College Students Meet the Dalai Lama

Students and staff from Leeds City College received the opportunity of a lifetime when they were granted a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visit to the city last week.

The Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was in Leeds as the keynote speaker at the Yorkshire International Business Convention (YIBC) Leeds 2012 on Friday (June 15th).

Leeds City College is a sponsor of the YIBC, a partnership which seeks to strengthen the College’s links with business throughout the region as well as providing life-changing opportunities for its students. The College was invited to bring 100 students and staff to meet privately with the Dalai Lama, to enable him to give a special message to the young people of the city.

The students were joined by pupils from Leeds schools Cardinal Heenan and the Cooperative Academy of Leeds. The Dalai Lama spoke to his young audience about the importance of working together for a more peaceful and harmonious global community in the 21st century, before taking a Q & A session.

A-Level student Peter Restrick was among the students who took part. He said: “It was a very inspiring experience. It was an honour to meet such a special individual who was also very down to earth. I felt very privileged to be a part of his visit.”

David Fell, Leeds City College Deputy Principal for External Business Development & Commercial Enterprise said: “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students to meet a truly inspirational and internationally renowned figurehead and many have said they were enriched by the experience.”

His Holiness, who was making YIBC his first stop on a 2012 UK-wide tour, has travelled to more than 62 countries across six continents in the last 60 years and has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates and prizes in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion.

As a further benefit of the College’s partnership with the event, twenty retail students attended the presentation and Q&A session given by retail-guru-turned-government-advisor Mary Portas.

The YIBC is the biggest business networking event in the north of England, with this year’s speakers including Michael Portillo, former world record holding athlete and TV commentator Steve Cram and hosted by Clare Balding, who is hosting this year’s event.

**Thanks to Joe Mackenzie, the HE Photography student who took pictures at the Dalia Lama event.**

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Press Contact
Kathy Sharpe
Marketing & PR Coordinator
Leeds City College
t: 0113 216 2561
e: katherine.sharpe@leedscitycollege.ac.uk