Help us restore the Fettes College Pavilion
Fettes College draws strength from connections across our widespread community of Old Fettesians, past and current parents and other friends of Fettes who support our goals and engage with our ambitions. With help from donors, the next important development Fettes aims to complete is the Pavilion Restoration Project. For well over a century the Pavilion has been at the heart of sporting life at Fettes College and has hardly changed during that time.
Fettes Foundation
It is more than just a building. It is a place with special memories for many, steeped in nostalgia and deserving of structural restoration and sensitive refurbishment for the decades ahead. Fundraising for this project is very much a priority for the Fettes Foundation. We aim to have all funds in place as soon as possible, so that the Pavilion can be revitalised as a co-educational sporting hub.
Angus Maciver (Ca 1961-1965) remembers his History report from Paddy in his final year which said:
Our Plans A sensitive restoration and refurbishment of the Pavilion will afford tremendous benefits to pupils. It will ensure that this iconic Fettes building remains the motivational, historical and nostalgic place it has always been, but it will be improved and advanced to provide Fettesian sportsmen and sportswomen with a place to gather to discuss team performance and tactics and to host visiting teams and their supporters.
John Shapland Yeo Described by his pupils as: “A hero with an understanding heart, brave, honest and kind” The Pavilion was built in 1906, just over 30 years after Fettes College opened its doors, in memory of John Shapland Yeo (1860-1904), Housemaster of Carrington and master for 22 years. The funds to build the Pavilion were raised by an appeal organised by Old Fettesians. It is fitting therefore that the restoration of the Pavilion is being funded through philanthropy today, as it was over a century ago. Old Fettesians have the opportunity once again to leave a lasting legacy alongside parents, past and present, and other friends of Fettes.
The project will refurbish the existing Category B Listed building built in coarse sandstone. Flexible spaces will be created which will retain the historic character of the Pavilion. Later additions to the building, now in disrepair, will be removed. New toilet facilities and a kitchen area will be created. The primary barrel vaulted space inside the Pavilion will remain and be fully restored. A proposed new extension to the rear of the building will consist of a contemporary social space, to be known as the Long Room. Together, these spaces will enable hosting at our home matches to come to the fore.
A new Home Team coaching area, with the necessary IT infrastructure for future smart board installation, will be a welcome addition. Away Teams will also have a space in the Pavilion to gather pre and post match.
Team boards Team boards, dating back to 1870, will be restored and updated and, for the first time, will include girls’ boards.
“I have not been in this building for 42 years and yet it feels like yesterday. I am a boy again.” Old Fettesian
“He has worked hard this term and his comparison of the abilities of generals Wellington and Marlborough was excellent but he must stop trying to sweep balls on his leg stump.” Patrick Croker (Staff 1959-1965)
A lasting legacy We are so grateful for all the support towards this project we have received to date, including from benefactors who have remembered Fettes in their wills. One such benefactor is Patrick Croker, or Paddy as he was known, who was on the staff at Fettes from 1959 to 1965. Paddy came to us from Brasenose College, Oxford and very soon made an impact on Fettes life. During his time here he was Head of History, Moredun House Tutor, Rugby, Hockey and Cricket coach, CCF Officer and President of the Debating Society. His students remember him well. Graham Cole (Ca 1961-1962), former President of our US Charity, Friends of Fettes College Inc., had enormous respect for Paddy and is deeply indebted to him. He remembers that: “Paddy took me, the ESU ‘Yank’ that year, under his wing, tutoring me in European History one-on-one to get me up to speed. I have never forgotten his intellectual rigor, his passion for the discipline of History, his enthusiasm in instruction, his curiosity, and his raw energy in everything he did. He so clearly loved teaching and appreciated and cultivated a committed student’s desire to learn.”
Frans ten Bos (Gl 1951-1955)
On the games field in all seasons his voice rang out to inspire, rebuke, instruct and exhort. Cricket was perhaps Paddy’s greatest love, and he gave untold hours to fielding and net practices. Everything Paddy Croker did at Fettes he did wholeheartedly and he is sadly missed by all those who knew him. It is also fitting that the family of Frans ten Bos (Gl 1951-1955) agreed to direct his generous legacy towards this project. The Pavilion will have been at the very heart of Frans’ time at Fettes, given he was an impressive member of the famous XV which did not lose a school match in five years, before he went on to play rugby for Scotland. Frans not only made his mark on the sports field, but also became a valued friend to many fellow Fettesians. He remained a genuinely proud Fettesian throughout his life.
Your support We will be proud to honour and acknowledge Paddy Croker and Frans ten Bos in the newly restored and upgraded Pavilion and we hope that many more members of our community will choose to invest in the College and the future of young Fettesians by supporting this important project. Should you feel able help us reach our goal by making a donation, you can make a gift online by visiting: www.fettes.com/familyforlife/ foundation/singledonation
Recognising your contribution
“It was a place that took 15 individual school boys and brought them together as a collection of men ready for battle. It was where the final prep, team talk and team tactics were discussed. It was where a number of Fettesians truly felt at home, in a brotherhood of men, unable to be replicated anywhere else but the Pavilion.” Chris Thomson (Inv-Ki 2001 - 2008) 1st XV Captain 2007
Developing plans to recognise support from Pavilion donors include: • • •
Naming opportunities for gifts of £50,000 or more. Prominent acknowledgement for gifts of £10,000 or more, sympathetically integrated into the plans for the exterior of the Pavilion. A donor board for all donors who wish to be listed.
If you would like to discuss making a donation, please do not hesitate to contact Nicola Pickavance, Director of Development, by calling 0131 311 6960 or by emailing n.pickavance@fettes.com.
The Fettes Foundation is a registered charity in Scotland, No: SC028350. It is a company limited by guarantee in Scotland, No: SC189253 and with its registered office at Fettes College, Carrington Road, Edinburgh, EH4 1QX