Following in Gary Fisher’s footsteps as the Chevening engagement manager is a daunting prospect, but here goes……..
As the FCO’s newly appointed Chevening alumni engagement manager, I will be taking forward the excellent work started by Gary on further developing the FCO’s links with its alumni. As a former Chevening Officer in Baku, I have met (and interviewed!) many Chevening alumni. The meetings with alumni were often the highlights of a Minister’s or senior officials visit as they brought an unbeatable combination: knowledge of their homeland and an in depth appreciation of the UK and what the UK values. As Chevening alumni, you represent some of the best and brightest people in your countries, and I believe that it is important that we have a genuine two way conversation about how we stay in touch, both when you are here in the UK and when you have returned home. You are more than welcome to feed in your views, including what you think the FCO and British Council are doing well, and not so well. Big ideas, small ideas, radical ideas, even wacky ideas – all are welcome.
In midst of all this, the Chevening network continues to flourish. We get 40,000 visits per month to our information page and this Chevening Conversation blog is a popular destination for many alumni. Our official Facebook page goes from strength to strength, with over 30,000 “fans” now. Our dedicated Chevening community Ning continues to develop, and I urge all of you who haven’t joined yet to sign up and join in the discussions. We use our twitter channel mainly to push out links to Chevening activity around the world to its many followers.
Please don’t hesitate to get in contact, either through the comments section here, online at Ning or the Chevening Facebook page. If you are in the UK, search for me at next week’s Chevening reception at the Foreign Office in London. Though be warned, I will likely be asking you the questions rather than vice versa!
Declan Byrne
Chevening Alumni Engagement Manager