Forging International relationships through the Alumni Annual Fund

The 2017 International Week Exeter project, funded by the Alumni Annual Fund, brought together students from over 20 nationalities to celebrate British culture as well as the different cultures represented during the week.

The grant meant that the project was able to take the international students on an overnight stay at Dartmoor, where the group took part in a bakery session which introduced the international students to the traditional “cream tea”. They were also able to take the students out to one of Exeter’s surrounding towns, Ide, for an experience of Morris dancing with the Exeter Morris Men who taught the group some dances. Other trips made by the group included a beach day to Exmouth and a shopping day in Bristol.

Finally, the group visited the Exeter Santander offices where an interactive talk on international trade took place. Santander brought in speakers including the owner of one of Exeter’s largest taxi companies as well as the food and drink export ambassador of the South West region. This gave the students a really good insight into what makes the South West a unique part of the UK.

The funding provided by the Alumni Annual Fund also meant that the international students were all given a presentation on the academic programmes they could enrol in at Exeter, as well as being given a tour of Exeter’s Business School. This allowed the participants of International Week to get a taste of what it is like to study in the UK.

International Week has allowed Exeter students to take part in 27 week long business and cultural exchanges opened up to them in various countries, as a fun and rewarding way to build international connections and have international experiences. The money from the Alumni Annual Fund has positively supported Exeter’s position as part of this international network of student run weeks.