Noteworthy Summer 2016 issue by University of Bedfordshire

NOTE Worthy

SUMMER 2016

Alumni Newsletter

Inside This Issue

he Summer has brought many exciting stories that we can’t wait for you to read about. In June we celebrated the University and our Alumni at the annual ‘Vice Chancellor’s Student Experience Awards’ held at our Putteridge Bury Campus. The ‘Alumnus of the Year’ category was awarded to local businessman Gavin O’Brien who we caught up with at his Luton-based and alumni-driven creative business, ‘Clearhead’ for this edition’s ‘Alumni Spotlight’. Putteridge Bury alongside Luton and Bedford was busy again in July when we welcomed back some familiar faces and our newest Alumni at our Summer Graduations. July also saw us announce exciting plans for a new STEM building; and the completion of our new library enabled us to help alumnus Mike Kasibo fulfil his dream of building a library in Uganda. Now into August, all eyes are on Brazil as Rio hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games. With this being the first Games since London 2012, we speak with Assistant Director of Sport, Steve Pitt, who shares his memories of his time as a Games Maker. We hope you enjoy catching up with the latest from the University and the Alumni community. We always love to hear from you, so please do get in touch with any news, stories or ideas.

ALUMNI HONOURED AT THE ‘VICE CHANCELLOR’S STUDENT EXPERIENCE AWARDS’ CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR’S STUDENT EXPERIENCE AWARDS 2016. THE AWARDS WERE PRESENTED AND CELEBRATED AT THE AFTERNOON GARDEN PARTY HELD ON 8 JUNE 2016 AT PUTTERIDGE BURY. THE EVENT REPRESENTED A REAL CELEBRATION OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE RECOGNITION OF ALL THE GREAT WORK UNDERTAKEN IN VARIOUS FORMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE.

his year there were 20 award categories available including ‘Alumnus of the Year’ which honoured our former students who have promoted the University, demonstrated its values within the wider community, supported the University from enquirer to graduate and have acted as a clear role model to others. After reading a diverse range of successful and worthy nominees, the three finalists were chosen. Gavin O’Brien, Lee Warren and Dr Erica Cook were selected with local businessman Gavin winning the title of ‘Alumnus of the Year’. We would like to wish a big congratulations to Gavin, Lee and Erica and share their achievements. The Vice Chancellor, Bill Rammell, with Alumnus of theYear winner, Gavin O’Brien.

Gavin O'Brien BA MEDIA PRODUCTION AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (2007). After graduating in 2007, Gavin went on to work at some of the largest independent production agencies. After looking for more creative control and setting up numerous small startups, he and his business partner, fellow alumnus, Alex Lawrence, set up Luton based “Clearhead” with the simple remit of 'making a difference through creativity'. Gavin has kept a close relationship with the University, regularly helping current students, course development and employing 5 members of our alumni. Recently, Gavin has set up a sister company called “Distinct” in Soho. Gavin is also chair of ‘Luton BID’, which represents 1,500 businesses and helps to improve and develop Luton.

Lee Warren BSC (HONS) SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCES (2013) MSC BY RESEARCH, SPORT SCIENCE - FOOTBALL RECOVERY & NUTRITION (2014) During his time at the University, Lee volunteered at weekends with only two or three people attending his football sessions. Due to his perseverance and passion, he became a University Football Activator leading on development and delivery of the football and futsal provision at the University. Eventually, Lee's activities became oversubscribed which led to the first ever Universty Futsal team. After a successful playoff final last season, they enter the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Midlands Premier Division for 2016/17. Lee currently runs the football development programme for BUCS and sits on the FA National Game Youth Council as the Educational Engagement Officer.

Dr Erica Cook BSC HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY (2008) MSC HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY (2009) PHD 'WHO USES NHS DIRECT? FACTORS THAT IMPACT ON THE UPTAKE OF TELEPHONE BASED HEALTHCARE' (2012) A true alumnus of the University. Erica has completed her University education from undergraduate to PhD at the University of Bedfordshire. She was awarded her MSc with distinction and published and secured her PhD funding by the NHS which she completed in 3 years. Erica has had work published from her MSc dissertation to her PhD and then went on to secure a post at her alma mater as a lecturer of Health Psychology. Within the last 2 years, she has secured over £50,000 in external funding, has continued to publish, has been included in the ref and teaches across undergraduate, masters and PhD level. She was promoted to Subject Leader last year and became a chartered health psychologist.

University helps alumnus’s Ugandan library dream come true THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE HAS HELPED A FORMER STUDENT FULFIL HIS FATHER’S DREAM OF BUILDING A LIBRARY IN HIS LOCAL COMMUNITY IN AFRICA.

ike Kasibo’s father was a teacher and saw a need for a library in his native Uganda and even bought the land to build it on.

“Academic levels in the community were going down. There were not enough books in the schools and there was nowhere for people to sit down and read,” said Mike, who studied Applied Social Studies and graduated last year. Sadly Mike’s father died before he could start the project. Knowing how important it was to him, Mike took up his father’s cause and managed to build the library, but still needed equipment like books and furniture to make it usable. Mike, 38, who now lives in Milton Keynes, approached the University for help. As luck would have it, the University had just built a brand new library on the Luton campus, leaving the old one full of equipment that was no longer needed. It was quickly decided that Mike should take whatever he needed for his own library. Head of Library Development at the University Leo O’Neill said: “So far we have donated over 400 chairs, 300m of library shelving, 40 tables, books, book trolleys, stationery, computers, monitors and laptops to Mike and his project. “Hopefully we will also be able to send the air conditioning units, carpet tiles and lights to Uganda once the demolition of the old library starts. This is a very worthwhile project which will hopefully build close ties between us and communities in Uganda.” Help also came from local company Stephens Removals, who helped transport the equipment to Mike’s storage container in Milton Keynes free of charge. “These things will help us create an enhanced learning environment. People will also have access to computers which will help them learn important IT skills. I’m so grateful to the University for donating all these things,” said Mike, who is hoping to have the library up and running in early 2017. “It would have been very difficult to finish the library without the help of the University,” said Mike. “There was a point where I couldn’t see a future, but this had made such a difference.”

Welcome Class of 2016 FROM 11-22 JULY, WE CELEBRATED OUR CLASS OF 2016’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND WELCOMED THEM TO ALUMNI.

tudents gathered at Bedford’s Corn Exchange, our Putteridge Bury Campus and Luton’s St Mary’s Church to collect their awards and celebrate with staff, friends and family.

University announces plans for new STEM building THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE HAS ANNOUNCED ITS PLANS TO BUILD A NEW £40M BUILDING DEVOTED TO TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) SUBJECTS AT ITS LUTON CAMPUS.

ill Rammell Vice Chancellor of the University explained: “This is part of the University’s wider vision for high-level skills growth in Luton and Bedfordshire. “Our new STEM building will support the ambitions of regional policymakers to enhance the skills base in Luton, extending opportunity for local residents and attracting investment to the region.” The building, set out over four-storeys and incorporating 6000m2 of teaching and laboratory space, will allow the University to offer a wide range of new science courses including Pharmacy, Nutrition, Physics, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Geology and Mechanical Engineering. It will also include a new Science and Engineering Outreach Centre to promote the value of science and engineering to local schools and the wider Bedfordshire community. The STEM building will be located on Park Street in the centre of Luton, presenting an improved open and modern façade to pedestrians and is due for completion in 2018. “This is part of an investment of £180m in cutting edge facilities by the University to transform our campuses,” said Mr Rammell. “Over the past five years we have enhanced our learning and teaching facilities for students, creating jobs and growth in Luton, Bedford and its surrounding areas.” Other investments include a Postgraduate and CPD Centre opened in 2013 and a stunning new seven-storey state-of the art library, just opened on the Luton campus, which will be available for students entering the University from autumn 2016. Last year also saw the Gateway, a new teaching and learning building, open at the University’s Bedford Campus. Mr Rammell continued: “The new STEM building is part of our commitment to ensure we provide the very best facilities to support our students throughout their studies. “It marks the culmination of a huge investment at the campus, with the aim to give our students the very best learning teaching experience possible.”

The Graduations also gave us opportunity to recognise our successful alumni. Honorary awards were presented to CBBC presenter Gemma Hunt and TV and radio presenters Rickie Haywood Williams and Melvin Odoom who all collected their accolades at Putteridge Bury. The University was also delighted to present honorary awards to BAFTA award-winning actor Matt Berry, acclaimed jazz musician Jacqui Dankworth, YouTube entrepreneur Jamal Edwards MBE and Sky Sports news anchor Stephen Dixon. Speaking at the Luton ceremony, Vice Chancellor Bill Rammell told the graduates: “Think about the journey you have been on and resolve, here, today, never to stop learning. Never lose that curiosity, resilience and persistence that enabled you to achieve your degrees. “If we have done our job right, you will be ready and eager to take the opportunities the world offers you to learn and grow, in the workplace, at home and in civil society.” Interested in helping with Graduations and other events? Please contact alumni@beds.ac.uk

ran smoothly. What events did you work on? I was lucky enough to work at the test events for handball as well as matches including the handball finals which were held at the Basketball area. Most memorable moment? My most memorable moment of the games was being selected to go to the Closing ceremony which was excellent meeting volunteers from across the games. For my work with (hosting the training camp) I was nominated by the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and Prince Phillip which was a great honour. What are you hopes for the legacy of London 2012? Steve, middle of second row from the back, at the BBC Eastern Regional Sports Personality of the Year Awards

Games to Remember THIS SUMMER WILL BE THE FIRST OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES SINCE LONDON HOSTED THE GAMES IN 2012. WHILST THE STARS OF THE TRACK, FIELD AND WATER KEPT US GRIPPED; THE GAMES WERE TRULY A COMMUNITY DRIVEN EVENT, WITH FACILITIES AND VOLUNTEERS ALL DRAWN IN AS LONDON WELCOMED THE WORLD.

ur own Assistant Director of Sport, Steve Pitt, helped with the University of Bedfordshire’s presence. Steve helped with the University hosting a training camp for 22 countries as well as volunteering as a Games Maker; who all memorably ensured the events were efficient and enjoyable. Reflecting on his involvement, Steve shares his experiences: Tell us a bit about your role as a Games Maker At the Olympic games I was part of the field of play team for the Handball. I was based at the Copper box, Basketball arena and training venue. Our team was responsible for everything actually happening during matches and on court side duties varied from liaising with the teams to making sure the courts, goals and balls were ready for the match as well as ensuring matches

Did you know 28th November is Bedfordshire Day?

e’re inviting you to celebrate your University county and help current and future students along the way!

Whether it’s a party, games night or even a coffee morning, there’s plenty of ways to get your classmates back together and raise vital funds for your University. Your support can really make the difference in developing our students’ experience, facilities and research. It doesn’t matter how much you raise, all funds go towards you helping to secure the future of your University.

My hopes from the legacy from London 2012 is that all the great facilities and opportunities coming from this great event inspire people to take part in sport.

Have a story to tell? Share with us via alumni@beds. ac.uk

The Development and Alumni Relations Office is always on hand to help. Whether you’re stuck for ideas or have any queries about fundraising; whatever it is, we’re here to support you as you help to support us. For more information, please contact alumni@beds. ac.uk

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

CELEBRATING THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND WORK OF OUR ALUMNI We catch up with Alumnus of the Year winner Gavin O'Brien and Creative Director Alex Lawrence from Clearhead Media and talk to them about their business.

Tell us about Clearhead, how did you guys meet and decide to start your own business? GO: Alex and I have known each other for probably close to 25 years now. We grew up around the same area in Luton, went to pretty much all the same schools, from nursery, junior school and high school, through to college and university. Strangely enough, though we did the odd creative project together, we never thought that we would be setting up a business together. We started Clearhead out of a mutual appreciation for each other, we wanted to make sure we had creative control, this is a big thing for us. It was also really important to be creative, and to be flexible. We wanted to be able to do things and not necessarily make loads of of money from them, but be able to showcase to the world our work and what we can do.

Gavin O’Brien, Partner and Business Director, Clearhead Media

Tell us a bit more about Clearhead and who you’ve produced films for AL: So Clearhead has been around for nearly 9 years now, and during that time we’ve grown in size in terms of our team, and the types of brands and clients that we work for as well. Starting off we took what we could get, we worked for a whole summer making free films for hair salons and golf academics and places like that to create a portfolio. Now we’re at a stage where we’ve gone in and worked directly for clients such as the BBC, Sony, Butlins and Kia. We’ve got a whole range of household names, we work with charities, the education sector, health and beauty brands, it’s very diverse. Starting a business is no easy feat; what skills did you take from your time at the University to help your company grow and develop? GO: The University was great in helping us develop the skills that we need to run a business. I think more than anything else it gave us the freedom to test and try things out, that’s what life at university should be all about. I think people are very supportive at the University of Bedfordshire, and I think that’s a Luton-wide thing where, if you want to be successful, you can be successful because people want to support you. That’s definitely something the University of Bedfordshire is great at. There have been some really good mentors that really helped us along the way, not just lecturers, but also technicians and lots of other great people. On top of that, the University gave us the basic technical skills in business and in media to be able to do what we needed to do. You’ve got a lot of University of Bedfordshire alumni here at Clearhead. What do you think that our alumni specifically bring to the company? AL: Having set up our company very close to the University where we studied at, we are very keen to continue a relationship where can access and communicate with students at the University. Having access to the next generation of talent is very important,

Alex Lawrence, Partner and Creative Director, Clearhead Media

we’re looking for students who stand out from their group, who are really passionate and want to be successful in their career. We can help guide them and build them up in the industry. Alumni who studied media at the University of Bedfordshire have access to great equipment and facilities, and can readily tap into a broad set of people with deep knowledge of their subject areas. We’re really focussed and keen on giving those students an idea of the entrepreneurial spirit that’s imbued within our company. We want to stress to students that in today’s age you don’t just have to rely on getting a job in the media industry, that actually you can do it yourself and support yourself with access to the type of skills and equipment you need to be successful. We learned how to make films whilst we were at University, we did lots of internships, and a lot of work for free. We figured out pretty quickly that we could do this ourselves. Students presume that they need to have a degree, then go straight into a job, and that there’s nothing they can’t do without a boss or a company behind them. We’re really keen to help UoB students make that step into making films, but also know that they can do it by themselves and their fellow collaborators.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

You’ve given a lot back to the University as an alumnus and Gavin you were recently named ‘Alumnus of the Year’ at the VCSE awards. Why do you feel it’s important to stay in touch and support your alma mater? GO: It was definitely a real honour to be awarded alumnus of the year. We never got into business to be awarded anything, that wasn’t something that we wanted to do, I found that universities act like a linchpin, an anchor, for alumni to be able to and go back to and seek advice from and still tap into the network. When you start a business, it can be very difficult if you don’t have that support that your university can provide. It can be very much like floating in the deep blue sea without any direction if you don’t have any kind of support or help. We’re very passionate about keeping things local, that you don’t have to be in a big city to be successful. We’re very passionate about the graduates that come from the University of Bedfordshire as well as the local people who have helped create the success that’s well beyond what we ever thought we could get to. It’s all down to the people who have worked for us that continue to work for us as hard as they do because they believe in what we’re trying to do. What other plans and projects have you got on the horizon? AL: We’ve got many aspirations, we want to continue growing as Clearhead, to continue growing the types of content that we’re creating. We have always aspired to make content that’s different from what’s out there. We have projects coming up that are mainly continuing work with some big brands. We’re looking to continue creating the kind of content that will get us into cinemas and television, but also to change some of our approaches and continue to improve the quality of our content. As well as working for clients, we also create films off our own back that help us challenge our own techniques and expertise, which we then bring into the real world and the videos that we do for our clients. We’re going to continue to be creative and exploratory and to continually improve and aspire to create better content that better connects to an audience. We have lots of different projects coming up all across the world, we’re very fortunate that the projects we create take us to places like New York. What we do can be applied anywhere, we just want to make every job better than the last. GO: I suppose the only other thing to add to what Alex has said is that we’re looking to make a real social difference with our business, making sure that we give back, and help mould the future of the area alongside the University and other local stakeholders. We want to make it much easier for the next generation of people to be able to feel like they can set up their own business like we did without having to go through all the hurdles that we had to go through to get to the point that we’re at now, 9 years on from we’re we started. And that’s something that’s real exciting for us.

If you'd like to feature as one of our case studies for ‘Alumni Spotlight’, please email alumni@beds.ac.uk

Your Alumni Keeping in touch and staying connected THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE’S ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IS MADE UP OF OVER 75,000 MEMBERS STRETCHING OVER 140 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE. Being part of the Alumni community, you can extend your professional and social network to others who have graduated as well as remain part of the life and future of your University. What we can offer All members of our Alumni Association have access to a range of services: eZInes: Our “Noteworthy” eZine keeps you updated with news, events and opportunities. Free library membership: Access to the library facilities and books are available to you in your post-University life for free. For more details please contact us. Careers and Employability Services: The services available to you as a student are still available to you for life as an alumnus including, job vacancies, employability workshops and individual career support.

How you can help There are also plenty of opportunities for you to give back and support the University of Bedfordshire. Volunteering Come back on campus to help with events, share your expertise and mentor current students. Fundraising By taking party in fundraising events and challenges, you are able to secure and support the future of your University. For all enquires about what we can do for you and how you can help, please get in touch.

Contact details Development and Alumni Relations Office Innovation & Enterprise Service Room H011 University Square Luton Bedfordshire LU1 3JU alumni@beds.ac.uk www.beds.ac.uk/alumni LinkedIn- University of Bedfordshire Alumni Office