Season's greetings from the LSBU Alumni Association

The LSBU Alumni Association would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our members a joyous festive season and prosperous 2014. We would also like to thank you for helping make 2013 a fantastic year for us.

Over the last twelve months, we have improved our services, expanded our events programme and increased our international activities. Next year we plan to keep improving, so your membership to the LSBU Alumni Association remains useful and enjoyable.

The extensive market research project we undertook this year revealed you wanted the LSBU Association to help you in your professional life, so we are organising more professional networking events and talks with industry leaders. We also created the LSBU Alumni Job Board and launched our LinkedIn group, which helps you to network with your peers. You also told us you wanted to be informed of the latest news, research and events related to your area of study and profession. As a result, all of our quarterly e-newsletters will now be themed according to your Faculty and feature more personalised content.

In addition to growing our professional platforms, 2013 saw the launch of the Alumni vs. Students Sports Day and the Alumni Live Music Night. These social events were held in partnership with the Students’ Union so we could bridge the gap between our alumni and students. This coincided with the formation of the first Chinese Alumni Chapter, proving that the LSBU Alumni Association is a truly global network.

Our plans for 2014 will be focussed on continuing this progress and providing professional support. We will also give you the opportunity to support us by putting your professional expertise to the best use by becoming a mentor to our students. This is an incredibly rewarding way to support LSBU students, enabling them to combine their theoretical knowledge with your specialised experience. We will encourage alumni to give short talks and conduct guest lectures so you can pass on your expertise and provide insights into the workplace.

Our 2014 events calendar will include a variety of new and existing events to keep you engaged. We’ll be hosting the very first House of Lords Reception in June, offering our alumni a rare opportunity to see inside this world-famous landmark. We also have a number of professional networking events planned, where you will have an opportunity to hear from industry leaders. The second annual Alumni vs. Students Sports Day will give you a chance to take on the current LSBU sports teams and our Spring Key Skills Lecture Series welcomes new speakers and topics to further boost your career prospects.

It is an exciting time to be a member of the LSBU Alumni Association and, as always, we would love to hear your feedback. Thank you to everyone who came back to LSBU in 2013 and we look forward to more of the same next year.