8 minute read
Welcome from the OR President
WELCOME from our OR President
Avery warm welcome to you as you delve into the 2017 edition of the Reeder, which offers us a new beginning with a new design. This was inspired by the remarkable and humbling story of OR Alex van Holk, whose story you can read in the Main Feature. I must admit that it was the front cover photograph of Alex, featured in a mock-up of the proposed new design, that convinced me we should make the changes; I am sure you will be similarly inspired by Alex’s story and I hope you will enjoy our new format. I also hope that you will approve of our decision to move the annual publication date to the autumn so we can capture news from the full school year.
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Even though we are embarking on a new beginning with this publication, I am delighted to say that now we also have greater visibility into the past through the launch of Reed’s Heritage, an online archive of everything about the School going back as far as our research can take us.
I would urge you to log in to the Heritage website (reedsschoolheritage.co.uk) and wander through the sections to see what interests you, always bearing in mind that this is a live project that will see more material added as time and funds allow. Once again, I must mention Andy Wotton (Mullens 1975) and his extraordinary commitment and drive to making this project happen, working alongside Sharmaine, Meg Fitzgerald and other colleagues. I would particularly point you towards Andy’s research on The War Years which extends the work he did on completing (and correcting!) the Remembrance Boards in the School Chapel. I know others have worked tirelessly alongside the team to make this project a success (you know who you are) and each of you deserves our thanks which I am delighted to record here. So, how much do you remember about your time at Reed’s, your contemporaries or, perhaps, later years with the Old Reedonians? An OR magazine, or more accurately a newsletter, was published twice a year in and around the time I left, and I discovered in one of them the destinations of several Mullens housemates after they left the School; a little more research will help me build a better picture of my contemporaries who passed out of sight and mind as we went our separate ways. I also discovered, for example, that I did a stint as the OR Auditor back in the late 70s/early 80s after I had resigned (or been sacked?!) as OR Cricket Captain. I had no recollection of that at all but memories are now stirring.
I laughed at the late, great Nick Simmons’ report on OR cricket of a similar vintage, although the batting averages reminded me that some of us were never as good as we think we were – if only we had had Reed’s new cricket centre to practise in! Read all about that and its importance to future funding of the Foundation later in this edition. With that in mind, I’m delighted to report that the OR Committee approved a donation of £25,000 towards the cricket centre costs, using funds accumulated many years ago, and this donation will be memorialised in a display board that will remind all visitors to the centre of its essential role in providing a regular income stream to the Foundation – it is, truly, a legacy project!
Reminiscing about the past year or so, many highlights come to mind. We enjoyed a wonderful OR Reunion Day at the end of June, with those celebrating a decade anniversary invited to lunch ahead of the general invitation to tea. The weather was kind, the hospitality from the School was excellent, the cricket looked to be at a scarily high standard and the planning and organisation was, as always, superb. Many “thank yous” were delivered at the time and are repeated here in the aggregate, but I must, of course, tip my hat to Sharmaine and her colleagues in the Development Office: Alison, Ed, Lucy and Ruth, under the leadership of Kathryn, each of whom contributes so much to both Reunion Day and the OR community generally. We all owe grateful thanks for their wonderful support and, for those of you who haven’t been to the School for a while, you will always be assured of a warm welcome from Sharmaine and the ‘Team’. Do take the opportunity to join us next year.
Looking through the reports in this edition of The Reeder, as President of the ORs I am immensely proud of the extraordinary contributions made by ORs of all vintages to the daily life of the School.
You will read elsewhere of the ways in which ORs help current pupils and the Foundation on multiple occasions through the year, and I would like to highlight the contribution of Peter Verstage (Capel 1965) who stepped down as a Reed’s Governor after 10 years of committed service. As well as sitting on the main Governing Board, Peter held positions on various sub-committees – notably the Finance Committee and Marketing Committee, always adding value to the discussions and decisions made. Peter made me very welcome as a new Governor in 2014; I hope he enjoys his ‘retirement’ although I’m sure we will see him at Reed’s on many occasions in the future.
A special event for me each autumn is the lunch in the City for the launch of the Annual Foundation Appeal. At this, a former Reed’s Foundationer returns to give the keynote address and for 2015/16 and 2016/17 our guests were inspired by Luke Wheeler (Capel 2016) and Shahin Baghaei (Capel 2002), each of whom spoke powerfully and emotionally about the challenges they faced before and during their Reed’s education, what Reed’s had done for them and how Reed’s continues to mean so much to them. Listening to those addresses gave the audience a compelling reason to support the Foundation, something that many ORs do willingly and generously through the years. But, the OR community can still do more! Whether you start to contribute for the first time, or perhaps increase your current contributions, your donations will make a huge difference to children’s lives and your generosity will be immensely appreciated (and tax relief makes it even more worthwhile!).
I reported the launch of the OR Golf Society in the 2016 Reeder, with our inaugural event in Autumn 2015. We hosted three more events in 2016, another in April 2017, with the next one scheduled for 12th October 2017. You will find photographs and a list of attendees later in this publication but, in summary, this is what we have been up to: My thanks to each of the hosts and, especially, to all those who have joined us and provided some interesting golf and excellent company. I must emphasise that these days are open to all golfers – that’s the beauty of golf and its handicap system, with several 20+ handicaps on show. We get a more enthusiastic response when we visit better courses, with players happy to pay a bit extra for the experience, with one attempt to arrange a more “budget” day not attracting the necessary support. I would like to see numbers increasing each year, and more ORs happy to host an event at their own clubs, so please get in contact
Golf days
Oct 2015 May 2016 July 2016 Sept 2016 April 2017
Hosted by
Nigel Taunt Adam Jones Harry Pakenham Richard Plank Andy Shiells with Sharmaine or me and/or sign up on the NetworkReeds website (networkreeds. org). Friends and family guests are more than welcome as well. In 2018, we will start with the aim of holding spring and autumn events, hoping to add a summer date if the demand is there. Any volunteer hosts?
On a personal note, you may recall that I couldn’t attend the 2016 OR Reunion Day due to my son’s wedding and I would like to reiterate my thanks to Justyn, our OR Vice President, for making the President’s
Location
Stoke Park Farnham Sunningdale Hartley Wintney Tyrrells Wood
Winner
Adam Jones James Davey Nigel Taunt Peter Griffin Dave Edwards
address in my absence. I’m delighted to report that the wedding was a great success and Nick and Ruth are now happily living in Hitchin, about half an hour away from our family home in Harpenden. I (just) made it to the 2017 Reunion Day before flying out to Dallas for another family wedding and I’m glad to report that I’m running out of unmarried relatives who could create potential conflicts for future OR Reunion Days (although Sharmaine may have her own family story to tell next year!!)! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow OR Committee members (see page 82), many of whom
OR President Nigel Taunt with wife Linda
were at Reunion Day this year, who so willingly give up their time for the benefit of our community.
Just prior to publication, Matt Ridsdale tendered his resignation from the OR Committee. I would like to thank Matt for his years of wise counsel and his contribution to the wider OR community, and I hope we will still see him at OR events for many years to come.
Finally, this edition of the Reeder would not have been possible without the firm foundations built over many years by our former Editor, Geoff Martin. We owe him a debt of gratitude for around a decade of sterling service and I would like to record our sincere thanks to Geoff for that. Equally, this edition and those of prior years would not have reached publication without the tireless efforts of Sharmaine and her colleagues at the School, with Sharmaine now taking over the leadership role as the Editor and fulfilling it with spectacular success. The Old Reedonians are truly blessed by the support and inspiration that flows out of the Development Office and, once again, I would like to record our thanks to all of them.
I hope you will enjoy reading the 2017 Reeder and I hope it inspires you to start or to increase your connections and contributions to the Reed’s community in 2018. My thanks and best wishes to you all.
