CHAIRMAN’S LETTER

It’s been an eventful year. It’s been an eventless year.

In this Autumn 2020 edition of Martlet we pay tribute to OMs who have endured the Covid-19 pandemic across the world. We have compiled a collection of OMs reports from the frontline (page 18) and OM’s personal lockdown stories (page 46) to create a unique record of this unforgettable and equally forgettable year.

In October, I escaped the strictures of the UK’s lockdown, spending two weeks in Sweden where the governing message was refreshingly simple, friendly and motivating: “take care of your loved ones, protect the vulnerable”. It seems by demonstrating that you trust people to be responsible and exercise good judgement, they will do just that – in Sweden at least. It remains to be seen, however, if this evidence-based common sense approach will be enough to beat Covid-19. I suppose only time will tell.

It does, however, beg some questions: what is different about society today and why have governments reacted so differently? I doubt we will ever be able to adequately answer these critical questions. For sure, these answers will be data driven – at least two years’ worth and counting – and so at present we can’t make that call. To see if we can learn anything from the past, journalist Nicholas Lepan, in his article The History of Pandemics (page 8), explores how changing social and economic factors might explain where we are today. Bringing the subject back slightly closer to home medical journalist, Mark Honigsbaum, focuses in on the 1957 Asian flu that many OMs may well recall. A commentary from Roy Moore CBE, MHS headmaster at the time, tells us how the school was affected by it (page 11). We follow this with a selection of communications sent out by Jane Sanchez, the current head, as the 2020 pandemic unfolded revealing just how challenging a time it has been for the school community (page 12).

In these economically uncertain times the careers committee ran a virtual event on how to use Linkedin as a way to improve OMs careers prospects in lockdown. On the back of this we have pulled together, through our network of experts, further insightful advice for OMs who might be looking for new employment and career opportunities (page 90). We also share enterprising OMs stories who, when faced with the challenges of lockdown, turned their lives and businesses around to develop new and exciting opportunities for themselves. We also include a list of club events for 2021 (page 104) in the hope we will be able to resume a semblance of normal life once the vaccine comes into play. Fingers crossed.

Personally, Sweden’s approach of standing firm when all around are doing something different, struck a chord. It tapped into an instinct for ‘refusing to conform to a prevailing rule or practice’ perhaps sub-consciously instilled in me from my days at Mill Hill whose foundations are after all rooted in non-conformism. It has been unquestionably tough for us all to adhere to government lockdown restrictions but whatever our starting point, to succeed against Covid-19 we have learned to embrace uncertainty, acknowledge errors and adapt to a ‘new normal’.

In the meantime we salute all OMs who have worked and continue to work on the frontline and all the OMs and their families who have been forced to act out this unrehearsed lifestyle.

My thanks go to everyone who has contributed amazing content to this special lockdown edition of Martlet and of course to Laura Turner for her fantastic and fanatical time and commitment in creating it.

Take care of yourselves. Take care of others.

Peter Wakeham Chair, Old Millhillians Club