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)

hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk | 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 hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk 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:

Hild-Bede.SRC@durham.ac.uk.

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 hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk.

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

hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk | www.dur.ac.uk/hild-bede/alumni/

Thanks for reading and keep in touch!