Alumni Weekend 2026

From 3pm: Rooms available for check-in at the Porters’ Lodge and name badges available for collection from the registration desk on the main concourse.

From 7pm: those dining at High Table in Hall gather in the Buttery for a pre-dinner drink, ready for dinner at 7.30. Please note you must book for this High Table using the Association Weekend booking form (choosing from a wine or non-wine ticket) at the bottom of the page and NOT the standard High Table booking form. We cannot accommodate diners who have not booked in ahead of the day. Max. 2 bookings per person.

9.15pm: Wine Tasting in the Fellows’ Dining Room, places strictly limited. Please note you must book for this event using the Association Weekend booking form at the bottom of the page. Max. 2 bookings per person at £20 each. This event will not include a meal, but will include a selection of cheeses.

12am: Buttery closes.

7.30–9.30am: Breakfast in Hall

10.30am: Alumni Golf tournament at the Meridian Golf Club. Tee-offs booked from 11.15am, Entry cost is £42.95 to include a pre-golf coffee and bacon roll. Email the Alumni Office to book to join in.

10.30am: YGR meeting in the Wolfson Hall. Invited Year Group Reps only.

12–12.45pm: Churchill College Association AGM in the Wolfson Hall. All welcome to this event at an earlier time and in a different location to previous years.

12–2pm: Lunch can be purchased in the Dining Hall.

3pm: ‘Mapping the Human Body One Cell at a Time‘ by Professor Sarah Teichmann in the Wolfson Hall.

The 37 trillion cells of the human body have a remarkable array of specialised functions, and must cooperate and collaborate in time and space to construct a functioning human. Single cell genomics and spatial technologies now help us understand this cellular diversity, how it is generated during development and how it goes wrong in disease. In this talk, Churchill Fellow Professor Sarah Teichmann will discuss a particularly exciting impact of cell atlasing technologies: the transformation of drug discovery and medicine.

4.30pm: ‘How the Chaos Began‘ by Rupert Colville in the Wolfson Hall.

The integrity of media was a key element in the post-World-War-II edifice of international rule of law. But over the past thirty years, the accelerating decline in media integrity and empathy – which began with the demonization of refugees and migrants before bleeding into other areas of discrimination and vilification – has had serious political consequences. After 15 years as a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, starting out during the war in Bosnia, the Rwanda genocide and the rise of the Taliban, and a further 14 years with the UN human rights office, Rupert Colville has had first-hand experience of some of the best and worst journalism in relation to refugees and human rights, and a front-seat view of the sharp decline in ethical standards in both the mainstream ‘legacy’ press and social media.

6.45pm: Drinks reception on the Jock Colville Lawn (or main concourse if cold/wet).

7.30pm: Annual Association Dinner in Hall with after-dinner speech by Churchill alumnus and science writer, Tom Whipple (U00). Standard tickets cost £62.50 each, or £52.50 for those graduating in or after 2017, or £37.50 for current Churchill students.

12:30am: Buttery closes.

7.30–9.30am: Breakfast in Hall

10am: Room check-out time (left-luggage room will be available at owner’s risk).

10–11am: Ecumenical Chapel service led by The Rt Revd John Gladwin (U61). All welcome.

11.30am: Naming of a new coxed four boat after the late Eddie Powell (U&G67) at the Combined Colleges Boat House. All welcome.