The President’s Message

Welcome to our 2023 Old Berkhamstedian magazine. After 9 years of editing The Old Berkhamstedian, Matthew Horton (Sw ’90) has stepped down from this role and on behalf of you all, I would like to thank him for all the time and energy he has put into this work and for the excellent job he has done.

I would also like to take the opportunity to introduce Victoria Russell (SG ’11) who has agreed to step into this role. Thanks too to Lynne Oppenheimer (Hon), our master article gatherer, and to the Lavenham Press for bringing the finished magazine together. We all hope that you enjoy this year’s offering, whether you are reading it online or in hard copy form.

Since the last magazine it has been a pleasure to see so many more events and activities resume, with the lifting of Covid restrictions. Not only social events and reunions but also many of our sporting events have been able to take place again.

We enjoyed the Talent Show in February. Huge thanks to all taking part in this event championed and led by Richard McIlwaine (Hon).

In April the memorial services for both John Davison and Mary Rose Farley (Bateman) were both able to take place. It was wonderful that so many OBs were able to meet up again to celebrate these two lives, so influential to so many of the students they taught. These events were the culmination of a lot of preparatory work by many OBs, both former pupils and staff, who were involved either in the music or in giving addresses. I would particularly like to thank the Principal, Richard Backhouse and the School for their total support allowing us use of the school’s wonderful facilities for these events, and to Reverend Jane Markby, School Chaplain, for leading both services so beautifully. Please take a look at the reports later in the magazine to find out more.

Many of our sports clubs have been able to get up and running again, and in July it was brilliant to be able to resurrect our Sports Day with tennis and cricket. The OB cricket match vs the School, up at Chesham Fields with a BBQ in the sunshine was perfect.

By the time this goes to press there will have been the 50+ OB luncheon, the 10 and 20 year reunions, and the London Dinner too.

While on the subject of events, I would like to draw your attention to an article in the magazine summarising results from our 2021 Questionnaire. I hope you find the report interesting. We have certainly found the feedback received very helpful and are using it to help our alumni organisation evolve and grow along the lines our membership want. Some of these changes take time, not least because of the inevitable constraints afforded by the fact that all of our OB Council members are volunteers, many of whom are still working. Even our wonderful staff in the OB office, Vicky and Sarah, are part-time.

However, we are particularly focusing on making new regional and other events happen. Some expressed an interest in becoming a “regional representative” for TOB and we are working closely with these individuals on their plans to host events in their regions, these include Hong Kong, New York and London. We are also planning a rowing reunion and some more events for Old Girls, hoping to host a 50+ event for them along the lines of the well-established and very successful Old Boys 50+ reunion. In 2024 we hope to have a mixed event for a wider group, possibly for those who left 40-50 years ago – so watch this space! And if anyone out there falls into either of these eras and would like to help us rally old friends for these events, we would love to hear from you!

For any extra events we need a lead person or group of individuals to own the event. Vicky in the office is then able to contact the appropriate OBs for you, using our database, and ensuring GDPR regulations are strictly adhered to. So please do not hesitate to contact the office should you like to make a new group event happen, and we can help you.

Engaging with the Sixth Form has continued to be a high priority for us and we are grateful for the close collaboration with and support from Martin Walker, Head of Sixth and his staff. Our OB Travel and Knox Johnson sailing awards were thankfully able to be enjoyed again in 2022 (see articles by the award-winning students in this magazine). Through various meetings and presentations we have been able to update both students and staff on the services provided by TOB which students can benefit from while still at School. These benefits include enrichment lectures given by OBs, access to our volunteer OB mentors from a wide range of career backgrounds and to university and career clubs through Connections.

Sign-up to Connections, our online platform, is growing steadily and at the time of writing it is already over 2,500.

In March 2022, at our AGM, the new Articles of Association for both TOB Co Ltd and TOB Trust Company Ltd were adopted unanimously. In a nutshell these have brought our articles up to date and have clarified the membership of these two Companies limited by guarantee.

For The Old Berkhamstedians Ltd, we have ensured that all former pupils, who attended the School between years 7-13 or equivalent are able to benefit from the all the services and events that TOB has to offer. In the current time, there is no subscription to pay. We are supported by a grant from the School as we work together to provide more services for our growing numbers. However, to be a member of the Company, and to be entitled to vote at our AGM in future, it is necessary to sign up and complete an application form.

If anyone would like to become a signed up voting member of the Company, please contact the office for details or access the form on our website.

Also in March 2022 we said goodbye to two long serving Council members. Peter Rodwell served some 37 years on the OB Council and John Rush our Treasurer for 30 years in total and serving on the Council for more than 40 years. We are so grateful to them both for all their work for TOB over so many years. At the same time we welcomed Larry Eaton (Ch ’09) and Michael Parsey (SG ’16) to the Council.

I extend my thanks to our Exec Committee, all Council members, and to Vicky Rees and Sarah Cox in the office, for their continued support and commitment to TOB and for all the work they do. Thank you also to all contributors to this year’s publication.

Brigitta Case (Norris, NS ’80) President