On the 3rd June York St John hosted a barbeque to celebrate 40 years of the Occupational Therapy programme being taught at the university. Social Media Graduate Intern George Peat has written a blog post covering the day.
With the sun shining and bunting strewn across the university grounds the scene was set for a jovial day of celebrating the Occupational Therapy course. Doors opened at Holgate reception at 12:00 where a steady stream of guests consisting of alumni, current students and their families. Guests could collect their YSJOT40 commemorative badges, grab a complimentary glass of prosecco and reminisce with old friends. There was also plenty to do such as observe current student’s posters, note down memories of their time at YSJ on the Memory Board and look through the archive photo album which contained some humorous pictures.
Now that everybody was settled in, Vice Chancellor Karen Stanton began the speeches by discussing how the university has grown over the years and its role in the community; Head of Health Sciences Frances Dodd then spoke about her experiences with the OT team, proceeding to thank staff members and mentioning notable members present in the audience, then Director of Occupational Therapy at YSJ Alison Wadey spoke about how the programme continues to grow. Frances then invited members of staff who helped organise the event to the front and gave them a present each (which was really appreciated, thank you Frances!). Throughout all of the speeches the audience were happy to chip in by cheering and applauding the numerous cohorts mentioned which created a buoyant, light hearted mood. Accompanying the speeches was a rolling stream of photos depicting our rich heritage.
With the speeches over the barbeque could begin on the Student Union’s lawn allowing everybody to relax listening to a range of musicians in the sun whilst eating a burger and later on a YSJ cupcake or two. The York St John African drummers kicked off proceedings featuring OT lecturer Karen Wilson!, followed by Josh Makuch (my social media predecessor), Jodie Kime (level 2 student) and Jonny, Waifs and Strays (Maria Parkes – senior lecturer and Diane Neville-Beck – YSJ graduate OT) and the Ukulele Sunshine Band finishing off the day.
Tours of the campus were also available being led by current OT students. They lead their groups to the Library, De Grey to see the current OT teaching rooms, and Phoenix Court (the original OT teaching quarters). It was great to hear the guests talking about their memories of the old York St John building such as how the Crush café was the place to be, there used to be a swimming pool, and how much Phoenix had changed from ‘back in the day’. I was also pleased to overhear a guest say that ‘it’s a pleasure to hear enthusiasm about OT from our young tour guides’. Phoenix Court was clearly the favourite destination with official photographer inundated with requests for group photos outside the building.
At 4pm the day came to a close. It was a delight to see so many generations of OT’s come together to celebrate the programme’s anniversary at York St John. I would like to say thank you to all who were involved in making the event happen, there are too many to name but you know who you are, but most importantly to the guests who created a really lovely atmosphere and were a pleasure to meet. We will hopefully see you at the 50th in ten years time!
To view all of the photos from the 40th anniversary event you can find them on our YSJOT Facebook page.