Download - HB Resurgo Epiphany 2014
HB
RESURGO
IN THIS ISSUE: Updates from staff
College news
Alumni news
175 celebrations
Gabby Logan to
receive honorary degree
Hild Bede selected to
pilot new Scheme
Feature: Hild Bede
mean ’Business’
e-newsletter 2(2)
Epiphany 2014
Katie Goldsmith, Sabbatical Development Officer (HB 2010-2013)
[email protected] | 0191 33 48494 Missed previous editions of HB Resurgo?
Click here to catch up
It has been another whirlwind
term at Hild Bede with notable
sporting successes, theatre,
student election campaigns and
more. Hild Bede has recently
been selected as the first col-
lege in Durham University to
pilot the new Career Mentor Scheme website.
This is an important step for us which will in-
crease the scheme’s efficiency and better facili-
tate those alumni keen to impart careers guid-
ance to current students on a much grander
scale. The next Sabbatical Development
Officer has just been appointed. I am pleased
to announce that Becky Martin will be taking
over from me in September and I have every
faith in her success. Outside of Durham, we
also hosted our first London Drinks Club of the
year which was an overwhelming success. We
had great fun catching-up with alumni from
many generations and sharing anecdotes from
the past. Our next alumni event will be part of
the ‘Dunelm Days’ on 5th June.
News from
Durham University
Durham University to honour
leading international figures
with honorary degrees during
this summer’s congregation
ceremonies (read more).
Durham Archaeologists have
found the oldest complete
example in the world of a
human with metastatic cancer
in a 3,000 year-old skeleton
(read more).
Dear fellow alumni of the College of St Hild & St Bede,
I would like to thank all alumni who have sup-
ported College this year. In particular, the re-
sponse to this year’s annual appeal for a post-
graduate scholarship in the Institute of Medie-
val & Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) has been
outstanding. You will be able to read about all
alumni funded projects and scholarship recipi-
ents in the upcoming Association magazine
which will be posted to all subscribers in July.
Subscription to this magazine costs just £5/year
(incl. postage) and is such an interesting and
comprehensive publication representing all
alumni and past staff members - it is well worth
receiving. Please click here or email Julie Blake
if you would like to subscribe.
Finally, we are very excited to announce the
preparations of the “175 celebrations”. We
hope you will join us at one of our many events
in the Summer of 2016, including a Grand Sum-
mer Ball, 175 Association College Day, and
House of Commons reception, where we will
be celebrating 175 years of College history.
Rev. Jonathan Lawson, Chaplain
Time seems to pass very quickly, and the time has come for me to say goodbye to Durham and
to the College of St. Hild and St. Bede. You might imagine that I have quite a range of emotions
connected to saying ‘goodbye’, but I have also had some time over my sabbatical to come to
terms with going, and I am very much looking forward to my next adventure. One of the great
privileges of being ordained is sharing with people in the highs and lows of life. Being a Chaplain
at St. Hild and St. Bede has been no exception, and I have felt very humbled by those who have
chosen to share something of their life story with me. But our world is constantly changing, as
are we, and as our College motto makes clear and as Easter proclaims, some things remain steadfast and cannot be de-
stroyed. The Hild Bede sprit is legendary, and it has been amazing to be part of that spirit for these last nine years. You
were and are part of that, and I thank you for it.
Prof Adrian Darnell, Acting Principal
This has been a typically busy term
at Hild Bede. Preparations are well
in hand to celebrate our first 175
years, and a small group of alumni
and staff meet regularly to plan
for this critically important event.
There has also been a most suc-
cessful alumni drinks event in Lon-
don at which our past students
were able to meet each other and
keep abreast of developments in College. Many alumni
support the College in a variety of ways, and I am pleased
to announce that, following generous funding from an
Alumnus, we have launched the Darren Funnell Playwright
Award to help encourage and support our students’ theat-
rical activities. College life is full, as always, and of course,
our students continue to excel on every stage they perform
- academic, sporting and performing arts; so everything
you remember fondly about Hild Bede continues!
Rob Danvers , SRC President
Hello Hild Bede! Another really enjoy-
able term has gone by and the SRC
has been very busy. Since my last
message we have elected our new
Exec, who will be headed next year by
Kirsty McLaren. I am glad to say that
voting turnouts were very strong and
the number of people wanting to get involved and run for
positions has been the highest I have known in 4 years at
Hild Bede. On the side of clubs and socs Bede Rugby de-
serve special mention for another outstanding season
winning the League and Floodlit Cup double again. Both
women’s and men’s Hockey have had great seasons too,
with the women’s team winning the Premiership and
Knockout Cup. After our impressive Venetian Masquerade
themed Winter Ball, in which our Ball Officer (now Deputy
President!) Kishen Vora did exceptionally well, we are
keenly anticipating and planning for the Summer
‘Fairytale’ Ball taking place on 20th June – hope to see you
there!
Updates from staff
Should you wish to write a personal message of thanks or best wishes to
Jonathan, please email your thoughts to [email protected] and
we will be sure to pass them on. Below left: a splendid turnout for Jonathan’s
leaving reception in the Vern. Below right: Jonathan’s final chapel service.
News from College
Gemma Wilson, Bar Manager
Hi, I’m Gemma Wilson – I was appointed as the new Bar Manager at the College of St Hild
& St Bede in September. I’m really enjoying the role; having come from the dark side as a
previous Sabbatical Bar Steward and undergrad at Collingwood, I must say, I’ve been sur-
prised at how quickly I’ve developed an affinity with Hild Bede and am delighted by how
welcome I’ve been made to feel by the staff and students. I spent a lot of time in The
Vernon Arms as an undergrad and feel it is truly a special bar and as such it’s a privilege to be tasked with providing the
best possible service to current members of the SRC and guests to the college, such as yourselves as alumni.
If you’re making a “return to the Vern”, be sure to try our selection of local real ales for £2.00 a pint, or our new
Rekorderlig Strawberry & Lime Premium Cider on draught for £2.20. Look out for a Hild Bede “Marauder’s Map” (of Harry
Potter fame) mural, which will soon be painted in the back bar. I look forward to seeing you in The Vern soon!
Hild Bede SRC Executive Committee Elections We have just elected our new SRC President for 2014/15, Kirsty McLaren, who ran a brilliant and creative campaign.
“Hello Hild Beders, I'm Kirsty! I'm currently finishing my Psychology degree and, through the
pains of revision, the light at the end of the tunnel for me is becoming the next SRC President.
There's an extremely strong incoming Exec and I'm very excited to be working with them to de-
velop Hild Bede, not just in College but around Durham... because why should it only be us who
knows we're the best college at the University? Don't be afraid to get in touch by email, or via
the new Official College Facebook page, which I'll be launching over the Summer. I look forward
to seeing you at Old Boys and Girls weekend!
HB love, Kirsty”
human statues (pictured right)! Do you remember constant flyering in the dinner hall in your
day? Was their fierce competition for positions? (There were 5 candidates for Chairperson
alone this year!) Friends of candidates loyally displayed their support wearing branded
This year Student Elections reached an all new
level of intensity. It was absolutely brilliant to see
students so eager to be involved on the Executive
Committee and campaigning creatively to try and
persuade their peers that they are the best person
for the job! Some particular highlights have been
the erection of a gazebo in Caedmon hall, cam-
paign stash (pictured left), and even gold/silver
t-shirts, wristbands and badges, and cheering them on during their husts.
Post Application Open Days At the beginning of the Easter holidays we saw another
horde of timid sixth formers make their way up to Durham
for the annual post-application Hild Bede Open Day. For
those who aren’t aware, we invite all prospective students
who had successful applications to Hild Bede to stay in stu-
dent accommodation and get a brief insight into College life
for 24 hours! We held a number of talks to ease their (and
their parents’) anxieties about the transition to independ-
ence, gave them tours of the grounds and facilities, but
more importantly – introduced them to The Vernon Arms
(as pictured below—don’t worry, the ID police were rife),
the obligatory karaoke and, of course, Take That’s “Never
Forget”. Every sixth former had their faces painted with
stripes to show their allegiance to Hild Bede and were
dancing till the early hours. We’re hoping to see many of
them back in September 2014!
Sport
College Total Points
1st Collingwood 2536
2nd Hild Bede 1914
3rd Hatfield 1729
Finishing Epiphany term, Hild Bede have fought their way up into second
place in the Collegiate sports table with a comfortable lead over third place
Hatfield. With few points left to be collected in Easter term (cricket, tennis
and rounders), Hild Bede look set to be comfortable runners-up this year.
Bede RFC—double title champions 2013/14
Congratulations to Bede RFC who achieved the infamous
‘double’: winning both the league and the floodlit cup.
Having finished the season winning 15/16 matches, scoring
47 tries and conceding just 7, Bede have cemented their
status as one of the best rugby teams in the College’s
recent history. The unstoppable side were assured of
league victory with 4 matches still in hand, and despite a
difficult road to the floodlit cup final, the winning score of
22-17 flattered a Grey team that was significantly out-
played. Bede RFC were also victorious in the Varsity Cup
held in York this term.
Womens’ Hockey—double title champions 2013/14
Womens’ Hockey has had another very successful year.
Despite losing many good senior players last year, the season
began with an influx of freshers who have ended up making up
a good proportion of the squad. They won the Premiership
League comfortably - fortunately this year with no disruption
from the snow that they have been used to in previous years.
They also won the Knockout Cup (Cup team pictured above),
beating Hatfield in the semi-final and Ustinov in the final. Hav-
ing won the league without fail for the last three consecutive
years, it’s great to see this ‘tradition’ will continue this year!
A full summary of sports (& societies) will be provided in the annual alumni Assocition
magazine released this July, available as part of Association membership for just £5/year.
Contact Julie Blake to arrange a standing order subscription or click here.
Theatre
Hild Bede Theatre delighted a captivated audience with
"Chicago". They were reportedly the only amateur theatre com-
pany outside North America to be putting on ‘Chicago’ at that
time and the first University in the UK to earn the performance
rights to stage the production. HBT did not disappoint. With a
stellar cast and flawless vocals it was a brilliant musical enjoyed by
students, staff and friends. It was wonderful to see alumni
(including former HBT Exec) make the effort to return to the
Bubble to see it. In true Hild Bede tradition our former Acting
Principal, Lee Worden, followed in the
footsteps of Principals before him and made a
hilarious cameo during the performance
which was met with rapturous applause!
Hild Beders selected to play for England
Congratulations to Anna Featherstone (no. 10)
and Katie Evans (no. 17), who were selected to
represent England in the 2014 Women’s Home
Internationals for Lacrosse (pictured, right).
England went on to win the tournament which
took place at the end of March.
Yearbook Formal
This term has seen the re-introduction of the Yearbook Formal,
which was a resounding success and will be followed by a brand
new Hild Bede Yearbook, which I know many of our students are
keenly anticipating. We awarded trophies for the more prestig-
ious awards such as Best Hild Bede Club/Society, Mrs Hild, Mr
Bede etc. and certificates presented to some of our more tongue
in cheek awards (e.g. Couple That Should Have Been, Biggest
Bromance/Womance, Most Likely To Get IDed at 30, etc.). It was
great to hear everyone cheering their friends or favourite teams,
and I felt a real sense of camaraderie and College spirit during
the formal. We still have some Yearbooks from years past in the
SRC Office, so do get in touch if you would like to buy an old
copy.
The unwavering popularity of College Day has seen current
students almost queuing out of the door of the Vernon Arms
in order to secure a table for the College Day feast (below)!
Stay tuned for Easter Term’s HB Resurgo for a full report.
College Day 2014 SRC meetings
What were SRC meetings like in your day? How often did they
run, and were they popular? When I was a student, we had
fortnightly SRC meetings which were fairly well attended, par-
ticularly by sports teams who had to send 10% of their club in
order to maintain their SRC funding. There is, however, a
“general sense of apathy” amongst the student body today
which has led to poor attendance. Rob has passed a motion
whereby we will now have only 2 SRC meetings a term, in line
with other Colleges’ procedures. It is hoped that this will en-
courage students to attend and increase interest. Rob would
be happy to discuss the details of this motion further, so feel
free to drop him a line with any feedback at:
The Awkward Formal – >£1,000
A brand new concept at HB and one of the most entertaining formals to date! Students were able to pay 50p to
switch any two diners in the room, thus leading to a potentially very “awkward” formal indeed . As each person was
moved their tariff doubled with some guests reaching values of £64! It was clear that there was a lot of awkward-
ness keen to be avoided or instigated. A bachelor/ette auction concluded
the night and over £1000 was raised for DUCK.
The Charity Football Match - £220
This hilarious showdown (organised by the Captain of the Mooses, Kirsty
McLaren) between The Mooses (Women’s football team) and The Stal-
lions (the Men’s 6s football team) was one of our most successful events.
Being the true good sports that they are The Stallions arrived in the various
drag ensembles (including lingerie and makeup!) that they had been
sponsored to wear ready to take on the ladies. It was great to see a whole
horde of Hild Beders attending the match to support their favourite team:
DUCK corner
To celebrate DUCK (Durham University Charities Komittee) week, our team of College
DUCK reps organised a variety of events in College to raise money for a plethora of
Emily Fowler & Rosannah Smith, Hild Bede Senior College DUCK Reps
We were thrilled to experience the keenness and generosity of Hild Beders and look forward to more events in the
future!
news
featured a talented student jazz band throughout the night and
dancing after dinner.
On the topic of food, we have started a new tradition of a
postgrad meal, enjoying a Sunday roast together in the Collier
Room. We're gearing up for the most action-packed term yet, so
stay tuned for the next issue with another big update.
Gabriel Fidler, Postgraduate President
Above: a Postgraduate Colloquium on The Middle Paleozoic World
It's been a terrific year thus far for postgraduates at Hild-
Bede. In the autumn, our academic programme was named
Best Practice in the university. Academic events include our bi
-monthly Postgraduate Colloquia, in which postgraduates in
college present their research in our revamped Postgraduate
Common Room, and the recently held SCR Postgraduate
Symposium, at which eight students, including last year's
Postgraduate President, Nick Hoggard, and myself, gave
conference-style presentations to the mentors, students, and
faculty from around the university. Topics included everything
from ‘Elemental fluorine for greener pharmaceuticals’ (Antal
Harsanyi) to 'How to bankrupt a country?' (Nick Hoggard) to
‘How to Become Wiser than Yoda’ (Ben McNamara).
There have also been a number of social events during the
term, including movie nights, postgrads hosting quiz night in
the Vern, and more, with the highlight being our termly post-
graduate formals held in the Joachim Room. Our last
Postgraduate News
College of St Hild & St Bede 175 celebrations
Throughout 2016 the College of St. Hild & St. Bede will be remembering our illustrious past 175 years and looking forward to an
even more exciting future. Why don’t you join us in one or more of our varied events? We hope that all cohorts will get involved
including those who were in Hild or Bede in the 1940s and our more recent graduates. Events will be held in Durham and in London.
An indicative list of events is detailed below:
For current students and alumni – 175 College Day, College of St Hild and St Bede, May 7th 2016
For all alumni – Reception at the House of Commons, June 2016
For all alumni – Grand Summer Ball, College of St Hild and St Bede, July 16th 2016
For all alumni – 175 Association College Day (to include a Cathedral Service), College of St Hild and St Bede, 17th September 2016
For recent graduates – 175 Old Boys & Old Girls Formal Dinner and Sports Weekend, 29th October 2016
Please note tickets are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. Further information will follow.
Prof Adrian Darnell
Acting Principal
John Schwab (1993-96) and Ben Starr (2007-10), both Hild Bede
alumni, are appearing together in the Premiere of the Pulitzer
Prize Finalist play, "Yellow Face" by the award winning American
playwright David Henry Hwang. It opened on Monday 5th May
and will run for three weeks until the 24th of May at The Shed,
National Theatre London, in the West End. John exclaimed “I love
the fact I am sharing the stage with a fellow Durham Old Boy, and
Hild Bede to boot!”. To find out more and to get tickets please
click the following link:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/yellow-face.
Hild Bede alumna, Gabby Logan, is to be awarded an Honorary
Doctorate of Civil Law from Durham University. Whilst reading
Law at Durham, Gabby was actively involved in College-life as
former Deputy President of the SRC under Stan Hecks in 1994-
95. She was also Assistant Sponsorship Secretary of the
Durham Union Society, and involved in theatre. Gabby has
blazed a trail for women sports broadcasters—regularly
hosting sports coverage on the BBC and recently presenting
ITV’s Splash! alongside Olympic diving medallist, Tom Daley.
Gabby was recently appointed as the Chancellor of Leeds Trin-
ity University. She will be awarded an honorary DCL at Sum-
mer Congregation 2015 as she will be covering the World Cup
in Brazil for the BBC this Summer.
Congratulations to Gabby Logan on the
conferment of her honorary degree
Further congratulations are in order regarding The Queen’s
New Year honours list 2014, which included two Hild Bede
alumni. Thomas Wright (Archaeology, class of 2002) was
awarded an MBE for services to British diplomacy, whilst Lt
Col Richard Cantrill (Geography, class of 1995) received an
OBE (Military Division) for his services to the Royal Navy.
Hild Bede to pilot new University-wide website Hild Bede alumni on the Queen’s Honours list
Hild Beders shine at the National Theatre London
Breaking news: as you will be aware - our Career Mentor Scheme
has been going from strength to strength; we have now recruit-
ed over 140 alumni who are volunteering to give careers guid-
ance to current students from a variety of industries and sectors.
To keep up with the overwhelming popularity of the scheme, the
University has decided to fund a dedicated website to improve
the efficacy of the service. We are excited to announce that Hild
Bede has been selected as the first college in Durham to pilot
the new Career Mentor Scheme website. This will enable us to
run the scheme as a self-selecting process, whereby students can
contact a limited number of mentors based on the information a
mentor makes ‘publically’ visible (both parties must first log onto
the secure site). As such, we will be appealing to mentors for
feedback on the website when it goes live in late June. If you
would like to be part of this feedback team, or would like to get
in touch regarding other careers-related initiatives please get in
touch at [email protected].
We can now offer official, brand new College cufflinks in
either gold (£28 per pair) or silver (£20 per pair). If you would
like to purchase some cufflinks please contact the Alumni
Office. We will also be receiving College scarves, charms for
ladies and unisex pin badges soon.
Hild Bede alumni cufflinks available to order
Chapel choir sing at St Paul’s Cathedral and “Alumni” choir at Norwich Cathedral
The Chapel Choir has just enjoyed singing three Evensongs at St. Paul’s Ca-
thedral. We have established a good relationship with the Cathedral, and
sing there annually, however it is always a privilege and a wonderful experi-
ence (despite the pressure of having to sing or play the right notes). Under
the direction of Nick Hoggard we covered a wide range of music, from Stan-
ford through to Łukaszewski.
One of the highlights for me (apart from playing an organ of sizea-
ble proportions) was meeting up with the choir alumni, who ei-
ther sang with us, watched the services or joined us for a night
out.
Only a few days after St. Paul’s, a group of Alumni got together to
sing Evensong at Norwich Cathedral under the skilful hand of
Calum Zuckert (former Asst. DOM). We were thrilled to sing Can-
ticles by Vaughan Williams that have previously only ever been
made available to Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Overall a fantastic week to be had by Hild Bede Alumni and cur-
rent students alike.
Zac Clark (Organist and Asst. DOM)
London Drinks Club
In time-honoured tradition, the Hild Bede mantra of ‘never forget’ was put to the
test through the liberal taking of alcohol at a recent London reunion.
Attendees ranged from very recent graduates through to the more age-wearied
amongst us but the common bond was strong and it was great to see that the col-
lege we all love and to which we all owe so much continues to maintain a strong
ability for recruiting the type of person it’s fun to be around.
The Counting House in the City provided superb surroundings for an event which
saw around 50 alumni mixing in a private bar in the upstairs gallery. As tales
abounded of sporting conquests, college songs, College Days gone by and the nutri-
tional challenges of the Caedmon lunch hall, all discussion of educational prowess
was deftly avoided in favour of the lighter side of College life.
A favourite haunt in the City, the Counting House was an impressive building,
boasting almost as much history and even more stories than the collected Hild
Beders filling the upstairs gallery. Having dedicated upstairs service made it possible
to avoid the crush at the downstairs bar which was appropriately reminiscent of a
night out at Klute, if slightly less sticky underfoot.
From an organisation point of view, I would like to take my hat off to all involved…
just for a moment, I could feel the crisp North East air on my face, see the sun de-
scending over the cathedral, taste the snake-bite and black with a double vodka and
believe I could still get out on the Weir at six o’clock and feel fine… then the alarm
went off and reality struck – there’s a reason that student life is best lived at student
We will be sending invitations out via email for our next Summer London Drinks Club
soon, so please ensure your contact details are up-to-date here.
I am a Hild Bede graduate currently running my own business. I run a
wine tasting events company called 'The Dancing Vine'. I've been
running it for 4 years now, but up until last September it was along-
side studying/training as a lawyer. Since qualifying as a solicitor I have
left my firm to focus instead on the wine company, which is going
really well. One of my current projects is a wine tasting through medi-
tation workshop, which I am in the middle of pitching to music festi-
vals for the summer.
It would be great to be featured in the newsletter - I could even offer
a discount to any Hild Bede graduates!
To find out more, do visit the website: www.dancingvine.co.uk/.
Meg Gray BA (Hons) History (Hild Bede 2005-08)
creator of:
visitors who could help with the gardening costs. We
began to open on a limited number of Sundays but
eighteen years on things are very different.
Today we concentrate nearly all our time on running
Crook Hall as a visitor attraction. The Hall and Gardens
is now a wedding venue where a number of Durham
graduates have held their civil ceremony/celebration.
We have also earned an excellent reputation for After-
noon Teas.
Last year we were featured twice on Radio 4 including
Ramblings with Clare Balding and have also been on
Gardeners Question Time. The Independent listed
Crook Hall and Gardens as one of the top ten best
places to visit in a city.
Our paths did not cross until my final year when we
met at a party. We married in the Summer of 1978
and started our careers in the north East and are
lucky enough to remain in Durham City although our
two children now live in London.
Maggie began work as a Primary Teacher whilst I
worked in Industrial Relations and in 1989 I estab-
lished my own HR consultancy. As it expanded I be-
gan looking for more office space and bought Crook
Hall in 1995.
Crook Hall is 13th century and one of the oldest in-
habited houses in the City; it is a jumble of buildings
reflecting its historical development and surrounded
by 6 acres of gardens.
Our knowledge of gardening was limited but within
weeks of moving in we were receiving calls from
people who wished to visit the Old Hall. Our initial
reluctance was tempered by the prospect of paying
Visit Crook Hall & Garden’s website for more
information: http://www.crookhallgardens.co.uk/.
Keith Bell (‘Dinger’) BA Politics
(Bede College/Hild Bede 1973-77)
& Maggie Bell B Ed in English
(Neville’s Cross College 1974-78)
owners of Crook Hall & Gardens
Katharine Horsham (Hild Bede 2006-09)
founder of:
Graduating from Durham University in the midst of the
global recession, Katherine (Hild Bede 2006-2009) is an
alumna who had to get creative, fast with her first ca-
reer moves.
Following a Masters in International Management at
King’s College London, Katherine wanted to put her en-
ergy into work that made a difference in the world, ra-
ther than pursuing the traditional post-university career
options: banking, law, accountancy and consultancy.
She has since spent the last 4 years rooted in the fast-
moving world of start-ups and social innovation, mobi-
lising people and resources to create social change.
A constant volunteer, Katherine currently leads Here To
Islington, a movement to connect local people to local
projects in fun, flexible ways – also known as micro-
volunteering – commissioned by Islington Council.
She has also been a Trustee of Vauxhall City Farm, is a
StartingBloc and RSA Fellow and runs her own commu-
nity project called Project TILT, which is about empow-
ering residents to create a culture of ‘neighbourliness’
where they live.
Reflecting on her Durham experience, Katherine said:
“My years at Durham remain some of the best in my life
so far, and the university offered so many opportunities
to develop myself, both inside and outside the lecture
theatre. I tended to get more involved at the University-
level while I was there (I was the Competitions Co-
ordinator and Co-President of Instep), but it was reas-
suring to have a homely college like Hild Bede to go
back to to relax with friends and seek advice.
2009 was an interesting time to leave university. I origi-
nally had a graduate job lined up with the Civil Service,
but it was cut in the first round of Government cuts be-
fore I had even started. This was certainly disappointing,
As a result, I would certainly tell my younger self to
be open to a whole host of different ideas when
thinking about career options. It is easy to be taken
in by pre-conceptions of what a graduate should be
doing on leaving a university like Durham, but there
really is so much choice out there. Similarly, gone are
the days when a degree guarantees you a highly paid
job a few rungs up the career ladder.
I would strongly advise current and future students
to make the best use of your time at Durham, what-
ever you are studying and wherever that might take
you. Have fun, ‘find yourself’ and study hard, but also
get work experience/internships under your belt as
soon as possible, volunteer with DUCK or SCA, tap
into the knowledge of recent graduates through the
Alumni Career Mentoring Scheme and put yourself
forward for a leadership role at College or University-
level. It can also help to shadow people who do the
jobs you think you are interested in, to have coffee
with interesting people and to go to sector-specific
talks, workshops and lectures.
One of the biggest life lessons I have learnt so far
(albeit in my relatively short life!), is that finding the
right career is not a choice, it is a journey. So the
I went travelling, on a round the world ticket, after graduating
from Durham. I got as far as Sydney in 1998 and have never
moved back to the UK. I worked for a couple of internet start-ups
in Australia and then founded Tigerspike in 2003. We focus on
mobile and tablet software development. Tigerspike now employs
over 200 people across 8 offices around the world. Durham taught
me a lot about dealing with people from all different walks of life,
how to instil a great culture in a team and how to get the most
out of any situation.
The parallels between a degree in MBB and mobile technology
are not exactly obvious, but the research component is how I
position it. Working on the cutting edge of biotech as I did in 1998, is comparable to working on the cutting edge of
mobile and tablet technology today. Mobile has changed the way we live and work, companies that help organisa-
tions navigate this new world will be enormously successful. I also mentor a number of entrepreneurs from early
stage start-ups and am an angel investor in 2 businesses.
A recent photo Oliver (right) in Singapore reuniting with
College friend Richard Thomas (left, HB 1994-97, SRC
President 1998).
Oliver Palmer (Hild Bede 1994-97)
founder & Head of
Innovation at:
A multi-award-winning entrepreneur with a background in Media & Hospitality. Doug-
las is the 3rd generation in his family to work in hospitality. He began his career with
Hilton; later working with The Montpellier Group and Tragus, and more recently, with
Wild Rover Hostels. He is President of The London Innovators Network; an organisa-
tion run by and for the UK’s most innovative entrepreneurs. His travel experience
spans the globe; driving across India, Europe and Ethiopia, working in Latin America,
West Africa and Morocco, and having studied International Business at Harvard.
“I studied Law at Durham, and set up University magazine 'Fat Controller' - an oppor-
tunity to create awesome media content, on a shoestring budget. We viewed it as
'anti-student media'. It was a hugely funny and valuable experience, as we had the
luxury of being able to make big mistakes. We made them all, and got a lot stronger/
funnier for it. And it was still a great success! It became a spinout media business im-
mediately after graduation, starting a lifelong career as an entrepreneur.
Durham was a hilarious experience, and I made some incredible friends there. One of
my favourite memories was making the Duck Naked Calendar, photographing St
Mary's girls, sports teams and other lunatics in the skud, all over the city. We even did
a naked piece for Sky TV. There was always something creative like this going on.
That's what I love about Durham - you can get involved with things. You can make
exciting new things happen. For me, this was top priority. The degree was just filling in
the gaps.”
Check out Douglas’ latest venture: www.hideouthostels.com.
Douglas Bell (Hild Bede 2001-04)
co-founder & CEO of ‘Hideout Hostels’
Date Event Information
16th May ‘Dunelm Days’ Durham alumni and guests are invited to Dunelm Days, a
—23rd June week of global events organised by our volunteers
celebrating all things Durham. From wine tasting in
Cambridge to a Summer Ball in Vienna—there are an
astonishing range of events taking place all over the world
and across the UK. More than 20 events can be viewed by
visiting the Dunelm website (click the event title).
5th June Durham ‘Dunelm Days’ All local alumni from are warmly invited to the Bishop
Langley on Thursday 5th June at 6pm (or the Coach & Eight
to anyone who graduated before 2010!). This is an inter-
Collegiate event, open to all Durham graduates and is a
great excuse to network and catch up with old friends over
looking the spectacular views of the cathedral and castle
whilst enjoying the cash bar. Click on the event title for full
details.
20th June Summer Ball ‘The Fairytale Ball’ with headliners Scouting For Girls and
the Vengaboys. For full info visit: www.hildbedeball.com
5-7th September Association weekend Information and invitations will be sent out in this year’s
Hild Bede Alumni Association magazine.
24-26th October Old Boys & Annual reunion for recent graduates with sports fixtures.
Old Girls weekend Invitations will be sent via email in late August/September.
College of St. Hild & St. Bede, St. Hild’s Lane, Durham DH1 1SZ | 0191 33 48494
[email protected] | www.dur.ac.uk/hild-bede/alumni/
Thanks for reading and keep in touch!