For the latest updates from your alumni community
The University of Bristol is celebrating an incredible £2 million gift from alumnus David Hughes (BSc 1974). This gift will create two new positions at the University: a Chair of Geographical Sciences to support environmental research and a Chair of Digital Chemistry. (more…)
After graduating from the University with a History of Art degree, Genevieve Schwartz (BA 2012) went on to train as a silversmith. She started working in jewellery design and production, developing her craft at iconic brands such as Vivienne Westwood and Astley Clarke. This year, she took the plunge and started her own business – Genevieve Schwartz Jewellery. She now makes beautifully crafted pieces from her studio in London and most recently, she launched a collection of engagement rings for men. We spoke to her to learn more about life as a creative entrepreneur.
Nominations for the Alumni Association Community Award are now open. The Alumni Association Community Award (previously known as the Alumni Association Medal) is given out to recognise volunteers who have worked hard to build and strengthen the University’s alumni community. This could be through organising alumni networks, coordinating events or actively participating in the Association.
The Alumni Association is the official body of the University’s alumni community – anyone that has studied at the University automatically becomes a member. The Alumni Association Committee represents the Association and it is now looking to recognise individuals who have championed the Alumni Association through their service.
I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and I arrived in the UK when I was eight years old. It took a while for me to integrate into a new culture and make friends, but I had really supportive teachers which helped. My teachers used to tell me that I’d be a good doctor because I loved science, especially biology. But when I did my A Levels I studied psychology and fell in love with the subject. I got to learn about so many theories and philosophies that I could apply to my own life. I could see how I would be able to use it to help others and make a change in my community.
In the UK, an estimated 20 to 40% of all fruit and vegetables grown for human consumption are rejected before they reach the shops. This means that around 9.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away annually. This is mainly because they do not match the supermarkets’ strict cosmetic standards meaning they are not the right colour, shape or size to be deemed attractive for sale.*
Jessica Felton-Page works for Rubies in the Rubble, an ethical food company that fights food waste by using the “unattractive” fruit and vegetables to make beautiful condiments. The company suggests “if we stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the benefit to the planet would be the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.” In 2020 alone, the company cooked 115 tonnes of rejected produce into delicious sauces, rescuing them from going to waste. Their mission is to double that number in the following year.
In early November, Jessica will join a panel discussion on Responsible Businesses, with insights and advice from other career experts in the sustainability profession. Ahead of the event, we spoke to Jessica about her journey from an undergraduate degree in Chemistry to fighting food waste at Rubies in the Rubble and her memories of studying in Bristol. (more…)
Founded by a group of University of Bristol graduates, Young Goat is a clothing and lifestyle brand that’s driven by its values. Since launching in 2019, Young Goat has amassed a loyal fan base (pleasingly referred to as the Herd) and has appeared in publications including GQ and Vanity Fair. As the brand goes from strength to strength, they’re using their platform to raise money for mental health charities in Bristol and beyond.
Throughout Black History Month, Young Goat will be raising money in memory of their friend Olisa Odukwe, who very sadly passed away earlier this year. The Young Goat team will be donating all profits made through sales of a special edition t-shirt to Black Minds Matter, a charity which connects Black individuals and families with free mental health services.
We spoke to one of Young Goat’s founding members, Partnerships Lead Vincent Onuegbu (BA 2018), to hear more about what the brand stands for.
On 3 October, a fantastic group of Bristol alumni and students ran the 2021 London Marathon, raising over £10,000 for the University’s Healthy Minds Programme. They each ran an incredible 26.2 miles, raising awareness of the importance of physical activity on mental health and the vital nature of the programme itself.
The Healthy Minds programme helps students who are experiencing mental health difficulties by providing them with a bespoke physical activity plan and access to sports facilities. Students are paired up with a mentor – a member of the University fitness team with advanced mental health training – who coaches them throughout their time on the programme. (more…)
We all know how it feels to sit an exam that we haven’t properly prepared for. The racing heartbeat. The sweaty palms. The feeling of impending doom. It’s a sensation that Bristol graduate Oliver Savill (MEng 2006) has helped thousands of people to avoid.
During his final year at the University, Oliver had to sit a number of psychometric tests for graduate job applications. After struggling to find resources which could help him to revise, he took matters into his own hands by launching AssessmentDay – which is now the UK’s number one site for practice psychometric tests. Here, he reflects on his time at Bristol and his entrepreneurial career path.
After graduating from Bristol with a first class honours degree in Philosophy and Politics, Elodie Read has advocated for her passions all over the globe. She has worked on gender equality and refugee rights programmes with NGOs in the UK, Spain, Indonesia and Kenya. Now, she is channeling her energy into tackling climate change by working as the Programme Lead for Subak – the world’s first accelerator for climate nonprofits.
Co-founded by fellow Bristol alumnus, Gi Fernando MBE (BEng 1992) and Baroness Bryony Worthington, Subak was launched this summer. It connects like-minded environmental non-profits, helping them to share data and collaborate in order to address the climate emergency. Elodie is responsible for running Subak’s Accelerator Programme and is the main point of contact for the organisations it supports. Here she recalls some of her favourite Bristol memories and gives her advice on starting a career in sustainability.
After the extreme weather events of this summer and the stark warnings of the recent IPCC report, the climate crisis feels more pressing than ever before. But could data be the key to us living in greater harmony with our planet? Bristol alumnus and serial entrepreneur Gi Fernando (BEng 1992) certainly thinks so.
This summer, Gi and Co-Founder Baroness Bryony Worthington launched Subak, the world’s first global non-profit tech accelerator dedicated to combatting the climate emergency. Subak acts like a business school by helping to speed the growth of climate focussed tech start-ups; the organisations that Subak supports share data and collaborate in the fight against climate change.
As well as being a social impact entrepreneur, Gi is also an engineer, investor and a father-of-three. He was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the digital economy and has also been named as one of the UK’s top 100 Asian stars in tech. We caught up with him to hear about his newest venture, and to learn more about how data could save the world.