Cambridge House Telephone Campaign – meet the student fundraisers!

The Birkbeck Autumn Telephone Campaign 2019 has now begun. A team of Birkbeck current students will be in contact with alumni to update their contact details, and talk to them about a new a College priority project, Cambridge House.

During recent research into the student experience at Birkbeck, we were able to gather feedback from our students on their study environment, and discovered that there was an urgent demand for more Birkbeck teaching and social spaces. Cambridge House will be a new learning space created to meet this demand, and allow Birkbeck students to be taught in Birkbeck buildings.

The space will be a community hub to over 600 people at any one time, and will enable students to come together in a way no other Birkbeck space can currently provide.  It will have much needed classroom space, offering nine classrooms – each divided by retractable walls allowing academics to customise them to their requirements.

The autumn telephone campaign will be raising funds for the new building which will also be equipped throughout with state-of-the-art equipment, such as video lecture capture, a digital video wall, and audio-visual equipment. Read about the student callers and why they decided to get involved with the fundraising campaign below.

Meet the student fundraisers:

Alex C, MRes Comparative Literature

Alex C

“I chose to study at Birkbeck as I believe it has a friendly and fair ethos. Fundraising for Birkbeck is important as it enables further research, and I’m really looking forward to engaging with alumni and learning more about how funding has an impact within academia”.

Alex T, BSc Planetary Science and Astronomy

Alex T

“I’m a 4th year student and have really enjoyed my time at Birkbeck so far, so would love to give back to the College. I’m looking forward to speaking to alumni and finding out what they’ve done since leaving Birkbeck”.

Allen, BA Creative Writing and English

Allen

“I enjoy talking to people and by being a telephone fundraiser for Birkbeck will allow me to promote the College whilst feeling a sense of achievement. Telephone campaigns are important to improve the student experience and also to maintain contact with alumni”.

Dan, MSc Counselling and Psychotherapy

Dan

“I chose to study at Birkbeck as the course had an excellent reputation. I joined the telephone campaign team as I wanted to give back and help to improve the student learning experience”.

Fatmata, MSc Educational Neuroscience

Fatmata

“Being the recipient of a legacy scholarship myself, I find the contribution alumni make to an institution invaluable. I wanted to be part of a project that will make a change. I chose to study at Birkbeck because the course is fantastic, the location is ideal and the research is world-leading. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to talk to different people, listen to their stories and find out what they have gone on to do”.

Graham

Graham, MA Philosophy

“I chose to study at Birkbeck as there is a diverse student body, and for the evening lectures. I’m taking part in the telephone campaign as I wanted to develop my skills in this area and help Birkbeck to continue its unique mission”.

Jason, BSc Marketing

Jason

“I chose to study at Birkbeck due to its distinctiveness in being able to study in the evening. This provides the opportunity to continue working. It’s also in the heart of London which means that the location is convenient! I wanted to be a student fundraiser as a way of giving back to the College – I think that if Birkbeck has changed your life, then you should give back to the institution that has changed you”.

Joe, BA Psychosocial Studies

Joe

“I think fundraising for Birkbeck is important to improve teaching, research and the student experience. I am proud to be a part of Birkbeck and its history of providing opportunities to working-class people. I’m looking forward to building on my fundraising experience and speaking to Birkbeck alumni”.

Natalie, BA Linguistics

Natalie

“I applied to be part of the call team as I found the nature of the job interesting, I like conversing with people. What I enjoy the most about the role is the sense of personal achievement and growth, raising money to contribute to future developments at Birkbeck”.

Naomi, MPhil/PhD Film and Media Studies

Naomi

“I love Birkbeck and I want to get more involved and give back. I’m aware of how important it is to provide student support, and how fundraising has an impact on student facilities and widening access. I originally chose to study at Birkbeck because of the convenience, but I moved onto my PhD because I liked the College so much!”

Safina, MA Creative Writing           

Safina

“I wanted to contribute whilst I was still a student and be a part of the telephone fundraising team. Fundraising is essential to widening access and providing opportunities to diverse students. I’m looking forward to hearing alumni’s personal stories”.

Shakeela, BSc Social Sciences

Shakeela

“I wanted to take part in the Telephone Campaign as I like to speak to alumni and find out about their experiences. It was also a way to meet a variety of students I wouldn’t have met before. I feel fundraising for Birkbeck is important as it encourages continued support for the projects here, some of which I’ve benefited from myself”.

Will, LLM

Will

“I chose to study at Birkbeck because of the reputation of the Law department and its location. I know that fundraising for Birkbeck is important as it improves student support and student services. I’m looking forward to being part of the Birkbeck fundraising team as it’s an opportunity to contribute to the College for an exciting project”.

The telephone campaign will be running until Saturday, 30 November. If you’d like to receive a call from one of our students, please get in touch with Tara Millington (t.millington@bbk.ac.uk).

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