Helen

Helen was at the forefront of the BBC’s coverage of the Ukrainian Orange Revolution in 2004-5, where she was reporting on the demonstrations protesting against electoral fraud. She also reported on the aftermath of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, and the conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008. She has been a roving reporter for the national news for many years. As well as her undergraduate degree, Helen has been made a Goldsmiths honorary fellow.  

“The practical parts of the BA Media and Communications were very inspiring. It was a chance to experiment and work out what I liked doing. You’d have different projects that you’d work on – news and drama, discussion programmes… all sorts of different stories to produce. That training was very useful, and it's something I’ve had to use throughout my career. It’s so important in the media – being able to have lots of ideas, and coming up with stuff that’s a little bit different, a bit unconventional.” The advice she gives to graduating students is: “Aim really high: make brave, bold decisions. Believe in yourself: it is possible.”

Goldsmiths lecturer Tim Crook, who taught Helen in the early 1990s, remembers her being full of these ideas. “Nobody could forget Helen,” he explains. “As a student she was creative, professional, disciplined, charismatic, original, and inspired her fellow students in the same way she inspires people now. Helen would surprise you with ideas and production plans that challenged our own thinking as well as her own courage and spirit of adventure.”