My gift to Durham

By:  Dr Lara Killick  Class of: 2000 College: Collingwood College  Subject: Sport in the Community
Location: Currently living in California

What are your fondest memories from your time here?

It has been 23 years since I graduated, I think it is hard to pinpoint any one memory as there is so much in the city and there is so much that I got to experience across the three years that are cumulative, but when I walk the streets now - when I come back to visit – there are memories that pop up down along the river and I remember all of us from Collingwood coming down after the summer ball and it is was tradition for us to stand on the bridge at 4am for survivors photo, so it is incredible to walk across the bridge now and for the memories to just flood back.

My degree course what such a huge part of my life here, so many of my memories are also wrapped up in sports and being down at Maiden Castle. Even though that space has changed so much, I come in and the hockey fields are still there, and I remember the smell of the wet grass and playing Hockey with the Collingwood crew, then walking down to the racecourse and it hasn’t changed at all. Those memories of playing cricket with the team and spending time with Foxy and watching him at work, coaching. Seeing how much I picked up just from watching him work. There is still enough of the old Maiden Castle there to bring back the memories, then obviously the walk round the back from the old Sports Sciences offices.

We would then go up to Collingwood, into the dining hall where we had all the formals. I remember that once there was a Hero’s and Villains formal, me and my friends all dressed as the 1966 England world cup football team. So again, you just walk into a room and the memories are just there.

There is no one thing, it is all the little bits all across time, it is not one big event or one big memory. In part, that is why I love Durham so much as it was never about the big moments, it was about the everyday, the incredible connections, who we met, who we spent time with, the sport, and the learning about yourself.

The city is old and as you walk around it, you can see that there are things that have changed but it is the same.

The one memory that does make me laugh the most was when I was walking along the Bailey - so in my degree, we were given these awful purple tracksuits. I still have mine; it was awful material. We all had to wear them, and it was bright purple from head to toe. Whenever we were doing anything for our degree we had to wear them, so you would get all of us wearing these awful tracksuits, these tracksuits became a symbol of our degree, Sporting in the Community. We used to do Purple Tracksuit bar crawls, we had a fight song that I could not remember, but as I was walking along the Bailey recently, all I could see was a flashback of 60 purple tracksuits, singing this fight song, which was such a source of pride for us. We were heading towards Cuth’s, then heading to the bridge to go up to Mary’s, Trevs, Grey, Van Mildert and then always finish in Collingwood. I am so glad there was no social media when I was here. We were just living in that moment and being so proud of our course.

What have you been up to since you left Durham University?

I graduated in 2000. For the next two and a half years, I backpacked around the world, I headed to the states. I spent 6 months zigzagging through the States, Canada and Mexico – all by Greyhound bus as it was the first time I had ever been there. Then I moved to New Zealand, where I coached cricket for a year, then from there, I moved to Australia where I did the same thing, extending my coaching career. It was quite an experience being a female coach, particularly in the early 2000s, especially coaching men’s teams. Then I came back to England and set up my own coaching business in South London. I focused on three specified areas; growing women’s and girls cricket, cricket for young people with disabilities and then cricket in inner cities, and underserved areas. So much of that was inspired by my time here are Durham. I did that for five years; it was challenging but I loved it. It is so interesting to see the way that cricket has grown in the last five to ten years. Some of the things we were trying to do 20 years ago are now finally being done.

As I was one of the few voices at the table, I struggled to fight for more rights and equality in cricket and sport in general, I decided I needed to go back to School and educate the future leaders of sport. I knew the impact that I could have, again, thanks to the experiences and what I learnt at Durham. So, I went to do my Masters at Leicester which rolled into a PhD at Loughborough

Then when I left, I knew there were only two places that I wanted to explore more. One was New Zealand, I loved it there, it was like my spiritual home, there was Cricket there and the Māori life or the States. So, I only applied for two jobs after my PhD, one was in New Zealand and the other was in California. I was offered the Californian job at a small liberal arts school as an assistant professor in sports sciences.

Again, being inspired by my work so much at Durham and what I had been exposed to in my programme, I really started to get engaged in community-based research and how to ensure that any sort of health-related programming that is developed for communities, particularly communities that are under-served and marginalised. I launched two big community-based programmes. One was a physical activity programme for young people and the other one was a huge youth participatory action research project involving local high school students. I did that for 10 years and I loved it. Then 4 years ago I took a new job in Southern California. The school I am at now shares a lot of the ethos that is similar to here, so the three strands of performance, participation and community outreach. I have stayed in education and taken my Durham experience, the values, the training, the mission, the philosophy of everything that Sport in the Community stood for and then everything that Durham University and Team Durham Stood for and I tried to live that in the spaces I have been, whether that is in coaching or education.

What are your motivations for still being in touch with Durham and for including Durham in your financial planning?

Durham changed my life, everything that I did from the moment I graduated to where I am now, the job I do now, the person I am now, the things that are important to me, all of these are thanks to my experience here. So, I would not, categorically, hands down, be doing the job I am doing with the skills I have, with the values I have, if I hadn’t come to Durham. My path to Durham was not a given, I grew up in South London and it was expected that when I left school, I would get a job in the family business.

Nobody in my family had been to University, it wasn’t a thing, we didn’t talk about it and then it became clear that it was an option for me. I went to a state school and had a wonderful experience at that school. There were maybe 10 of us whom the teachers thought could go to University and they started having conversations with us about University being an option. I was clueless, I didn’t know, and my family didn’t know. My Grandmother was so proud, so when I realised it was an option, I went through the UCAS process and applied to five Universities. I remember coming up to Durham for my interview, back then, you interviewed twice, once for the programme and once for the College. Again, I had no idea what I was doing as I had no one in my family who had done it, who could give me advice for applications, prepping and preparing for interviews so I was naive, and I just got on the train. I had never been up North before, I can still remember that view, and I got off the train and I knew right then, that this is where I want to go.

This place saved my life and gave me a life and opened doors for me.

In terms of the giving piece, it was a no-brainer. Covid made me think about planning, I was the other side of the world, and my whole family are still in London, I was like, if something happens, I need to take care of things, as I do not want my Dad or my sister to have to come and navigate the American system. I put together my trust and put together my will and I didn’t even think twice about who would benefit from my assets, it was Durham, specifically Collingwood. It was so obvious to me as this school has given me so much. I continued to stay connected to Durham after I left, in part because of the bonds I had made with the lecturers, with Foxy, my cohorts and when I moved to the states, I would come back and as I was coaching, that was everything that Durham was about.

In the States, my colleague and I set up a study abroad course, where we would bring American students here for two weeks every summer. They would get to do a ton of things, including going to a football game, meet with the RFU and I wanted them to experience college sports too and how different it is to the US. So again, it was a no-brainer, I picked up the phone and rang Peter Warburton, whom I hadn’t spoken to in years at this point, and told him what I was hoping to showcase and achieve. Peter was so enthusiastic to help, he arranged for the Team Durham president to come and talk to my students, they went and did a tour, and Peter spent the whole day with my students, something that we have continued to do each year ever since and have the continuous connection with Durham. It has also led to a research project that I am doing with the school.

In terms of the giving piece, it wasn’t a decision I had to weigh up, it was a no-brainer as I sit here today and look at all the opportunities I have had, it was here that so many of those were fed and grown and exposed to. I want to make sure that all students, from all different walks of life have the support that they need when coming to Durham so they can make the right choices for their future.

Tell us about the practical side of financial planning

It wasn’t a difficult process putting Durham in my will. As a British person, I am now a dual citizen so when I went through all my financial planning process – which has all been done in the US – because all my assets are in the US. It was really straightforward, I started working with a financial advisor who put me in contact with lawyers, I drew up a Trust. I was walked through the process, which is very simple. I went through all the steps and listed Durham as the beneficiary. I didn’t have to be specific about what I wanted my money to do, and I just included a tax number that the University gave to me. I spoke with Louise McLaren in the Development Office and it was then done. Now I do not have to think about it anymore. I have to revisit my will every three to five years, just to make sure things are up to date. This is very straightforward and so easy.

If you are thinking of leaving a gift to Durham, it is not a burden, it is not challenging. Just simply get connected to a Lawyer and reach out to the Legacies Team in the Development and Alumni Relations office. They cannot give you advice but they can offer you support by informing you about tax issues and putting you in touch with people who can help.

My connection with Durham is stronger than ever, I am going to alumni reunions, meeting old friends and lecturers as well as making new Durham friends. Having the knowledge that somebody else will have the opportunity to experience the same things that I was able to experience and build their own relationship and dreams with Durham because I have shared my vision with the Legacies Team and my Durham connections.

If you would like to discuss anything legacy-related, The Legacies Team would be pleased to hear from you. We are always grateful to hear from our supporters about their intentions to ensure we understand their wishes and to allow the institution to understand the scale of the future support that exists.

Email: louise.mclaren@durham.ac.uk