In Touch Spring 2013

Page 21

Community The KCLA Chairman Andy Parrish (Chemistry, 1966) It is sobering to realise I am now halfway through my second term as KCLA Chairman. We have made a great deal of progress in recent years, but much remains to be done if we are to realise the huge potential of our alumni body. In October, we held our biggest-ever KCLA Games, with over 340 students and alumni engaged in six sports. The event was graced by the magnificent Katherine Grainger, who has happily agreed to become Patron of the Games. We enjoyed a superb, sold-out Annual Dinner in the House of Lords, addressed by alumna Sarah Newton MP; 20 per cent of attendees were students, sponsored by Stirling House. November’s AGM saw the retirement of Lord McColl as our President. Ian has been a great strength during his two years in office and we hope to draw on his great wisdom and experience regularly in the future. We warmly welcome his successor, Professor Nairn Wilson, former Dean of the Dental Institute. We also said goodbye to Valerie Beynon, who retired after many peerless years as KCLA Secretary. Her replacement is Max Chauhan, who is also Secretary of the AKC Group. We also welcomed back former Union President Ryan Wain. At the time of writing, we greatly look forward to the 2013 KCLA Address, to be given, in Southwark Cathedral, by Lord (Alex) Carlile, a most distinguished law alumnus, who will speak on ‘Terrorism and the Law’. Our ambitious 2013 programme, generously funded by an increased grant from the College, places great strain on our volunteers, including Council members. Many of you will have recently received an email asking you to consider helping us, often in quite small ways, to run our major events. Please respond positively. It might be fun! Call me if you need more details.

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IN TOUCH

spring 2013

For the latest information about all of our alumni groups go to alumni.kcl.ac.uk

We met at King’s

Alumni benefits and services called Arfeuilles, soon after graduating from King’s. Charlotte: It was hilarious seeing Julien’s family, most of whom are French, interacting with my family, who had bravely made the trip from Yorkshire for the occasion. Julien: It was a very hot day with a thunderstorm in the afternoon, then it cooled down nicely. We played country games and there was a little musical recital by various guests. Charlotte: We took up ballroom dancing a few years ago specifically so that we would have a hobby we can do together. We can both claim to have danced with Vincent Simone from Strictly Come Dancing! Julien: My advice for a happy marriage is talk to each other often and a lot. Try not to forget, with everything else going on in today’s world, that your wife or husband is the most important person in your life. Charlotte: Good communication and never lose your sense of humour. Plus, as my dad said on his 50th wedding anniversary (you’ll have to imagine the broad Yorkshire accent): ‘It helps if you marry t’ right person.’ Which is true.

Charlotte and Julien Allen (both English Law & French Law, 1994) met in London, but it wasn’t until their two years in Paris that their romance flourished. Today, they have three children and live in Teddington. Charlotte: We met at a cheese and wine

party, but I mainly remember our first tutorial together. Julien was sitting opposite me and I couldn’t stop staring at him: he had the most amazing eyes. For the first two years of our course (the London years), I actually thought Julien must dislike me; he was very prickly with me, though he did always let me steal half his Twix. Julien: We used to argue a lot more in tutorials than fellow students should normally do, and Charlotte also used to eat half my Twix in breaks in Land Law Seminars with Richard Furniss. Charlotte: Our first date was when we saw Beauty and the Beast at a tiny cinema in Paris, where we went on to study for the final two years of our degree. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether it was actually a ‘date’ or we were still just friends, but the film and the setting were absolutely magical. On the way home in the MĂŠtro we held hands and talked about all sorts of things. I realised then that this was heading somewhere. Julien: We got married in a little village in the mountains of the Auvergne,

If you studied at King’s, or at one of the colleges with which it has merged, you are entitled to many great benefits. Please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7848 3053 for more details. Online alumni.kcl.ac.uk3ULQFLSDOśV Facebook C I RC LE facebook.com/KCLalumni Twitter twitter.com/KCL alumni King’s Alumni is also on Linkedin

The crowning touch was that the standard lamp on the flat roof would be lit when the unlucky student turned his room light on.’

taking the 68 bus from the College to Denmark Hill ‘but how could I find the Platanes itself in a 1950s real pea souper of a fog? It was quite frightening, literally feeling my way up the road by the garden walls hoping to see the familiar sight of the Plats – or had I stumbled past it? ‘Other memories – we came down to breakfast one Sunday morning to find a Morris Seven in the entrance hall at the foot of the marvelous double bend staircase. Still not sure how it was manhandled up six steps from the drive and through the front door – an engineers’ rag. ‘Another engineers’ rag was to remove the whole of a room’s furniture to the flat roof of an outbuilding opposite over a passageway.

W Geoffrey Jones (Medicine, 1955)

remembers a winter night in 1950 when he was bedridden in the Platanes’ firstfloor sick bay and suddenly shocked by a loud crack. ‘I was expecting to find shattered glass everywhere, but there was none. However, inspection revealed a neatly drilled hole, about .22 calibre! I flopped back to my pillow and reached for the call bell, pressing long and hard. Shortly appeared the night porter, a laconic gent. With a fag hanging from lower lip, we surveyed the damage, and he pronounced, “Sorry, guv, vers a lot of that that goes on arahnd ’ere.� With that, he proceeded to repair the window, probably with a corn plaster.’ John Hodgson (Law, 1962) lived in the

Platanes during his first two years.

‘The communal dining room was on the ground floor of Plats. It was not self-service. We were served at the table. There was no choice although those with special dietary needs were catered for. If you were out for the evening, any hot dish would be kept warm for you on a plate in the “hot foot cupboard�, a contraption with sliding doors. ‘There was a “shop� in a corridor on the ground floor of Plats run by a volunteer student. This was a converted broom cupboard selling merely basic necessities such as butter and jam. These were necessities because there was an unlimited supply of free sliced white bread and it was common practice to toast bread in our rooms using the gas fires.’ Please share memories of your hall of residence! Email them to InTouch@kcl. ac.uk or post them to In Touch, King’s College London, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R 1HH

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Learn a language REMEMBERING THEWAR THE DICKSON POON SCHOOL OF LAW FIRST LESSONS IN FIRSTAID VISION AND HOPE IN BURMA

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Remember how special your time was at King’s and help to continue our tradition of giving students a broad education that serves both them and society well. Be part of our leadership community by joining the Dental, Medical or Principal’s Circle with a gift of £1,000. Je `e_d j^_i _cfehjWdj" _dÔk[dj_Wb Y_hYb[ e\ ikffehj[hi" fb[Wi[ YedjWYj j^[ <kdZhW_i_d] J[Wc ed !** & (& -.*. *-&'1 Xo [cW_b ]_l_d]6aYb$WY$ka1 eh edb_d[ Wj0 mmm$Wbkcd_$aYb$WY$ka%]_l_d] 00 Cover 02.indd FC1

19/09/2012 13:38

In Touch magazine

Produced twice a year in print and digital formats. If you or somebody you know would like to receive In Touch and currently do not, please email us at InTouch@kcl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7848 4703.

The Modern Language Centre Evening Programme offers a wide range of languages at all levels, including specialised courses. King’s alumni are eligible for a 30 per cent discount. Courses start in October, January and April. For more information, email modern.language@kcl.ac.uk Short courses: King’s Professional and Executive Development

King’s offers a range of short courses. Alumni are entitled to discounts for many of these courses. For more information, please visit www.kcl.ac. uk/prospectus/shortcourses/home or call +44 (0)20 7848 6814.

To apply, please call 080 0028 2440, quoting King’s College London credit card. Special offers & discounts

The Alumni Office is pleased to present a range of exclusive discounts and offers for our alumni. Please visit Alumni Online for a full listing. Discounts include: Avis

10 per cent Visit website, use code X225265 Cottages4you

10 per cent Call 0845 268 1414, quote KCL10 Glasses Direct

25 per cent Visit website, use code GDSTUDY25 Grange Hotels

special rates Call hotel, quote ID 21270

E-newsletter

Register at alumni.kcl.ac.uk to receive regular electronic newsletters from King’s. Alumni Online

Another way of staying in touch with your College friends. It’s free and you can update your personal details and network professionally.

Hall of residence memories: the Platanes Several alumni recently shared memories from the 1950s and early 60s of the Platanes, now known as King’s College Hall. Here is a sampling. AV ‘Tony’ Jell (Geography, 1952) recalls

Centre and libraries are available to alumni. Reading in the libraries is free, and you can borrow books and materials for an annual fee of ÂŁ60. Download an application form from our website.

Get fit at King’s

Kinetic Fitness offers alumni an affordable training facility conveniently located five minutes from Waterloo Station. From a ÂŁ5 one-day pass to a ÂŁ200 oneyear membership, alumni are entitled to the same rates as students. To learn more, call 020 7848 4650 or email kinetic.gym@kclsu.org

Alumni email

Join Alumni Online to register for your alumni email address.

For more please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk

King’s Connections

A careers advice directory which lists alumni willing to give advice to fellow alumni and students. Use the libraries

The College’s Information Service

Stay at King’s

The stopover service can help you to find accommodation at one of our halls of residence during the summer. King’s College London Credit Card

Our only official credit card, the King’s College London Credit Card has been carefully designed to provide great value, as well as supporting King’s.

King’s College London Association KCLA is the alumni association for all former students, staff and friends of King’s and the colleges with which it has merged. All alumni are encouraged to participate in the KCLA’s work by attending events and voting in its elections. KCLA will hold its next Annual General Meeting and elections on Friday 1 November 2013. Patron Archbishop Desmond Tutu FKC (Theology, 1965; MTh, 1966)

Past President Professor The Lord Ian McColl of Dulwich CBE FKC (Guy’s, Medicine, 1957) President Professor Nairn Wilson CBE FKC Past Chairman Steven Rhodes (Theology & Religious Studies, 1988) Chairman Andrew Parrish (Chemistry, 1966) Secretary

Dr Max Chauhan (Dentistry, 1992)

Treasurer Nicholas Goulding

(Physics, 1968) Events Officer Alison Taylor (Human Environmental Science, 1990) Elected members â—? Waheed Aslam Khan

(M.Sc Management IT Law & Computing, 2010) â—? Aprill Barry (Biomedical Science, 2011) â—? Robin Healey

(Law, 1968) � Dr Andrew Papanikitas (Medical Ethics & Law, 2002) � Professor Patricia Reynolds (Guy’s Dentistry, 1977) � John Ricketts (War Studies, 2010) � Ryan Wain (Law, 2009) � Mary Zagoritou (Mathematics Education, 2007) spring 2013 IN TOUCH

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