’s purpose built for their needs. This is the bright future and hugely welcome. In these difficult economic times it is a great achievement to have managed to get this space funded, supported and built and I am full of congratulations for everyone involved. Now let’s get dancing, acting and performing”. Our Cambridge campus now boasts the Mumford Theatre – which is a professional
standard performing space – a recital hall equipped for small-scale concerts, and now this new drama and performing arts space.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
FOR ALUMNI
Being a Mentor Jane’s view I completed my CIPD at Anglia Polytechnic University in the 1990s. There wasn’t a Mentoring Scheme then and I depended solely on my manager at the time for advice and guidance and she was a fantastic support. However, she specialised in Training and Development and a mentor who had experience in HR would have helped me a great deal. I think that I was lucky that I was working in HR and could relate my learning to real-life situations. I realise this is not always possible when doing full-time academic study. So when the opportunity arose to become a mentor I felt I could give someone the help I didn’t have. My mentee, Michelle, was is in her 2nd year of a Human Resource Management
degree but had not worked in HR. The programme was an excellent opportunity for Michelle to gain some practical knowledge and to enhance her ability to gain employment in an HR role. We drew up an action plan of the things we agreed Michelle should cover and set up dates when she would attend. Michelle completed 20 hours here at Binley’s. She covered Recruitment & Selection, Appraisal and Probation reviews. She has seen part of our Induction course, attended a ‘How To Get That Job’ course and our Mock Assessment Day. Michelle’s commitment and determination to succeed remained focussed throughout.
Jane Grace Head of HR at Binley’s (Beechwood House Publishing Ltd) and Alumni mentor
Michelle’s view Having a mentor has been great. Jane took a special interest in me and explained to me the different areas of work in HR. This gave me a much broader view of the HR role than I had previously understood and showed me the long-term career opportunities which could be available to me. I now understand the importance of keeping up to date with employment and case law, reading CIPD articles and using appropriate websites for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in the future.
Michelle Williams 2nd year HR Management Student To read the full article please visit our Aspects on-line.
Reunion in Cambridge for old friends CCAT graduates (1980) in BA Hons Modern Languages organised a reunion weekend in Cambridge at the end of October 2011. People flew in from Germany, Switzerland, France and Greece, and some even made the trek from ‘Up North’. Comparing notes, we found that the weekend had prompted mixed feelings, from anticipation and excitement to anxiety and dread; understandable when you think most of us hadn’t seen each other for 31 years!! In the event, it was like going back in time and we all quickly felt at ease and wanted to catch up on everyone’s lives since CCAT days. On Saturday, we wandered through the Anglia Ruskin campus, marvelling at how different it looks today; shiny and modern – practically unrecognisable from when we knew it as ‘The Tech’! At lunchtime the Spanish
contingent headed to The Tram Depot on East Street to meet up with Tony Morgan (and his wife Annie), lecturer in Spanish Language and Latin American History in CCAT days. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours reminiscing about what a fantastic time we had during our four years on the course. We then met up with the German and Italian factions in The Eagle for more reminiscing and photo swapping, before going for an evening meal at The Eraina Taverna. This had been booked for nostalgic reasons – it was a favourite haunt back in the olden days (because it was cheap and you got chips with everything). Unlike the campus, it had not changed at all – still cheap, still chips with everything and the food not remotely recognisable as Greek (as confirmed by Laurel, who lives on a Greek island)!
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Back row, from left: Sonja Woodman, Carol Deiss, Diana Gill, Dids Odling, Sally Thornton, Stella Hawkins, Carolyn Cook Middle row, from left: Laurel Watkins, Renata Fudakowska, Dennis Wells, Dominic Putnam, Sian Harrison (me!), Jo Nibler, Kathy Contaris Bottom row, from left: Llinos Evans, Mark Amstutz, Jill Harper, Anne Foulkes Mark's wife, Marie Françoise also came
Sunday morning was spent wandering round Cambridge, reliving very happy memories and culminating in a farewell lunch in The Anchor. We all had a great time and agreed that we would do it again in
a few years’ time, hopefully having managed to track down a few more people from the course to swell our numbers.
Sian Harrison
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
News in Brief Patients play a crucial role in helping to design course programmes. We are one of the first universities in the country to have met the Nursing & Midwifery Council’s new preregistration nursing education standards. To date, only 12 universities in the UK have fulfilled the new criteria, which are designed to ensure that newly qualified nurses are prepared for the future needs of patients and employers. They will help future nurses care for an ageing population, with growing numbers of people with long-term conditions, and also to meet rising patient expectations. Universities have been encouraged to take an innovative approach and are now required to involve patients in student selection, course design and teaching. Vision & Eye Research Unit (VERU) hosts Symposium. Part of our Postgraduate Medical Institute (PMI), in April VERU hosted the first Cambridge Cornea & Cataract Symposium. A series of lectures were delivered by national and international speakers that focussed on the twin themes of ‘cornea’ and ‘refractive and cataract surgery’. VERU Director, Professor Shahina Pardhan, commented, “I am delighted that the symposium was such a success. The fact that 95% of attendees plan to modify their clinical practice is ample evidence of how important and relevant the lectures were to clinical practice. We look forward to VERU arranging more of these in the future.”
(l–r) Mark Green (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) presents the award for Best Overall Game to Team Vertigo – Jason Mitchell, Serhan Miah, Robin Burkinshaw and Will Campbell
Anglia Ruskin student team takes top awards at Games Jam. In July Team Vertigo – students from our BA Hons Computer Games and Visual Effects and BSc Hons Computer Gaming Technology courses, along with a graduate teaching assistant – took part in the 48-hour Games Jam competition, beating rival teams from across the UK and Europe. The competition, to produce a fully working computer game over a single weekend with the help of industry experts, was part of the Brains Eden games festival organised by Creative Front and hosted by us on our Cambridge campus. Six awards were issued and Team Vertigo took three of the top honours, including Best Overall Game.
Advances and new developments in osteoarthritis conference. Last June Anglia Ruskin, in collaboration with Meditech and Healthtech and Medicines KTN, held the 5th joint Medical Engineering meeting at our Postgraduate Medical Institute (PMI). The event attracted 60 delegates from leading institutions, medical companies and hospitals in the UK, Switzerland, Iceland, France and the USA. The conference was entitled ‘Advances and New Development in Osteoarthritis/Degenerative Diseases – Benchtop to Bedside’ and was an excellent way to launch our new stateof-the-art Biomechanics Laboratory. We anticipate many intellectually stimulating research projects will be conducted within the laboratory, alongside students being taught and mentored.
Cambridge Cleantech – a new organisation supporting the growth of environmental goods and services in Greater Cambridge, across the region and beyond – was launched at Anglia Ruskin in October. Over 250 local businesses and organisations attended the launch at the new Lord Ashcroft Building at our Cambridge campus. The keynote speaker was Julian Huppert MP, who gave his views on the opportunities for this crucial growth sector. Cambridge Cleantech encourages supply-chain opportunities for companies in the sector, enables shared experience of innovative growth businesses and provides collective services, such as access to finance, government regulatory updates and links to international partners. Dr Aled Jones, Director of our Global Sustainability Institute, said, “We are delighted to be a founding member and to host the launch event of Cambridge Cleantech. Tackling today’s global challenges requires a society of innovation, and the opportunities created by leading the transformation towards a green economy could be significant. This is why we are keen to work with entrepreneurial companies in our region to help unlock some of these opportunities and accelerate this journey”.
www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni Aspects Winter 2011/2012
UNI NEWS
Sports Report Chelmsford Lots of things happening in our sporting agenda! Our athletics star, James Shane, made it to the world games in Korea and is an Olympic hopeful. He’s with the UK squad undergoing altitude training in Kenya. Good luck James. Netball have got more players involved and we’ve put out two teams on Wednesday afternoons – one still in the SESSA league and a team picking up friendlies against local opposition. The plan is to enter a team in the British Universities and Colleges leagues for 2012/13, as well as keeping a team in SESSA. Football have stepped up first time in the BUCS leagues, keeping a presence in the SESSA leagues. Both teams are going well and the regular turnout is down to the enthusiasm of Frank Hodge, the coach. Our first team will be entering the SESSA Cup and we hope they can do better than their semi-final finish from last year. Rugby have gone up a league and are now holding their own. In fact, this is an understatement – they have been challenging for a top three spot and, depending how things go, could still be in with a shout. As always, we'll be supporting Fairtrade fortnight with our annual staff v students football match. Any local old boys would be more than welcome to help the staff out on 5th March, starting at 5.30pm. For those of you that knew Simon Roberts – affectionately known as Doggy or Mad Dog – unfortunately, he passed away after a battle against cancer. Many will remember Simon as the indestructible sportsman; he will be missed by all that knew him. For information on cricket, cheerleading, American football and to see what’s new for 2012, please visit Aspects on-line. I hope you all are enjoying the New Year period; live life to the full!
Stephen Dupree Head of Sport, Active Lifestyles and Wellbeing
Cambridge team
Cambridge This academic year has already seen an unprecedented level of engagement of sports and health-related activity since the dawn of the 2011 Fresher’s period. The increase may be attributed to prospective students trying to beat the wider issues of increased tuition fees – but hopefully our ability to serve the students’ needs is also playing a key part. Staying on the wider issue of University sport, Anglia Ruskin has now included the theme in its strategic plan and initiated an external audit of its current provision in hope to formulate a ‘united direction’ to improve sporting success. Rowing have managed to secure Gold and Bronze National Regatta medals in the 2010/2011 season and is now focussing on building its novice base to improve sustainability. The club has over 80 active members this year and the novice crews have already won the Claire Novice Regatta Plate and the Fairburn’s Novice Fastest Second VIII. In the spirit of competitive sport, the club have started to attract a lot
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of conversation in the local rowing media about their success, some claiming that ARBC only use rugby players! The club’s objective this year is to increase the National Regatta medal tally to three, while working towards men’s and/or women’s Henley qualification as a composite crew. In cricket, our combined efforts with Cambridge University through the MCCU had proven very fruitful last season, with an outright win in the BUCS league. The Cambridge MCCU managed to secure victory over defending champions Cardiff with a 100-run victory at Wormsley Cricket Ground. Many of the squad members will continue to represent their respective Universities in the 2011/2012 season, making the prospect of ‘defending title champions’ a real possibility. For more sports information please check www.bucs.org.uk
Martyn Blackford Gym and Sports Manager
FOR ALUMNI
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Aspects Winter 2011/2012 www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni
Last Words Firstly, let me wish you all a very prosperous and happy New Year. Despite the predictions of doom and gloom for 2012, we’ve started the year with some excellent news as Anglia Ruskin has seen a huge increase in demand. Our undergraduate applications are bucking the national trend as they are up 17.6% on 2011, and up a massive 39.7% on 2010. More people than ever are choosing to come to your University, drawn here by our attractive portfolio of courses and excellent new facilities. On the staffing front, in the last issue I mentioned that we were expecting Tom to join us and I’m delighted that he is now working with the development team to drive our fundraising forwards. Our latest initiative was a telethon to raise funds for our Alumni Annual Fund. We enjoyed talking to so many of you and hearing about your time here (so many funny stories!) and what you are doing now. And a big thank you goes to those who decided to give their support – it’s great to see our past students helping those of the future. Nathan has also joined the team as our Information Officer, so he now deals with all your address updates and the news that you send in to us. Please keep these coming – along with your email addresses
– so we can ensure this magazine, news and invitations do actually get to you. As always, this issue is crammed with alumni stories and University news and I hope you have enjoyed reading the articles. As we were going to press we heard that Ronald Searle had sadly died, but it was too late for us to find room for his full obituary, so please visit our website to see a write-up on this great man, who we were honoured to number as one of our alumni. Well, that’s all for this issue. I wish you well for the year and look forward to hearing from you with your news – and your email address, of course!
Sue Jacobs Head of Alumni Relations Alumni & Development Officers: Erin Butcher and Sharon Wuyts Development Managers: Tom Kay and Claire Shearer Information Officer: Nathan Sexton
Contact us: Post: Development & Alumni Office, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ, UK Tel: UK – 0845 196 4710 (Alumni) 0845 196 4722 (Development) International – +44 (0)1245 493131 ext 4710 (Alumni) +44 (0)1245 493131ext 4722 (Development) Fax: +44 (0)1245 683690 Email: alumni@anglia.ac.uk (alumni) or giving@anglia.ac.uk (Development) Website: www.anglia.ac.uk/alumni, www.anglia.ac.uk/makingadifference, www.anglia.ac.uk/honoraries Social networking: Join us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
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