For the latest updates from your alumni community
For Volunteers’ Week 2023, we’re celebrating our incredible Bristol Volunteers who give their experience, advice and time to support our students and alumni community.
Sarauniya Shehu (LLB 2016) studied Law and is now Public Affairs Manager at the National Housing Federation. As a volunteer for the Bristol Mentors programme, she reflects on the value of mentoring and why she finds it so rewarding. (more…)
Gillian Burke (BSc 1995), is a biologist, presenter, public speaker, voiceover artist and writer. Gillian was born in Kenya and studied biology at Bristol before launching an incredible career as a wildlife documentarian that has taken her all over the world. She has been a co-presenter of the BBC nature series Springwatch and its spin-offs since 2017. She also presented BBC’s Blue Planet UK with co-host Steve Brown and was recently named Vice President at The Wildlife Trusts. (more…)
Last month, the University of Bristol welcomed over 130 alumni, friends, Scholars and staff to the 2023 Scholarships Celebration event. This event is an opportunity to celebrate our incredible Scholars and their achievements, and for them to connect with fellow scholarship students and donors. (more…)
This Sunday, an incredible group of five Bristol alumni and staff members are taking on the 2023 London Marathon in support of the University’s Healthy Minds programme.
This programme helps students who are experiencing mental health difficulties by providing a bespoke physical activity plan and access to sports facilities. Students are paired with a mentor – a member of the University fitness team with advanced mental health training – who coaches them throughout their time on the programme.
Each runner is aiming to raise at least £2,000 for Healthy Minds, and you can support them via their JustGiving pages linked below.
Introducing this year’s runners…
Kathryn Moore (BA 2005) has fond memories of sitting in the quad at Wills Hall in the summer sunshine, with her fellow students of English at the end of term. While everyone else was busy with exams, Kathryn and her classmates could enjoy some freedom as the university year ended because at that time, English students were continually assessed throughout the year, rather than having an intense period of exams at the end. Like many of our alumni, Kathryn is still in close contact with the friends she met while studying, and is a regular visitor back to the city.
‘Studying at Bristol was such a happy time in my life. I picked a subject I really enjoyed and met like-minded people wherever I went – on my course, in halls and in the various societies.’ (more…)
On Super Bowl Sunday, 12 February, the USA Society and the Bristol Barracuda American Football Team hosted a watch party to celebrate the big game and bring fans together. (more…)
Suwei Jiang (MBA 1997) moved to the UK from China in 1996, a year before joining the University of Bristol to study for her MBA in International Business. After graduating, she joined PwC as an Associate, and she is now a partner leading the China Business Group in London. She is also an advisory board member for the Confucius Institute for Business at LSE, an ambassador for the Women in Finance network in China, a mentor for the 30% club and a member of the University of Bristol’s Alumni Association Committee.
Suwei shares some of her university memories, her reasons for joining the Committee and why she finds it so rewarding giving back to her alumni community. (more…)
This year’s Alumni Award winner for Global Citizenship is Ben Emmerson CBE KC (LLB 1985, Hon LLD 2015), one of the world’s preeminent international human rights lawyers. (more…)
David Nicholls (BA 1988, Hon DLitt 2016) is an internationally renowned novelist and one of the UK’s most successful screenwriters. His five books include the bestselling novel One Day which he adapted into a film in 2011 starring Anne Hathaway, and Starter for Ten which he adapted into the 2006 film starring James McAvoy and Rebecca Hall.
Among his notable screenplays, he has adapted Edward St Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels, Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D’Urbervilles and he has a Netflix series coming out this year based on One Day. Having graduated from the University of Bristol with a Theatre and English degree in 1988, David returns to his university to speak to Theatre and Film & TV students, and shares some remarkable insights into a fascinating career. (more…)
A Canadian alumna, Raeesa Rajmohamed graduated with a degree in Law and a master’s in Health, Law and Society before becoming a barrister in 2022, receiving an ‘Outstanding’, the Bar Training Course’s highest recognition. Raeesa has been involved in numerous projects since graduating, including lecturing at the University of The Gambia in West Africa, contributing a chapter to a book on Violence Against Women and Legal Justice in Africa, and managing her own photography and videography business.
We caught up with Raeesa, recipient of the Alumni Association Community Award, to learn more about her time at Bristol, what inspired her to become a Bristol Mentor, and the advice she has found most helpful. (more…)