Clare Ambassadors

Who We Are

The Clare Ambassadors is a group of undergraduates at Clare who represent the student body at events for alumni and well-wishers, act as a channel of communication between the student body and the College's development programme, and support undergraduates who wish to take unpaid work experience through awards from the Clare Ambassadors' Fund.  The Ambassadors' committee is made up of second- and third-year undergraduates. We encourage all students to get involved with the Ambassadors, and as such the group extends beyond the central committee. Throughout the year members attend alumni occasions and other College-run events such as lectures and dinners as part of their role as student representatives.

The 2007-8 Ambassadors Committee

The Fund

•  The Ambassadors' Fund provides grants for students who want to take on unpaid work experience but who cannot afford to.

•  Specifically, the Fund provides money to cover the costs of unpaid work experience – which must be relevant to a potential career.
•  As our Fund grows, we can provide larger grants and help more people. We also plan to expand the Fund to eventually include other courses such as computer literacy or accounting qualifications.
•  One of the major benefits of the Fund is that it encourages students to consider their future while supporting those who are already doing so.

How to get involved

If you are interested in getting involved with Clare Ambassadors, either to be on the central committee or as part of the wider group, email the current President Mary-Ellen Lynall on ambassadors@clare.cam.ac.uk

If you would like to make a donation to the fund, please contact the College Development Office at alumni@clare.cam.ac.uk

Past Events

Open the Door to Law

This was an opportunity for current students to meet Clare alumni who have entered the legal profession after studying non-legal subjects as undergraduates. Alumni who are now barristers and solicitors came to Clare from top firms and leading chambers, and it was a fantastic opportunity to find out what life is like as a lawyer. There were brief presentations covering everything from legal training to the different areas of legal practice, followed by a question and answer session.

Samuel Blythe Society Luncheon

This year the Clare Ambassadors represented the existing student body at the Samuel Blythe Luncheon held on 12th May 2007. The event was a fascinating experience for the Ambassadors, having the opportunity to hear about alumni’s experience at Clare first hand.

Annual Clare Distinguished Lecture

The Clare Ambassadors acted as ushers for the second annual Clare Distinguished Lecture in Economics and Public Policy. This was given by Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank, on "The development of China and India: prospects and problems".

Benefit Lunch

On 21st April 2007 the Clare Ambassadors held their first benefit lunch which was a  great success, raising over £2000 for the Fund. Current students and their parents enjoyed a sit down buffet in the Great Hall, during which music was provided by the Clare Quartet. After lunch, there were brief talks by Ilana Bergsagel, the current Ambassadors President, and Dr Toby Wilkinson, Development Director, about how important it was to link current students with alumni, and the efforts of the Clare Ambassadors. This years award holders, Hannah Granroth and Zofia Trafas, also spoke about the work experience that they will be undertaking, made possible through the Ambassadors’ Fund.

Hannah Granroth: third-year zoologist

“This summer, between graduating from zoology and starting a master's course at Imperial, I will be volunteering with the John Muir Trust (www.jmt.org). They are an Edinburgh-based conservation organisation founded and run in the ethos of John Muir, the founder of the modern conservation movement. The JMT aims to "preserve wild places for wildlife and people". Their approach to conservation is a holistic one, managing thousands of hectares of Trust-owned land in Scotland and working in close partnership with local communities on many thousands more. The educational branch of the Trust is the John Muir Award, where I will be working. The award is open to all people, regardless of age or experience, and often involves expeditions to wild places. It aims to foster an appreciation and love of the wild, especially in young people, to encourage a conservational mindset.

I will spend most of the summer in the Edinburgh office, doing administrative work in the lead-up to the expeditions. This will involve liaising with leaders and participants, checking kit, managing health and safety issues and so forth. The rest of my time will be spent leading expeditions; organising participants and activities; and keeping the accommodation running smoothly. These trips are for younger people, one to north Wales and the other to north-west Scotland.

These two months will give me invaluable experience in the day-to-day workings of a conservation charity, where my career aspirations lie. This is, perhaps surprisingly, an extremely competitive field where experience is the only way in and gaining an initial foothold is very difficult. Taking into account the cost of my course next year, I would have been reluctant to seize this extraordinary opportunity without the Clare Ambassadors' Fund award.”

Zofia Trafas: second-year art historian 

“Being more than half way through my time here at Clare, I have decided that I want to pursue my Art interests at a post-graduate level. However, as opposed to doing an MA in History of Art, I am interested in pursuing a more ‘applied’ form of my subject – a subject such as Art Curating or Art Business – leading me eventually to work in the ‘Art World’ – in a museum, art gallery or an auction house. I am very keen to get some experience in the realm of art sales, and for this reason applied for a placement in one of the leading global auction houses: Christie’s.

My four week placement, based in the main London headquarters will prove to be an exciting opportunity to get a glimpse of the workings, tactics and ethics behind what is often perceived as quite a controversial organisation.

I will be working as an assistant (undertaking administrative and cataloguing tasks) to junior and senior members of the Impressionist and Modern Art, Nineteenth/ Twentieth Decorative Arts and Photography departments. All of these overlap with my specialist subjects and preferred areas of study that I am currently pursuing as part of my degree.”

The Clare Ambassadors would like to thank everyone who attended the lunch and all who have donated to the fund for their generosity in helping to set up the scheme.

How to apply for funding

Information on applying for the 2008 Ambassadors’ Awards will be available in Lent 2008.