July newsletter 2024
Welcome to your July alumni newsletter. Last month we held our first YSJ Community Festival, asked our Class of 2024 graduates to complete their yearbooks and welcomed prospective university students to campus through a series of Summer School activities. In our Alumni Team, we finalised some details for an exciting upcoming network event and took a new team photo, which will be revealed later this year in our Alumni Magazine.
This month, we’re excited to hold an Open Day for our prospective students and enjoying some of the warmer weather which makes campus come alive! In the Alumni Team, we’re excited to begin the design process for this year’s magazine and to release details of an exciting networking event this autumn.
Dearest gentle reader…
Bridgerton series three has concluded, and many viewers might have been left wondering if there ever was a real Lady Whistledown.
Last month, Associate Professor Adam J Smith wrote an article for The Conversation exploring who some of the real Whistledowns were, what they wrote and why they put ink to paper in the first place.
Read his short explainer article on The Conversation to learn more.
News from YSJ
The Ed De Nunzio Charitable Trust, which was set up in 2011 in memory of 18 year old York student Ed De Nunzio, has given a £12,000 grant to our alumni-funded scholarships to support four students in our local community. You can find out more about this generous grant on our website.
Last month our London campus held its first Vesak celebration! Initiated by the campus’ Sri Lankan students, students from across campus crafted lanterns representing their home countries, enjoyed VR experiences of Sri Lankan Vesak festivities and tasted a range of traditional Sri Lankan cuisine. You can learn more about this fantastic event on our website.
Gabriela, a second year Music Production BA student has recently secured a one year internship with The Walt Disney Company! Based at the company’s London headquarters, she’ll be working in the marketing production and operation team for factual content. You can find out more about her exciting internship opportunity on our website.
York 10k
Next month our fantastic York 10k team will be running to raise money for our alumni funded scholarships.
If you’re still thinking about joining our team, we have three tickets left! As part of our team, you’ll receive a free team tshirt, discounted race entry and support setting up your JustGiving page.
Three members of our team have also taken time to write blogs about why they decided to run the York 10k this year:
- Read why Class of 2023 graduate, Joshua, is taking part
- Learn why Class of 1998 alum, Lindsey, has decided to run for us this year
- Find out why Sally, our Fundraising Projects Officer, has decided to run the York 10k again to support our students
If running a 10k isn’t for you, you can see how far our team are from their £1500 target. At the time of writing, our fantastic team have raised over 22% of their goal, with over a month to go!
Join our team using our online store and see if we’ve reached our target yet on JustGiving.
YSJ Community Festival
Last month we welcomed around 250 alumni, students, staff and members of or York community to our YSJ Community Festival! It was great to see so many people trying new activities and enjoying our Sports Park.
You can read more about what happened on the day on our website.
Ripon Reunions
Last month, two large reunion groups returned to Ripon to reconnect, reminisce and enjoy the city they once called home.
We hope everyone who attended had a fantastic day!
Update your details
Did you know that you can update your details easily and quickly by completing our online form?
If you’ve moved house, set up a new email address or changed your name, please make sure to update your details as soon as possible.
Webinars
This year, some of our alumni took part in our latest webinar series to share their memories of studying with us, and their career journey since graduation.
It was fantastic to showcase some of the wide range of careers our alumni enjoy after graduation, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year with even more alumni.
If you didn’t get chance to watch our webinars when they were released, you can still watch them all, for free, on YouTube.
Stay in York this summer
If you’re planning on visiting York this August, why not stay a bit longer by booking a room in our St John Central accommodation site?
Rooms are very competitively priced and come with a free breakfast grab bag, tea and coffee making facilitates, free WiFi and a great, city centre location. Our St John Central site is next to a large car park and near to main bus stops too.
Find out more about our summer accommodation offer on our website.
News from our Students’ Union
Do you remember voting for your Students’ Union representatives? At the end of June, the Students’ Union said goodbye to the Students’ Union President, Matthew Blackstock, as his term came to an end. From July, the new President of the Students’ Union is Abinash Chaudhary.
The President of Wellbeing and Diversity, Mario Owiriwa, and the President of Education, Kamil Lawal, were voted in for a second term earlier this year.
We can’t wait to see what Matthew does next as he leaves for his next role, and we look forward to seeing the activities of the Students’ Union in the year ahead.
Creative Literacies Hub
Our fantastic Communities Centre is launching a new, free service: their Creative Literacies Hub. The Hub is designed to support parents, carers, and their children in developing effective reading and creative writing skills within a comfortable and welcoming environment.
You can find out more about the Hub, and how to take part, on our website.
Men’s mental health podcasts benefit listeners
A recent study carried out by Holly Murphy and Dr Gary Shepherd for men’s mental health and suicide prevention charity, Menfulness, recently explored the positive benefits of men’s mental health podcasts on listeners. Funded by a University Institute for Social Justice Community Research Grant, you can read more about their research on our website.
Pin badge
This month, we’re excited to launch our annual pin badge competition for our graduating cohort! Last year we received some fantastic designs, and we can’t wait to see what this year’s final design will be!
Upcoming events
Did you know that York St John still holds events during Summer? Remember to keep checking Eventbrite to see what’s happening on campus over the new few months.
