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Welcome to the Christmas Edition of our Alumni e-Newsletter! My name is Georgia, and I am the new Alumni Relations and Development Officer for Castle. As a Castle alumna myself I know that Castle is not simply somewhere you live and work, but a place where people meet their lifelong friends and experience some of the best times of their life.
Whether you are a recent graduate or recently retired, we all share the same College spirit and you will always find Castle waiting for you to return home. If you are feeling homesick, would like to update your contact details or want to give back to the college in any way please do not hesitate to contact me, I will be happy to help with any questions you may have, however trivial. You can find my contact details at the end of this newsletter or by clicking here.
Professor David Held, Master It was a pleasure to welcome back so many alumni at our annual reunion in September. We are very grateful to those who continue to show their support for the Castle Society by attending the dinner and AGM every year, as well as those who can’t make it but continue to engage with us in other ways. We look forward to future AGMs and plan to add an additional reunion event focused on more recent graduates to ensure we connect with all age groups. We have lost touch with some of our alumni and don’t have up to date contact details. To address this problem we have implemented a Year Group Rep system (see back page) and we urge as many of you to volunteer for this as possible. This way we can find the means to track some of our past students. The College continues to build on its increasingly outward looking vision through its Community Action programme which is constantly expanding, the Castle Lecture Series and the continuing success of our students who achieved a record of over 60 First Class degrees in 2013/14. .
MCR President 2014-15 The MCR has had a wonderful start to the year, with the fullest programme of induction fortnight events to date. This year we've also started welcoming 4th year undergraduates into the MCR, to forge stronger links between the communities within College. The MCR now has a new Exec Committee and members are engaging in College in many ways - organising social events, planning and giving academic talks in College (for more info click here), volunteering as Junior Mentors to help Castle undergraduates, and engaging in the running of CCA for the first time to name but a few. The MCR is looking forward to a fantastic year!
JCR Senior Man 2014-15 The JCR has got off to a great start this year. With an excel lently organised Freshers week and jubilant matriculation, Castle Spirits are as high as ever. All teams and societies have seen a massive uptake and we have already had several wins across our clubs. Particularly impressive is the continued growth in Castle Community Action, which, thanks to the hard work of our students and the generosity of our alumni, has been able to expand to include a Prison Outreach division. If this first term is anything to go by I am sure that Castle has another great year ahead.
Matriculation 2014 This year has seen an intake of 220 new undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, the largest postgraduate intake in the College’s history. This brings the total student body to 1088, one of the largest it has ever been.
Merchandise Our new Castle Bears arrived last week! These lucky teddy bears wear little cardinal jumpers embroidered with our crest. You can buy these from our website. We also have ties, bow ties, cufflinks, pin badges and charms, all with the Castle crest on.
Stuck for Christmas ideas? Why not order a College Christmas CD, with carols sung by the College Chapel Choir. T h i s C D w a s commissioned by the Univers i ty Col lege D u r h a m Tr u s t , a l l proceeds of which go
towards the College Chapel Choir. If you would like to order this or any of our merchandise, please click here.
College News: Sport and Art The College has seen a strong start to the year in sport. Teams that have done particularly well are the Mens Football A team who remain unbeaten in the Premier League and the Women’s First Team Hockey who have only conceded three goals this season and are also unbeaten.
In art, one of our finalists, Hannah Thomas, recently put on an exhibition of her work in Empty Shop, displaying portraits of people she encountered in the Middle East and Africa from her recent year abroad and travelling.
This exhibition raised an amazing £400 which will be going towards the Oxfam Syrian Appeal. Hannah is aiming to reach her target of £2000 as she will be running the London Marathon for this appeal in April. If you would like to sponsor Hannah you can do so here.
Castle Community Action Founded last year, Castle Community Action (CCA), Castle’s community outreach program, has gone from strength to strength. At the beginning of November, CCA held its second Grand Auction, raising nearly £6000! We would also like to thank the alumni who – through the Castle Society – have kindly supported our work, the money raised is truly helping us to make a
difference. Highlights of the Michaelmas term have i nc luded the H o m e l e s s n e s s Division’s craft sessions, held at a local shelter, where students and visitors to the shelter have come together to m a k e C h r i s t m a s decorations and cards. We also have exciting plans for the rest of the year, particularly for the Secondary Education d i v i s i o n , w h i c h i s hosting a residential for
secondary school students over Easter, intended to improve access to the Castle and provide the students with greater awareness of the opportunities available within higher education. If you have any queries, or would like to hear more about CCA’s projects, please email CCA’s President at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!
Ladies Night 2014 The Ladies Night t h e m e t h i s y e a r (Brothers Grimm) p r o v e d j u s t a s successful as last y e a r ’ s O r i e n t Express, thanks to the JCR Social Chair, Rosie Alexander and her Ents team.
Floreat Castellum Boat Club The annual Floreat Castellum Boat Club (FCBC) Christmas Races are due to take place on the River Thames on Saturday 13th December.
The short race between a current UCBC crew and their FCBC counterparts will be held at 3pm in Mortlake. Supporters are encouraged to meet at The Ship pub at the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race finish line shortly before to cheer the crews. Following the races, the FCBC Christmas Pub Quiz shall take place in The Ship to test general, rowing and Klute playlist knowledge.
All are welcome to attend, especially those who are eager to learn more about the club.
FCBC was created in 2002 by the 2002 & 2003 leavers. It exists to support UCBC and to have fun. For further information or to join FCBC, please email [email protected].
The Club currently includes members who graduated between 1961 and 2013. If you’d be interested in joining, or for more information, please click here, then ‘Old Boys’.
Castle Careers Fair On 22nd February 2015, Castle will be holding its first ever Careers Fair. If you or your company are interested in coming to Durham to advertise your company name, give advice and discuss career opportunities with finalists and other current students we would love to hear from you.
London Castle Alumni Drinks Event Friday 30th January, BankThe Counting House, 50 Cornhill. EC3V 3PD
Our first London event of the year will take place at The Counting House, near Monument and Bank tube stations. We have our own private area, so if you wish to attend this event which is filling up fast, please register your place here.
Michael McCarthy Memorial Dinner Thanks to the generosity of all those who attended the dinner and bid in the auction, so far a total of £2,500 has been raised. This is enough to fund the travel bursary in memory of Michael for a couple of years. Special thanks go to Mary and Michael McCarthy for their support, and to Daniel Benjamin (Former US Ambassador) for speaking at the event.
If you would like to donate to the Michael McCarthy Memorial Fund you can still do so here.
Keep in Touch! We want to keep you updated with College and alumni news, and invites to special alumni events. Here’s how you can connect with College:
[email protected] Like University College Alumni on Facebook Find the University College
group on Linkedin.
We would love to see any photos or stories from your time at Castle, which you can send in via email or post. If you have any news that you would like us to share with the Castle Community; weddings, births, achievements etc. please let us know and we can put it on Facebook or in the next newsletter.
Floreat Castellum and Happy Christmas!
Year Rep Scheme We have recently started up a new Year Rep scheme and are looking for representatives for each graduation year to help us get in contact with those who have lost touch with the College and to spread news about events to alumni in their own year group. If you are interested in becoming a rep for your year group please contact [email protected].
