Celebrating YSJ Alumni – Sophie Unwin and Lydia Cottrell
Throughout 2017 we featured a number of York St John alumni across our social media and online magazine who have achieved great successes in their chosen careers, done amazing things in their local communities, or been incredible ambassadors for the university.
Over the course of this week we will revisit some of our favourite alumni stories from 2017, before we start to look ahead into 2018 and the many stories I’m sure we’ll have the pleasure of sharing with you as the year goes on.
September 2017 saw the first ever SLAP (Salacious Live Alternative Performance) Festival take place in York. Founded and curated by former York St John students Sophie Unwin and Lydia Cottrell, SLAP was launched with a vision of bringing exceptional performances from around the world top York.
Since graduating from York St John in 2011, the pair’s work (both together and separately) has taken them to the Edinburgh Fringe, London, and countless stages along the way, winning admirers as their bold ideas came to life, yet the pair have always proudly retained their links with York and with York St John, who provided ongoing support long after the course was over. Sophie explained “We actually first worked together when the University invited us back to produce something as part of their annual showcase of student work. The we kept coming back because the University was so supportive, when we wrote our Arts Council bid they gave us a library login and space to work and we’ve also done outreach work on behalf of York St John with schools and colleges. We want to maintain that connection to support and give back to current students”.
