What an anniversary celebration we’ve had!
On Saturday 28 June, we welcomed St Mary’s alumni who graduated between 10-25 years ago back to College for our final celebration dinner.
The intimate gathering began with a drinks reception in Kenworthy Hall before dinner was served.
College Archivist Anne Elliot, pictured left, was present at the dinner. An alumna herself, she has been to all our 125th Anniversary events and has contributed to the celebrations by providing information from the archives. We are sure Anne will continue to be a staple at St Mary’s for years to come. At the dinner, Principal Adrian Simpson presented Anne with some flowers to thank her for her years of loyalty and service.
Anne has been instrumental in making our 125th Anniversary successful. We can only talk about our history because people like Anne give their time and dedication to maintaining it.
During his speech, Adrian spoke about Mary’s as it was, as it is, and our hopes to be a pioneering College once again.
He told guests about the St Mary’s Development Trust and plans to not only refurbish College spaces, but to help St Mary’s students as they transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study. He highlighted some achievements in College over the past year, including the launch of the Margaret Bloomfield Scholarships and our efforts to increase volunteering at St Mary’s. We were recently awarded College of the Year for our volunteering and outreach work at the DU Volunteering Awards, pictured left.
The evening was the perfect occasion to launch the 125 Faces of St Mary’s. A project led by St Mary’s alumni officer Kellie Horrocks, the online document features a collage of 125 Mary’s alumnae, their memories and a tribute to Sarah Packwood, who died in 2024.
As the evening drew to a close, the St Mary’s alumni headed to the recently renovated bar in the basement, which was staffed by outgoing JCR president Hannah Tunnicliffe. Alumni marvelled at the new bar and commented on how light it was and how much bigger it is than they remembered.
Over the past academic year, it has been wonderful to welcome so many of our alumni in Durham and London to celebrate 125 years of Mary’s. We’ve heard many stories that solidify our legacy, and these celebrations will go down in history.
The 125th Anniversary celebrations may have drawn to a close, but our efforts to engage and reconnect with our alumni have not. We remain ambitious and have plans to launch a St Mary’s internship programme for our students. Our St Mary’s Alumni Society will also be back in 2026 with a reunion weekend, so please follow us on social media for news. We also plan to come to London again for a drinks reception in 2026.
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along to one of our events this past year, and anyone who has donated to the St Mary’s Development Trust fund. Alumni donations make a difference to so many students, some of whom come from lower income households.
We’d like to remind our alumni community that they are welcome to visit us and call in to say ‘hello’. An excuse to toast St Mary’s and all her glory now and forever.
If you would like to contact us to arrange a visit, stmarys.alumni@durham.ac.uk
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