a year in develoPMent

Helen Jones Development Director

L to R Aparajita Kashyap, Helen Jones, Eleanor Crawford, Karen Cowley and Gemma Lamb

These past 12 months have been an opportunity to experience my first full academic year here in College. It has been super to see what life is like at Mansfield and to witness the range of events and activities as the terms unfold. From Freshers arriving, through to the anticipation of our students sitting Finals, and welcoming back Graduands and their families to celebrate on Degree Days – the year has been memorable.

It has been a time of change in the Development and Alumni Relations Office, with the sad leaving of Dr Justin Jacobs in March to a new role at Magdalen, and Bob Trafford, who has moved on to live and work in France. I know that many of you have enjoyed them being part of the Mansfield family and I would like to thank them both for their contributions while with us.

I am delighted to introduce three new members of the team: Eleanor Crawford as Development Officer, who joins us after having worked for the past six years at the University of East Anglia; Gemma Lamb as Senior Development Officer, who brings her experience from the charity sector; and Aparajita Kashyap as our Alumni Relations Officer, an Oxford graduate who has recently joined us from a role in the Department of Politics. As we have welcomed an additional person to the team, we have been able to expand the size of the office to enable us all to fit in to one refurbished room – and the new space also gives us an opportunity to meet with visitors.

I have recently been asked what I most enjoy about my role. For me, it’s the essence of what is Mansfield: our students and you as our valued alumni. It’s having the opportunity to meet with so many of you over the past year, whether at the Hands Annual Lecture given by Helen Clark, our subject dinners here in College, the London and US receptions, or our enjoyable Summer Garden Party where the weather really did play its part this year.

Our recent Telethon campaign has been a wonderful way to connect our students with you – producing conversations about life in College now as compared with when you were here. We appreciate the support many of you have shown by making a donation to much-needed funds that will enhance the student experience at Mansfield. Thank you to you all! There is more on the Telethon on page 49.

As already highlighted by the Principal, our plans are progressing for our new student accommodation and Institute of Human Rights in the proposed Love Lane Building. We shall be sharing more news of this over the coming months, detailing ways in which you can support the project to enable the building to become a reality.

We look forward to the opportunity of meeting you over the coming months, and particularly welcoming you back to College to see the wonderful new dining facilities and kitchen on completion this coming spring. We also welcome your ideas for events and how you might like to get involved with activities such as returning to College to talk about your experiences since leaving University. This greatly enhances our students’ development and helps them formulate their plans for life after Mansfield.