Alumni of the Month June 2009

Tess Beniston (2006 Media, Communications & Culture/ Sociology) and Chris Lloyd (2006 History/ Politics)

Chris and I met on the very first day at Keele University in 2003, outside Lindsay P block. Chris offered to help me carry my bags to my room but I was slightly upset about saying goodbye to my parents so I grumbled a hasty no and ran back to my room to meet my hall mates. Chance would have it that a year later, one of my housemates became friends with Chris and brought him back to our house in Hanley for a few drinks. This is where we met again and have been together since.

Tess Bevington Chris Lloyd 1 We got engaged on September 16, 2007. Chris proposed to me outside Keele Hall. It was beautiful but quite late in the evening so my first words were 'I can’t see the ring!' as it was dark! But after that he got a very enthusiastic yes!

We will be marrying at Keele Hall in the Salvin Suite later this month, on June 27 2009. We chose Keele as our venue as it has so many wonderful memories for us as well as so many of our friends. Our best man (Karl Johnson) as well as two bridesmaids (Amber Clatworthy and Zoie Carnaffan) and one groomsman (Anthony Davies) are all Keele 2006 graduates not to mention so many of our guests! We felt there couldn’t be a more romantic place for us to get married.
 
Chris and I moved in together after our graduation and both decided we wanted to travel. Chris was offered a fantastic job in Perth, Western Australia, so we took the plunge and moved out here a year ago in June 2008. We both currently work in the oil and gas recruitment sector in Perth.

Tess Bevington Chris Lloyd 2 We will arrive back in the UK two weeks before our wedding and are both very excited to see our friends and family again, as well as share our day with them after being apart for so long. Some of our Aussie mates are coming to our wedding and staying with us at Keele!

We are planning on meeting all the other ex-Keelites dotted about Western Australia on our return, as we have been put in touch with help from the Alumni Office!

We are flying back on June 12 and I cannot wait to see Keele again, and to buy myself a new Keele hoodie! My current one is a bit worse for wear four years down the line! A big shout out to all the Lindsay P block girlies 2003 and 2006 and all the Barnes T block 2006!

We will always remember Keele as the best three years of our lives – we both had such an amazing time and made friends for life.