Dearest alumni of the College of St Hild & St Bede,
Daffodils, Hild and blue skies, taken by Gabriel Fidler (Postgraduate President)
Spring has well and truly sprung in Durham with the Hild Bede grounds looking lush and rejuvenated after the winter. Crocuses have sprouted, blossom has bloomed, and the sun is making a welcome delay in setting and bathing Durham Cathedral in those glorious sunsets we all remember from our time here (aside from that annoying hiccup of smog we recently experienced – someone must have known I was writing this blog post!). 
The changing seasons, I believe, have been brilliantly captured via the @hildbede Instagram account I introduced last year. For social media savvy alumni, they can download the app and follow @hildbede for scenic pictures of various aspects of Hild Bede and Durham for some nostalgia. The pictures range from the Cathedral to the Vernon Arms, formals to the College Pond, Wednesday sports to College staff, and everything in between! I’d love requests for new Instagram subjects so please don’t hesitate to contact me via email (hildbede.alumni@durham.ac.uk) or over Instagram!
We have just elected our new SRC President for 2014/15, Kirsty McLaren, who ran a brilliant campaign. Kirsty is a final year Psychology student hailing from just down the road in Stockton. I’m really excited for the future of the SRC and think we’re headed for some (good!) change with Kirsty as our new voice of the student body. This is not to forget poor Rob Danvers (current SRC President) who has only been in the role for 5 months before having his successor elected. We must, of course, recognise that Rob is doing a fantastic job of running the SRC and still has a long while until his tenure comes to an end – so we have lots still to come from him.
This year Student Elections have 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 imaginative banners, election ‘memes’, the erection of a gazebo in Caedmon hall, a variety of video campaigns/election websites, and even gold/silver human statues?! Friends of candidates loyally displayed their support wearing branded t-shirts, wristbands and cheering them on during the husts. Do you remember constant flyering in the dinner hall in your day? Was their fierce competition for positions? (There were 5 candidates for Chairperson this year!).
This leads nicely into a dramatic piece of news regarding the SRC: 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, particularly 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 rewritten the constitution and we will now have only 2 SRC meetings a term, in line with other College procedures. It is hoped that this will encourage students to attend and seem like less of a “chore”. Rob would be happy to discuss the details of this decision further, so feel free to drop him a line with any thoughts or feedback at: Hild-Bede.SRC@durham.ac.uk .
This term has also 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 prestigious 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.). Our freshers certainly weren’t used to paying so much attention during a formal (the awards went on for about half an hour!) so next year we think we’ll be reducing the awards to just the top 5 or so! Regardless, it was great hearing everyone cheering their friends or favourite teams, and I felt a real sense of camaraderie and College spirit during the formal.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
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 student 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 independence, gave them tours of the grounds and facilites, but more importantly – introduced them to The Vernon Arms (don’t worry, the ID police were rife), karaoke and Take That’s #NeverForget. Every sixth former had their faces painted with red stripes to show their allegiance to Hild Bede (why red and not blue you ask? I really don’t know) and were dancing till the early hours. We’re hoping to see many of them back in September 2014! Well done to all our Open Day reps for being model Hild Beders.
You all should have received my first email of 2014 inviting you to our London reunion (if you didn’t, please email me with your current email address, or click here for details of future alumni events). It was an overwhelming success with alumni attending from many different eras meeting to catch-up and reminisce about their College days. We had some Bede men right up to graduates of the last few years and everything in between! It was a lovely warm Summer-esque evening and what better way to spend it in the beauty and splendour of Cornhill’s The Counting House? All took advantage of the College’s bar tab and enjoyed meeting our Vice Principal, Laura Wilson. We were also honoured to be joined by Michael Gaunt, theatre professional, who accompanied Ed Funnell and partner to discuss the launching of a new student play writing competition in Ed’s name (click here to find out more about the award). If, like Ed, you wanted to give back to College in a unique way, do get in touch with the Principal who would be delighted to discuss any propositions.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
All that’s left to say is regarding Alumni publications! I am currently in the middle of writing HB Resurgo (our termly e-newsletter), so that will be with you later this month. The Alumni Association magazine deadline for submitting contributions/stories/news is fast approaching (April 20th). A number of younger graduates don’t receive the magazine, because after their automatic membership of 3 years – they fail to sign-up again. This is such a shame as it is a fantastic and comprehensive review of all things Hild Bede! The e-newsletter is just a short, sharp termly update – but the magazine is the real heart of the Association! For only £5 a year (which covers printing costs & delivery) you can subscribe to the magazine and become an official member of the alumni Association. Please email julie.blake@durham.ac.uk to set up a standing order (or download the form by clicking here) and she will send you a copy of last July’s magazine to whet your appetite.
See you at College Day on the 3rd May! From a very quiet (all our undergrads are on Easter break!) but lovely and Sunny Durham,
Katie Goldsmith
Sabbatical Development Officer 2013-14
#EademMutataResurgo
hildbedealumni 