OGs Making a Difference

RICHARD BAMPFYLDE OG 1998 WRITES FROM BEIRUT

I’m currently marketing and teaching sustainability at Brummana High School, the British school in Lebanon. BHS is an independent, non-profit, coeducational school in the mountains over Beirut, a short 25-minute ride from the capital. The campus reminds me of RGS Guildford with plenty of space, new facilities mixed seamlessly with historic buildings (from the 1870s) and plenty of nature and fresh air to help inspire the next generation.

I’ve spent nearly 15 years of my career in the Middle East now, starting off in Bahrain and moving to Beirut and finally to Brummana 12 months ago. I have some roots in Lebanon: my mother was raised here and indeed my parents met and married here. The country and region have always fascinated me, particularly having grown up in the 80s with the Lebanese civil war in full-flow and often discussed over the Sunday lunch table.

Donations can be made here: https://bhs.edu.lb/giving/ donation-appeals

The August 4th explosion in the Beirut port area, which resounded across almost the whole country and was even heard 160 miles away in Cyprus, has had an enormous impact on the country and society. Given Lebanon was already experiencing an economic collapse including a dramatic devaluation of the local currency, as well as social and political turmoil, all before even considering the impact of COVID-19, suffice to say the country has seen much, much better days.

In the clean-up operation following the tragic event and aftermath, many BHS students and staff responded with assistance on the ground, helping the injured, clearing streets of glass and beginning to put back together buildings and lives. The school’s Student Council initiated a community collection on campus, delivering car loads of food, clothing and sanitary products to NGOs operating in Beirut. Nearly $1,500 in cash was also raised for the Lebanese Red Cross. This kind of charity/philanthropic involvement is essential to young children’s education, and perhaps even more so in a country where limited state services leave large sections of the population without the usual safety net countries around the world so often provide. I remember charity and fundraising work being integrated into our education at RGS, as well as receiving great support from teachers when undertaking a volunteering expedition to Sinai, Egypt with the then British Schools Exploring Society in the summer between Lower and Upper Sixth.

Shortly after the blast Brummana High School launched the emergency Beirut Fund which aims to raise money to cover tuition fees of families affected, either losing their homes or their businesses due to the shockwave. Some have even lost both. So far BHS has raised 50% of the necessary funds required to cover fees (c$1,000 a year per student now given the Lebanese Lira devaluation). The Beirut Fund will come to an end at the end of the year. Should any of the RGS community wish to respond, please see https://bhs.edu.lb/giving/donationappeals

The haunting memories from August 4th still remain amongst all of us who were unfortunate to have experienced such a disaster, with the white cloud above the port area akin to a nuclear bomb engrained for a lifetime. With local and international support, the country is renewing itself. It is hoped that the next generation, many of whom are educated at Brummana High School, can now lead Lebanon forth into a brighter future for all. Long live Lebanon!

RGS SALUTES YOU

Alex Calvey OG 2006 Alex Rossides OG 2009 Amour Patel OG 2006

As COVID-19 started to take hold and the country went into lockdown, we became aware of OGs working on the frontline of the NHS, bravely giving medical expertise and care in extremely difficult and challenging situations. Their families and friends shared news and photos with us, often a quick selfie in PPE before or after a long, exhausting and emotionally draining shift.

RGS Salutes You was our way of saying Thank You. We decided to acknowledge our OGs and their dedicated work on our social media – Twitter, RGS Connect and Facebook – both through individual posts and every week in the Thursday Clap for Carers. You can read their stories on the website at: rgs-ourcommunity-

RGSSalutesYou

Many turned their hand to medical demands outside of their usual specialism or worked hard to keep providing much needed care in maternity, cancer, children’s health, anaesthesia, general practice and more. Many are continuing to do so as the pandemic shifts again. Resourcefulness, stamina and sheer tenacity allied to medical skill and commitment have been shown by them and their colleagues, and for this we are truly grateful.

Here are some of those OGs we heard about – there are many more and on behalf of the entire RGS community, we say a heartfelt Thank You to each and every one of you.

Daniel Bruynseels OG 1994 Dominic Rossides OG 2011 Douglas Macmillan OG 1983

George Badham OG 2008 George Gathercole OG 2015

Jagdeva Mehet OG 2009 James Nickells OG 1985 Joe Bruynseels OG 1996

Nick Wilson-Jones OG 1990 Pete Steed OG 2002

Andy Turnbull OG 2004 Arjun Odedra OG 2010 Barney Wong OG 2007 Ben Rusholme OG 2009 Daniel Becker OG 1988

Douglas White OG 2012 Ed Coats OG 1998 Gareth Davies OG 1999 Gavin Werrett OG 1998

Greg Neal-Smith OG 2010 Harry Chadwick OG 2006 Hussein Hassanali OG 2002 Jack Langan OG 2016

Justin Kelly RGS DT Kyle Fleischer OG 2011 Laurence Suckling OG 2010 Misha Verkerk OG 2006 Nicholas Dawe OG 2001

Rhys Watkins OG 2011 Rob Loveless OG 2007 Robbie Tuffley OG 2009 Sam McKeown OG 2016

THANK YOU

BRAIN INJURY IN RUGBY

Tom Goodbourn OG 2015 and PhD researcher at Durham University is specialising in mild traumatic brain injury in professional rugby players.

Head injury in rugby is an everpresent facet of the game and a significant issue for researchers who are aiming to reduce the potential risk and severity associated with contact sports. Concussion remains the most common injury seen across all levels and codes of rugby with RFU protocols in place to assess head injury and return-to-play criteria. Any type of head injury should be considered serious and the protection of all who play the game, youth players up to the careerprofessionals, is paramount. American football, ice hockey and soccer also face this challenge and the implications for long-term health complications are being explored across these and other impact sports. So, what makes this particular piece of research so ‘ground-breaking’?

Tom belongs to a consortium of world-leading universities from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK all focussing on a different element of concussion in rugby. In the UK, his team focusses on the analysis of the forces that players are exposed to during training sessions and matches through the use of head-mounted impact

sensors. This is combined with other data streams to be the first study of its kind to have a multi-source approach of:

• impact telemetry monitoring • blood serum analysis • visual/cognitive screening • player neck strength • scenario video analysis

in both men’s and women’s rugby. The inclusion of video analysis supports the identification of higher risk ‘plays’ or techniques that may potentially expose a player to more serious head impacts. The findings will be combined and presented to the relevant organisations to improve understanding of the longterm physiological effects that exposure to head impact can induce in all sports. Safety and enjoyment of the sport can then move forward hand in hand.

Tom writes: “As we believe the entire point of this type of research is for the benefit of player welfare, the option of crowdfunding the major costs (£32,000) became a popular idea. Think: ‘research funded by the people, for the people’. If you are interested in supporting the research, the link to the GoFundMe is: https://gf.me/u/x9gdm3.” The RGS adopted the Return2Play Concussion Management system five years ago in order to ensure that the recommended concussion guidelines are met for our pupils. Online consultations are available at each stage of the sign off process with doctors who have expertise in concussion. Pupils also receive an annual update on the protocols, usually delivered by the Medical Director of our concussion consultancy, Dr Sam Barke.