2024 30Ish Alumni Awards

Two alumni from the School of English, Communication and Philosophy have been named winners at the third 30Ish Alumni Awards

Danni Diston and Perri Lewis feature among the recipients at a special ceremony hosted by Cardiff University’s President and Vice-Chancellor Wendy Larner.

Eschewing the format of traditional ’30 Under 30’ lists, the awards are designed to recognise the change-makers, innovators, and rule-breakers among the Cardiff University alumni community under or over 30, who feel 30(ish).

The two English Literature graduates have been recognised in the Entrepreneurship and Journalism and Media categories.

Alongside fellow alumnus Sam MacGregor (BSc 2020), Danni Diston (BA 2019, Journalism, Media and English Literature) co-hosts The Weekend Breakfast show on BBC Radio 1. Broadcast live from Cardiff, it is the first regular daytime show on the station to come live from Wales. The pair began presenting together whilst at Cardiff University on Xpress Radio.

A few years after winning Best Entertainment Show at the Cardiff Student Media Awards, they landed a one-off show on Radio 1 in 2020 and found themselves covering various shows on the station for the following three years. In September 2023 they were given their show and recently also began hosting Friday Early Breakfast. Resident DJs for Welsh Fire at The Hundred, Danni and Sam are regular cover presenters for The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Going Home, and The Official Chart on Radio 1, as well as presenting from Reading and Leeds Festival, Boardmasters and Radio 1’s Big Weekend on BBC iPlayer.

Perri Lewis (BA 2006, English Literature) is the co-founder and CEO of Mastered, a new breed of organisation dedicated to lifelong learning in the creative industries. Over 10 years, they’ve supported more than 6,000 professional creatives from over 95 countries, with diverse clients such as luxury fashion group LVMH and British games developer Sumo Group.  

Perri started her career as the editor of Gair Rhydd, before working as a commissioning editor at The Guardian and Psychologies Magazine. In 2012 she published her first book, Material World, a guide to craft and the DIY movement featuring contributions from Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, and over 100 others. Alongside her work at Mastered, she is a trustee of The Spitz, a charity dedicated to tackling loneliness and isolation through live music.

24 Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences alumni featured among the glittering list of winners, highlighting the diversity of career paths pursued by Cardiff humanities graduates.

Congratulations to all the inspirational alumni recognised in this year’s 30Ish Alumni Awards list.