On 6th February 2022, Her Majesty the Queen (Queen Elizabeth II), became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee Celebration, to mark 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. Apart from this remarkable achievement, The Queen is also the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.
Her Majesty is currently the Patron of more than 500 organisations and charities and over 70 of these are educational and training organisations. She has given royal assent to approximately 4000 Acts of Parliament. Through her influence, almost 70 forest conservation projects across the Commonwealth have joined The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative which was launched in 2015. This represents over 100 million trees preserved for our future generations as part of the fight against deforestation and climate change. Her Diamond Jubilee Trust has supported over 100,000 people to have sight-saving surgery; treated over 22 million people with antibiotics to reduce the spread of trachoma; built or upgraded over 81,000 latrines and washing facilities to prevent the spread of infection; screened over 13,000 babies for retinopathy of prematurity, and screened over 200,000 people for diabetic retinopathy.
Her Majesty has dedicated her life to serving the UK, and to commemorate the Queen’s lifelong achievements and 70th year of service to the United Kingdom, the national Platinum Jubilee celebration took place across the UK from Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June 2022.
On Monday 6th 2022, LSME continued the celebrations with the student community.
The event opened with our Chief Research & Innovations Officer, Mr Hassan Shifau, sharing on the extent of the Queen’s reign across the UK, the Realms and the Commonwealth, where the students had the opportunity to learn about the Queen’s achievements, as well as her humble nature of servitude. The Executive Director, Dr Ravi Kumar, shared a few words on the Queen’s contribution to Higher Education in the UK.
The Principal, Dr Sarita Parhi, wished the students and started the celebrations; where students and staff engaged in games and activities, and students had the chance of winning prizes. The colour theme for the event was the tri-colours of the Union Jack, and students dressed up in red, white and blue, and had the opportunity to take fun pictures at the “Selfie Corner”. Some refreshments were provided; however, the highlight was the arrival of the ice cream van, which provoked great excitement among both students and staff.
The event came to a close and students were thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed the day.