CASS Newsletter Issue 7 - December 2011

Sound of success for Paul Mealor's album

The new album by Paul Mealor, Professor in Composition, shot straight to the top of the classical charts upon its recent release.  A Tender Light, which aims to introduce the new sound of British choral composition to a wider audience, reached the number 1 spot in the Classical Specialist Charts at the end of November.

Released on Decca Records, the album features Mealor’s Ubi Caritas which was performed at the Royal Wedding of the Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  Followed by 2.5 billion people, probably the largest audience in broadcasting history, the performance by the choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, conducted by James O’Donnell, on 29 April 2011 catapulted Professor Mealor to international attention.

A Tender Light features both the Latin (Royal Wedding) version of Ubi Caritas and the English language version Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, based on Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem. 

Professor Mealor said the success of the album has been “humbling and a little unbelievable” and has capped a “truly remarkable year”.  His music has rapidly entered the repertoire of choirs and singers around the world and was performed at services across the United States in commemoration of the events of 9/11, including the official New York ceremony at St Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral.

Mark Wilkinson, Managing Director of Decca Records welcomed Paul Mealor to the label’s growing family of high profile international musicians and artists. He said: “Paul is one of those composers who will undoubtedly leave his mark on music history, and we are proud to be recording his music and making it available to a broad and global audience.”

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Pilot scheme opens the eyes of school pupils to the life of a law student

Local sixth year school pupils have been given the opportunity to study private law at the University of Aberdeen through a new pilot scheme being run by the School of Law.  Nine pupils from Aberdeen Grammar School, Robert Gordon’s College and St Machar Academy have been taking the Law School’s first year course, Foundations of Private Law.

The course teaches the pupils the principal areas of private law, where the pupils attend lectures and tutorials at the University on top of their studies at school.  They do the formative assessments and take the exam in January which, if they pass, allows them to put the credits gained towards a degree at university.  The pupils are given associate student status at the University, which means that they get student cards, full computer and library access and an adviser of studies who offers guidance and pastoral care.

Adelyn Wilson, founder of the scheme and Lecturer in Law, said “The aim of the scheme was twofold. Firstly, we wanted to develop the School of Law’s relationships with the wider community. Secondly, we wanted to offer local school pupils the opportunity to study law in their sixth year. This would allow them to gain experience of studying law and of university study generally, and earn credits before embarking on a full degree.  This would help them to decide whether law really was what they wanted to study, and would give them a definite advantage if and when they decide to pursue law after leaving school.”

Dr Wilson said that the School was thrilled at the enthusiasm of the local secondary schools and the pupils chosen to participate.  The scheme is looking to expand to other secondary schools next year.

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Law alumni gather to support new students

The School of Law held a Matriculation Dinner for its new first year students on 11November 2011, in Elphinstone Hall. The aim of the event was to welcome the first years at the outset of their studies to the very strong community that already constitutes the Law School.  From that community we invited alumni, staff in the School of Law and senior representatives of the student body. We also invited representatives of the local legal profession in Aberdeen who have contributed to teaching on our Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. Twenty-three alumni and local professionals accepted our invitations, including Dame Elish Angiolini, Lord Bracadale, Sheriff Principal Craig Scott and Gary Allan QC. Seventeen members of staff were also present. The senior students who were invited were the President of the Law Society, the President of the Law Mooting Society, the Head of the Student Law Clinic and the Editor of the Student Law Review.

The evening commenced with a few words of welcome from the Principal at a drinks reception for the staff and alumni, which was held in the Linklater Rooms. This was followed by music performed by Quartabella, a string quartet of Aberdeen University students.  Professor Ross then welcomed the students to the dinner in Elphinstone Hall. There were sixteen tables, and at each table there was at least one alumnus and one member of staff, and at most tables there were two alumni, seven students and one staff member. This gave the students a great opportunity to meet each other and some of those who had studied law here before them. Following the dinner, while coffee was being served, Dame Elish Angiolini gave an after dinner speech which was thoughtful, entertaining and uplifting. There was then an opportunity for those present to mingle and talk to one another.

It is thought that the dinner was the first of its kind in the University of Aberdeen for centuries, and it seems to be a unique initiative among the Scottish universities. Following the dinner many of the alumni and students who attended have indicated how much they enjoyed the evening, together with their hope that it will become an annual event. Many of the alumni emphasised in particular that they welcomed the opportunity to meet the students, and vice versa. This indicates that the event has already begun to achieve its aim, and it is hoped that in future it will continue to strengthen the existing community of students, alumni and staff that constitutes the School of Law.

Dr Andrew Simpson
Lecturer in Law

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Spanish composer takes 2011 Aberdeen Music Prize

The 2011 winner of a prestigious music prize which attracts up-and-coming- composers from across the world has been announced.  The Aberdeen Music Prize, a biennial competition organised by the University of Aberdeen and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO), was awarded to Spanish composer Marc Garcia Vitoria.

The 25-year-old from Valencia took the Prize, which includes £5000 in the form of a commission to write a new piece for the BBC SSO which will subsequently be broadcast on BBC Radio 3, with his work Plastic Trio.  He overcame four other finalists to take the title - Shai Cohen from Israel, Zvonimir Nagy from the USA, Christophe Looten from France, and Azusa Yomogida from Japan.

The unveiling of the winning composition followed a successful weekend of performances and workshops in early November, which ended with a Gala Concert at the Cowdray Hall on the Sunday evening.  The weekend also included the screening of work by young composers from Aberdeen city and shire who took part in a workshop to create their own musical scores, which were premiered at the Belmont Picturehouse.

The Aberdeen Music Prize was fouded by Paul Mealor, Professor in Composition.  As part of celebrations for the Prize he shared his piece, Ubi Caritas, with an audience at King’s College Chapel.

Professor Mealor said: “The 2011 Aberdeen Music Prize attracted a very high standard of entrants and we are delighted to be able to offer such a wonderful opportunity to up-and-coming composers.  Marc’s work, Plastic Trio, was a worthy winner. It is a piece of music that is both fluid and beautifully written and seemed to capture the idea of the competition well.  All of the finalists produced unique and interesting work but Plastic Trio cried out a skill in writing for instruments that took it to a different level.”

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Business student scoops £1,000 dissertation prize

A Business School student has been awarded a top prize for her Masters dissertation.  Britta Schlingmeier, MSc Real Estate Finance, was awarded the Investment Property Forum Educational Trust (IPFET) dissertation prize for the best MSc dissertation on real estate investment and finance.

Britta’s work was chosen from several entries by a panel of academics from the Business School in liaison with a representative from IPFET.  Her dissertation "An analysis of the US financial crisis and the regulatory responses through Basel III" discusses the causes of the crisis and the likely consequences the regulatory responses will have on real estate investments.

Dr Rainer Schulz, Lecturer in Real Estate, said: “It is by now rather well understood that the actual crisis in 2007 had many features of a classical bank run. What is less well understood is how it could come that far. It appears that the risk inherent in the financial instruments that were created before the crisis was not really understood and that those who understood it were not exposed to the consequences. Regulators want to prevent a similar built-up in the future and the rules of Basel III should ascertain this. The rules are not set in stone yet, but a broad picture emerges already.

“Britta’s dissertation is based on wide reading of consultation documents and commissioned reports. The dissertation provides a detailed overview of the US housing crisis and its spill-over into financial markets worldwide. It gives a solid discussion of the main causes and presents how regulators intend to prevent similar events in the future. Even though it might be too early to say what this will imply in the end for real estate investors, the dissertation shows that the broad consequences are already visible.  She was a worthy winner of the prize.”

The IPFET prize is for dissertations written in the final stage of the academic year and to be considered for the prize, students must deliver an outstanding dissertation in Property (BU5904) or Finance (BU5903) on a real estate investment and finance topic.  To find out more about the IPF, the IPFET, and suitable dissertation topics, visit www.ipf.org.ukor contact Dr Rainer Schulz at r.schulz@abdn.ac.uk.

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University delegation visits China

A colleague and a PhD student from the School of Language & Literature were part of a team which held a week-long series of meetings with top Chinese universities and industries in October.  Dr Barbara Fennell, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Li Xiao, a PhD student in the School of Language & Literature, joined Professor Dominic Houlihan, Vice-Principal for Internationalisation, on the important visit.  The aim of the trip was to explore the possibility for increased collaboration with Chinese institutions, focusing on areas of mutual excellence.  The visit made front page news at the Provincial Education Department and several of the universities concerned. 

The first port of call for the delegation was Sinopec, a major Chinese energy company, to discuss the growth of training programmes delivered in the University to Sinopec staff.  The team also met with members of Wuhan University, who travelled to Beijing for the meeting. A relationship with Wuhan has existed for several years and was renewed for a further five years.  While in Beijing the delegation also spent time with the Hanban, the Chinese centre for Language and Culture, discussing the wish of both Universities to host a Confucius Institute in Aberdeen.

The tour of China continued in the Shandong Province where University representatives held discussions with Provincial Education leaders on educational provision in Scotland and areas in which collaboration could take place.  At Shandong University there were presentations from both universities and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed for a collaborative MLitt in English Linguistics for Advanced Teachers of English (ELATE).

The team then moved on to Shandong Jianzhu University where Dr Fennell was awarded Visiting Professor Status by the President of the University, before concluding at Liaocheng University.

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Granite City greats

A new series of free public lectures is celebrating some of the greatest names to hail from the Granite City.  The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS) and Aberdeen City Council have organised the Great Aberdonians public lecture series to celebrate the achievements of former residents of the city.

The series of six public talks began in early November when Professor William Naphy outlined the life of astronomer and medic Duncan Liddel (1561-1613).  Liddel was one of the major academic figures of the University of Aberdeen’s first century, famed for his work in mathematics and other disciplines, including medicine.  Other great names to feature in the series include Patrick Gordon (1635-1699), a general of the Imperial Russian Army who played a central role in one of the great political transformations in European History, as the military mentor of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia.  The moral philosopher and poet James Beattie (1735-1803) is the topic of the third lecture, followed by Donald Smith of Forres, later Lord Strathcona (1820-1914), James MacAndrew (1819-1888), the first Superintendent of the Province of Otago and finally George Reid (1841-1913), a highly successful and enormously influential artist in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The series has been organised by Dr Michael Brown, Lecturer in History, who said he was inspired to celebrate the lives of great Aberdonians by a speech made by the Lord Provost.

“I heard the Lord Provost talk about the idea of a campaign for pride in the city at the annual ambassadors’ dinner.  The Institute decided that one of the things we could do is to use research generated by our research community to talk about the achievements of Aberdonians and what the history of this city has contributed to the wider world.

“The people featured in the talks were contributors to some of the big trends in history from the scientific and military revolutions, to the enlightenment and on through to imperialism.  Each lecture will take on one of these big moments and a great Aberdonian figure, placing them at the heart of it.”

Dr Brown said one of the key aims of the lecture series is to highlight the achievements of those who are not necessarily well known, or who are not always associated with the city of Aberdeen.  For example, Duncan Liddel, the subject of the first public lecture, is not someone always associated with the city yet he was born in the city, was a graduate of King’s College and a benefactor of Marischal.  Similarly James MacAndrew is known for his connections to New Zealand and yet he hailed from Aberdeen.  It is hoped that those who come along to the lectures will also learn more about figures they may already associate with Aberdeen, like Robert Gordon, but not be fully aware of their achievements.

Each of the talks in the Great Aberdonians series will begin at 7.30pm in the Town and County Hall, Town House, Union Street, Aberdeen.  For further details please visit:
www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/events/great_aberdonians.

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New evidence helps to 'cement the case' against Hitler's First World War record

A best-selling book by a History colleague which questions Hitler’s First World War record has led to the discovery of new information further undermining the ‘war hero’ persona used to great political effect by the dictator.  The new records shed fresh light on Hitler’s early attitudes towards Jews and his psychiatric disorder on the eve of his emergence as a fascist dictator in the making.

Hitler’s First War, by Dr Tom Weber, Reader in History and Director of the Centre for Global Security and Governance, paints a very different picture of Private Hitler with previously unseen archive material and letters revealing he was viewed by many of the frontline soldiers in his regiment as a ‘rear area pig’ or ‘Etappenschwein’.  It challenges the belief that the First World War politicised, radicalised, and ‘made’ Hitler, presenting a Hitler who returned from the trenches of the First World War in a confused state of mind and with political attitudes that were fluctuating between ideas of the Left and the Right.

Following the publication of the book last year, Dr Weber was contacted by the relative of an American physician with new information regarding the Führer’s medical history, as well as the son of Bernhard Lustig, a Jewish soldier who served in Hitler’s List regiment. This testimony discredits some of the key tenets of Nazi propaganda and questions the standard interpretation about the origins of the Jew-hatred of the architect of the Holocaust.  Crucially, a number of letters given to Dr Weber cast serious doubts on Hitler’s mental state at the end of the First World War.

“Hitler himself claimed that the war ended for him when he had to spend weeks in an army hospital after having been blinded by mustard gas. Circumstantial evidence and hearsay, however, have led to the suggestion that Hitler was, in fact, suffering from and treated for psychosomatic blindness.

“This hypothesis could never be conclusively tested, as Hitler had his medical file destroyed and had his henchmen kill those people with knowledge of the file,” said Dr Weber.

The letters made available to him were exchanged between two prominent American physicians and confirm that Hitler was treated for hysterical amblyiopia, the psychiatric or conversion disorder commonly known as hysterical blindness. This previously unseen evidence is included in the paperback version of Hitler’s First War, which was released in October.

Hitler’s First War, selected as ‘Book of the Month’ for October by the History Today Book Club, is published by Oxford University Press and is available from all good bookshops.

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First Minister gives Keynote Address at launch of landmark book on the history of North Sea Oil and Gas

First Minister, Alex Salmond, gave the Keynote Address at a launch event in October to mark the publication of a new book, The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas.  The landmark publication is written in two large volumes by leading oil and gas economist Professor Alex Kemp, using previously untapped British government records, and provides a new, unique, in-depth analysis of the development of UK policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to 1993.

In the preparation of the study Professor Kemp was allowed full access to all UK government departmental records, including those covered by the thirty-year rule. These include the Prime Minister’s papers and Cabinet and Cabinet Committee papers as well as departmental records. He also acquired access to some privately held records and obtained oral testimony.

The second volume of this significant work examines key strategic decisions over the period including:

• The thinking within government on how the role of the British National Oil Corporation (BNOC) and British Gas Corporation (BGC) should be incorporated into the private sector
• The planning behind the formation of Britoil, Enterprise Oil, and the privatised British Gas
• The many changes in taxation following the major fall in oil prices in the 1980s
• The thinking behind the decision to abolish Petroleum Revenue Tax(PRT) on new fields in 1993

Professor Kemp, whose latest forecast on the future of North Sea oil suggests that a further 15 – 25 billion barrels of oil equivalent could be produced over the next 30 – 40 years given appropriate policies and response by investors, says there are many lessons to be learned from examining in detail the history of the industry.

In addition to its role as a fund of experience for future use by policy makers, The Official History will act as a prime source for historians, particularly in regard to the remarkable effects of the North Sea on the economy of the North East of Scotland.

The release of the book has been welcomed by First Minister Alex Salmond. He said: “The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas provides a unique analysis of UK Government policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from its early days. Using unreleased Westminster records, Professor Alex Kemp reveals why the Treasury opposed devolution for Scotland in the 1970s and casts doubt on whether the UK Government understood the purpose and operation of an oil fund.”

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas is published by Routledge and is available from www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415570947/.

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University winter concert series concludes

The University of Aberdeen’s winter concert series has seen success once again with a repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary performances.  The University welcomed the Edinburgh Quartet as Quartet in Residence and will be working with Aberdeen City Council and the Aberdeen Art Gallery to bring all of Beethoven’s string quartets to Aberdeen in performances throughout 2011 and 2012.

Highlights of the winter concert series include the latest Indian/Western group, Svara-Kanti, from guitar virtuoso Simon Thacker, featuring the voice of Japjit Kaur, Hindustani tablamaster Sarvar Sabri and Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth.  A concert representing Indian classical music, the best Bollywood songs (including works by Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R Rahman) and folk music were all reinterpreted by India’s Shirish Korde.

The University’s chamber choir teamed up with Edinburgh University’s chamber choir and the University of St Andrews chapel choir in October in a performance showcasing contemporary chapel music, including Paul Mealor’s Ubi Caritas.  The Curious Chamber Players from Sweden performed brand new works by Scandinavian composers written in close collaboration with the ensemble, which comprises a flute, clarinet, violin, guitar as well as some newly invented sound objects.

November welcomed Dame Emma Kirkby as the latest Visiting Fellow in Performance, who will be collaborating with the lutenist Jamie Akers.  The Auriga Quintet of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra gave the première performance on 8 November of Auriga, a piece written for the Quintet by University of Aberdeen lecturer in composition, Geoff Palmer.

Added to all of this were regular contributions from ensembles such as Choral Society and Concert Band, with the series ending with the Chapel Choir singing at the traditional University carol service in St Machar’s Cathedral.

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Divinity professor selected for RSE Young Academy of Scotland

A colleague from the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy has been chosen to be among the first members of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Young Academy of Scotland, an exciting development which is the first of its kind in the UK and will be part of a growing movement of Young Academies across the world.

Professor Tom Greggs, Chair in Historical and Doctrinal Theology, joins five other University colleagues chosen to be part of the Academy - Dr Lisa DeBruine, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Dr Mirela Delibegovic, Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences, Dr David Lusseau, Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences, Professor Craig Ramsay, Programme Director with the Health Services Research Unit, and Dr Jane Reid, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences.

Congratulating his colleagues, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor said: “This is an excellent initiative and I am delighted that six of our brightest up-and-coming researchers are among the first cohort of RSE Young Academics. I look forward to many more of my colleagues here at Aberdeen joining this exciting pool of research leaders for the future.”

The RSE has established the Young Academy as a unique opportunity to bring together some of the most able and innovative young academics, entrepreneurs, artists and professionals in Scotland.

Every year a new round of applications will be encouraged, bringing in a new cohort of members.

The aim of the initiative is to stimulate creative ideas and collaborative working that will help address some of the key challenges facing Scotland and contribute to solving some of the global challenges of the 21st century.

The Young Academy will provide a platform for the best and most forward-looking people of their generation to develop for themselves a distinctive, coherent and influential 'voice' to address many of the challenging issues facing society. It will provide a forum for its members to engage with talented individuals beyond their own discipline or profession.

Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, the RSE President said: "This is an exciting and important initiative. We have created the RSE Young Academy of Scotland because we believe that the future vitality of Scotland will depend on how we support and engage with the most talented and creative members of the rising generation. All of the people who have been appointed have demonstrated great ability and potential. I have no doubt that there will be many in this group who will go on the make a significant contribution, both within Scotland and internationally in the years ahead.”

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Business School lecturer wins teaching prize

Dr David McCausland, Senior Lecturer in Economics, has been nationally recognised for his teaching by his students by winning the Student Nominated Teaching Award from the Economics Network.

David’s students said he was able to make difficult concepts easier to understand and that “he has led with his example, never refused to help a student, provided extensive feedback and consistently worked hard in providing personal comments on our work and ways to improve, always in a positive manner.”

David was presented with his award on 6 September at the Development in Economics Education Conference at the London School of Economics.

Professor Angela Black, Head of the Business School said: “We are very proud that David’s excellent teaching has been nationally recognised. This very fitting and well deserved award is even more special because it is nominated by the heart of our community, our students.”

The Economics Network runs an annual learning and teaching award programme to both celebrate and recognise outstanding teaching.

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PhD student successes

Two PhD students from the College, one current and one former, have had success in prestigious competitions specific to their academic discipline.

Christopher Langley, a third-year History PhD student, was confirmed in October as the winner of the Scottish History Society Postgraduate Prize.  Awarded annually, the Prize is given to the best transcription with historical introduction by a postgraduate researcher, anywhere in the world,working on any period of Scottish history.The transcription is assessed on accuracy and quality, while the judges generally wanted to know why the source was especially important to the history of Scotland.  Christopher’s 6000-word transcription was of a lost fragment of the minutes of the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale from 1650 and argued that it showed how Kirk authorities were dealing with internal crisis, as well as invasion.

Meanwhile, former English PhD student Dr Sally Newsome (pictured with Professor Douglas Gifford of the University of Glasgow) was awarded the prestigious Ross Roy Medal.  Instigated in 2010 and named after the Robert Burns scholar G. Ross Roy, formerly of the University of South Carolina, the medal is administered by the Universities Committee for Scottish Literature.  The Medal is awarded to the best postgraduate thesis on a topic relating to Scottish Literature written in a Scottish university and Sally’s PhD thesis Seductive and Monstrous Fictions: Discourses of the Orient in Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels was judged as the best for 2011. Sally, who studied in the School of Language & Literature for her MA (Honours), MLitt and her AHRC-funded PhD, returned to Aberdeen on Friday to receive the medal at a reception in the New Library.

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Colleagues acknowledged at first Recognition of Service Awards

Several colleagues from the College were recognised at a reception in November to mark the University’s first Recognition of Service Awards.  The award ceremony, which is to become an annual event, has been established to recognise staff for their dedicated service to the University. 

Of the new Award, the Principal said: “It is the commitment of our staff that has enabled Aberdeen to become recognised nationally and internationally for our achievements. To devote so many years of work to a single institution represents a significant contribution to our long term ambitions. Those who have contributed many years service can be proud of the considerable transformation of this institution. Our progress towards international recognition is due to hard work and dedication.”

A total of 15 colleagues from across the College received the Recognition of Service Award, including Professor Alex Kemp (Business School), Ms Anne Shipley (School of Education), Dr Margaret Jubb (School of Language & Literature), Professor Paul Beaumont (School of Law), Mr David Lessels (School of Law) and Mrs Pamela Thomson (School of Social Sciences).

Head of College, Professor Margaret Ross, said: “It is a privilege to be associated with the recognition of long service to the University by dedicated staff.  The dedication and friendliness of members of staff are the hallmark of our University for students, colleagues and visitors.”

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Notable achievements by Social Science colleagues

Professor John Brewer, Sixth Century Chair in Sociology, has been appointed as President of the Sociology and Social Policy Section of the British Association of Science for 2012.  Already President of the British Sociological Association(2009-2012) and a member of several Advisory Boards, Professor Brewer’s latest appointment is especially important since the British Science Festival, an initiative of the British Association of Science, is being hosted in Aberdeen for 2012.  The British Science Festival will take place from 4-9 September 2012 with a programme of events for people of all ages and interests:
www.abdn.ac.uk/science/public/2012/. 

Dr Alex King, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, has had the launch of his new book Living with Koryak Traditions: Playing with Culture in Siberia (2011, University of Nebraska Press) marked with a reception at King’s Museum.  Attendees of the event were given a presentation by Dr King on his post-publication fieldtrip toKamchatka, the peninsula in north-east Siberia where the Koryak people live.  Dr King’s book explores what it means to be a traditional Koryak in the modern world and how indigenous Siberians express a culture that entails distinctive customs and traditions.  To most Koryaks, tradition does not function simply as an identity marker but also helps to maintain moral communities and support vulnerable youth in dire times.  Dr King’s book is available for purchase from all good bookshops. 

Dr Alison Brown, Lecturer in Anthropology, has been jointly awarded the 2011 Michael M. Ames Prize for Innovative Museum Anthropology by the Council for Museum Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association.  The prize is in recognition of research conducted alongside Dr Laura Peers, a reader in Material Anthropology and curator of the Americas collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, and Ms Heather Richardson, the museum’s head of conservation, for their collaborative ‘Blackfoot Shirts Project’.  The project brings together historic collections in the United Kingdom with Blackfoot people in Canada and the United States.

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Philanthropic colleagues raise funds for charity

Two different offices in the College have hosted events recently to raise money for two different charities.  The College Office hosted a coffee morning at Powis Gate in November to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The event was in lieu of a birthday celebration for a member of staff based at Powis Gate who, due to the recent loss of a family member to breast cancer, decided that a low-key fundraising event for a cancer support charity was a more fitting way to mark the occasion.  A total of £130 was raised, exceeding all expectations!  Also, the School of Language & Literature held a fundraising bake sale in December in aid of the local charity Mental Health Aberdeen.  The event gathered over £150 for the charity, an impressive amount that the organisers in the School were delighted with.  All concerned would like to thank all the colleagues who contributed to these events, whether by bringing along home bakes or by giving a donation.

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