51Âþ»­

Sir Kenneth Branagh, Dame Judi Dench and Michael Fassbender are just some of the stars a 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) graduate has been rubbing shoulders with, thanks to a timely tweet.

Claire Tallentire, an , and graduate, landed an exciting role with the annual London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, live-tweeting and Instagramming the red-carpet arrivals and awards announcements.

The awards are presented by the 145-member , the UK’s longest-standing and most prestigious critical organisation.

Established in 1980, they have become widely anticipated and respected in the industry, with past attending winners including Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Martin Scorsese, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Quentin Tarantino, Emma Thompson, Christoph Waltz and Steve McQueen.

The opportunity came about when Claire replied to a tweet by the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, asking for a volunteer to support their awards coverage.

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After impressing them with her pitch, which included details of her successful film blog , Claire was chosen for the role and has covered the January awards for the past five years.

She said: “It’s an extremely high-profile event and to work hard covering the red carpet and awards successfully, interacting with followers on social media and doing the very best job I can in this volunteer role gives me great satisfaction.”

The role involves rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s most famous stars. This year, a special Dilys Powell Award for achievement was presented to Sir Kenneth Branagh by Dame Judi Dench.

She said: “It was a great honour to meet both of them. I also met Kate Winslet, Amy Director Asif Kapadia and had a chat to Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones about clothes and handbags!”

Covering the awards has put Claire’s professionalism to the test – she met heartthrob Michael Fassbender and managed not to faint – and has also introduced her to some of her personal heroes.

She said: “I really enjoyed meeting Donald Sutherland as someone I’ve always admired, as well as film critic Barry Norman, an inspiration of mine. Steve Coogan was brilliant and really engaging too.”

By day, Claire works as Stakeholder Communications Manager for the University of Wolverhampton.

Straight after graduating from 51Âþ»­ in 1997, Claire started out at a Leicestershire PR agency. She broke into a management position in her 30s, after various agency and in-house PR roles in London.

Claire said: “51Âþ»­ was a fantastic experience. It developed me and shaped me to be the person I am today, and put me on the career path I am on.

“I volunteered for the student newspaper which really helped me in my career too. All students should seek work placements in the areas they want to get into and really pursue it.

“I also made lifelong friends who I am still in contact with today. In fact, a group of us are getting together this year to celebrate our 40th birthdays!”