Upcoming Reunion Date - More Information Coming Soon!
22 June 2012
In order to celebrate 5 years of University status and five years in our fantastic new building at Craighall, QMU is happy to announce that we will be hosting a reunion weekend for all alumni on the weekend of 22nd June.
There will be a number of general activities available throughout the weekend, as well as a series of smaller reunion events for individual programmes or yeargroups.
Accommodation on site will be available for those who wish to stay for the weekend and the the dates of the event handily coincide with the opening weekend of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Royal Hghland Show.
Are you interested in holding a reunion for your programme/class/year group at the Craighall campus over this weekend? If so, please contact Craig Rutherford on 0141 474 0000 or e-mail alumni@qmu.ac.uk
Details:
Date: 22nd, 23rd and 24th June 2012
Venue: Craighall Campus, Musselburgh
REUNION EVENT - Saturday 26th June 2010
On Saturday 26th June, 70 graduates from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s gathered at the University for a full day of events organised by staff and students to provide opportunities to celebrate QM's history, renew old friendships, make new friends and reconnect with QMU by finding out more about the life of the University today. Many guests made great efforts to attend, travelling hundreds of miles from as far away as Somerset, Worcester and even Canada.
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It was a great day, and noone enjoyed it more than the staff and students who were delighted to hear all the reminiscences and stories of past student life. It was particularly pleasing to see classmates who had not met for 50 years, meet up again and carry on their friendships where they had left off. |
There were displays from the QMU archives inlcuding beautiful student handiwork and antique kitchen equipment, presentations of the work from current students studying Costume Design, Tourism and Hospitality and Dietetics and an exhibition of articles, photos and magazines from the Atholl Crescent era. Tours of the nursing and radiography laboratories demonstrated the state of the art facilities enjoyed by the Health Sciences students at QMU today.
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| Guests inspecting handiwork from the archives |
Reunited classmates from 1955/56 in front of the Exhibition of archive photos, articles and magazines |
After the morning's activities and lunch there was an optional guided coach tour of East Lothian, with afternoon tea at the Marine Hotel. The day ended with a Reunion Dinner in Aberlady, hosted by Vice Principal Rosalyn Marshall.
Many guests kindly wrote and thanked us for organising the event and their comments reflect the warmth and friendship that made the occasion so memorable.
"We all felt so welcome. We had so many laughs....I really enjoyed staying in the Hall of Residence - very different to my days! One of our group ended up demonstrating press ups in the piano bar - much to the amazement of the piano player!!"
"It was a get-together enjoyed by all. The spirit of Atholl Crescent lives on in the new campus"
A DVD was made of the day and copies are available from Ann Hubbard, Alumni & Development Assistant ahubbard@qmu.ac.uk.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON PLANNING A REUNION
You’ve decided to organise a reunion – so what happens next?
- Finding classmates
- The first letter
- Making arrangements
- Budgeting for your reunion
- Letter 2
- What the Development Office can do
- Drafts letters & draft itinerary
1. Finding classmates
The Development Office has a growing alumni database and we will do our best to help you track down your classmates. Some classmates may have stayed in touch with others and can be useful in helping to track people down. Many professional organisations also have directories of people working in the field so that may be an avenue to try. Alternatively, sometimes going on-line can bring up long-lost friends i.e. through Friends Reunited, Facebook.
2. The first letter
When you have a reasonable address list you can send out your first letter with a reply form attached (drafts are included). This should:
- inform classmates of the event, gauge interest and ask for volunteers to help organise the event or track people down
- ask for suitable dates/time (by enclosing a reply form)
- ask people what they would like to do e.g. lunch or afternoon tea; formal dinner with partners/information dinner; pub-crawl and disco; a tour of the University….
- include a list of ‘lost’ classmates to see if anyone is still in touch with them or knows their married name
3. Making arrangements
- Work out the cost of the reunion, depending on the format, per person for meals, and transport if necessary. If several people enquire about accommodation, we may be able to offer rooms at QMU during student holidays or you may be able to negotiate a special rate with a local hotel/B&B. Check with the hotel if there are minimum or maximum numbers required to qualify for a group discount in case of any last minute cancellations or unexpected guests.
- It can be useful to set up a separate bank account to handle the monies for the reunion, particularly for larger groups.
- To hire a room for the reunion, well in advance, please contact Bookings secretary, Liz Suttie on 0131 474 0000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) who will be able to negotiate a reasonable rate for room hire or alternatively e-mail: qmu-accommodate@qmu.ac.uk
- For accommodation bookings out-with term time please contact the Accommodation Office on 0131 474 000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or alternatively e-mail:
qmu-accommodate@qmu.ac.uk
- To book catering well in advance, please contact Catering and Retail Services Manager, Wilma Haston on 0131 474 0000 who will be able to advise on costs and catering requirements (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) or alternatively e-mail: whaston@qmu.ac.uk
We do advise, particularly for larger groups, that you set up a separate bank account in the name of your class year for handling all the monies for the reunion. S
5. Letter 2
This should include final details on time, place and cost. This letter should inform people on final numbers, with as full a list as possible of those attending and their partners if appropriate. Ask people for the balance of the payment and give a deadline or, if paying the remainder, remind them of how much the balance will be.
6. What the Development Office can do
- help track down your classmates using our alumni database
- arrange a Tour Guide for campus/departmental tours
- advertise the reunion in QM News, the alumni magazine and report on your day in the next issue
7. Draft Letters & draft itinerary - click to view pdf copies
Finally, please do keep in touch with the Development Office and let us know how your reunion went. We would love to include a feature and photos on your special ay within a forthcoming edition of QM News. If individuals wish to receive future editions of QM News please could the organiser of the reunion send their contact details onto the Development office. Thank you.
For further details, please contact Ann Hubbard, Alumni & Development Assistant, phone: +44 (0)131 474 0000.
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