Homerton College, Cambridge

What does it take to turn your great-grandfather's wartime diary into a play? 🎭

Homerton student Izzy Lane did exactly that. Her verbatim theatre piece is heading to the this summer - and the story behind it is as extraordinary as the battle it depicts.

Izzy sat down with Lester Holloway to talk about Neville Neads, a Welsh paratrooper who was captured by the N***s at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 and spent over a year as a prisoner of war. His diary survived. So did his love story; he returned home to Aberdare to marry Mair, who had been running their grocery shop single-handedly. 💙 In the play, Izzy voices Mair herself.

Watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWVIEB-ZMnQ

She also talked about life beyond the stage, managing and singing in Cambridge's long-running band, and what it means to carry a family story this powerful all the way to one of the world's biggest arts festivals.

🎪 Operation Market Garden runs 17–29 August 2026 at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall, Venue 53, Edinburgh. Tickets from £11.

🔗 https://www.thespaceuk.com/shows/2026/operation-market-garden

✍️ Written and co-directed by Izzy Lane

🎭 Produced by Inspired Theatre Company

4 DAYS LEFT.

One week ago we asked the Homerton family to show up for Michaela Mensah, our Alum who is in a race against time to get into Harvard, where she has an offer.

We are grateful to those who stepped up, and she's still in the race. But she still has more to raise to get into Harvard and the clock is still ticking ⏰

Michaela grew up on a Brixton council estate, raised by a bus driver dad and a mental health assistant mum.

The funding deadline is almost here. She's trusting the people who believe in her to get her over the line.
If you haven't donated or shared yet... now is the moment.

Lord Simon Woolley said: "I was delighted to witness Michaela flourishing at Homerton College, and I'm rooting for her to get to Harvard.

"She embodies excellence, and determination. From her background being raised in a Brixton estate to being the first of her family to attend university, she is an inspiration.

"Michaela's efforts to raise funds to attend Harvard reminds us that the struggle is often harder for those from less privileged backgrounds. She deserves every opportunity to fulfil that potential. I'm proud to support her and I'd encourage anyone who can to do the same."

Link in 's post: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-mensah-30b7961a2/

Every share counts. Every pound counts. 👉 Share this post. Tag someone.

"Keep going, keep becoming."

The words of Homerton student Jemimah Mensah (pictured centre), who beat the odds to graduate.

Jemimah dropped out of school aged 14 to help her mother run a catering business, the only source of family income in Ghana.

But she dreamed of more, and after returning to school, has now graduated with an MPhil in Education.

Jemimah said: "Cambridge has challenged me and strengthened my belief in education equity, and Homerton became a home that held me up every step of the way.

"To every first-generation student: keep going, keep becoming, and never doubt that you belong in every space that is meant for your growth and becoming."

Jemimah was one of three Ghanaian women who were at risk of dropping out of school who collected their Cambridge degrees. Also pictured are Francisca Arhinful (left) and Fadila Issah (right), who were attached to other colleges.

All three were supported through secondary school by Camfed, a Cambridge-founded charity working across sub-Saharan Africa to tackle poverty and inequality through girls' education. Their Cambridge studies were funded in full by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars' Program.

All three have trained as Camfed learner guides, peer mentors who deliver a life skills and wellbeing curriculum to young people in their communities, with a particular focus on keeping marginalised girls in school.
Homerton College, where Mensah was based during her studies, has a long-standing commitment to widening participation and access to Cambridge education across all backgrounds.

Camfed was founded in Cambridge and Zimbabwe and operates across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Ghana.

Dr Carolin Hoeltken, Homerton's Director of Studies in Land Economy, has two pieces of news to share.

New research paper: immigration and housing.

Congratulations to Carolin on the publication of her latest research paper, Age at Arrival and Immigrants' Housing Outcomes: Evidence from the UK. The paper offers new evidence on how the age at which immigrants arrive in the UK relates to their later housing outcomes, and challenges some widely held assumptions along the way. It deepens our understanding of the relationship between migration, housing markets and household welfare, with valuable insights for policymakers.

🔗https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2025.2527076

New funding: climate risk and housing.

A poorly insulated home in a flood-risk area. Higher energy bills. A lower property value. The same household, hit twice.

Carolin's project, The Capitalisation of Climate-related Housing Quality under Climate Risk, has just been awarded funding by the Keynes Fund, part of the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. The project will combine housing, climate and transaction data across England and Wales to examine whether climate-resilient homes are increasingly reflected in property values, with findings that could reshape thinking on climate adaptation and housing policy.

🔗 https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/news/new-research-project-explores-value-climate-resilient-housing

You are warmly invited to a special day of celebrations for Winnie-the-Pooh's one hundredth birthday!🍯🎉

Since its publication in 1926, A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard’s Winnie-the-Pooh has become a beloved classic, inspiring generations through its enduring characters and stories. A century on, this one-day symposium invites scholars and enthusiasts alike to return to the Hundred Acre Wood and reflect on the past, present, and future of this remarkable work.

We begin the day with an academic “sym-pooh-sium” from 9am, with a plenary from Professor Peter Hunt, parallel academic sessions exploring new critical approaches to children’s literature, an illustration workshop, and more!

We then welcome the wider Homerton family from 3pm for a “smackerel” of themed afternoon tea and a closing keynote lecture by Kathryn Aalto, author of The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh. 🐝

Register via the link below.

https://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/events/hundred-years-hundred-acres

Yesterday, internationally renowned pianist came to Homerton College to receive his Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to music, culture and arts education.

It was a wonderful occasion, with a fantastic performance from Lang Lang Scholar , as well as from Lang Lang himself. A beautiful and historic moment fitting for our Great Hall.

Before the ceremony began Lang Lang also took the time to meet with some of our Homerton music students, offering them the chance to put their own questions to the globally celebrated musician.

The ceremony, which was live-streamed from Homerton College’s Great Hall to a global audience on TikTok LIVE, marked a landmark moment for both the College and for classical music, coinciding with the global launch of a TikTok LIVE campaign that placed Homerton at the centre of a worldwide conversation about how a centuries-old art form is finding a powerful new generation of fans 🎶