Celebrities, politicians and business leaders to highlight vital role of university graduates

Actor Russell Brand (@RustyRockets), Dame @CBICarolyn Fairbairn, and @MichelleDonelan MP, Minister of State for Universities among those who mark #NationalGraduatesDay (30 July 2020) by celebrating the resilience, skills, and achievements of the graduate class of 2020.

Organised by Universities UK for the first time, National Graduates Day will recognise the remarkable efforts of this year’s graduates, whose final months at university have been affected by Covid-19.

A number of celebrities, politicians and business leaders will take to social media to congratulate graduates, and reassure them that their experience and qualifications are needed now more than ever to help kick-start the UK’s economic recovery, as the country moves forward from the coronavirus pandemic.

Public figures including Dan Snow, Alice Roberts and Larissa Kennedy, President of the NUS, will join others in a film which highlights the role university students have played in the national effort, with hundreds graduating straight into NHS front line services, and thousands more volunteering in their local communities while finishing their academic studies with social distancing regulations in place.

A film featuring celebrity supporters of National Graduates Day was published on Universities UK’s Twitter feed at 9am on 30 July 2020:

? Congratulations graduates!

After a year of new and unexpected challenges, you have done it and a few people you may recognise from the world of TV, comedy, business and politics have a message for you

Watch in full ? https://t.co/5DZBzSuZk9#WeAreTogether #2020MADEUS

— Universities UK (@UniversitiesUK) July 30, 2020

National Graduates Day is part of Universities UK’s #WeAreTogether campaign, launched in April to showcase all the ways universities are helping fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive global community.