Double celebration for pandemic graduates

450 people attended the Broadway Theatre on Saturday to celebrate Barking & Dagenham College (@BarkingCollege) students who graduated.

The 2020 graduation was postponed due to the pandemic and so this year was a very special event which celebrated the achievements of both the 2020 and 2021 graduates.

Jason Turton, Chief Operating Officer at the College opened the ceremony and Her Worshipful the Mayor, Cllr Edna Fergus welcomed the graduates and the guests, followed by Yvonne Kelly Principal & CEO.

The subjects that students graduated in ranged from animation to construction to teaching.

Barking & Dagenham College’s Photography Programme Leader, David Bennett commented:

“Congratulations to all our photography graduates of 2020/21 who attended our graduation ceremony today. We are very proud of what you have achieved in a really challenging time.”

Photography graduates were excited to find out who would win the annual Symons-Hatton award for photography in memory of the late Brian Hatton and Lucinda Symons. The top prize of £2000 went to Gloria Mezzanotte (pictured) with joint 2nd prize going to Helen Taylor and Gavin Rotherham. 3rd prize went to Rezija Samoska.