Fake News and Cambridge Analytica 07

NEWS OLD CAT

DR PHILIP WOOD (OC 1952 – 1962)

Philip and his wife Nancy returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo in December to encourage their former students in a difficult situation and help in a number of teaching areas.

Philip’s book, ‘In Praise of Simplicity’ which calls itself ‘A memoir of Christian Service in times of peace and war in Congo’ has received some touching reviews on Amazon, such as “a great book of a true story of someone giving their life to God and others instead of self, plus great commentary on how one should use one’s life”.

“The world needs more Philip Woods. As a Cambridge trained surgeon, he had the opportunity for a life of high income and reality ease. But motivated by a desire for Christian service, he chose to serve the neediest in Africa. He has written In Praise of Simplicity as his memoirs of Christian service in times of peace

EMMA-LOUISE VETRIANO

Congratulations for being presented as a Sport Industry NextGen Leader for 2019. A highly coveted award for any professional aged 30 or under working in the UK sports industry. and war in Africa. It is his personal story, along with his equally trained and motivated Canadian wife Nancy, but his clear desire is to teach that fulfilment does not need to be found in material riches.

On their graduation from medical school, Philip and Nancy immediately set out to serve in Africa as medical missionaries. In Praise of Simplicity tells their story with many insightful vignettes, notably that we need to trust and to marvel in God who will provide. From the early days in Nyankunde, eastern Congo, political upheaval and war were always nearby. They were serving in Liberia when strongman Charles Taylor was advancing into the capital. When Liberia was no longer safe, Philip found himself part of the Nyankunde massacre where an estimate 1,500 were massacred, the hospital demolished and the Woods lost all of their earthly possessions. Yet there is never a hint of complaint from Philip.

Philip and Nancy made an incredible positive and tangible impact on many thousands of people both physically and spiritually. The book is the recording of a great man’s life that should be honoured, although of course Philip would never put it that way. We need to

Philip’s book ‘In Praise of Simplicity’ has received some touching reviews on Amazon.

(NÉE CROSS) (OC 2002 – 2006)

celebrate and honour such unselfishness.”

OC JOE COMMITS TWILIGHT ROBBERY (OC 2015)

Class of 2015 drama star Joe McNeice has staged his self-penned show, Twilight Robbery at the Barn Theatre Oxted and was interviewed about the production by the BBC’s digital output who have shown a strong interest in his work. Joe’s show is an entirely original musical about a group of OAPs who carry out a diamond heist to save their retirement home from closure. Joe graduated from the University of York in 2018 having studied Theatre: Writing, Directing and Performance.

Twilight Robbery follows the story of Joyce, an elderly woman who has been left at a retirement home by her grown up children. When she learns that the home is going to be bought by property developers and demolished, she gathers the other residents together and hatches a plan to carry out a diamond heist to prevent them from being kicked out and left on the streets.

Despite chiefly being a musical farce, Twilight Robbery confronts a number of social issues affecting modern Britain, including the loneliness epidemic faced by many of the UK’s elderly. This all-singing all-dancing production, about growing old and refusing to let age or self-doubt stop you from achieving incredible feats, is hilarious and heart-warming in equal measure.

Joe’s cast for the show featured a number of notable rising stars, including Em Barrett (Welsh Young Musical Theatre Singer of the Year 2018), Josh Benson (Original cast, Gary Barlow’s The Girls, West End) and Martha Pothen (2018 Revival cast, Privates on Parade, Union Theatre).

ELLIE SCOTT-SMITH (OC 2012)

Congratulations for being shortlisted for PR Week’s ‘30 Under 30 2018’. Known at FleishmanHillard Fishburn as ‘queen of disruption’, her ideas have pushed boundaries; from her work for the Poundland Valentine’s meal campaign, to helping make Crocs cool. Her approach seems to be working – she has helped bring in more than £400k of new business to the London office this year so far.

OC TOM LAND INSPIRES SIXTH FORM TO CHECK FOR CANCER

James Glancy (OC 2001) and Paul de Gelder spent two days and nights swimming with sharks in the open ocean for what the Discovery TV network described as ‘the most dangerous experiment ever attempted on Shark Week’.

As conservationists, they wanted to dispel the myth that the oceanic whitetip sharks are dangerous, rather graceful and cautious wild animals. As part of the setup for ‘Sharkwrecked,’ a pyrotechnics team blew up the small boat that brought Mr. Glancy and Mr. de Gelder out to sea so that they were left to face the elements and the sharks alone. They demonstrated that the elements were a much greater threat than the sharks, with 100 degree Fahrenheit sun, dehydration and lightning strikes. Tom Land (OC 2001 – 2016), currently studying zoology at the University of Southampton, returned to school to explain to the Sixth Form the importance of checking for testicular cancer as well as being very much aware of your intimate health, whether you are male or female. He gave an inspiring and informative talk, sharing his own experiences of how he beat cancer over the last year. He particularly stressed the importance of Movember.

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JAMES GLANCY (OC 1996 – 2001)

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Congratulations to the following OCs…

Weddings

q Jess Martin (OC 2007) who married Ste Malpas on Saturday 1 September 2018. Jess wrote to tell us “We met seven years ago when I was at uni in Bournemouth on a Saturday night out (he was visiting Bournemouth from Manchester for the weekend). We got married at Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron in Shropshire. We live in Manchester, as my family are still down south, we chose somewhere that both families had to travel to. We had the most amazing wedding day and really got lucky with the weather. I now have an 11 year old stepdaughter, Eva, and she even did a little speech at the wedding”.

q Alex Gregory (OC 2000 – 2007) who married Georgie on 18 August 2018.

p Nicky Law (OC 1995 – 1998) married Jonathan Barker, after ten years, on 21 April 2018 at the Kingston Estate in South Devon. It was a magical day made extra special by having so many Old Cats and Old Eothians there including The Lanes, The Turneys, Jacko, Katie Cox, Lulu Martin and their Headmaster Rob Davey with Ann. Nicky and Jonathan are now expecting their first baby, a little girl, in the Spring.

q Kristina Dimitrova (OC 2005 – 2007) who married Filip Stoichkov (so now Kristina Stoichkova) on Saturday 1 September 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Engagements

t Tom Archer (OC 2004 – 2009) and Lucy Ruddle (OC 2003 – 2008) who met at Caterham School 11 years ago. This summer, on holiday in Thailand, Tom popped the question and they are now engaged!

Births

t Kate Eighteen (née Davey) (OC 2003) who welcomed Sienna Rose Eighteen on 9 December 2017.

t Lucy May (OC 2005) and Joshua Higginson (OC 2010) welcomed Cecelia Alexandra Higginson on 18 April 2018 at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. They will be getting married this summer so watch this space for more pictures!