One of the most rewarding ways to reconnect with our alumni community is to join your nearest alumni branch – Renew old friendships or meet new people, reminisce about your time at Southampton and attend exclusive events.
“The alumni branch is great for keeping in touch with old friends. It’s also a good way to help current students through informal networking events and socials. An hour or two every few months is all it takes to connect and make a difference,” says Rich Carruthers, chair of the Southampton branch.
The last few months have been exciting for our branches, with several events taking place both at home and internationally and two new branches being established.
The two London branches both held events before Christmas; one at the civil servants club and one in Covent Garden attended by more than 180 alumni from a range of years, programmes and professions. You can see photos and find out about the next London based events on their Facebook page.
The Southampton branch has held informal meet-ups in Winchester and in Marshalls bar in Southampton and is working on a programme of events to take them through the year. You can find out more, get involved or contact the branch through their website.
New branches have been established for Northern California and the UK South West (based in Bristol). Both are in the early stages of development and looking for volunteers to help coordinate their activities, so be sure to take a look at the LinkedIn and Facebook pages, vote in the online polls and have your say in how these branches can best serve their local alumni communities. We’ve been delighted with the response to both branches with over 120 people in the UK South West Facebook group and sufficient demand for us to explore setting up a Southern California branch.
The Singapore branch met with Dame Wendy Hall in December to discuss how the University could support future branch activity. The branch also held a reception to celebrate our alumni community based in the country. The event was attended by over 70 alumni.
We already have branches established in Hong Kong and mainland China, in Beijing and Shanghai. However, in response to expressions of interest we are now exploring the creation of branches for the Shenzhen and Guangzhou regions. If you would be interested in hearing more about this, or would like to be involved in the creation of this branch, please get in contact at the email address below.
If you would like to find out more about your local University of Southampton branch or to find out how you can establish one if one does not already exist, please visit our website or contact us on alumni@soton.ac.uk
