Fireside Talks

Perhaps the jewel in the crown of Wellington’s Enrichment programme, and an eagerly anticipated moment in the weekly programme, are the Monday evening Fireside Talks. Wellingtonians have the opportunity to listen and question eminent figures from a variety of fields. This autumn’s programme has been one to savour, with brilliant speakers covering a host of topics. Singer songwriter Amrit Kaur Lohia kicked off the series, and the students have gone on to enjoy talks by Dr Tom Crawford on Maths modelling (which included advice on the best place to aim a penalty kick), Art Historian Dr Jaimie Ramirez on the artefacts of the medieval period, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Jack Fitzpatrick on neurodiversity, and Ben Fennell on the importance of diversity, purpose and growth. Lord Woolley, Principal of Homerton College spoke about dreaming big but working small to rectify justice while changing the world, Olympian Grace Prendergast gave an insight into the life of an elite athlete and Mary Ann Sieghart gave a fascinating explanation of the authority gap and unconscious bias. The programme resumes early in the New Year, and we are looking forward to hearing from DCI Will Lexton-Jones on counter terrorism who will kick off another fascinating programme of enrichment talks.

Wellingtonians have the opportunity to listen and question eminent figures from a variety of fields.