Donor event 2013

About the event

On 19 June, Kingston University celebrated the Annual Fund and the success of its scholarship and Opportunity Fund recipients at an event in the newly refurbished Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll Centre. Kingston University's new Chancellor Bonnie Greer OBE joined staff, students, alumni, and friends to thank them for their support to the University.

The special event at Knights Park campus marked Bonnie's first public appearance at the University and clearly made an impression on her. After listening to some postgraduate students thank their donors for the scholarships they had received through the Annual Fund, enabling them to continue their studies, Bonnie said: "Tonight, for the first time, I realise that me and Kingston, we are a match. I feel very connected to this University and its mission." Bonnie said that it had taken her six years to get through university, as she had to support her studies by working. "I was one of the kids who didn't have any money. To be able to support students like this – these focused and driven conveyors and purveyors of the future – this is what it is all about. When you give money to the University, you are choosing the future."

Opportunities Fund recipients on hand at the event included engineering students demonstrating their work on rockets; the new electric racing car in preparation for Silverstone in July; and the Ion Horse – the electric bike that recently returned from racing on the Isle of Man. Postgraduate students gamely tried to explain some of the intricacies of their courses, with subjects as diverse as computer generated imagery, historical preservation, clinical psychology and infectious parasites. Second-year illustration student Jack O'Brien sat calmly to one side, sketching the proceedings and music was provided by the Mariska Barnett Jazz Trio, which also has a Kingston connection as two of the members are recent graduates. Guests were also invited to join tours of the nearby Stanley Picker Gallery.

For further information about the Annual Fund, please contact Jason Barlow, the Annual Fund manager on 020 8417 3112 or at j.barlow@kingston.ac.uk.