February alumni newsletter 2023

Welcome to your February alumni newsletter. We had a busy January at York St John despite the very cold weather!

Last month we opened our reunion bookings for pre-registered alumni, began finalising details for the annual Old Johns weekend with YSJ Active and the Students’ Union, and launched the first webinar of this year’s webinar series. We also visited our fantastic new London campus location and enjoyed seeing the facilities on offer to our London students.

This month we can’t wait to open reunion bookings for our entire alumni community, celebrate Valentine’s Day and start asking the Class of 2023 to complete their yearbook profiles.

Holocaust Memorial Day

York Minster held their annual Holocaust Memorial Commemoration in their historic Chapter House. Six hundred candles were lit to remember the more than 6 million Jewish people killed during World War Two, and the millions who have died in the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. You can find out more about their commemoration on their website.

LGBTQ+ history month

Did you know that in February the UK marks LGBTQ+ history month? Celebrated in February since 2003 and the abolition of Section 28, LGBTQ+ history month celebrates LGBTQ+ history, including historical figures and current LGBTQ+ campaigners. February is also a month to reflect on the history of the LGBT+ rights movement and related civil rights movements.

• Last year our Students’ Union wrote an informative piece about pronouns and a short list of some inspiring people from LGBTQ+ history. You can read both on their website.
• At York St John, we are committed to providing a trans-inclusive environment and supporting trans people, including those who identify as non-binary, genderqueer, and more. You can find out about how we do this on our website.
• We have also been named one of the most inclusive organisations in Britain by Stonewall. As one of the very few UK universities in its Top 20 Trans Employers list for 2020, the University has also been in the Top 100 Employers list five times. You can find out more about this on our website.
• Interested in learning more about LGBTQ+ people from history? English Heritage have complied some informative pages about LGBTQ+ people throughout history, including their LGBTQ+ blue plaque recipients. Find out more on their webpages.
• The BBC have complied a list of 9 key LGBTQ+ people from the past from the history podcast ‘You’re Dead to Me’. Find out more and listen to the podcast episode on the BBC website.

Valentine’s Day

Some people view Valentine’s Day as the most romantic day of the year, others as an over-commercialised day not worth the paper hearts displayed in shop windows. But no matter what you think of Valentine’s Day, we know that lots of our alumni found ‘the one’ whilst studying with us and Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to celebrate our alumni love stories.

If you’d like to share your alumni love story with us, please email alumni@yorksj.ac.uk .

Looking for Valentine’s Day inspiration? Here are some links you might find useful:

• Our alumni business directory is full of businesses that offer discounts for their products and services. From artwork to yoga sessions, browse our alumni businesses on our website.
• Find out more about the origins of Valentine’s Day in a National Geographic article on their website. 
• If you’re not celebrating Valentine’s Day with someone this year, Good Housekeeping’s website has 20 suggestions for making Valentine’s Day a celebration of you instead. Read their suggestions on their website.

Old Johns

There’s just one month left until our fantastic annual Old Johns weekend! This year, the Students’ Union and YSJ Active are hosting:

• A live music evening with pizza and prosecco on Friday 3 March at 7pm.
• A performance showcase on Saturday 4 March at 2pm.
• Sports fixtures all day on Saturday 4 March with a lunchtime BBQ.
• Karaoke and £1 a pint prices (including soft drinks) on Saturday 4 March from 8pm.

To take part in Old Johns this year, please book onto your sports fixtures and book a seat at our performance showcase.

Book onto a sports fixture by emailing ysjactive@yorksj.ac.uk. Book your ticket for the performance showcase on the Students’ Union website.

Local events

There’s so much happening in York this month! If you’re planning on visiting York this month, here are some interesting things to keep in mind:

• York Ice Trail is running 4-5 February with the theme ‘A Journey Through Time’. Find out more about this free trail on the Visit York website.
• Jorvik Viking festival is running from 11-19 February, including a Viking encampment, kids crafts and lectures. Find out more about how to get involved.
• York Minster will be holding a free outside light show between 6pm-9pm from 10 February to 23 February. The eight minute show will bring the Minster’s windows to life. Find out more in a York Mix article.

Events

At York St John we hold a range of events which alumni can attend, many of which are free! In the next few weeks, you could attend inaugural lectures, a poetry reading and a panel discussion about getting published. Here are three upcoming events you might be interested in:

• On 22 February Can you Adam and Eve it? Queering Heterosexuality in the Genesis Narrative hosted by our Centre for Religion in Society will discuss areas of queer biblical study, including a Q&A with Dr Chris Greenough. Learn more on Eventbrite.
• On 23 February, Celebrating Gentleman Jack: Changing Lives will be co-hosted by the Royal Television Society and York St John. Including a screening of the BBC documentary ‘Gentleman Jack Changed My Life’ and a panel discussion including cast and creators. Find out more on Eventbrite.
• On 11 March Satirical Women in the Olden Days will include a lively discussion about women’s place in the history of satire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Find out more on Eventbrite.

You can browse York St John’s upcoming events and book tickets on Eventbrite.

Your YSJ Reunion

There’s only a few days left until Your YSJ Reunion booking goes live for all alumni! So far we’ve sold over 100 tickets, raising over £1000 for our alumni-funded scholarships.

The booking page will go live for alumni on 9 February. Please keep an eye on your email inbox for an email when booking goes live with full details of prices and what is on offer.

We can’t welcome to welcome you back to campus!

We need your help!

This summer, we want to raise money for our alumni-funded scholarships and there’s an easy way for you to get involved.

On Sunday 6 August 2023, we’d like a York St John team to run the York 10K. We’re all part of our university community, so we’d like alumni to run for our scholarship fund to support our current and future students.

We’re not asking you to do something we’d never do. Two members of your Alumni Office have already signed up as part of our YSJ team, one of whom hasn’t ever run a 10K before! We’re ready to complete the challenge of a 10K and raise money for our students – are you?

• Tickets cost £15, £12 less than if you bought one independently
• Your ticket price includes standard race entry and a team YSJ t-shirt
• Each team member will need to raise at least £100 for our scholarship fund, but don’t worry, we’ll support you to set up your JustGiving page and send you useful tips.

Buy your York 10K ticket on our online store.

York Literature Festival

Did you know that York has its own literature festival and that York St John sponsors it? Running throughout March, York Literature Festival is packed with interesting events to attend, many of which are free. Including a Q&A about how to get published, poetry readings with an open mic, a literary walk around York and a day of family events, there’s something to intrigue everyone!

Learn more about the festival on their website.

London campus news

Last month we visited the new London campus location. If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you might have seen what we got up to on the day. We had a fantastic day which included a short walking tour around the area, a look at the new campus with its fantastic views and some reunion planning on the train.

We were also told the fantastic news that our London campus is 1 of only 100 universities awarded the Immersive Soft Skills Education Grant from Meta and Bodyswaps Immersive Learning. The grant will be received in the form of VR headsets pre-programmed with virtual training around soft skills such as public speaking, interviewing, critical thinking, and teamwork.  

The VR Immersive Soft Skills Training will further enhance the existing programmes and support York St John University London Campus currently offer their students. Specifically, the new VR training will be delivered through the Venture Creation Lab, an accelerated student employability and enterprise programme. 

We’re excited to see the positive impact that immersive learning will have on our students!

York St John news

Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychology Dr Jasmine Childs-Fegredo recently led research into the benefits of combining yoga and psychotherapy. During her research she led 6 weeks of 1 hour yoga-integrated psychotherapy sessions where participants completed half an hour of yoga followed by 30 minutes of talking therapy. The results of the study revealed that participants’ emotion regulation abilities and wellbeing scores were significantly higher at both mid and end-points, than at the start of the study. Find out more about her recently published research on our news page.

After a chance meeting on campus, two policing lecturers have combined their award-winning skills to launch a new private investigation venture. Jan Jarvie had already been working as a private investigator when she met Jaz Khan when he began working as a visiting lecturer. You can find out more about their new venture on our website.

Update your will week

Did you know that recent research suggests that over 30 million people in the UK don’t have a will? During the national Update Your Will Week towards the end of last month, we spotted an interesting article in the York Press about why this national campaign is so important.

If you’re not sure why writing a will is important, here are some useful webpages that might help you decide:

• Money Saving Expert has an informative, recently updated post all about writing your will, and how to do so cheaply.
• Citizens advice also has a useful article full of advice about writing a will, including key points to include in a will.
• Remember a Charity has a helpful step-by-step guide on will writing available on their website.

Plus, if you’ve ever wondered if you can leave a gift to York St John in your will, we recently created a leaflet all about creating Your YSJ Legacy. You can read it online on our website.

Webinars

Last month we released our first webinar of 2023 with alumnus Nathan Fulwood. After graduating in 1995, Nathan has worked with brands like Orange, Expedia and Penguin Randomhouse. With over 25 years experience in brand and digital strategy, Nathan shares tips about his amazing career so far and reminisces about his time studying with us in our latest webinar.

Watch Nathan’s webinar on YouTube.

This month we can’t wait to share our next webinar on Tuesday 7 February with alumna Ellen Taylor. Ellen studied psychology at York St John and also chaired the Creative Writing society during her time with us. Since graduating in 2017, Ellen has completed a Msc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Durham University and recently defended her DPhil thesis at Oxford University.

If Ellen’s life wasn’t busy enough, Ellen has also taken her Creative Writing to the next level by publishing a novella in 2022 and writing a novel due out in 2024! In her spare time, Ellen is also an open water swimmer and recently joined Team GB’s Ice Swimming team.

With such a varied journey since leaving York St John, this is a webinar not to be missed. You can watch the webinar live at 9am on 7 February using this YouTube link.