e-newsletter 2(2) Epiphany 2014
HB
RESURGO
IN THIS ISSUE: Updates from staff College news
Dear fellow alumni of the College of St Hild & St Bede,
Alumni news
It has been another whirlwind term at Hild Bede with notable sporting successes, theatre, student election campaigns and more. Hild Bede has recently been selected as the first college in Durham University to pilot the new Career Mentor Scheme website. This is an important step for us which will increase the scheme’s efficiency and better facilitate those alumni keen to impart careers guidance to current students on a much grander scale. The next Sabbatical Development Officer has just been appointed. I am pleased to announce that Becky Martin will be taking over from me in September and I have every faith in her success. Outside of Durham, we also hosted our first London Drinks Club of the year which was an overwhelming success. We had great fun catching-up with alumni from many generations and sharing anecdotes from the past. Our next alumni event will be part of the ‘Dunelm Days’ on 5th June.
175 celebrations Gabby Logan to receive honorary degree
Hild Bede selected to pilot new Scheme
Feature: Hild Bede mean ’Business’
News from Durham University Durham University to honour leading international figures with honorary degrees during this summer’s congregation ceremonies (read more).
Durham Archaeologists have found the oldest complete example in the world of a human with metastatic cancer in a 3,000 year-old skeleton (read more).
I would like to thank all alumni who have supported College this year. In particular, the response to this year’s annual appeal for a postgraduate scholarship in the Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) has been outstanding. You will be able to read about all alumni funded projects and scholarship recipients in the upcoming Association magazine which will be posted to all subscribers in July. Subscription to this magazine costs just £5/year (incl. postage) and is such an interesting and comprehensive publication representing all alumni and past staff members - it is well worth receiving. Please click here or email Julie Blake if you would like to subscribe. Finally, we are very excited to announce the preparations of the “175 celebrations”. We hope you will join us at one of our many events in the Summer of 2016, including a Grand Summer Ball, 175 Association College Day, and House of Commons reception, where we will be celebrating 175 years of College history.
Katie Goldsmith, Sabbatical Development Officer (HB 2010-2013) hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk | 0191 33 48494 Missed previous editions of HB Resurgo? Click here to catch up
Updates from staff Prof Adrian Darnell, Acting Principal This has been a typically busy term at Hild Bede. Preparations are well in hand to celebrate our first 175 years, and a small group of alumni and staff meet regularly to plan for this critically important event. There has also been a most successful alumni drinks event in London at which our past students were able to meet each other and keep abreast of developments in College. Many alumni support the College in a variety of ways, and I am pleased to announce that, following generous funding from an Alumnus, we have launched the Darren Funnell Playwright Award to help encourage and support our students’ theatrical activities. College life is full, as always, and of course, our students continue to excel on every stage they perform - academic, sporting and performing arts; so everything you remember fondly about Hild Bede continues!
Rob Danvers , SRC President Hello Hild Bede! Another really enjoyable term has gone by and the SRC has been very busy. Since my last message we have elected our new Exec, who will be headed next year by Kirsty McLaren. I am glad to say that voting turnouts were very strong and the number of people wanting to get involved and run for positions has been the highest I have known in 4 years at Hild Bede. On the side of clubs and socs Bede Rugby deserve special mention for another outstanding season winning the League and Floodlit Cup double again. Both women’s and men’s Hockey have had great seasons too, with the women’s team winning the Premiership and Knockout Cup. After our impressive Venetian Masquerade themed Winter Ball, in which our Ball Officer (now Deputy President!) Kishen Vora did exceptionally well, we are keenly anticipating and planning for the Summer ‘Fairytale’ Ball taking place on 20th June – hope to see you there!
Rev. Jonathan Lawson, Chaplain Time seems to pass very quickly, and the time has come for me to say goodbye to Durham and to the College of St. Hild and St. Bede. You might imagine that I have quite a range of emotions connected to saying ‘goodbye’, but I have also had some time over my sabbatical to come to terms with going, and I am very much looking forward to my next adventure. One of the great privileges of being ordained is sharing with people in the highs and lows of life. Being a Chaplain at St. Hild and St. Bede has been no exception, and I have felt very humbled by those who have chosen to share something of their life story with me. But our world is constantly changing, as are we, and as our College motto makes clear and as Easter proclaims, some things remain steadfast and cannot be destroyed. The Hild Bede sprit is legendary, and it has been amazing to be part of that spirit for these last nine years. You were and are part of that, and I thank you for it. Should you wish to write a personal message of thanks or best wishes to Jonathan, please email your thoughts to hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk and we will be sure to pass them on. Below left: a splendid turnout for Jonathan’s leaving reception in the Vern. Below right: Jonathan’s final chapel service.
Gemma Wilson, Bar Manager Hi, I’m Gemma Wilson – I was appointed as the new Bar Manager at the College of St Hild & St Bede in September. I’m really enjoying the role; having come from the dark side as a previous Sabbatical Bar Steward and undergrad at Collingwood, I must say, I’ve been surprised at how quickly I’ve developed an affinity with Hild Bede and am delighted by how welcome I’ve been made to feel by the staff and students. I spent a lot of time in The Vernon Arms as an undergrad and feel it is truly a special bar and as such it’s a privilege to be tasked with providing the best possible service to current members of the SRC and guests to the college, such as yourselves as alumni. If you’re making a “return to the Vern”, be sure to try our selection of local real ales for £2.00 a pint, or our new Rekorderlig Strawberry & Lime Premium Cider on draught for £2.20. Look out for a Hild Bede “Marauder’s Map” (of Harry Potter fame) mural, which will soon be painted in the back bar. I look forward to seeing you in The Vern soon!
News from College Hild Bede SRC Executive Committee Elections We have just elected our new SRC President for 2014/15, Kirsty McLaren, who ran a brilliant and creative campaign. “Hello Hild Beders, I'm Kirsty! I'm currently finishing my Psychology degree and, through the pains of revision, the light at the end of the tunnel for me is becoming the next SRC President. There's an extremely strong incoming Exec and I'm very excited to be working with them to develop Hild Bede, not just in College but around Durham... because why should it only be us who knows we're the best college at the University? Don't be afraid to get in touch by email, or via the new Official College Facebook page, which I'll be launching over the Summer. I look forward to seeing you at Old Boys and Girls weekend! HB love, Kirsty” This year Student Elections reached an all new level of intensity. It was absolutely brilliant to see students so eager to be involved on the Executive Committee and campaigning creatively to try and persuade their peers that they are the best person for the job! Some particular highlights have been the erection of a gazebo in Caedmon hall, campaign stash (pictured left), and even gold/silver human statues (pictured right)! Do you remember constant flyering in the dinner hall in your day? Was their fierce competition for positions? (There were 5 candidates for Chairperson alone this year!) Friends of candidates loyally displayed their support wearing branded t-shirts, wristbands and badges, and cheering them on during their husts.
Post Application Open Days At the beginning of the Easter holidays we saw another horde of timid sixth formers make their way up to Durham for the annual post-application Hild Bede Open Day. For those who aren’t aware, we invite all prospective students who had successful applications to Hild Bede to stay in student accommodation and get a brief insight into College life for 24 hours! We held a number of talks to ease their (and
their parents’) anxieties about the transition to independence, gave them tours of the grounds and facilities, but more importantly – introduced them to The Vernon Arms (as pictured below—don’t worry, the ID police were rife), the obligatory karaoke and, of course, Take That’s “Never Forget”. Every sixth former had their faces painted with stripes to show their allegiance to Hild Bede and were dancing till the early hours. We’re hoping to see many of them back in September 2014!
Sport College
Total Points
1st Collingwood
2536
2nd
Hild Bede
1914
3rd
Hatfield
1729
Finishing Epiphany term, Hild Bede have fought their way up into second place in the Collegiate sports table with a comfortable lead over third place Hatfield. With few points left to be collected in Easter term (cricket, tennis and rounders), Hild Bede look set to be comfortable runners-up this year. A full summary of sports (& societies) will be provided in the annual alumni Assocition magazine released this July, available as part of Association membership for just £5/year. Contact Julie Blake to arrange a standing order subscription or click here.
Bede RFC—double title champions 2013/14 Congratulations to Bede RFC who achieved the infamous ‘double’: winning both the league and the floodlit cup. Having finished the season winning 15/16 matches, scoring 47 tries and conceding just 7, Bede have cemented their status as one of the best rugby teams in the College’s recent history. The unstoppable side were assured of league victory with 4 matches still in hand, and despite a difficult road to the floodlit cup final, the winning score of 22-17 flattered a Grey team that was significantly outplayed. Bede RFC were also victorious in the Varsity Cup held in York this term.
Womens’ Hockey—double title champions 2013/14 Womens’ Hockey has had another very successful year. Despite losing many good senior players last year, the season began with an influx of freshers who have ended up making up a good proportion of the squad. They won the Premiership League comfortably - fortunately this year with no disruption from the snow that they have been used to in previous years. They also won the Knockout Cup (Cup team pictured above), beating Hatfield in the semi-final and Ustinov in the final. Having won the league without fail for the last three consecutive years, it’s great to see this ‘tradition’ will continue this year!
Hild Beders selected to play for England Congratulations to Anna Featherstone (no. 10) and Katie Evans (no. 17), who were selected to represent England in the 2014 Women’s Home Internationals for Lacrosse (pictured, right). England went on to win the tournament which took place at the end of March.
Theatre Hild Bede Theatre delighted a captivated audience with "Chicago". They were reportedly the only amateur theatre company outside North America to be putting on ‘Chicago’ at that time and the first University in the UK to earn the performance rights to stage the production. HBT did not disappoint. With a stellar cast and flawless vocals it was a brilliant musical enjoyed by students, staff and friends. It was wonderful to see alumni (including former HBT Exec) make the effort to return to the Bubble to see it. In true Hild Bede tradition our former Acting Principal, Lee Worden, followed in the footsteps of Principals before him and made a hilarious cameo during the performance which was met with rapturous applause!
Yearbook Formal This term has seen the re-introduction of the Yearbook Formal, which was a resounding success and will be followed by a brand new Hild Bede Yearbook, which I know many of our students are keenly anticipating. We awarded trophies for the more prestigious awards such as Best Hild Bede Club/Society, Mrs Hild, Mr Bede etc. and certificates presented to some of our more tongue in cheek awards (e.g. Couple That Should Have Been, Biggest Bromance/Womance, Most Likely To Get IDed at 30, etc.). It was great to hear everyone cheering their friends or favourite teams, and I felt a real sense of camaraderie and College spirit during the formal. We still have some Yearbooks from years past in the SRC Office, so do get in touch if you would like to buy an old copy.
SRC meetings
College Day 2014
What were SRC meetings like in your day? How often did they run, and were they popular? When I was a student, we had fortnightly SRC meetings which were fairly well attended, particularly by sports teams who had to send 10% of their club in order to maintain their SRC funding. There is, however, a “general sense of apathy” amongst the student body today which has led to poor attendance. Rob has passed a motion whereby we will now have only 2 SRC meetings a term, in line with other Colleges’ procedures. It is hoped that this will encourage students to attend and increase interest. Rob would be happy to discuss the details of this motion further, so feel free to drop him a line with any feedback at: Hild-Bede.SRC@durham.ac.uk.
The unwavering popularity of College Day has seen current students almost queuing out of the door of the Vernon Arms in order to secure a table for the College Day feast (below)! Stay tuned for Easter Term’s HB Resurgo for a full report.
DUCK corner To celebrate DUCK (Durham University Charities Komittee) week, our team of College DUCK reps organised a variety of events in College to raise money for a plethora of
The Awkward Formal – >£1,000 A brand new concept at HB and one of the most entertaining formals to date! Students were able to pay 50p to switch any two diners in the room, thus leading to a potentially very “awkward” formal indeed . As each person was moved their tariff doubled with some guests reaching values of £64! It was clear that there was a lot of awkwardness keen to be avoided or instigated. A bachelor/ette auction concluded the night and over £1000 was raised for DUCK.
The Charity Football Match - £220 This hilarious showdown (organised by the Captain of the Mooses, Kirsty McLaren) between The Mooses (Women’s football team) and The Stallions (the Men’s 6s football team) was one of our most successful events. Being the true good sports that they are The Stallions arrived in the various drag ensembles (including lingerie and makeup!) that they had been sponsored to wear ready to take on the ladies. It was great to see a whole horde of Hild Beders attending the match to support their favourite team: We were thrilled to experience the keenness and generosity of Hild Beders and look forward to more events in the future!
Emily Fowler & Rosannah Smith, Hild Bede Senior College DUCK Reps
Postgraduate News It's been a terrific year thus far for postgraduates at HildBede. In the autumn, our academic programme was named Best Practice in the university. Academic events include our bi -monthly Postgraduate Colloquia, in which postgraduates in college present their research in our revamped Postgraduate Common Room, and the recently held SCR Postgraduate Symposium, at which eight students, including last year's Postgraduate President, Nick Hoggard, and myself, gave conference-style presentations to the mentors, students, and faculty from around the university. Topics included everything from ‘Elemental fluorine for greener pharmaceuticals’ (Antal Harsanyi) to 'How to bankrupt a country?' (Nick Hoggard) to ‘How to Become Wiser than Yoda’ (Ben McNamara). There have also been a number of social events during the term, including movie nights, postgrads hosting quiz night in the Vern, and more, with the highlight being our termly postgraduate formals held in the Joachim Room. Our last
Above: a Postgraduate Colloquium on The Middle Paleozoic World
featured a talented student jazz band throughout the night and dancing after dinner. On the topic of food, we have started a new tradition of a postgrad meal, enjoying a Sunday roast together in the Collier Room. We're gearing up for the most action-packed term yet, so stay tuned for the next issue with another big update. Gabriel Fidler, Postgraduate President
news College of St Hild & St Bede 175 celebrations
Throughout 2016 the College of St. Hild & St. Bede will be remembering our illustrious past 175 years and looking forward to an even more exciting future. Why don’t you join us in one or more of our varied events? We hope that all cohorts will get involved including those who were in Hild or Bede in the 1940s and our more recent graduates. Events will be held in Durham and in London. An indicative list of events is detailed below: For current students and alumni – 175 College Day, College of St Hild and St Bede, May 7th 2016 For all alumni – Reception at the House of Commons, June 2016 For all alumni – Grand Summer Ball, College of St Hild and St Bede, July 16th 2016 For all alumni – 175 Association College Day (to include a Cathedral Service), College of St Hild and St Bede, 17th September 2016 For recent graduates – 175 Old Boys & Old Girls Formal Dinner and Sports Weekend, 29th October 2016 Please note tickets are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. Further information will follow. Prof Adrian Darnell Acting Principal
Congratulations to Gabby Logan on the conferment of her honorary degree
Hild Beders shine at the National Theatre London
Hild Bede alumna, Gabby Logan, is to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Durham University. Whilst reading Law at Durham, Gabby was actively involved in College-life as former Deputy President of the SRC under Stan Hecks in 199495. She was also Assistant Sponsorship Secretary of the Durham Union Society, and involved in theatre. Gabby has blazed a trail for women sports broadcasters—regularly hosting sports coverage on the BBC and recently presenting ITV’s Splash! alongside Olympic diving medallist, Tom Daley. Gabby was recently appointed as the Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University. She will be awarded an honorary DCL at Summer Congregation 2015 as she will be covering the World Cup in Brazil for the BBC this Summer.
John Schwab (1993-96) and Ben Starr (2007-10), both Hild Bede alumni, are appearing together in the Premiere of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist play, "Yellow Face" by the award winning American playwright David Henry Hwang. It opened on Monday 5th May and will run for three weeks until the 24th of May at The Shed, National Theatre London, in the West End. John exclaimed “I love the fact I am sharing the stage with a fellow Durham Old Boy, and Hild Bede to boot!”. To find out more and to get tickets please click the following link:
Hild Bede alumni on the Queen’s Honours list
Hild Bede to pilot new University-wide website
Further congratulations are in order regarding The Queen’s New Year honours list 2014, which included two Hild Bede alumni. Thomas Wright (Archaeology, class of 2002) was awarded an MBE for services to British diplomacy, whilst Lt Col Richard Cantrill (Geography, class of 1995) received an OBE (Military Division) for his services to the Royal Navy.
Hild Bede alumni cufflinks available to order
We can now offer official, brand new College cufflinks in either gold (£28 per pair) or silver (£20 per pair). If you would like to purchase some cufflinks please contact the Alumni Office. We will also be receiving College scarves, charms for ladies and unisex pin badges soon.
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/yellow-face.
Breaking news: as you will be aware - our Career Mentor Scheme has been going from strength to strength; we have now recruited over 140 alumni who are volunteering to give careers guidance to current students from a variety of industries and sectors. To keep up with the overwhelming popularity of the scheme, the University has decided to fund a dedicated website to improve the efficacy of the service. We are excited to announce that Hild Bede has been selected as the first college in Durham to pilot the new Career Mentor Scheme website. This will enable us to run the scheme as a self-selecting process, whereby students can contact a limited number of mentors based on the information a mentor makes ‘publically’ visible (both parties must first log onto the secure site). As such, we will be appealing to mentors for feedback on the website when it goes live in late June. If you would like to be part of this feedback team, or would like to get in touch regarding other careers-related initiatives please get in touch at hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk.
Chapel choir sing at St Paul’s Cathedral and “Alumni” choir at Norwich Cathedral The Chapel Choir has just enjoyed singing three Evensongs at St. Paul’s Cathedral. We have established a good relationship with the Cathedral, and sing there annually, however it is always a privilege and a wonderful experience (despite the pressure of having to sing or play the right notes). Under the direction of Nick Hoggard we covered a wide range of music, from Stanford through to Łukaszewski.
One of the highlights for me (apart from playing an organ of sizeable proportions) was meeting up with the choir alumni, who either sang with us, watched the services or joined us for a night out. Only a few days after St. Paul’s, a group of Alumni got together to sing Evensong at Norwich Cathedral under the skilful hand of Calum Zuckert (former Asst. DOM). We were thrilled to sing Canticles by Vaughan Williams that have previously only ever been made available to Westminster Cathedral Choir. Overall a fantastic week to be had by Hild Bede Alumni and current students alike. Zac Clark (Organist and Asst. DOM)
London Drinks Club In time-honoured tradition, the Hild Bede mantra of ‘never forget’ was put to the test through the liberal taking of alcohol at a recent London reunion. Attendees ranged from very recent graduates through to the more age-wearied amongst us but the common bond was strong and it was great to see that the college we all love and to which we all owe so much continues to maintain a strong ability for recruiting the type of person it’s fun to be around. The Counting House in the City provided superb surroundings for an event which saw around 50 alumni mixing in a private bar in the upstairs gallery. As tales abounded of sporting conquests, college songs, College Days gone by and the nutritional challenges of the Caedmon lunch hall, all discussion of educational prowess was deftly avoided in favour of the lighter side of College life. A favourite haunt in the City, the Counting House was an impressive building, boasting almost as much history and even more stories than the collected Hild Beders filling the upstairs gallery. Having dedicated upstairs service made it possible to avoid the crush at the downstairs bar which was appropriately reminiscent of a night out at Klute, if slightly less sticky underfoot. From an organisation point of view, I would like to take my hat off to all involved… just for a moment, I could feel the crisp North East air on my face, see the sun descending over the cathedral, taste the snake-bite and black with a double vodka and believe I could still get out on the Weir at six o’clock and feel fine… then the alarm went off and reality struck – there’s a reason that student life is best lived at student
We will be sending invitations out via email for our next Summer London Drinks Club soon, so please ensure your contact details are up-to-date here.
Meg Gray BA (Hons) History (Hild Bede 2005-08) creator of:
I am a Hild Bede graduate currently running my own business. I run a wine tasting events company called 'The Dancing Vine'. I've been running it for 4 years now, but up until last September it was alongside studying/training as a lawyer. Since qualifying as a solicitor I have left my firm to focus instead on the wine company, which is going really well. One of my current projects is a wine tasting through meditation workshop, which I am in the middle of pitching to music festivals for the summer. It would be great to be featured in the newsletter - I could even offer a discount to any Hild Bede graduates! To find out more, do visit the website: www.dancingvine.co.uk/.
Keith Bell (‘Dinger’) BA Politics (Bede College/Hild Bede 1973-77) & Maggie Bell B Ed in English (Neville’s Cross College 1974-78) owners of Crook Hall & Gardens Our paths did not cross until my final year when we met at a party. We married in the Summer of 1978 and started our careers in the north East and are lucky enough to remain in Durham City although our two children now live in London. Maggie began work as a Primary Teacher whilst I worked in Industrial Relations and in 1989 I established my own HR consultancy. As it expanded I began looking for more office space and bought Crook Hall in 1995. Crook Hall is 13th century and one of the oldest inhabited houses in the City; it is a jumble of buildings reflecting its historical development and surrounded by 6 acres of gardens. Our knowledge of gardening was limited but within weeks of moving in we were receiving calls from people who wished to visit the Old Hall. Our initial reluctance was tempered by the prospect of paying
visitors who could help with the gardening costs. We began to open on a limited number of Sundays but eighteen years on things are very different. Today we concentrate nearly all our time on running Crook Hall as a visitor attraction. The Hall and Gardens is now a wedding venue where a number of Durham graduates have held their civil ceremony/celebration. We have also earned an excellent reputation for Afternoon Teas. Last year we were featured twice on Radio 4 including Ramblings with Clare Balding and have also been on Gardeners Question Time. The Independent listed Crook Hall and Gardens as one of the top ten best places to visit in a city.
Visit Crook Hall & Garden’s website for more information: http://www.crookhallgardens.co.uk/.
Katharine Horsham (Hild Bede 2006-09) founder of:
Graduating from Durham University in the midst of the global recession, Katherine (Hild Bede 2006-2009) is an alumna who had to get creative, fast with her first career moves. Following a Masters in International Management at King’s College London, Katherine wanted to put her energy into work that made a difference in the world, rather than pursuing the traditional post-university career options: banking, law, accountancy and consultancy. She has since spent the last 4 years rooted in the fastmoving world of start-ups and social innovation, mobilising people and resources to create social change. A constant volunteer, Katherine currently leads Here To Islington, a movement to connect local people to local projects in fun, flexible ways – also known as microvolunteering – commissioned by Islington Council. She has also been a Trustee of Vauxhall City Farm, is a StartingBloc and RSA Fellow and runs her own community project called Project TILT, which is about empowering residents to create a culture of ‘neighbourliness’ where they live. Reflecting on her Durham experience, Katherine said: “My years at Durham remain some of the best in my life so far, and the university offered so many opportunities to develop myself, both inside and outside the lecture theatre. I tended to get more involved at the Universitylevel while I was there (I was the Competitions Coordinator and Co-President of Instep), but it was reassuring to have a homely college like Hild Bede to go back to to relax with friends and seek advice. 2009 was an interesting time to leave university. I originally had a graduate job lined up with the Civil Service, but it was cut in the first round of Government cuts before I had even started. This was certainly disappointing,
As a result, I would certainly tell my younger self to be open to a whole host of different ideas when thinking about career options. It is easy to be taken in by pre-conceptions of what a graduate should be doing on leaving a university like Durham, but there really is so much choice out there. Similarly, gone are the days when a degree guarantees you a highly paid job a few rungs up the career ladder. I would strongly advise current and future students to make the best use of your time at Durham, whatever you are studying and wherever that might take you. Have fun, ‘find yourself’ and study hard, but also get work experience/internships under your belt as soon as possible, volunteer with DUCK or SCA, tap into the knowledge of recent graduates through the Alumni Career Mentoring Scheme and put yourself forward for a leadership role at College or Universitylevel. It can also help to shadow people who do the jobs you think you are interested in, to have coffee with interesting people and to go to sector-specific talks, workshops and lectures. One of the biggest life lessons I have learnt so far (albeit in my relatively short life!), is that finding the right career is not a choice, it is a journey. So the
Douglas Bell (Hild Bede 2001-04) co-founder & CEO of ‘Hideout Hostels’
A multi-award-winning entrepreneur with a background in Media & Hospitality. Douglas is the 3rd generation in his family to work in hospitality. He began his career with Hilton; later working with The Montpellier Group and Tragus, and more recently, with Wild Rover Hostels. He is President of The London Innovators Network; an organisation run by and for the UK’s most innovative entrepreneurs. His travel experience spans the globe; driving across India, Europe and Ethiopia, working in Latin America, West Africa and Morocco, and having studied International Business at Harvard. “I studied Law at Durham, and set up University magazine 'Fat Controller' - an opportunity to create awesome media content, on a shoestring budget. We viewed it as 'anti-student media'. It was a hugely funny and valuable experience, as we had the luxury of being able to make big mistakes. We made them all, and got a lot stronger/ funnier for it. And it was still a great success! It became a spinout media business immediately after graduation, starting a lifelong career as an entrepreneur. Durham was a hilarious experience, and I made some incredible friends there. One of my favourite memories was making the Duck Naked Calendar, photographing St Mary's girls, sports teams and other lunatics in the skud, all over the city. We even did a naked piece for Sky TV. There was always something creative like this going on. That's what I love about Durham - you can get involved with things. You can make exciting new things happen. For me, this was top priority. The degree was just filling in the gaps.” Check out Douglas’ latest venture: www.hideouthostels.com.
Oliver Palmer (Hild Bede 1994-97) founder & Head of Innovation at:
A recent photo Oliver (right) in Singapore reuniting with College friend Richard Thomas (left, HB 1994-97, SRC President 1998).
I went travelling, on a round the world ticket, after graduating from Durham. I got as far as Sydney in 1998 and have never moved back to the UK. I worked for a couple of internet start-ups in Australia and then founded Tigerspike in 2003. We focus on mobile and tablet software development. Tigerspike now employs over 200 people across 8 offices around the world. Durham taught me a lot about dealing with people from all different walks of life, how to instil a great culture in a team and how to get the most out of any situation.
The parallels between a degree in MBB and mobile technology are not exactly obvious, but the research component is how I position it. Working on the cutting edge of biotech as I did in 1998, is comparable to working on the cutting edge of mobile and tablet technology today. Mobile has changed the way we live and work, companies that help organisations navigate this new world will be enormously successful. I also mentor a number of entrepreneurs from early stage start-ups and am an angel investor in 2 businesses.
Date
Event
Information
16th May
‘Dunelm Days’
Durham alumni and guests are invited to Dunelm Days, a
—23rd June
5th June
week of global events organised by our volunteers celebrating all things Durham. From wine tasting in Cambridge to a Summer Ball in Vienna—there are an astonishing range of events taking place all over the world and across the UK. More than 20 events can be viewed by visiting the Dunelm website (click the event title).
Durham ‘Dunelm Days’
All local alumni from are warmly invited to the Bishop Langley on Thursday 5th June at 6pm (or the Coach & Eight to anyone who graduated before 2010!). This is an interCollegiate event, open to all Durham graduates and is a great excuse to network and catch up with old friends over looking the spectacular views of the cathedral and castle whilst enjoying the cash bar. Click on the event title for full details.
20th June
Summer Ball
‘The Fairytale Ball’ with headliners Scouting For Girls and the Vengaboys. For full info visit: www.hildbedeball.com
5-7th September
Association weekend
Information and invitations will be sent out in this year’s Hild Bede Alumni Association magazine.
24-26th October
Old Boys & Old Girls weekend
Annual reunion for recent graduates with sports fixtures. Invitations will be sent via email in late August/September.
Thanks for reading and keep in touch!
College of St. Hild & St. Bede, St. Hild’s Lane, Durham DH1 1SZ | 0191 33 48494
hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk | www.dur.ac.uk/hild-bede/alumni/