What an anniversary celebration we’ve had!
On 28 June, we welcomed St Mary’s alumni who graduated between 10-25 years ago back to college for our final celebration dinner.
Over the past academic year, we have hosted many events to celebrate. Please see our timeline for further information.
125th Anniversary Timeline
The intimate gathering began with a drinks reception in Kenworthy 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 say thank you to Anne for her years of loyalty and service to St Mary’s. He said:
"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, which led to us being named the College of the Year award at the DU Volunteering Awards, pictured left.
The evening was filled with conversation and tales from the past from alumni reminiscing and sharing memories of Mary’s. This provided 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 and some of their memories. It also includes a tribute to Sarah Packwood, who died in 2024.
125 Faces of St Mary's
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 history, 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 has come along to one of our events this past year, and anyone who has donated to the St Mary’s Development Trust fund. Alumni donations do make a difference to so many students, most 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’: any 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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