Over the past month, Student Hubs has welcomed four new wonderful Trustees to join our board. Today, we invite you to get to know Dr. Ant Bagshaw, Sophie Ford, Emily McIntyre and Alice Wilby.
Who are our new Trustees and what do they do?
At Student Hubs, we have a unique position of sitting in both the charity and Higher Education sector, at the intersection between universities, students and our local communities. Our double benefit model aims to create positive change for both students and the communities they are studying in.
Our Trustee Board shapes the work we do. We are excited to welcome four new members with expertise and experience to support us to achieve our vision. As summarised by the Chair of our Board, John Kirkland,
“The need for exciting approaches to student experience, employability and community service has never been greater. The appointments demonstrate our ambition to identify new ways to meet these challenges, at a time of rapid change in the sector.”
One of our new Trustees, Ant Bagshaw, brings a wealth of experience working in a range of higher education environments. Starting his career in student engagement, Ant worked with senior managers at the University of Kent and LSE before moving on to work as Deputy CEO of Wonkhe, a platform that drives policy conversation in Higher Education. Over the past few years, he has consulted for many universities and supported education providers to bring their courses online, now working as Partnerships Director at OES. Ant hopes to support Student Hubs to build long-term productive partnerships, and be “a leading voice for students’ social action”.
Another of our new Trustees, Alice Wilby, has a diverse range of experience in Higher Education and in social action. Alice started volunteering as a tutor at university, and since then has carried those activities through her jobs, as well as volunteering in museums, helping with family-friendly activities, and more recently becoming a Street Champion through Oxford Hub. With a passion for learning new things, Alice has completed a Masters in Social Justice and Education whilst working, and has worked in several universities across the UK including; Oxford University, Oxford Brookes, the University of Wolverhampton and now the University College Birmingham as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Access, Participation and Student Experience). Alice says:
“All of my roles have included responsibility for widening participation and outreach work… Outside of work I spend my time baking, travelling to new places, and sometimes being a very amateur silversmith”.
Student Hubs aims to build active citizens for life, building a future that involves social and environmental change. Our new Trustee, Emily McIntyre, has always volunteered or fundraised for charities and good causes, starting in her Brownies group at a young age. Over lockdown, she volunteered at a local food bank and for the NHS as a volunteer responder. Now, she brings her experience as an Executive Search Consultant in Education to our Board:
“I’m a very social person and find a huge amount of joy in helping people, so I got a job in a specialist education recruitment company… ten years later I’m still here and love my job. I get to work with some of the greatest minds, in the best universities in the country, helping my clients fill high-profile tricky positions and coaching candidates to help them get their dream job.”
Our final new Trustee, Sophie Ford, brings her unique perspective as a previous Student Hubs staff member in Southampton, understanding the true depths of our charity. Sophie’s social action journey was heightened by the 2011 London Riots:
“I was angry about the way young people had been represented in the media and the injustices against communities. I have always loved theatre but at this time, I began creating theatre as a social commentary.”
Using Applied Theatre Sophie began to explore social issues, such as attitudes towards refugees, to educate others. During her time at Student Hubs she developed a new passion for safeguarding. Now, working at the multi-agency safeguarding hub in Hampshire, Sophie continues to support Student Hubs to take action to keep their staff, volunteers and community participants safe from harm as a Trustee.
Why our Trustees wanted to join Student Hubs
We asked our new Trustees why they wanted to join our Board and what they are hoping to achieve. Ant said:
“I’m passionate about the transformational power of education, and of higher education in particular. That journey of transformation is only partly about teaching and learning… Student Hubs provides amazing opportunities for students to have a tangible positive impact on their communities and it is a great platform for personal development. I’m keen to play my part in helping the organisation to provide opportunities for as many students as possible.”
Alice said she has
“admired [our] work for a while. I really believe in the importance of students engaging with communities and issues that matter to them. I can see that Student Hubs fills an important space bringing together students, universities and communities, and it does it very well”.
For Emily,
“the moment I read about the mission and work of Student Hubs I was so inspired and excited”. Wanting more to be done to help students prepare for life outside of university, she “loves how Student Hubs has such a wide-ranging impact by empowering students to be the best they can be and helping them find their voice to change the world for the better”.
And for Sophie:
“I have seen the impact of their work first hand and I believe in their mission… I’m excited to see their work from a new perspective and support the organisation to continue to learn and grow.”
A Student Hubs Welcome
To get to know them better, we asked our new Trustees if they were stuck on an island, what item and song would they take with them?
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“It’s pretty old school but I love Don McLean’s American Pie. I think it’s great because it’s such a long track, over 8 minutes, has a catchy tune, and there’s a long story there to keep me entertained for a while. For a luxury I’d take a nice big mug. Hopefully I’ll be able to gather some spices to make a chai tea over my camp fire.” – Ant
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“A huge supply of Earl Grey tea and I think any song would lose its appeal if it was the only thing you could listen to, so I might just listen to the waves instead!” – Alice
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“My luxury item would have to be my coffee machine and my song would be “Can’t Stop the Feeling” – by JT. It cheers me up (and get me on the dance floor) every time I hear it!” – Emily
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“I would take the song ‘California Daze’ by Peace because it is the song I go to no matter how I am feeling. It calms me and brings me joy.” – Sophie
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We are happy to welcome our four trustees and are excited for what they will bring to our organisation. To learn more about the rest of our team, head to our team page.