Case Study: Christ's Hospital achieves stronger alumni engagement and community growth with Graduway's GradEngage

Community Building Tips from an Independent School in the UK

Christ’s Hospital is a historic UK independent co‑educational boarding and day school (est. 1552) that awards free or heavily subsidised places to the majority of its 900 pupils. Its alumni network, CHOBA, is managed on Graduway’s GradEngage platform by a single administrator, and the Covid‑19 pandemic cut off in‑person events, forcing the school to find ways to maintain engagement and support alumni and students with very limited staff resources.

CHOBA responded by leaning on GradEngage and one experienced manager to ramp up social media, monthly Digest 2.0 communications, targeted newsletters and quarterly profile reminders, and by mining the existing database to recruit highly engaged alumni for virtual career talks, mentorship and events (including successful sessions like a Bletchley Park talk and a distillery tour). The approach drove strong results: 700 new alumni joined online over two years, regular events drew large audiences (typical talks 90–100 attendees; Bletchley: 115 live/263 recorded), 70 pupils signed up for mentorship, and about 50% of alumni indicated willingness to help with alumni/career activity.

Christ's Hospital

Gina Skillings

CHOBA Manager