Alumni Impact Fund

The University of Birmingham Kayak Club utilised funding to support their whitewater safety and inclusion initiative, aiming to update the safety equipment and standards of the club and support and celebrate womens+ participation in kayaking.

The safety equipment was first used in the club’s annual Whitewater Safety and Rescue (WWSR) training course.

Being able to provide access to equipment to members means that the club’s ethos of keeping kayaking as affordable as possible boosts uptake of and inclusion in the sport.

The purchase of additional ‘cag’ jackets in a range of sizes and better fits have meant that the club been able to provide a warmer and drier experience for female club members in particular.

The overall initiative culminated in a womens+ whitewater trip on 3 June, which focused heavily on creating a safe space for women to paddle together, with the experience enhanced by the upgraded equipment.

As part of the summer enrichment programme, UoBXtra, a team from the School of Metallurgy and Materials used funding to host a number of workshops which invited students to design, build, and showcase a network of geodesic domes across campus. Students used 3-D printed connector kits and repurposed campus waste to construct domes of different sizes and configurations.

Now constructed, the domes will host a programme of events including multidisciplinary talks, creative workshops, and outreach activities, with themes that span sustainability, responsible innovation, and the intersection of art, science, and design.

Support from the Alumni Impact Fund has enabled to team to carry out research into design and materials and get the 3D-printing holders needed for the construction.

This project brings together students from across the university to make a truly interdisciplinary initiative.

Watch students and project lead, Iljia constructing the domes. 

To celebrate our 125th anniversary, students from the University's Filmmaking Society, aided by the Alumni Impact Fund, came together to make their first-ever documentary. Featuring interviews with alumni and archival footage, this film is a fascinating insight into student life at our University. Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you to our alumni interviewees: Bev Mitchell, Baljinder Singh Atwal and Julie Bedford.

All archival footage sourced from and digitised by the University of Birmingham’s FTV Department. Produced by Thomas Meggitt and Eloise Howell, edited by Atshiga Bonvin.

Watch the documentary.

Funding for this project allowed staff and students in the School of Computer Science to deliver a series of sessions for Year 12 students promoting Computer Science as a degree discipline and future career pathway. During the project, around 50 students from different schools across Birmingham participated in interactive workshops covering topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Medical Imaging, Game Theory, and Reinforcement Learning.

Pupils also visited University research laboratories, met academic staff, PhD researchers, and undergraduate students, and gained first-hand insight into university life.

This project provided these young students with authentic experiences of Computer Science beyond the school curriculum and helped them to explore opportunities within computing and develop confidence and aspirations towards higher education. It also gave current University students the chance to develop mentoring, leadership and public engagement skills all which will complement their future career aspirations.

As part of the Centenary anniversary of the No. 11 bus route in Birmingham, staff member David Evans-Powell utilised the funding to support two creative internships in partnership with Number 11 Arts and Birmingham’s Local Arts Forums.

As part of the University’s Culture Forward initiative, interns Sienna and Helen had the chance to work with significant regional arts and social organisations, enabling the creation of a new oral history audio-tour, representing the personal stories of Brummies living in communities along the city’s No.11 ‘Outer Circle’ bus route.

It provided a distinctive snapshot of both contemporary life in Birmingham but also the diverse nature of its citizens.

Intern Sienna Curness (BA English Literature and Film, student) said:

‘Knowing that the work I had produced would continue to reach audiences beyond the events themselves reinforced the value of creating accessible digital content for community engagement. Most importantly, it was satisfying to see the project evolve from an initial idea into a successful public event, and to witness the positive impact it had on the communities it was designed to celebrate.’

The internships and the wider No.11 Centenary project have been important in enhancing student opportunities in becoming 'career-ready' and in building closer affinity between the University and its local cultural and community partners.

The Centre Staged Festival is an annual feminist performing arts festival aiming to put women in the spotlight and redress gender-based discrimination in the performing arts. As part of the Guild Drama community, students produce a range of performances, workshops, and socials over the festival week.

This year thanks to funding from the Alumni Impact Fund, the festival organisers were able to run the ‘Festival Hub’ throughout the week, a cosy and warm safe space for all students to relax in. They were also able to plan more ambitious and innovative events, such as speaker panels and trips.

Co-Founder of Centre Staged, Lucy Dunkerley commented: 'Throughout the Centre Staged Festival 2026 it was incredible to see the confidence and eloquence with which all students involved spoke about their experiences of gender, especially when facing and overcoming intersectional discrimination. Sharing these conversations created a raised awareness around women’s experiences throughout the Guild Drama community. Our positive impact was also tangibly manifested in the Birmingham community, as through our events we raised money for local women’s charity Anawim and for transgender youth charity Mermaids.'

The University of Birmingham Pole Fitness Society hosted the annual Inter University Pole Varsity National (IUPV) Championships, where the winners of each regional event came together to compete. They brought together four regions and 18 universities, represented by 72 competitors who were judged by four highly respected professional figures within the industry. 

Thanks to the Alumni Impact Fund the society were able to afford a diverse and well-rounded panel of judges who, between them, shared multiple national and international titles, years of experience, their own studios, and expertise across a variety of pole styles. The funding allowed the organisers to compensate them appropriately for the invaluable contribution they made to the event.

Also using the backing of the Alumni Impact Fund, the society funded a one-to-one consultation with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) specialist Francey, who helped us curate the first IUPV EDI Policy and provided the insight needed to create an inclusive event that removed barriers for those wanting to perform. 

The IUPV EDI Policy represented a real shift in the direction of IUPV. By placing inclusion alongside competition, the students prioritised making people feel safe, supported, and welcome. This focus not only positively impacted individual competitors but also created a friendly and encouraging atmosphere throughout the competition. It fostered new connections between universities and enabled students to bond over their shared passion for pole.

Throughout the event, we received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about how welcoming, organised, and inclusive the competition was. Afterwards, we also received many messages praising the event. Now that this infrastructure has been implemented, it will become a feature of all future regional and national IUPV events for years to come.

Liberty Mann, Project Lead and President of the Pole Fitness Society said: 'We cannot thank the Alumni Impact Fund enough for helping to make this event possible. The impact will be felt by everyone involved for many years to come within our own society, across the wider University community, and throughout the pole fitness community as a whole.'