Imperial support staff come together for Burns Night celebrations

Imperial hosted its first ever Burns Night themed staff party on Friday 23 January.

Staff from across the College gathered in the Queen’s Tower rooms for an evening of festivities, including whisky tasting, highland dancing lessons and a traditional ceilidh.

Burns night is the annual celebration of Scottish poet Robert Burns

Attendees had a taste of traditional Scottish fare, with haggis sausages and shortbread among the items to be served, and their knowledge was put to the test with a Scottish themed pub quiz and a ‘guess the tartan’ game.

The evening was organised by the Support Staff Social Committee, which was set up in response to the staff survey feedback noting that support staff would like more opportunity to meet others working in support services roles. Katie Henry, who led the event, said: "I am delighted that our inaugural Burns Night celebration was such a success. The Support Services Social Committee is always looking to put on new entertaining activities for staff to get involved with - the more varied the better. This idea came from committee members, but we'd love to hear ideas from anyone, and we welcome new members to the committee who also want to help put on events."

Louise Lindsay, Director of Human Resources, said: “Burns Night gave us a fantastic opportunity to bring colleagues from across the College together for some fun activities. I was delighted to see many new faces joining in with the celebrations and enjoying themselves.”

Burns Night is the annual celebration of acclaimed Scottish poet Robert Burns, and is formally marked on 25 January – his birthday.

Jemma Strachan, from the Education Office, led the attendees through the basics of highland dancing and a traditional ceilidh. She said: “It was fantastic to be able to celebrate Burns Night at Imperial. As a Scot living in London, it felt like a little piece of home!  I was really impressed with how many people got involved with the ceilidh and tried their hand at a bit of Scottish dancing, and the whiskey tasting topped it all off nicely. As we’d say in Scotland: ‘It was a braw nicht!’”

Dan Smith, from Registry, was one of the Burns Night attendees. He said: “It’s been a really great evening – it was nice to catch up with people from across the college who I don’t get a chance to see on a day-to-day basis. A good cure for the January blues!”

Staff who are interested in getting involved with the Support Services Social Committee should email socialcommittee@imperial.ac.uk or visit the Support Services Social Committee webpage