#ARUInLove: Seventeen years and counting

Anglia Ruskin University students Ruth and Jon

Ruth and Jon have just celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary, after meeting as students in Cambridge in 1997. Ruth reflects on the early days of their relationship, and what's happened since.

Ruth and Jon met in 1997, when ARU was known as Anglia Polytechnic University or APU, and are now married with two daughters.

Ruth told us:

Jon and I met at APU when we started in 1997. We were both studying English and both housed in Swinhoe Hall for our first year, and we started dating in our second year. The first picture is Jon and me at an APU summer ball at Chilford Hall in 1999 and we both graduated with BA (Hons) English in 2000.

Anglia Ruskin University graduates Ruth and Jon celebrating their wedding anniversary

I stayed in Cambridge with friends to work and Jon went back home – but long distance was hard work so about six months later Jon came back to Cambridge.

We got married in 2005 and we had our first daughter Betty in 2008, followed by our second daughter Daisy in 2010.

We just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary in December with a meal at Fancetts on Mill Road – whilst reminiscing about uni days and the walk to lectures along Mill Road every day from our student housing on Ross Street!



Ruth and Jon graduated in 2020 and are both part of our Alumni Network, which has 100,000 members around the world.