Falmouth graduates join fastest growing economic sector

The overwhelming message from the glittering gathering of guest speakers who addressed the 685 graduating students from University College Falmouth (UCF) last week was that they were to be congratulated on entering one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK economy - the creative industries.

With UCF having achieved significant success in this year's university league tables and having scooped three of the most prestigious awards in the UK in the same week - Best Stand and Best Student for Graphic Design at New Blood; New Designer of the Year for Contemporary Crafts at New Designers; and a Gold Medal at the Hampton Court Flower Show for Garden Design - there was extra special cause for celebration.

Graduands from the University College's innovative range of undergraduate degrees - from Digital Animation and Fashion Design; Public Relations and Press & Editorial Photography; and the whole gamut of Art, Design and Media disciplines in between - heard inspiring words from media heavyweights, bestselling authors and industry experts during the seven graduation ceremonies that were held at Falmouth's Princess Pavilion in the presence of friends, family and staff.

Chief Economics Correspondent for BBC News and UCF graduate, Hugh Pym, reflected on the continuing influence of traditional, specialist journalism on public life and society as opposed to the proliferation of social media that sometimes made the truth hard to find.

Bestselling author and Honorary Fellow, Patrick Gale, urged students to embrace change and never to underestimate the value of friendships forged at university.

Chief Executive of the Design Council, David Kester, enthused about his passion for the creative industries with their stimulating combination of change, challenge, curiosity, nervous energy and inspiration.

Director of Falmouth Art Gallery and Honorary Fellow, Brian Stewart, expounded on the tremendous energy that underpins Cornwall's cultural triangle of Falmouth, Penzance and St Ives, and the importance of positioning this hub of creativity on the world map.

World-renowned author/illustrator and Honorary Fellow, Jill Murphy, entertained the audience with her personal journey to success and encouraged students to keep going when times were tough because their work was absolutely stunning and they had a brilliant chance of succeeding.

Sir John Sorrell, who is Business Ambassador for the Creative Industries, an Honorary Fellow and co-founder of the Sorrell Foundation together with his wife, Lady Frances, venerated the UK's outstanding international reputation for innovation in design and the importance of the creative industries to the regeneration of the UK.  Sir John cited many of the UK's design success stories from Savile Rowe tailor, Ozwald Boateng and fashion designer, Zandra Rhodes to garden designer, Dan Pearson and designer/architect, Thomas Heatherwick, all of whose talents are in demand across the globe.

Former Vice Principal of UCF, Honorary Fellow and Chair of the Newlyn Art Gallery, Charles Hancock, demonstrated the importance of fighting for what you believe in, citing examples from UCF's 108-year history when luminaries of the art world such as Peter Lanyon, Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach and Patrick Heron had campaigned for its survival when under threat, and of never losing faith in your work.

UCF also conferred a Fellowship on Hugh Pym for his oustanding contribution to broadcasting and journalism and an Honorary Fellowship on David Kester for his outstanding contribution to the discipline of design.

In addition, a number of scholarships and prizes were awarded to students.  From BA(Hons) Fine Art, Nicholas Wood was presented with The Denis Mitchell Sculpture Award; Hannah Atkinson from BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography and Celine Smith from BA(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography were awarded Ferdynand Zweig Memorial Scholarships; Casey-Lorelle Hennessy from BA(Hons) Graphic Design was honoured with The Nigel Wilcox Award; and Raymund Sapak from BA(Hons) Fine Art, Dionne Sylvester from BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Peter Wood from BA(Hons) Digital Animation were presented with Sorrell Awards for Widening Participation.

These ceremonies also saw student cohorts from BA(Hons) Digital Animation; BA(Hons) Fashion Design; BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography; BA(Hons) Performance Sportswear Design; BA(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography and BA(Hons) Public Relations graduate for the first time.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in September 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

The University College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

For further information about University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213880.

Ends

For further information about this press release, please contact Jilly Easterby MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs by telephoning 01326 213792 or emailing  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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