Meriel Hubbard

BA(Hons) Adventure Tourism Management

Best Bachelors Dissertation

When she joined college Meriel never imagined that she would end up playing football with children in West Africa. But this is exactly what she did and says it was an experience she will cherish for a long time to come.

With her love of travel and interest in the more unusual locations in the world, studying Adventure Tourism was a natural choice. Everyone is therefore delighted that she chose to come to UCB as she has proved to be an exceptional and committed student, culminating in her winning the award for Best Bachelors Dissertation.

Planning an expedition is an integral part of the Adventure Tourism Degree and Meriel and fellow student Hannah Thompson linked with a local Midlands charity to help develop football activities in needy communities in The Gambia. They literally had the trip of a lifetime and felt both humbled and privileged to have made a difference to people’s lives.

Meriel centred her dissertation projects on the expedition and now, having completed her studies is keen to develop a career working for charity.   She knows it is quite competitive to get a job at this stage and so will continue volunteering, for organisations like Oxfam and the Red Cross to build her experience.

With The Gambia trip under her belt and her true passion and desire for helping people to help themselves in life, it won’t be long before Meriel is snapped up by a charity and we wish her all the best in the future.

Meriel’s prize: Cheque for £50 kindly donated by Adaptable Travel

For further information please contact Jane Smith j.c.smith@ucb.ac.uk