Dear 

Happy New Year to all members of our alumni community! We hope you've all had a fantastic break and wish you every success in 2019.

Staff and students have returned to a totally refurbished Dining Hall and bar area, with extensive work taking place over the festive period. To give you the best coverage we've made a short video here. 

Are you thinking about career progression or changing career? If yes why not come to one of our postgraduate open events in February?

On Wednesday 20 February, we’re hosting an open evening dedicated to our range of postgraduate courses. Whether you want to secure a multi-book publishing deal like Liz Mistry, make the first steps towards a career in Clinical Psychology like Charlotte Croshaw, or become the next national BBC presenter like Harpreet Kaur (pictured), find out how our postgraduate degrees could help you get there. Book your place here – and don’t forget about alumni discounts for postgraduate degrees.

If you’ve got your sights set on being a teacher, then our PGCE Open Day on Saturday 23 February is the event for you. It’s your chance to find out about our three PGCE routes (University-led, School Direct and SCITT), the wide range of subjects available and our diverse range of regional school partners.

The Open Day takes place from 11.00am until 2.00pm – book your place today. And if you need a little inspiration, read how Sam Stones went from PGCE trainee to Teacher of the Year in just five years.

We're running a number of free business events to support start-ups, solopreneurs and SMEs who want to grow and develop their business, through the Ad:Venture project at Leeds Trinity.

Our next four events still have some availability but please book ASAP to avoid disappointment.

Business Advice Café (Thursday 24 January, 4.00pm)
Social Media Breakfast Club (from Thursday 31 January, 9.00am)
Blogging Club (from Tuesday 5 February, 5.30pm)
Marketing Small Businesses (Wednesday 13 and 27 February, 5.30pm - only three places available)

With so much talk of Brexit, a rejected deal, a split Parliament and talk of a second referendum, Business Lecturer Dr Greg Barnes looks at the next steps for Brexit and what it means for us. Read Greg's blog.

During the winter break Alumni Officer, Brett Arnall, caught up with alumnus Derek Myers. 

Derek was a member of the extremely successful Leeds Trinity University football and cricket teams in the 1980s which won numerous trophies. Derek has very kindly loaned his sporting memorabilia to us so we can proudly display it on campus. The collection of medals and clothing will be proudly shown off in a new cabinet and we plan to frame the shirts and mount them in the Sports Centre later this year.

If you have kit from your student days that you'd like to share or talk to us about we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with Brett Arnall.

This month's featured alumni is 2017 MA Creative Writing graduate and current PhD student Liz Mistry. Her debut crime thriller sold nearly 15,000 copies in the first three months, and she's since gone on to sell 80,000 more.

"Growing up as a working-class girl from a small Scottish village and being the first from my family to even consider university, writing was never really a career option for me." 

You can read Liz's incredible story of how she's battled mental health and depression for over a decade, joined the Creative Writing course and has become a renowned crime fiction author.