The Hunger Games franchise, from the books by Suzanne Collins to the films starring Jennifer Lawrence, has a huge following around the world.  Coriolanus Snow, the main antagonist of the Hunger Games Trilogy is now the protagonist of, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ and the star of this $300 million global box office smash is none other than former Bilborough College student Tom Blyth.

Tom studied at Bilborough College from 2011-2013, taking courses in Drama and Theatre Studies, Business Studies, Media Studies and Music Technology.  At the age of 21, Tom was offered a spot on one of the world’s most sought-after BA actor training programmes at the Juilliard School in New York, which has trained a host of famous actors and musicians including Robin Williams, Jessica Chastain and Yo-Yo Ma.

Sharon MacInnes, who taught Tom’s A level Drama class said, “Tom was an exceptionally talented student, who was completely focussed on his goal to become a professional actor.  We always knew that he would go on to have an amazing career in the industry.”

David Shaw, Principal at Bilborough College said, “Every year an impressive number of our students progress to world-class drama schools and go on to work in the theatre, film and TV industry.  As well as Tom, we have recent alumni in lead roles in productions of both Hamilton and Sunset Boulevard on the West End and we see this as an ongoing pipeline of talent from Nottingham to the world. I’m proud to be associated with Tom’s achievements and delighted that his talent and hard work is paying dividends.  I’m also very grateful to our Performing Arts staff, whose commitment to industry standards and whose ability to instil confidence and self-belief in their students, hugely boosts their chances of success, whatever they go on to accomplish in the future.”

Anisah Osman Britton, who studied at Bilborough from 2009-2011, is one of the youngest people to be awarded an MBE in this year’s New Year’s honours.  She received her award last week from King Charles for services to diversity in tech.  Anisah is also a Forbes 30 under 30 honouree and is listed in the Financial Times’ 100 most influential BAME leaders in tech.

After completing her studies at Bilborough College, Anisah decided to intern in small to medium sized businesses around the world as an alternative to university. Following that, she started an online freelancing business for students, winning Young Entrepreneur of the year 2012.  Subsequently, she launched a coding school for women where, for every paying student, the school teaches a disadvantaged woman in India.  Anisah said of her time at the college, “your ability to make learning fun, your belief in students and the way you treated us like adults gave (and I’m sure still gives) students that little bit of extra confidence to achieve whatever it was we wanted to achieve”.

Bilborough’s current Principal, David Shaw, who taught French to Anisah when she studied at Bilborough College, is extremely proud of her achievements.  He said, “I’d love to express my surprise that Anisah has been honoured, but my only surprise is that it has taken 10 years!  Anisah always had a desire to make a difference, and she has maintained that drive in all she has done.  She is a perfect role model for our current students who, like her, are encouraged to believe that anything is possible with the right knowledge, skills and mindsets.”

Anisah is currently a reporter at Sifted, where she writes the Startup Life newsletter and is the author of ‘Brown Bodies’ where she explores sex in the South Asian diaspora.