Andrew Hamilton is a first-year part-time Politics and International Relations student and is Chair of Trevs’ JCR, President of the Durham Disabilities and Carers Association, a disability rights activist and former member of the Northern Ireland Youth Parliament, founder of startup Just Include, and is currently serving his second term as Co-Deputy Editor-in-Chief of HEX.

LT: The first thing I’d like to talk about is your Young Person of the Year Award at the Northern Ireland Social Enterprise Awards 2025. Could you explain what it was for?

AH: Since coming to Durham, I’ve been working with Durham Venture Lab, and in my spare time, I run a public affairs startup called Just Include. It’s a mixture of consultancy and trying to make politics easier to get involved in and engage with. So, partly because of that and partly because of my background, which before going into public affairs was in disability policy. I have worked in disability policy for over four years and continue to do so now; strengthening disability rights by engaging with policymakers, doing media, and running campaigns.  

LT: I was looking back at some of the places you’ve spoken at in the past, including Stormont and Westminster, and I thought it would be interesting to ask you about your relationship with public speaking?

AH: I do a lot of speaking to policymakers, and my name has been read out in the chamber [at Stormont]. In terms of public speaking, I’ve always been interested from a young age, and I remember entering public speaking competitions. I think my first one was when I was six years old. I enjoy it. I like engaging with people, but I also like talking in front of an audience. And I do really like to talk. 

I think that was part of the reason I was elected as JCR Chair, to be honest, because I don’t think people wanted to hear me ask so many questions on a Sunday evening! No, it’s certainly a skill I’ve picked up, but it’s also something I’ve always liked doing, and that’s become very handy as I started working in politics. It’s given me a lot of confidence, for example, in March 2024, I was called to testify in a UN inquiry into the UK government’s handling of disability policy. It certainly helped with a high-level engagement like that. My background gave me confidence, and I was able to present and give an account of the true picture of what was happening in the legislature.

LT: Your advocacy has taken you over the world, from Northern Ireland to places such as Delhi and Montreal. Tell us about some of the places you have been.

AH: Yes, I went to Delhi and Mumbai in the summer with Durham Venture lab through their innovation fellowship. It was a natural step for me getting involved with Venture Lab and using university support because they’re great at acting as advisors, I often go into meetings with them and ask what way I should approach things in business. It was great having an affiliate programme where they taught fundamental approaches to innovation. We then got to put those skills into practice in India. India was great in terms of giving us a different perspective at issues that may be facing the UK, and how those issues are different in South East Asia. Also how they are tackling issues that we aren’t. So it was fantastic. 

[Public speaking] has given me a lot of confidence

LT: You’ve spoken to some very significant people in politics, including former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Prince William. I was wondering if you could tell us any anecdotes of people you’ve met or had the chance to speak to? 

AH: I think one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had was when I attended an international conference called One Young World. The first time I went was in 2023 in Belfast as a representative for the Northern Ireland Education Authority. I remember using a connection to speak to one of the keynote speakers, who was a Kenyan Senator. They were heavily informed on disability policy, so I ended up getting a meeting with them. I remember sitting down with them, and I was just sort of going on, talking about disability policy with them, and I was saying how terrible The Equality Act is, blah, blah, blah, and they said to me, “The Equality Act is great.” And if you compare it to Kenyan legislation, they have it far worse. That conversation showed me that perspective means everything. Yes, as someone from the UK, my view on the Equality Act may not be great, but that’s when you’re so narrowly focused. When you look wider, we have a lot of rights that others don’t. That has stuck with me and is something I use when dealing with policy, and even making business decisions. I’m always thinking, well, this is maybe just my perspective. And that’s what I really enjoyed about India, too.

Probably the other connection was when I was invited by the UK government to the Royal Garden Party in 2023, and I can’t say one connection that really stood out, but the amount of networking and being able to talk to people was great. For example, the only reason I was able to meet Prince William was I got talking to someone in security, and they said, “Oh, stand here, you’ll be in the front when the royals start to leave”. It then put me in the mindset that I always need to be talking to people. And I think that’s what’s so great about Durham. Obviously, Durham is a collegiate system, and you meet so many interesting people, day to day, and my mindset has always been to make as many connections as possible now, because you never know when one may become very useful in the future. 

LT: I was wondering if you might have any advice for someone in a similar predicament to you who feels there’s a social cause that needs advocating for, and how they could get it off the ground, or just how they could better educate others on the issue. 

AH: Just start talking to people. Start researching if you have something you’re passionate about, get whatever statistics you can find to get a picture of the current climate of the issue and what’s going on with it politically and socially. Then, start talking to decision makers, start pestering them and don’t stop pestering them. That’s how I started: I kept pestering politicians and decision-makers until they actually listened to me. 

I always need to be talking to people

Also, try to find a network of people with similar interests and causes, find groups, and find people on LinkedIn who are doing similar work, and talk to them. Learn as much as you can. That’s probably the best piece of advice I could give.

LT: One thing that I’m very interested in asking you about is goalball. It’s not something that I know a lot about. Tell me about the team that you play for.

AH: Disability sport in Northern Ireland is pretty much non-existent, especially after COVID. So I hadn’t really been exposed to it much when I was younger. I played a bit of cerebral palsy football, but that was about it. When I came to Durham, I was put in contact with a fellow Northern Irish student who played goalball up in Newcastle. But I got very busy with college life and it fell into the back of my mind. Then I was bored in about April last year, I’d done all my work, and so I decided I might as well go and try. So I went, and immediately loved the sport. 

For those who don’t know, goalball is a visually impaired sport. It’s played at all levels right up to international. It’s a sport that involves… it’s hard to describe… I’d say it’s reverse dodgeball. It’s played on a volleyball court, it’s got two nets, nine metres each, which span the whole width of the court. There’s two teams of three, and players act as both a goalkeeper and attacker. Players dive to save the ball, which weighs three footballs, and then get up, run and try to score past the other team. It’s quite a sore sport to play, getting the ball thrown at you at fast speeds, even with padding. But no, it’s good fun and I’m a very competitive person, so it suits me.

LT: You were one of the key figures in getting HEX back up and running. Why should people value HEX’s presence in Trevs? 

AH: Something that I felt Trevs was lacking was an outlet for student voice. So that caused me to go down a rabbit hole looking at how other colleges do it, but also looking at our past, which is when I came across HEX, and I thought it was such a good idea. 

HEX to me is all about fostering student talent from a journalism perspective, from getting them to explore social issues, free opinion pieces, creative writing, different interests, and sports. Also documenting students’ thoughts on student theatre, say TCMS or Sixth Side, or events run by the JCR. I’ve always seen it as an outlet for students to grow in confidence.

HEX, to me, is all about fostering student talent

It’s a good way of communication because social media is so fast-paced. It really connects to the Trevs community, and I think that’s what’s so valuable. I also think it’s valuable that any student can write for HEX, and I encourage any student to do so, because it’s such a good pastime. If I want a break from work, I’ll write an opinion piece.

LT: What does Trevs mean to you, and what do you think you’ll take with you from Trevs in the future?

AH: Trevs, to me, is very much about community. We’re one of the smallest colleges in Durham, but I think that’s what’s special about us. Yes, it has its challenges, and I have found that particularly around JCR stuff. Sometimes it can be from not having the same funding as other colleges, or engagement issues. But at the end of the day, the thing that makes Trevs special is the community; it’s walking down these corridors day after day and meeting all the different people when going to the dining hall and the library. 

I think the thing that I will take with me is not being afraid to talk to everyone and get to know them. I would say it’s a very underrated college. I know it can sometimes get a bit of hate in Durham; people don’t see it as one of the better colleges. But being in Trevs; I would wholeheartedly disagree with the Durham stereotype that we’re just a bunch of hexagon-loving students.

Image: Andrew Hamilton