Reunion Weekend
The reunion weekend in the summer has long been a highlight of the WHA’s calendar, eagerly anticipated by members for the chance to revisit Wills Hall, meet old friends and make new ones. The ‘main event’ is a black tie dinner, with a short speech from a distinguished guest of honour, but the weekend is packed with other events, too.
The annual reunion takes place each summer and is organised by the Bristol Alumni Network collection of volunteers from alumni branches, departmental societies, halls of residence associations, clubs and societies of which the Wills Hall Association is an active member.
Typically a weekend will include events planned by the University or the WHA during the day on Saturday, including visits to local monuments, sites and museums, and a grand dinner in the Wills Hall dining room in the evening. On Sunday there is a service in Chapel, perhaps also a tour of part of the University Estate or the Botanical Garden, and a buffet lunch in Hall.
Members stay in Wills Hall overnight. The WHA Annual General Meeting coincides with this weekend
Booking forms will be sent out for future events via the usual channels. We keep the costs as low as we can, and can sometimes subsidize places for current residents. The JCR President is always an honoured guest and is invited to speak at the Saturday dinner.
Guests of Honour at the Reunion Dinner in recent years have included:
2010: Charlotte Leslie, MP for Bristol North West
2011: Sir Richard Sykes, former Rector of Imperial College, London, subsequently Chancellor of Brunel University, Chairman of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and the Royal Institution of Great Britain
2012: Professor Bruce Hood, Director of the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre at the University, 2011 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturer
2013: Daniel Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Health
2014: Professor Dame Carol Black, Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge
2015: Dr Michael Gunton, Creative Director, Natural History and Factual at the BBC
2016: Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol
2017: Lord Boateng (Paul Boateng was Member of Parliament for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first Black Cabinet Minister in May 2002: he was a resident of Badock Hall when a student, and the reunion dinner this year was jointly held with Clifton Hill House, Badock, Churchill and Manor Halls)
2018: Sir Malcolm Evans, Professor of Public International Law in Bristol, and formerly Chair of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture and Chair of the Meeting of Chairs of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
2019: Alderman Peter Estlin, 691st Lord Mayor of the City of London (Wills 1978-1981)
2020 (via Zoom): Dr Clare Barlow of the Science Museum Group and Curator of ''Queer British Art, 1861-1967' at Tate Britain.
2021 (via Zoom): Professor Robert Vilain, Senior Tutor, St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Warden of Wills Hall 2015-2018.
2022: Professor Mike Benton OBE, FRS, FRSE, School of Earth Sciences
2023: Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol
2024: Professor Dame Carol Black, Chair of the British Library and Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better, former President of the Royal College of Physicians
Support the Wills Hall Association
Wills Hall is rather special. It is the WHA's privilege to make it more special, by contributing to the enhancement of the facilities that make life as a Wills student so distinctive. Via your donations, we provide support for individual students who might from time to time need a boost for special projects, career preparation, or other support, and we underpin group sporting, cultural and charitable activities for which no university or other funding is available.
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