Sussex Police Authority Chief Executive, Dr John Godfrey, Assistant Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney and Chief Inspector Laurence Taylor recently helped students from Sussex University  'learn to lead' by taking part in a leadership training programme. Sussex students who took part in the challenging new leadership programme have praised the experience.

"This was one of the best experiences I have had -  it was a brilliant programme and I have learnt so much," said Gabrielle Ferguson, a second-year undergraduate in American Studies.

Gabrielle was one of 27 students who took part in the 'Learning to Lead' initiative.

The Careers and Employability Centre teamed up with international management-training consultancy Clemorton to pilot the programme, which aimed at introducing students to the themes of leadership and policy development.

Steven Gradidge, a Media and Film finalist, said it was "really tough balancing the challenge of final-year work and Learning to Lead" - but added that "good team work was key".

Stuart Maddocks, the leadership trainer, summarised one of the central themes: "It's all about learning about your behaviour, learning about yourself and where you are on the leadership compass."

The successful candidates attended an intensive week-long leadership training programme.

They also had the opportunity to meet with Sussex alumni and academic leaders to work on a 'think-tank' policy proposal linked to one of the six University of Sussex research themes.

Sussex alumni who supported the students included John R. Digby, President of Chevron Petroleum India; Dr John Godfrey, Chief Executive of Sussex Police Authority; Phil Jones, Managing Director of Wired Sussex; Dr David Lewis-Hodgson, Chairman and Director of Research at Mindlab International; Sean Phelan, founder of Multimap; Lisa Rodrigues, Chief Executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; and circuit judge John Tanzer.

Each team of students presented its policy proposal to a panel of academic leaders chaired by Professor Bob Allison with Professor Jo Boaler and Dr Jim Watson.

Sarah Crook, a second-year undergraduate in Law, Politics and Sociology, said: "Good team working with the power of three committed individuals enabled us to meet our project goals."

The Vice-Chancellor congratulated the 27 successful student leaders at a celebration on Wednesday (16 June).

"If anyone has any doubt about what universities are about in the 21st century then they should come and meet the high-calibre Sussex students who have completed this challenging programme," commented Professor Michael Farthing as he presented the students with their certificates together with Gaynor Lewis, Director of Business Development at the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).

The 27 participants now have student affiliation to the ILM.

The Learning to Lead programme is part of the Sussex Plus initiative, helping students to develop their skills and employability.

It has been made possible by the generosity of Sussex alumni contributing to the Sussex Fund and the work of the Development Alumni and Relations Office.