Westminster has been shortlisted for a 2026 HEIST Award in the Best Student or Alumni Engagement Initiative category for its innovative Soho Poly Postcard campaign. The collaborative project between the Alumni Relations Team and Soho Poly Co-Directors Professor Guy Osborn and Dr Matthew Morrison reconnected alumni from the 1960s and 70s with the University through a nostalgic and sustainable postcard campaign.
The project was designed to address an engagement gap among older alumni, many of whom hold strong personal memories of the original Soho Poly, which reopened as an arts venue in 2023 after a major restoration project. Recognising that alumni from this era are often less responsive to digital communications, the Alumni Relations Team developed a tactile and elective print campaign using a set of postcards created by Soho Poly restoration project leads Professor Osborn and Dr Morrison.
Featuring images from activities taking place in the venue, the postcards also included reflective creative writing prompts inspired by the artistic spirit of the theatre and designed to encourage alumni to reconnect with their memories of student life.
Alumni from the 1960s and 70s were then invited via email to request a free set of postcards by confirming their postal address. This ensured the campaign remained both cost-effective and environmentally sustainable by avoiding unnecessary printing and postage.
The campaign created a highly engaged new audience for both the Alumni Relations Team and the Soho Poly, achieving 80 replies and significantly improving connection with this historically hard-to-reach cohort. Events at the theatre have also since seen increased signups to gigs and workshops from this cohort.
The campaign generated heartfelt responses from alumni sharing memories of their time at Westminster and the original Soho Poly theatre. Several alumni expressed an interest in reconnecting more actively with the University community, including volunteering to support current students at the University’s new careers and enterprise space Zone29 and engaging with future alumni initiatives.
The success of the campaign has now been recognised by the HEIST Awards, which celebrate excellence and innovation in education marketing each year.
About the campaign Jennifer Stubberfield, Senior Alumni Communications Officer at the University of Westminster, said: “We are delighted to be shortlisted for a HEIST award. This collaborative heritage campaign helped reconnect Polytechnic alumni with Westminster’s rich history and enduring celebration of the arts. It was a pleasure to re-engage these graduates and hear their memories of the University in the 1960s and 70s.”
Dr Matthew Morrison, Co-Director of the Soho Poly and Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Westminster, added: “At the Soho Poly we’re absolutely delighted to have re-engaged some of the audience members who helped forge the venue’s amazing history and to have brought a bit of extra creativity into their day too.”
This campaign contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 10: Reduced Inequalities, 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and 17: Partnerships for Goals. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about the Alumni and Supporters community at the University of Westminster.
Learn more about University’s arts venue, the Soho Poly.
