Worth Society Blue Paper 2015

The

blue paper 2015 Magazine

Inaugural London to Worth Cycle Ride Worth Society Life

A Peruvian Adventure with Naomi Dring Life and Times of Worthians

Julian Tang’s Fighting Spirit Making the Difference in Public Service The Old Place

Welcome to the new Head Master

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE & OUTSTANDING PASTORAL CARE

OPEN DAY S

2016 6TH FEB 12TH MAR 23RD APR

CATHOLIC BENEDICTINE 11– 18 CO-EDUCATIONAL BOARDING & DAY SCHOOL IN THE HEART OF SUSSEX

www.worthschool.org.uk

The

blue paper

Contents Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

04

Chairman’s 2015 Report Jeremy Fletcher (G’72)

36

Scott of the Antarctic Paddy Scott (B’01)

05

A Message from Mary Lou Burge Worth Society Committee

40

Fighting Spirit Julian Tang (G’93)

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Worth Society Events 2015 Careers Networking Evening – Jessica Coffin (StM’10)

42

Making the difference in Public Service Jason Kitkat (B’97)

2015 City Lunch – Mickey Morrissey (R’78)

43

2015 Inaugural London to Worth Cycle Ride – Justin Weisweiller (C’85)

Worth Serving Robert Butterworth (StB’06)

44

Flying for Heroes Neil Laughton (C’82)

46

The Journey from St Mary’s to St James Katherine Farmer (StA’11)

48

Book Reviews: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope by Austen Ivereigh (’84) Reviewed by Fr Bede Hill

2015 St Benedict’s Day Mass – Ben Oakley (F’08) 1984 Leavers’ 30 Year Reunion – James Cockburn 1985 Leavers’ 30 Year Reunion – Jaime Dunster (B’85) 1994 Leavers’ 20 Year Reunion – Richard dias Azedo (R’94) 2004 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion – Fred Bradley (R’04) 2005 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion – James Longman (B’05) 18

Worth Careers Fair 2015 Duncan Pring, Head of Careers

19

Work Experience Three of a Kind – Clive Bayne (G’66) An insight into Financial Consultancy – Samuel Poynder (F’13)

20

Global Action Awards 2015 Overview: Mary Lou Burge

22

GAA: Heart speaks to heart Naomi Dring (StA’13)

26

GAA: A Land of Contradictions Charlie Bridge (StB’09)

28

GAA: A deep encounter with the Lord Peter Webb (C’14)

30

Worthians Sport Rugby – Desmond Calnan (R’69) Cricket – Michael Bilbé (StB’06)

Dialogue of the Heart: Christian-Muslim Stories of Encounter by Dom Martin McGee OSB reviewed by Dom David Jarmy OSB 51

Worthians Caught on Camera

54

Announcements

56

News in Brief

60

Obituaries Tadzio Szczepanik (C’68)

By John Paul Szczepanik (B’01) Patrick O’Toole Quinn (StB’70)

By Tim Marlow (StB’70) Tomasz Szczepanik (C’71)

By Lynette and Tessa Szczepanik Guy de Burgh (StB’73)

By The de Burgh Family

The Old Place

Golf – Ken Ross (G’65) Squash – Jeremy Dowling Football – Andy Taylor

Worth Society Directors Nicholas Barnett, Fr Mark Barrett, Mark Collini, Jeremy Fletcher, Michael Gabriel Worth Society is a not-for-profit limited company (number 06506005)

The Worthians Charitable Trust Patron Fr Luke Jolly, The Abbot of Worth Trustees Nicholas Barnett, Fr Mark Barrett, Robert Bodnar-Horvath, Jeremy Fletcher, The Hon Crispin Hayhoe

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The 1970 Monastic Experience Reunion

66

Head Master’s 2015 Report Gino Carminati

70

Farewell to Gino Carminati Alexandra Hess (StM’10)

71

Welcome to the new Head Master

73

Worthians – The Second Generation

74

University Destinations 2015

Advertisers We would like to extend our grateful thanks to this year’s advertisers: Farleigh School Latimer Vintners Worth School Magazine designed and produced by: Green Lizard: 01892 619888

The Worthians Charitable Trust (registered charity number 1084948)

I 03

Jeremy Fletcher and Mary Lou Burge

Chairman’s 2015 Report

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t is now over a year since I took over the reins from Nick Butterworth as Chairman of the Society. In the intervening period, the School has a new Head Master, and I have been greatly honoured to join the Board of Governors of the School at the invitation of the Chair, Alda Andreotti. So, not only has the drive from London to Worth become once again as familiar as it was as a pupil nearly 45 years ago, but I have also been on a pretty steep learning curve and much more immersed in matters Worthian than I had expected to be. No slacking with these Benedictines! I have been amazed at the ever-increasing governmental regulation around the education and welfare of young people and the huge challenges this poses for both the effective running of our schools and their proper governance. But I can confirm that with a strong management team, an energetic and enthusiastic Board and the support of the monastic community, our common heritage is in excellent hands.

In the year under review, I am delighted to report that the Society has, under the expert management of Mary Lou, remained very busy. The big picture statistics tell the story. In the 12 months covered by this Blue Paper, we have had 2 ten year reunions, 1 twenty year reunion and 2 thirty year reunions. There has been the annual City Lunch, the St Benedict’s Day London Mass and a London Careers evening. The School has also hosted events for Worthians in Hong Kong and in Dubai. There have been Worthian Squash, Football, Rugby and Cricket matches at Worth and an inaugural WOBS Rugby Fun Day and Worthians Cycle Event – and Golf is still going strong. We fielded 10 Worthian speakers for the annual Careers Fair at the School in June and have put many Worthians in touch with others for careers advice and work experience placements. We’ve also awarded 5 Global Action Awards totalling £3,100.

As the newcomer, I am most struck and encouraged by the clear underlying support for, and interest in, the Society and what it represents, from all quarters. Members of both the teaching and monastic communities tirelessly sit on our Committee, encourage us and consistently attend both our deliberations and social events, whether in London or at Worth. Alumni interest in the Society remains strong (albeit not necessarily expressed in membership fees!). This interest is partially reflected in attendance levels for the events outlined above - people vote with their feet at the end of the day - and in the direct feedback we receive, but also in people’s willingness to get involved. Most telling, however, is the level of ‘incoming contact’ with which Mary Lou deals, on a daily basis, in addition to making the Society events happen. A busy day can see her fielding 100 emails; alumni appetite to network with each other, to rediscover old friendships, reconnect with the monks or members of the teaching staff, past or present, remains very strong.

The challenge for the Society, therefore, is to do more not less. With limited human and financial resources at our disposal, it is very important that every new initiative we take is correlated to what our alumni want. Today, over 70% of the Society membership left the School in 2000 or later and there is an ever-increasing body of girl alumnae. These groups need to be represented. I am therefore pleased to announce that 5 new alumni (Michael Bilbé, Maddy Ilsley, James Madsen, Ben Oakley and Tess Ryan) have accepted nomination to the Society Committee, the oldest of whom left the School in 2002. And so for the first time ever, the Committee now includes 2 girl alumnae. I am very confident that our new committee members will add huge value to our deliberations and decision making on how to take the Society forward most effectively.

Traditionally, alumni societies have tended to coalesce, beyond the ‘dinners’ and ‘do’s’, around sporting events, which obviously will never appeal to all. I was therefore particularly heartened to witness a bunch of Worthians, under the leadership of Ben Oakley, coming together as an ad hoc choir to support this year’s St Benedict’s Day Mass in March. Not only did this help to revitalise an otherwise rather poorly attended event, but it was a great example of the pleasure to be derived from bringing together groups of alumni with common interests. The Committee is therefore now looking at ways in which the Society can facilitate and encourage gatherings such as this, in the fields of art, drama, music or singing. Anyone who would like to get involved should get in touch with Mary Lou. The Society should host more events; it is increasingly clear, in all sorts of walks of life that, far from reducing human appetite for direct social interaction, the likes of Facebook actually serve to re-emphasise the need, whilst simultaneously facilitating it. Your Committee is working on ways to host more, within the constraints of our finances. Recognising that people lead very busy lives, it is probably always going to be easiest for Worthians to get together in London (although it is surprising how difficult it is to find suitable and affordable venues). But I am particularly keen that we should also find ways of drawing people back down to Worth. 350 acres of real estate with stunning views of the South Downs, only 45 miles from central London, is a great place to start if one wants to bring together spouses, significant others and families, particularly when you are all assured of the warmest and most open of welcomes from both the monks and the School. Alumni Societies do best when they are firmly connected to their Alma Mater and it is good for Worthians to take the occasional trip down memory lane to rediscover their past. The most common feedback from those who revisit, after a long absence, is regret that they had not done so sooner.

Finally, the mantra down in West Sussex these days is increasingly ‘One Worth’, and I suspect that it is no coincidence that your Chairman is now also a School Governor. For a variety of perfectly good reasons, the School, Monastery and Society have probably been less well coordinated than they might have intended over the past decade or so. Whilst each must inevitably pursue their own agendas, the interdependencies are obvious; a Benedictine school without a monastery loses a critical point of differentiation in the highly competitive world in which it operates, and a society without a school will not survive. And for the Society to thrive, it needs to be dynamic; with now over 4,000 alumni and growing, it is obvious that if we are to best serve the interest of the alumni, we need the financial, organisational, infrastructural and human resource support that only the School and Monastery can supply. Similarly, albeit in different ways, both the School and the Monastery need the Society. It is therefore critical that the various parts that constitute the body of Worth all reconnect and support each other more effectively. With a new Head Master and new Abbot at the helm, and a very supportive Chair of Governors, a more holistic approach is being encouraged, and much thought and work is being devoted to how best to achieve this. The Society is very much part of the dialogue. To my mind, the foundation of a Development Office (a body that explicitly promotes and facilitates reconnection and mutual support) is one key element in better institutionalising the connections and is inevitable (Worth being Worth is, of course, one of probably only a handful of private schools in the country that doesn’t have one!). Quite how the Society will align with a Development Office remains to be seen. Watch this space, I guess!

Jeremy Fletcher (G’72)

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Fr Stephen and I also managed to engineer a very special reunion from a photograph that he showed me last year. Five pupils had spent a week in the monastery in 1970 to see what it was like to lead a monastic life and, 45 years on, we were thrilled to be able to track them all down and invite them back to recreate another bit of our history, which you can read all about in the following pages.

Our 30 year reunion for the class of 1985 was another wonderful event this year with many familiar and not so familiar faces returning to Worth for mass, tours and dinner. The tour even included a peek at some previous instruments of discipline in the Head Master’s study much to the amusement of some who had been somewhat familiar with them!

Message from Mary Lou Burge

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nother year has flown by in the Worthian hub and having spent some time this year researching some fellow alumni associations I can honestly say that ours is one of the most active I’ve come across. With the increasing number of reunions, sporting activities and networking events taking place there is never a dull moment.

Following our 50 year reunion last year it occurred to us that the School can no longer think of itself as the ‘new kid on the block’ and it was time we started looking back and capturing some of the legendary stories and fascinating characters that have played their part in making Worth the wonderful place that it is today. So this year has seen the start of our history capture project with Jeremy Best (C’64) returning to interview Fr Kevin about those all-important first 5 years of the Senior School. Only then did I discover that Fr Kevin had kept a beautifully preserved scrapbook crammed full of wonderful photos and documents from those early days – a great start to our archives!

But the highlight of the year for me was our inaugural London to Worth Cycle Event with 40 Worthians (and 2 monks) coursing through the leafy lanes of Surrey and Sussex one glorious Sunday morning in late September. At the Finish Line in the Front Quad we had many families and members of the monastic community to cheer our cyclists in, and then we all sat down to a very fine lunch generously provided by the School. It was a fantastic day and one we are keen to repeat with even more participants!

I am so grateful to those Worthians who come forward – or are happy to be cajoled by me – to give up their time to either come back to Worth and talk to pupils about their GAA experiences or professions, who take part in our Careers Networking event, and who offer work experience opportunities to young Worthians – your kindness and willingness to help is quite staggering.

Please remember that you are always welcome to visit us here at Worth, just drop me a line at worthsociety@worth.org.uk and don’t forget to link to us on the Worthians Group on Facebook to keep up with all the latest snippets of Worthian news!

Mary Lou Burge, Worth Society Manager

Go to www.worthsociety.org.uk for latest news and event information Worth Society Committee Nick Barnett (G’73) – Director, Trustee Office: 020 7404 4022 Email: nick.barnett@hotmail.co.uk

Michael Gabriel (C’85) – Director Office: 01892 619888 Email: michael@greenlizardhomes.co.uk

Tess Ryan (StM’11) – Netball Mobile: 07840 098323 Email: tessryan10@hotmail.co.uk

Fr Mark Barrett – Director, Trustee Office: 01342 710340 Email: jmbarrett@worth.org.uk

The Hon Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82) – Trustee Mobile: 07718 339802 Email: crispinhayhoe@hotmail.com

Fr Kevin Taggart Office: 01342 710338 Email: ktaggart@worth.org.uk

Michael Bilbé (StB’06) – Worthians Cricket Club Mobile: 07545 002803 Email: michaelbilbe@hotmail.com

Maddy Ilsley (StM’10) Mobile: 07952 481636 Email: maddyilsley@hotmail.co.uk

Andrew Taylor – Football Office: 01342 810548 Email: ataylor@worth.org.uk

Robert Bodnar-Horvath (B’74) – Trustee Office: 020 8408 2524 Email: robertdodnarhorvath@blueyonder.co.uk

James Madsen (B’02) Mobile: 07738 324438 Email: jamesmadsen@live.com

Worthians Golfing Society Ken Ross (G’65) Home: 01323 733499 Email: kandbaway@gmail.com

Robin Burdell – Director of Finance & Operations, Worth School Office: 01342 710205 Email: rburdell@worth.org.uk

Stuart McPherson – Head Master Office: 01342 710222 Email: smcpherson@worth.org.uk

Mary Lou Burge – Worth Society Manager Office: 01382 710241 Email: worthsociety@worth.org.uk Mark Collini (StB’89) – Director Office: 020 7783 4941 Email: markcollini@yahoo.co.uk Jeremy Fletcher (G’72) – Chairman, Director & Trustee Office: 020 7070 6611 Email: jeremy.fletcher@kewcapital.com

Ben Oakley (F’08) Mobile: 07973 899330 Email: boakley@cantab.net Daniel Pring (R’03) Mobile: 07865 064439 Email: Daniel.Pring@tokiomarinekiln.com Duncan Pring – Careers Office: 01342 710239 Email: dpring@worth.org.uk

Worthians Rugby Club Desmond Calnan (R’69) Mobile: 07535 939582 Email: dcalnan@tecres.net Worthians Squash Jeremy Dowling Email: jdowling@worth.org.uk Girls Sporting Co-ordinators Louisa McCarthy (St’M10) - Hockey Email: mcclouisa91@gmail.com Alice Rooke (StA’12) – Tennis Email: rookie93@hotmail.co.uk

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2015 Careers Networking Evening

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Events

alf a year after graduating and still with little idea of what path my working life may take, the annual Worthian Careers Networking Event, held on Thursday 8th January 2015, provided the perfect opportunity to speak to those who had already negotiated the murky waters between university and the world of work.

Held in The Ship Pub, not far from Monument, the upper floor was filled with suited Worthians, name badges visible, drinks firmly in hand. A truly diverse range of careers were represented by those attending, from banking and insurance, to the civil service and journalism. All were at various stages in their working lives, from those still suffering from early morning commutes, to those made stoic from 30 years of 6am alarms. As a result, we were able to get advice from people with a plethora of experiences, who could answer our questions in a relaxed, unpressurised environment. Indeed, talk wasn’t just of careers, but stories of school mischief and how things had changed broke up the career questioning, making it clear that it was a Worthian evening.

A big thank you must go to Mary Lou, for organising the evening, and for making such an effort to ensure that those from industries recent leavers were interested in were present. And, of course, thanks to all those professional Worthians for coming to talk to us; I’m sure those of us present will remember how useful their advice was, and return in a professional capacity to help future Worthians in the years to come.

We welcomed the following young Worthians to the Worth Society Careers Networking Evening: Tom Wood (B’07) Alex Dungate (F’08) Alexander Gill (StB’09) Jessica Coffin (StM’10) Maddy Ilsley (StM’10) Dani Jeyes (StM’10) Wilf Lytton (C’10) Celia Young (StM’10) Antonia Foldes (StM’11) Julia Hollis (StM’11)

Rebecca Bhargava (StA’12) Aisling Dwyer (StM’12) Kitty Gibson (StA’12) Conor Keating (R’12) Harry Killoughery (R’12) Claire Hodkinson (StM’12) Leonie Leuschner (StM’12) Alice Rooke (StA’12) Samuel Poynder (F’13)

Worthian Advisors included: Jeremy Fletcher (G’72)

Private Equity (Kew Capital)

Patrick Holdich (G’74)

Diplomacy (FCO)

Mark Collini (StB’89)

Law (OFCOM)

Howard Brookman (G’93) Banking (Bloombergs) Ben Babington (G’96)

Property (Jackson Stops & Staff)

James Madsen (B’02)

Financial PR (Capital MSL)

Dan Pring (R’03)

Insurance (Tokio Marine Kiln)

Ed Long (G’03)

Insurance (Faraday)

James Bannister (C’04)

Insurance (Caonpius)

Max Watson (F’05)

Asset Management (Neuberger Berman)

John Barnes (StB’06)

Computer Software (ITRS)

James Talty (StB’06)

Accountancy (Ernst & Young)

Michael Bilbé (StB’06)

Banking (State Street Global Markets)

Jessica Coffin (StM’10)

Anthony Lamb (R’08)

Insurance

Dr Duncan Pring

Head of Careers Worth School

We are always on the look-out for Worthians who wish to share their valuable experience, so do get in touch if you would like to help our younger Worthians.

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

2015 City Lunch

John Tate, Martin Green & Michael O’Sullivan

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It was great to see so many old boys gathered in one place and be able to reminisce and catch up on old times. There was of course much discussion on the hot topic of the moment, the possibility of my old tutor being fast tracked to Sainthood! It was unanimously agreed that should this be the case then the powers that be will have taken into account Andrew Bertie's time at Worth.

Events

n Thursday 5th March 2015 I attended the annual Worthian City Lunch along with my brothers Anthony (R '74) and Paddy (R '84) at the now established venue of Vivat Bacchus, London Bridge. As all three of us work within a few hundred yards of each other in the City it was easy for us to attend unlike our brother Charles (R '72) who works further afield and sadly was unable to make it.

Mark Collini & James Maxwell-Scott

Jeremy Fletcher, Mary Lou Burge & Nick Butterworth

The first old boy I met on entering the restaurant, who was slightly older than me, had considered inviting his Father, an octogenarian, to attend. He believed that he would qualify as he had attended Worth in the 1940s when it was the preparatory school to Downside!

It was wonderful to be joined by Abbot Luke, Fr Stephen and Fr Kevin, who said grace prior to lunch. Needless to say that both Kevin and Stephen look considerably younger than most of the attendees.

The Morrissey brothers with Fr Kevin

A word of thanks must go to Mary Lou for organising a very enjoyable lunch, the venue, food and drink were first class as too was the company, and I would thoroughly recommend this event for those that can make it next year.

Mickey Morrissey (R '78)

We welcomed the following 40 Worthians and guests to the 2015 City Lunch: Sean Donnellan, Chris Rybak & Tim Ross Mary Lou Burge Abbot Luke Jolly (C’71) Dom Stephen Ortiger Dom Kevin Taggart Tim Pethybridge (StB’71) Jeremy Fletcher (G’72) James Forte (C’72) Nick Barnett (G’73) Hugh Bett (B’73) Mark Lee-Barber (C’73) Liam Hammond (C’74) Anthony Morrissey (R’74) Dominic Quennell (C’74) Nigel Kennard (G’74) Nick Butterworth (G’76) Martin Green (C’76) Mark Simpson (StB’76) John Tate (G’76) James Blake (B’77) Chris Kelly (StB’78)

Michael Morrissey (R’78) John Bennett (R’81) Henry Thornton (B’81) Patrick Morrissey (R’84) Edward Horgan Goumas (C’85) Sean Donnellan (StB’86) Tim Ross (R’86) Chris Rybak (B’86) Mark Collini (StB’89) James Maxwell-Scott (R’89) Charles Gerada (R’90) Chris Kelly (R’96) Darran Smith (B’96) Matthew Chan (R’98) Alistair Myles (G’99) Robert Stewart (B’99) Edward Cooper (StB’00) Nicholas Kelly (R’00) Nicholas Michell (StB’03) Michael O’Sullivan (R’07)

Rob Stewart & Alistair Myles

I 07

2015 Inaugural London to Worth Cycle Ride Events Before ‘La Gande Départ’ at the Lido Café in Brockwell Park

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n the olden days, getting up before dawn to do some exercise was something they made you do as a punishment when your good intentions had been misunderstood. Corporal punishment was all the rage back then in the we-were-the-youth-of-today-until-the-youth-oftoday-came-along-and-forced-us-to-start-complainingabout-the-youth-of-today days. But there is no denying that all that punishing physicality made me the man I am today: the kind of man who doesn’t generally get up before dawn to do some exercise. And yet on Sunday 27th September 2015, between Saturday’s catastrophe at Twickenham and Monday’s blood moon, I did get up before dawn and took a bus, a tube, and then another tube, and crossed a road with cars on it, walked along the aforementioned car-bearing road and reported punctually to the starting post of the inaugural London to Worth cycle ride.

Worth is excellently situated and easily reached by car, or by train and taxi, and is also conveniently close to Gatwick Airport for those travelling by aeroplane. I know these things because it says so on the school’s website. My point is this: there were alternatives. Clear alternatives. Openly advertised and readily available alternatives. And yet 40 or so Worthians and family members decided to cycle from London to Worth: to do some exercising of our own free

8I

will! Except for Fr James and Fr Martin, who were preordained and ready to hear confession: bless me, Father, it has been some time since my last exertion.

My journey had actually started in May when I attended my year’s 30th anniversary dinner. I found myself in a clear majority of old boys who had had no contact at all with classmates or the school in over 25 of the 30 years and was very unsure about attending, but had the most wonderful time. They told me there would be some kind of outing involving pie in September and I thought, what harm could there possibly be in that?

After signing in, we convened in the very pleasant and friendly Lido Cafe in Brockwell Park in southern London to fill our water bottles. Then Tina, the event manager, explained we wouldn’t be getting any proper, Catholic, physically literal pie but something altogether more symbolic and ecumenical. PIE, it turns out, stands for ‘Passion in Events’, a wonderfully apt name for our wellorganised, happy and helpful cycle tour organisers. Tina gave us a short, clear, organisational and safety briefing and explained the highly intelligent design of our predestined path. Then we went out to the car park to discuss our penance and things got decidedly more Darwinian. The bike guides checked out the expense of each person’s clothing

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

’The sleepy like to make excuses.’ (The Rule of St Benedict)

Events

and equipment, carried out natural selection and divided us into four groups to ensure the survival of the unfittest.

They also handed out exeat forms: cards with emergency phone numbers.

There were two routes from Brockwell Park to Worth. The longer route was 90km (57 miles) to cover in 4 hours, including stops, with 1,152m of climbs. The shorter route was 60km (38 miles) with a mere (sic) 742m of climbing.

4 hours were planned, but there were as many stops as people needed on the shorter route and we took nearly 5 hours. Each group had 8-10 cyclists accompanied by one bike guide with a tool kit. Two groups did the longer route shadowed by the first van, while two groups did the shorter route shadowed by the other van.

If you are not regularly sporty, it is crucial to do a bit of training before the day, at least to test the concept, but nothing too extreme. I went out twice in the preceding 2 weeks and confirmed I could manage 41 miles in the time on my very heavy, rubbishy urban bike. I had the loan of a proper road bike from Jaime Dunster (B’85) and the theory was expressed that I could probably manage the longer route on a real bike with a top gear well above 12mph. This may have been true on the flat, but I developed gravity issues on the first really big climb and gratefully dropped down to the shorter-route groups, who were following behind. I think I was the first to invoke my exeat card and make that call. And the first shall be last! The morally inferior fast-living types shot off to do their thing while I found there was much more smiling and chatting going on amongst the amateurs. Apart from eight or so real climbs, it

was all much more of a lovely Sunday pootle. The two short-route groups, with bike guides Howard and Ian, more or less merged into a single group for the rest of the morning. I can’t report from the point of view of keen, serious cyclists, but I heard from them afterwards that it had been a pleasantly challenging (hah!) and very enjoyable ride for the pros, who needed to average about 20mph on the flat and about 16mph overall.

The Clyde-Smith Family reach the Finish Line welcomed in by Fr Philip and Fr Kevin

In Crystal Palace Park a man cheered and clapped and waved us through and suddenly it was all very Tour de France. I felt

Rory Ryan is greeted by Fr Aiden and Fr Patrick

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2015 Inaugural London to Worth Cycle Ride continued Tess and Mia Ryan

A well-deserved lunch!

Events

and off through the leaves, and suddenly realize you are about to jackknife into a pothole and buckle your friend’s bike and your own legs, shouting ‘merde’ at the top of your voice will shift your weight just enough to miss the hole and run over a squirrel instead. Don’t look at me like that: it was dead already. Never stood a chance against Fr Martin.

Guide, and former Olympic champion, Willie Moore en route with Dominic Dring

I should probably throw my water bottle away at this point, but Crystal Palace Park is lovely (I had no idea) and well worth not polluting. Besides, we had each received a snazzy free water bottle from Huez, the cycling apparel suppliers run by two Worthians, and I wasn’t about to throw that away.

A Worth School education is for life and so this day afforded us the opportunity to refresh some of the subjects we learned so long ago. Those who had forgotten their geography could rediscover the fact that Worth lies at higher altitude than London. We also revised human biology; with special reference to lung function, muscular oxygenation and cardiovascular inefficiency; and we looked at Newton’s laws of mechanics, the gravitational constant, and mathematics, too: if a man grabs four free energy bars and only has two socks, how many energy bars must he eat straight away? I even got to practise my French: if you are hurtling too fast downhill, blinded by sunlight flashing on

However, a Worth education is so much more than just the exam subjects any old school can offer: it is about providing a moral grounding and underpinning a lifetime of spiritual searching and growth. The day was actually a very Benedictine, seamlessly alternating, mixture of community, physical work and solitary reflection. And so we spent the morning pondering the grand metaphysical questions, too, like ‘Why?’, ‘How much longer?’, ‘What’s around the corner?’ and ‘Ooh, isn’t it pretty?’ And it was pretty. Very pretty. The closer you get to Worth, the prettier it all gets.

It was a perfectly sunny early-autumn day with glorious greens all around and the first autumn colours poking through. There were horses; there were sheep; there was an abandoned sofa halfway up one of the climbs. A sofa!

I mean, come on! That’s cruel AND unusual. At one point we were treated to the magnificent sight of hundreds of birds circling and swarming in preparation for migration. They were very much like a group of Worthian cyclists waiting for the off, if just a bit more vulture-like. But we were immune to all temptations and intimidations by this stage.

Some bike guides, like James, do the seasonal thing and spend their winters in the Alps as ski instructors and guides.

Howard doesn’t, but is obviously thinking about it: on the huffy-puffy climby bits he would often decide he needed a word with his colleague, Ian, at the front of the group and would swoosh past us, ski-instructor style, just because he could, wedeling past the wobbly snowploughers with his anti-gravity pack turned up full and blinking red. He claimed this was really just a rear light, but no one believed him.

Soon afterwards, Fr James would swoosh past, still chatting, with all the arrogance of youth. But when a convoy of trees formed behind me and started beeping angrily, I knew it was time to dig deep and do some swearing. At the height of my delirium, I suddenly had a vision of Major Paddy Wheeler (G’85), latterly of the Army Air Corps, screaming at me with motivating contempt (I AM a horrible man; I’ve never denied it), and then getting squashed by the Hurstpierpoint scrum-half. I actually laughed all the way to the top (sorry, Paddy) and was unstoppable after that. Even on the nastier climbs I found you just have to switch off the logic circuits and zone out and the top is reached before you know it. Soon I was overtaking stationary bushes with all the denial of middle age and by the end I could even keep Fr James’ back in view all the way up each hill.

Somebody should find a way to pass on special thanks to the motorists of Surrey and northern Sussex. I am sure the long-route groups were wheel-to-wheel in a dead-straight line right at the edge of the road, but we in the slow group were a straggly lot, avoiding the very edge of the road

Fr Martin makes it home!

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

The Finish Line!

The final rite of passage was passing through Turners Hill and not buying any sweets or contraband. Then there was just the home straight left to go, and on into the grounds of Worth itself. There was a Finish banner spread across the drive at the entrance to the Quad and each new arrival was warmly applauded. With affectionate irony in my case.

There we met Mary Lou Burge, Abbot Luke and Frs Kevin, Patrick, Stephen, Philip, Mark and David, who had been so fast I hadn’t seen them at all up to that point. To return to your old school after so many years and remember and be remembered by so many is a wonderful thing: a real sense of homecoming and family. The school buildings and grounds are so much more beautiful than I remember them. Whether this is the correction of jaded teenage vision or something that has actually changed, I am not sure. A bit of both, I suspect. Someone certainly does an amazing job of looking after the place these days.

Stuart McPherson, the new Head Master, joined the cyclists and several of their wives and children for lunch, which was generously provided by the School. He is a decent enough Head Master, by all accounts, but made a rather poor first impression on me by looking more sporty standing still in a tweed jacket than some of us looked on our bicycles. He expressed regret that he hadn’t been able to cycle with us this time, but PROMISED to join the ride next year. Consider yourself hereby on the record, Sir!

The following Worthians and family members took part in our inaugural London to Worth Cycle ride: Kevin Clyde-Smith (G’70) John Wild (C’70) Harry Fisher (B’81) Dominic Dring (G’82) Jonathan Jenkins (G’82) Charles de Viggiani (B’85) Jamie Dunster (B’85) Michael Gabriel (C’85) Johnny Grieg (G’85) Justin Weisweiller (C’85) Dominic Bruning (StB’89) Barry Cullen (StB’97) Edward Simpson (G’97)

Tom Wild (C’97) Edward Keelaghan (R’98) David Micallef-Eynaud (B’98) William Pasquali (StB’89) Lorenzo Curci (B’00) James Pymont (B’00) Luca Belpassi (G’01) George Clyde-Smith (G’05) Rory Ryan (C’09) Nicholas Elvidge (C’11) Nick Gandy (R’11) Julia Hollis (StM’11) Henry McNeil (B’11)

Tess Ryan (StM’11) Jack Udale (B’11) Mia Ryan (StM’13) Toby Wild (R’15) Alex Burge Harry Burge Richard Butler Emma Clyde-Smith Fr James Cutts Peter Hollis Fr Martin McGee Ravi Sabharwal

Huge thanks must go to Mary Lou, Mike Gabriel (C’85) and everyone at PIE for organizing everything, to the Worth Society for subsidising members’ participation and to the School for providing a delicious (yes I know, what’s wrong with the world? Back in my day mumble mumble …) lunch.

Let’s not mess around here: I was asked to write this because I have been unanimously nominated for the ‘if he can do it, anyone can do it’ award. And it’s absolutely true.

And if anyone can do it, let’s have even more cyclists next year. 40 was an excellent number to ensure the success of this year’s ride, but there is room for more next time. This year’s cycle was ‘inaugural’. The next stop is ‘annual event’.

And then it’s just a short bike ride to ‘timeless tradition’.

Justin Weisweiller (C’85)

The two 60K groups arrive safely in the Front Quad

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where the surface was bumpier, loosely packed and less aware of the cars around us. And yet the drivers we met must be used to groups of cycling amateurs. Without exception they were patient and sensible in the extreme: not one beep, not one unsafe moment.

Lorenzo Curci and David Micallef-Eynaud

St Benedict’s Day Mass 2015 Events

B

earing in mind the Worth Society’s mission ‘to celebrate and develop the connection between Worthians in their professional, social, spiritual and sporting lives’ the annual St Benedict’s Day Mass is an important occasion in the shared calendar of Worth’s community past and present.

Set amongst the glass houses of the present day City of London, the original St Mary Moorfields was pulled down in 1899 and replaced by the present church in Eldon Street, which was opened on 25th March 1903 as London’s first Catholic Cathedral.

On Thursday 19th March 2015 it certainly proved an inspiring setting, and with the addition of music into the Liturgy for the first time, this year’s mass felt like a muchrejuvenated occasion for Worthians to come together and celebrate the life and death of St Benedict. Composed of Worthian Boys and Girls spanning 10 school years, the choir added a new dimension to the spiritual sense of occasion, with pieces familiar to many generations of Worthians, from SS Wesley’s Si iniquitates to Cesar Frank’s Panis Angelicus. It certainly felt St Benedict’s life and teachings were fittingly remembered by all present!

Fr Christopher Jamison offered a typically insightful contemplation of the impact of St Benedict. Said to be ‘the epitome of Christianity, a learned and mysterious abridgement of all the doctrines of the Gospel and all the counsels of perfection’ (Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux 1704) Benedict’s rule once again took on renewed relevance to those present.

With Worthians turning out in good number to share such prayer and music together, the splendid drinks and food laid on at Bangers Bar & Grill afterwards also seemed an apt way to share in Benedict’s spirit for community and the continued commitment of Worth Society to bring Worth pupils and monks together. Attractive platters of food and copper flagons of beer left all pleasantly satisfied and we look forward to seeing you and many more fellow Worthians at next year’s Mass!

Ben Oakley (F’08)

Organ scholar, Luke Navin (F’14), accompanies Worthian singers

Please join us for Our Annual Worthians Mass to celebrate St Benedict’s Day With the musical accompaniment of Worthian singers and musicians

Thursday 17th March 2016 at 6:30pm at

St Mary Moorfields 4-5 Eldon Street London EC2 Followed by drinks at Bangers, 2 Wilson Street, London EC2

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

1984 Leavers’ 30 Year Reunion Ed Hooper and James Cockburn

James Cockburn Keith Owers Fabian Aiken James Berry Felim Connor Andrew Cooper Luan de Burgh Martin Downes Angus Hamilton Edward Hooper Austen Ivereigh Norbert Kang Nigel Laughton Patrick McQuaid Mark Moran Patrick Morrissey Benjamin Moseley Alastair Mulcahy Peter O’Dwyer Dominic O’Neill Conrad Payne Rhodri Philipps David Robinson Christian Rooney Julian Samengo Turner Alistair Scrutton Victor Szudek Willium van Heyningen

L

iving, as I have been, in the depths of rural France, I hardly ever see anyone apart from my French neighbours, so to get invited to come to Soho House on Saturday 20th September 2014 for a thrash with a load of my former students and some colleagues from thirty years ago, is something of a change from routine. And what a wonderful party we all had!

The essence of these occasions is to roll back the years and connect with our younger selves: to find out things about ourselves that we have largely forgotten. And naturally the stories tumbled out one after another. Just one may suffice to make the point. When I arrived as Head of Art at Worth in 1980 I had only the briefest encounter with ceramics. At St Martin’s School of Art I specialised in drawing and painting.

Luckily, on arrival at Worth, I found Fr Ian was an enthusiast who had all the gear: a wheel, a kiln, clay and glazes - more than enough to get the aspiring potter going. I quickly made use of this fantastic opportunity but needed some proper lessons myself. I therefore enrolled on an evening course at Michael Hall School in Forest Row and – this is the clever bit – once a week took a group of Fifth Form boys from Worth who wanted to learn too. That way I had a number of young enthusiasts learning alongside me. These included Nigel Laughton, better known now as a trainer of Olympic gold medal winning athletes. So to see Nigel after so long was wonderful. Life’s not fair: Nigel still looks about 18.

At Worth all the teachers participated in activities way out of their comfort zones. As an art teacher I took (and played) rugby, cricket, football, squash and, probably most demanding of all, took Sixth Form dances, as well as organising annual trips to Wales and the South of France.

I created stage sets for school plays and acted in staff plays.

I even once played third trumpet in the orchestra. We were

Events

The following Worthians and their guests attended the 1984 Leavers’ 30 Year Reunion:

Felim Connor, Peter O’Dwyer, Patrick McQuaid and Mark Moran

Dom O’Neill and Paddy Morrissey

kept happily busy from dawn until well after dusk seven days a week. I therefore knew many of the boys who had nothing whatsoever to do with art. My rugby team in 1984 was the unbeaten 3rd XV so it was great to see Peter O’Dwyer who told me in his best Jo’berg accent, “I was your best kikka!”

During the 1980s on Saturday afternoons during the Spring Term I regularly joined a group of rugby players, staff and pupils alike, to turn out for Haywards Heath Dinosaurs who were delighted to have such a rush of fresh blood into their teams. It was not thought then, as it is now, that it was wrong to have adults playing in the same team as school boys. So David Robinson and many other boys played alongside Fred Belcher, Glenn Robertson, Jeremy Dowling and George Daly to name a few. I thought then, and still do, that Worth was a unique place for children to grow up.

Seeing the same boys thirty years later was to confirm that the ‘boys’ had really understood how fortunate they were.

I would like to thank Angus Hamilton, Edward Hooper and Luan de Burgh for organising the event and hope I see you all again fairly soon. Waiting another thirty years will almost certainly be too long.

James Cockburn

Butler Boys; James Cockburn, David Robinson, Ben Moseley, Felim Connor, Keith Owers and Angus Hamilton

Paddy Morrissey and Chris Rooney

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The following Worthians and guests attended the 1985 Leaver’s 30 Year Reunion: Mr Gino Carminati Abbot Luke Jolly Dom Philip Gaisford Ms Evonne Gubbin Mr & Mrs Stuart McPherson Dom Stephen Ortiger Mr & Mrs Keith Owers Mr & Mrs Roger Stokes

1985 Leavers’ 30 Year Reunion Events

18 hardy and brave souls from the class of 1985 met at Worth for their 30 year reunion during the evening on 21st May 2015 with a mix of trepidation and expectation… Many were absent due to the logistics of life but plenty made it and some flying in especially. A large number hadn’t seen each other during the years since leaving school, although it transpires that a number of small groups still keep in touch on a regular basis. Likewise, there are a heartening number of best men and godparents to each other’s children showing that the school friendship bonds are very strong.

Whilst faces unseen for a number of years were easily recognisable, spookily so, what was very apparent was that the ravages of time have treated the School far more kindly than its former pupils. While the halls and dorms used to resound to the likes of David Bowie, Dire Straits, The Cure and The Jam, stories of ice, even running water, on the insides of rooms, recollections of pyjamas worn under suits and two jumpers and overcoats required to keep the chill out were regaled to barely believing members of the Upper Sixth who now luxuriate in centrally heated buildings and ensuite facilities.

The old boys were kindly toured around the school after Mass and pre dinner, on a lovely summer’s evening and it was impossible not to notice the areas of improvement over the years - the church completed, the grounds looking immaculate, Rutherford no more and replaced, new accommodation blocks and hockey pitches and even new windows in the main school to keep the Siberian blasts out of the pupils’ bones. And girls - how times have changed for the better.

Having overcome the “it was never like this in our time” moments during the tour of the facilities, an element of

Alistair Clayton Gus Becvar Charles De Viggiani Jaime Dunster Michael Gabriel

Johnny Greig Edward Horgan Goumas Joe Macari Mike Moody Gordon Moore Bobby Noyes Roly Owers Jonathan Sharpe Sean Taylor Justin Weisweiller Andy Weston Paddy Wheeler James Wills

nostalgia not surprisingly crept in as names were searched for on honours boards and old stories were once again retold. Some of the School appeared a lot smaller - could we really all have fitted into the old assembly room for entire school assemblies? Whilst other rooms held different memories - standing room only on Thursday evenings for Top of the Pops, or more sombrely watching the news reports of the Falklands conflict.

Our Upper Sixth hosts and guides departed after drinks on the lawn with their ears burning at the antics that used to go on - kitchen raids, Sixth Form bar stories, dances, Mayfield, etc...and dinner was held in the monk’s dining room. Whilst it was excellent to catch up with old mates what was also terrific, and in no small measure added to the evening, was to see so many old members of staff and other halves looking so well and relaxed. As we all know monks don’t age and some of that magic has definitely rubbed off on former staff.

The Worth Society kindly hosted the dinner and afterwards the majority retreated to a local hotel to carry on the evening into the small hours. By common consent, and confirmed by the flow of emails afterwards, it was a great success, had been far too long since we all saw each other, and a commitment to try and meet up again in the not too distant future on an informal basis. Those not present were missed but will hopefully be re-united soon.

Many thanks indeed to the school for hosting, Mary Lou Burge for organising and for all who attended - it was one of those evenings that was terrific to be at and left a smile on the face for many a week.

Jaime Dunster (B’85)

1985 30 Year Reunion Group Shot

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

1994 Leavers’ 20 Year Reunion

Montepeliano in Knightsbridge was the venue on Saturday 4th October 2014, kindly pre-arranged by Francesco de Siena before he (predictably) unexpectedly had to run off to Southern Italy again. With a great menu, real Italian hospitality and an inexplicably 90's feel, it couldn’t have suited the occasion better!

Everyone had a great time (I assume, I hope...I did anyway) reminiscing on school life on Paddockhurst Road, past teachers and friends, ciggies behind the tennis courts and catching up on 20 years of post-teenage reality. Our age/wives/travel commutes must be catching up with us a bit however - shortly after desserts and coffee it was time to head our separate ways. I guess things must be different in Madrid - Alvaro was cursing under his breath a bit for the early ‘lights out’ time...sorry mate, but I was under strict instructions from Boris not to let you out on the rampage to ruin his town!

Sadly, there were a lot of us who couldn't attend due to other commitments, and some of us who we seem to have lost all connection with - either way our thoughts are with you. (And, if you're reading this, get in touch!)

As Paul and Paul noted, we definitely shouldn't wait another 20 years till we meet up again! Anyone else fancy taking the baton to arrange the next get together?

Richard Dias Azedo (R’94)

The following Worthians and guest attended the 1994 Leavers’ 20 Year Reunion: Nick Robinson Dominique Coombes Richard Dias Azedo Alvaro Finat Dan Fontanelli

Thomas Gommes Paddy Keane Patrick Long Paul McCormack Paul Moran James Southon

It was really great to see everyone again. In a strange way, we're still the same as we once were and yet we've all grown and matured from our days at Worth. But I have to admit, it was heartwarming to feel that connection we had as young Worthians again.

Paddy Keane, Patrick Long, Thomas Gommes, Paul Moran & Paul McCormack

Dan Fontanelli, Nick Robinson, Alvaro Finat & Dominique Coombes

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fter 20 years, we managed to secure 10 old boys and 1 former House Master (another sadly succumbing to influenza) for 1 night in London!

Not bad for a group who, when we left school, had no email addresses, no WebChat groups or Facebook accounts to keep in contact!

The following Worthians and guests attended the 2004 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion: Dom Martin McGee Andrew Taylor Duncan Pring

2004 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion Events

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t was at the drinks reception following Glenn Robertson's memorial at Worth when someone noted, "Next year will be 10 years since we left Worth". The group nodded and remembered some old stories, as you do. Then someone chirped up, "Who's organising our 10 year reunion?". There was a short silence whilst everyone looked around until I noticed that a number of eyes were on me. David Osborne and Elliot Webber, two of the finger pointers, claimed, "It's your responsibility, you were Head Boy, you do it!". I forgot the unwritten rule of ‘Once a Head Boy, always a Head Boy’.

A few months went by and I realised that something had to be done, so I cajoled Elliot Webber into helping out as he had recently bragged to me how he had saved over £4,000 on his wedding expenditure. We wanted to have a reunion with as many of our year group as possible, and be able to invite staff and monks who had been part of our lives at Worth. We worked out we had 88 people in our year from Year 9 to Year 13 (sorry to the Austin Boys!) that's including the rather large group of early leavers in Year 11. Thankfully the Worth Society had contact details for a good proportion of us and for the rest there was always Facebook! In fact, there were only two people that we found no way of contacting!

Fast forward to Saturday 20th September 2014 where the Class of 2004 met at the Antelope pub just off Sloane

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David Armstrong James Bannister Guy Bartleet Francis Bartleet Fred Bradley James Bruce Tom Butter Mark Corbyn Michael Ede

Alexander Gazzi David Gill Roger Greaves Oliver Ingram Marcus Lee Alexander Podbury Lewis Stagnetto Matthew Stott Paul Stych Charles Sunnucks Elliot Webber Andrew Welsh Tristan ‘Zakk’ Williams

Square. Having put the money behind the bar, the one Kiwi waitress who was put in charge of our room was henceforth rushed off her feet!

We were soon reminiscing about our memories in ‘The Cardboard Castle’ or our (probably not me included) achievements on the rugby pitch. Despite regrettably clashing with a wedding elsewhere in the country we were comfortably represented with 22 peers in attendance.

Ingram and Gazzi eventually arrived admitting to having been in a pub around the corner, waiting to come along when things were busier!

We decided to send an open invitation to all our Housemasters through the years at Worth, both past and present. I managed to track down the majority including Ben Dunhill who was so close to joining us but alas had to travel to Geneva on a school trip at the last minute. We were delighted that Duncan Pring and Andy Taylor managed to come along and Fr Martin represented the Monastery.

In the end, it was a fantastic night with lots of memories reignited. A lot changes in 10 years. So while many will keep in touch in different groups of friends, we look forward to 2024 (that's the future) and our 20 year gathering! Who's organising that one then!?

Fred Bradley (R’04)

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

2005 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion

But any doubts I had were dispelled very quickly. 43 boys arrived (an amazing number!) looking very smart, along with Frs Kevin and Thomas and Mr Mitchell - and almost immediately it was as if we'd never left school. Slightly hesitantly each boy or small group would come into the room, and then wide eyed would recognize an old friend and the conversation would begin in earnest. Drinks and dinner flew by, and not wanting the evening to end, we headed en masse into Soho.

Somehow 43 young men in DJs managed to get into a club until the early hours. And then onto a house party until morning, where it all got a bit 'Riot Club'. I've had a lot of messages since with boys saying how much they enjoyed the night. A little effort was definitely worth it.

Given that over half the group was still partying at 5am, I'd say the night was a success. And I was surprised at how much it meant to me. As I looked around the room at my old friends, sharing stories from back in the day, or catching

up on more recent news, I actually felt very proud. This was our 10 year reunion, and given that I arrived at Worth when I was 8, it meant that I was really celebrating 20 years of having Worth in my life. And I'm proud of that. Of what that means to me. And of what the time my peers spent there clearly means to them.

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t could have gone very wrong. I was worried no one would come. Although many groups keep in touch, obviously not all of us had seen each other since school, and even if people did turn up, the formal dinner and black tie could have killed any hope of a fun reunion. The plan was drinks and then a three course meal - all at the Army and Navy Club in London on Saturday 18th April 2015.

When I told some friends and colleagues about it, they looked on bewildered. “Why would I bother going to a reunion?” was the general response. I think that makes you realise how lucky we were to have been at Worth. So much has happened in 10 years - old boys tend to go off and do all sorts of exciting things - but that so many of my year group thought it worthwhile to come from China, Germany or France, and take time out of their busy schedules all these years later, is testament to how important Worth must have been to them.

A funny thing happens at a reunion: you kind of revert into the people you were years before. The joker, the quiet one, the sporty one, etc. But without any of the hang ups. None of the drama. Like romanticised versions of ourselves back then, we laughed and joked and reminisced. And so for one night at least, we could be school boys again. What a wonderful feeling.

James Longman (B’05)

The following Worthians and their guests attended the 2005 Leavers’ 10 Year Reunion: Alan Mitchell Dom Kevin Taggart Dom Thomas Haynes Nicholas Bell-Young Harry Bonn Mark Breen Charles Bunn Oliver Corstjens Felix D-M James Fairbourn George Furber Tom Gilbert Jonas Herrmann Nicholas Hopkins Stefan Humphries Graham Hutchings James Hutton Daniel Hyde Edward Keefe Paul Keenan Laurenz Klipper Thomas Lewis James Longman

Thomas Magee Thomas McConnell Maximillian McGowan Constantin Meyer Edward Michie Nicholas Miller Craig Monteiro Oliver Mulcahy Lukas Neuhann William Orpen Jack Rackham Peter Rankin Louis Redman George Russell Hugh Salimbeni Sam Shepherd Charles Spratt Max Stangier Joshua Taylor Michael Thiebes Marc Thurr Max Watson Christian Zaleski

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Worth Careers Fair 2015

F

or the ninth year in a row, Worth organised a Careers Fair for its Lower Sixth Form students. This took place on 20th June – a Saturday morning towards the end of term. It was felt that this would give more students the chance to attend – and so it proved to be, with over 100 pupils taking part. The morning was designed to encourage them to think about possible options beyond Worth and indeed beyond university. The decision on which career to pursue is one of the most important that anybody makes, and the more that our pupils are aware of what really happens in a given career, the better placed they will be to make a wise judgement. The format we employed was similar to previous years, with a number of outside speakers talking about their own career to small groups of students.

Each speaker made their presentation four times, so students had the opportunity to learn about life in four careers that were of interest to them.

Once again we were indebted to the Worthians who contributed in record numbers this year. In fact, of the 13 speakers, 10 were Worthians. It is on occasions such as these that one really appreciates the willingness of former pupils to give back to the place where they were educated.

None more so than Jonathan Stordy (StB’81) who has contributed regularly to this forum and gave a very lively presentation to students about life in general management.

For the first time we had a double act; not comedy, but serious, and stimulating advice from Joe Bradley (F’09) and Alex Gill (StB’09) on careers in the financial services sector – an area that is well known, but also widely misunderstood. James Maclean (StB’01), as one would

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expect from an advertising guru, gave an assured presentation on the intricacies of the advertising world, while Dan Hyde (StB’05) offered some revealing insights into the world of journalism in the modern era. Media and marketing have both been transformed by social media and we were lucky to have Fred Bradley (R’04) and JP Matthews (B’06) offer their views on this brave new world. Nick Hopkins (G’05) has recently passed some key qualifications as an underwriter and spoke about life in the insurance industry. There are strong connections between Lloyds of London and the Worth community. Every year a group of students go up there to look at the building and it’s amazing how many Worthians we come across on these visits. Clearly architecture is a specialised career and there were limited numbers of students who joined these sessions but those that did found Matt Chan’s (R’98) advice and information about careers within that profession very helpful. Last but not least Peter Osborne (R’08) gave some ideas about life in the engineering profession and again, although audiences were limited, there was very positive feedback. Indeed student feedback this year was particularly good – reflecting the fact that our speakers gave advice and information that was exactly what the boys and girls wanted and needed to know about the world of work.

After a hard morning’s talk, the event ended with most of the speakers enjoying a lunch that was I am sure even better than those which they used to enjoy in the refectory a few (or in some cases many!) years ago.

Duncan Pring, Head of Careers, Worth School

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Three of a Kind

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Left to right: Xavier Geissman, John Franck and Clive Bayne

ust to demonstrate the power of the worldwide Worthian network in our overly-connected world. In July 2014 Mary Lou Burge reached out to me, Clive Bayne (G’66), a long-term resident of Mexico City, to see if I could help a recent leaver, Xavier Geissmann (B’11) who wanted to spend a year in Latin America as part of his Spanish and Philosophy joint Honours course at Exeter University. I worked with Xavier by email and Skype to edit Xavier’s personal history document and, with a reference from Julian Williams, Xavier’s former Housemaster, I began scouting for internship opportunities for Xavier in Mexico.

Mexico City. This conversation uncovered the fact that, unbeknownst to me, John Franck (R’73) was also a Worthian! Better still, John felt he could offer Xavier an internship in his company, AngloInfo Mexico City.

Xavier duly arrived in Mexico City from Colombia the first week of February 2015, and the photo shows the three Worthians at an AngloInfo business meeting in Mexico City on 10 February 2015.

Now, how often do things work out like that?

Clive Bayne (G’66)

In October 2014 I had lunch with a client, John Franck, and mentioned Xavier’s wish to find some work as an intern in

An insight into Financial Consultancy

D

uring my final years at Worth I studied Economics, History and English Literature as well as completing the EPQ, and finished my A-Levels with BBBA*.

With these grades I went on to pursue higher education, studying International Politics & Military History at Aberystwyth University.

Early in 2015, I got in contact with the Worth Society to ask if they could organise some work experience for me during my summer holiday period. I expressed an interest in financial consultancy and so Mary Lou Burge put me in contact with Chris Loftus (B’91) who works as Director of Parker Lloyd Capital (a financial consultancy specialising in high net worth clients). Having first got together for a chat, Chris was kind enough to organise a couple of weeks work experience for me at the beginning of the summer.

Upon arriving to work I was welcomed into the office and immediately made to feel as if I was a genuine part of the team. This went a long way towards making my time at Parker Lloyd a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I was rotated through a variety of tasks ranging from the

organisation of favourable mortgage and re-mortgage rates, as well as helping research many different types of investment vehicles, ranging from property to transport tankers. This varied work load was rather useful as it helped give me a broad taste of what is involved in working in the financial consultancy sector in which I am still very interested.

I am now in my final year of study and therefore applying to a plethora of different graduate schemes and placements ready for after graduation next summer. The work experience I had with Parker Lloyd Group was a hugely rewarding and insightful experience and will hopefully be especially useful in making me stand out from other applicants.

I would recommend to any Worthian undergraduate to organise some work experience during their holidays, as it not only helps you find out what you are interested in but also helps improve your CV and overall future employability.

Samuel Poynder (F’13)

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The Global Action Awards

The Global Action Awards

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he Worthians Charitable Trust (WCT) Global Action Awards (GAA) programme is now in its 15th year – during which time the WCT has awarded a total of £22,930 to Worthians who have spent time in unpaid work for the good of others and the community, in both the UK and overseas.

We continue to encourage Worthians to apply for a GAA at any age or stage in their lives – this might be during their last year at School, during a gap year, or perhaps in anticipation of taking a sabbatical from work later on in their lives.

The adjacent table lists the GAAs that have been awarded by the WCT since the programme’s launch in 2000, and demonstrates the depth and breadth of projects that it supports.

Since the 2014 issue of The Blue Paper we have seen the return of Naomi Dring (StA’13) and Charlie Bridge (StB’09) from their respective GAA projects. Naomi was given the maximum award for her 4 month project with Worth Abbey’s Outreach Peru programme which proved to be a deeply moving experience for her working at the Puericultorio JAVA Orphanage in Ayacucho. Charlie spent most of 2014 in Rio de Janeiro with TASK Brasil, teaching English to disadvantaged children in a particularly challenging environment. Both have returned with powerful memories and many lessons learned about themselves and the greater world - things that will be invaluable to them during the course of their lives. You’ll enjoy reading the full reports of their incredible experiences on the following pages.

Charlie Bridge

We were also delighted to welcome back Charlotte Bonhoure (StM’13) and Naomi Dring (StA’13) this year who came to give insightful talks to current students about their respective GAA projects.

During this current year the WCT has awarded 5 GAAs amounting to £3,100.

Peter Webb (C’14) was awarded the maximum funding available for his 6 month volunteering project with the Manquehue Movement in Chile. As he returned at the end of August 2015 he has been able to write about the highs and lows of his time there in this issue.

Benjamin Booker (B’13) and Beatrice Lewers (StA’13) were both awarded funding to spend their summer 2015 break from university at the Puericultorio JAVA Orphanage in Peru. Stephen Free (C’15) was awarded his GAA to spend 3 months in the autumn of 2015 working with VSO & ICS in Tanzania, whilst Frances Oesterlin (StA’15) was awarded funding for a 2 month teaching project in a village close to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which she will undertake in early 2016 as part of her gap year. We look forward to reading all about their experiences in our next issue.

If you’d like to apply for a GAA, donate to the GAA fund via the Worthians Charitable Trust, or just want to find out more; then do please contact me at worthsociety@worth.org.uk or take a look at the Community Support section of our website www.worthsociety.org.uk Mary Lou Burge

Peter Webb, second from right

Naomi Dring during ACE Week in June talking about her time with Outreach Peru

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

GAAs Awarded since 2000 2014-15 Peter Webb (C’14) – volunteering with the Manquehue Movement in Chile

£1,000

Benjamin Booker (B’13) – volunteering with the Puericultorio JAVA Orphanage in Peru

£500

Beatrice Lewers (StA’13) – volunteering with the Puericultorio JAVA Orphanage in Peru

£500

Stephen Free (C’15) – working with VSO & ICS in Tanzania

£500

Frances Oesterlin (StM’15) – teaching English in Cambodia

£500

2013-14 Merrick Winter (F’13) – teaching English with Global Vision International in India and Nepal

£500

Charlie Bridge (StB’09) – teaching English with TASK Brasil in Rio de Janeiro

£500

Thomas Harrison (StB’92) – founding Fusion Enterprise Music & Drama Group for adults with learning disabilities

£150

2012-13 Charlotte Bonhoure (StM’13) – working with the Manquehue Movement in Chile Naomi Dring (StA’13) – volunteering for Worth Abbey’s ‘Outreach Peru’ programme in Peru

£750 £1,000

James Folger (B’10) – teaching English at schools in San Jose in Costa Rica

£400

Ciaran Stordy (StB’12) – working with the Manquehue Movement in Chile

£500

2011-12 Niamh Fogarty (StM’11) – volunteering with Tanzanian NGO, TanzEd Xavier Geissmann (B’11) – working with the Manquehue Movement in Chile

£500 £700

Francis Dring (C’12) – volunteering with The Peru Mission in the Amazon

£1,000

2010-11 Jack Clancy (F’11) – working for a remote Maasai community in Tanzania

£900

Chris Napleton (C’11) – volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal

£700

2009-10 James Harrold (StB’10) – working with the Manquehue Movement in Chile Will Desmond (C’09) – working with Cross Purposes in the UK 2008-09 Tristan Stutchbury (StB’01) – teaching English in Uganda

£750 £400 £750

Max Watson (F’05) – voluntary work in Tarma, Peru

£250

Benedict Wintour (B’09) – working as a teaching assistant in Kenya

£750

2007-08 Benedict Kelly (StB’78) – fund-raising for communities in Peru

£500

Tom McMurray (B’08) – nature guide training in South Africa

£500

Fridolin Steinbeis (R’08) – working with aids orphans and as a hospital volunteer in Mexico

£780

2006-07 Luke MacWilliam (R’07) – eco-tourism in South Africa; teaching in Malawi Rob Carson (G’94) – running a camp for disabled children in Ireland 2005-06 Dominic Moor (StB’00) – medical elective in Uganda

£750 £500 £500

Michael Burr (F’06) – conservation work in Cambodia

£500

Rob Carson (G’94) – running a camp for disabled children in Ireland

£850

Edmund Chedgy (G’00) – medical elective in China

£500

Johnathan Craik (C’00) – medical elective in China

£500

2004-05 Daniel Grace (F’05) – teaching in Chile Elliott Webber (R’04) – teaching in Nepal

£500 £500

2003-04 Andrew Welsh (B’04) – teaching in the Galagapos Islands

£500

2002-03 Francis Binney (G’00) – conservation work in Indonesia

£200

2001-02

Mark Haden (G’03) – the building of nurses homes in Zambia

£250

James Powys Lybbe (B’02) – working as a carer in a Romanian orphanage

£500

Alex Tyrwhitt (G’02) – teaching English in China

£250

2000-01 Nick Smith (C’01) – teaching in Uganda Ed Bonn (G’01) – teaching in Kenya

Charlotte Bonhoure talking to students in January 2015 about her project with the Manquehue Movement

£500 £250

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The Global Action Awards

Heart speaks to heart: A Peruvian adventure

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Helping a lovely patient in Chulucanas

I

n February 2014, after receiving a very generous Global Action Award from Worth Society, I set out alone on an incredible six month adventure in Peru, unsure about what I would be doing and completely unaware of the lasting effect this experience would have on me.

After arriving in a hot and overcrowded Lima I took the overnight bus ride into the mountains to Ayacucho, a town situated in the southern Andes and notorious for being the birthplace of the communist group The Shining Path. The violent struggle between The Shining Path and the Peruvian military in the 1980s resulted in the death of around 70,000 civilians, most of them from Ayacucho itself, and the subsequent founding of the Puericultorio JAVA orphanage, the place I would be working for the next four months.

‘Puericultorio JAVA’ was set up by the teacher Juan Andres Vivanco Amorin in the early years of the conflict, first as a food kitchen and then as an orphanage. Starting with just 7 orphans, the numbers grew daily as violence escalated and soon more than 300 orphans were being cared for at the home. After the death of its founder, the running of the orphanage was taken over by the religious order ‘Las Hijas de Santa Ana’ (‘The Daughters of St Anne’) and, to this day, a small group of incredibly resilient and selfless Sisters from this order run it and dedicate their lives to the care of its precious children.

Since the end of the conflict, the backgrounds of the children of the Puericultorio have changed dramatically.

Instead of primarily housing orphans, the home now cares

for children who have been abused or abandoned, a number with parents in prison and many with extremely poor families who are financially unable to look after them. The traumatic nature of many of the children’s pasts often made my work challenging and emotionally draining, but when I arrived I could have never imagined the impact these children would have on me, the lifelong friendships I would form, and the deep love I would feel for the Puericultorio and for Peru.

My work in the Puericultorio varied from getting the younger children ready for school and helping them with their homework, to feeding and playing with the babies in the nursery, but the focus of all the work – for me and everyone at the home – was in loving the children and being for them the closest thing possible to a family. This mission was constantly affirmed by the love I received from the children and the Sisters, from being called “mum” on Mother’s Day by Ruben, whose mother had been murdered by her husband after years of domestic abuse, to having Kristel, a baby I had been looking after since she was a few months old, say the word “mama” to me in my last week at the Puericultorio. These are but a few of the children and experiences that made my four months in the Puericultorio completely life-changing and my leaving Ayacucho the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.

Kristel after her lunch!

After spending these four incredible months in Ayacucho I travelled north to Chulucanas, the diocese where my uncle had previously worked as a Missionary priest for three years and where my brother Francis worked in 2013

Left: Visiting Machu Pichu Above: First day of the Global Health Ministry medical campaign

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The Global Action Awards

Heart speaks to heart: A Peruvian adventure continued

With Rosa and Elsa at the Puericultorio School

as part of his GAA. From there I travelled into the mountains to the rural village of Huarmaca where I lived with Sister Saane (an old friend of my uncle) helping in the parish, teaching English in the primary school and visiting patients. Living in Huarmaca was an incredibly humbling experience. I had the privilege of meeting some really inspiring people whose poverty did not stop them from reaching out to neighbours in need and even welcoming strangers like myself.

On returning to Chulucanas I began a two week period of work as a volunteer and interpreter on the Global Health Ministry Medical Campaign. I was assigned to the ‘Sierra Team’ and travelled alongside a paediatrician, a general practitioner and two nurses in the trusty hands of our drivers Angel and Stalin (yes, really) into the mountains.

We visited four villages, staying in each for a day or two seeing patients non-stop. These communities had either very little or no access to medical care, so despite being given a list of patients who had signed up in advance, this was soon abandoned as people began arriving, often having walked for hours to see us. As well as interpreting, I helped in triage and took vital signs and nutrition levels.

I had no previous medical experience (I had never even been to the doctor’s before!) so the opportunity to work in a medical environment was something I did not take for granted and continue to be incredibly grateful for.

On the medical campaign I met some amazing people whose gratitude, kindness and capacity for hope in the face of extreme poverty and illness both baffled and inspired me deeply. Despite feeling at times overwhelmed and constantly exhausted, I cannot put into words how fortunate I feel to have been able to have this experience and to have worked alongside such an incredible group of men and women. It is something that will stay with me forever.

After leaving Chulucanas and finishing yet another chapter of this unforgettable adventure, I set off once again by myself to travel around Peru. I spent a month exploring more of Peru: visiting the Inca capital Machu Picchu; taking a terrifying plane journey over the Nasca Lines; spending a night on an island in the middle of Lake Titicaca; and relaxing for a short time on the beach. During this time I discovered more about the history and culture, and met people from all around the world. This gave me a deeper appreciation for a country I had already grown to love, and was a great way to end the most amazing six months of my life.

It is now over a year since I returned home from Peru, but my love for the country has only grown with time as has my longing to return. I am still unable to put into words how much this experience changed me and how much the Puericultorio, in particular, meant and continues to mean to me. I am eternally grateful to the Worth Society for enabling me to have this incredible experience.

Naomi Dring (StA’13)

Above: Having fun with Doris in the playground Left: In Ayacucho with the locals Right: Walking with Sister Saane in Huarmaca

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It is now over a year since I returned home from Peru, but my love for the country has only grown with time as has my longing to return.

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The Global Action Awards

A Land of Contradictions

B

razil is a country of many contradictions. As one of the world’s most progressive democracies (and the fourth most populous) it scores worse on the Corruption Perception Index than Cuba. It is the world’s 7th largest economy but 7% of the population live on less than $2 a day. These contradictions appear in its culture – African tribalism blended with European colonialism and Latin Catholic roots to produce a vibrant chaos of liberalism and piety. More than half of all Brazilians are Catholic but samesex unions were recognised as early as 2004 and same-sex marriage legalised in 2013. In 2012 more than 50,000 Brazilians were murdered, more than in Nigeria (and they have roughly the same population).

I spent most of 2014 in Rio de Janeiro working for a small charity called TASK Brasil. In my short time there I was exposed to another, less internationally apparent contradiction. Despite the worldwide perception of Brazil as an up-and-coming BRIC nation with a liberal attitude, energetic culture and positive eco-political momentum (at least, until 2014), it suffers from a huge educational divide.

It is hard to quantify this issue, but it is also hard to ignore that over 10% of Brazilians are illiterate and only 43% of adults have completed high-school.

TASK Brasil began as a set of boarding houses for pregnant teenagers and young mothers who would otherwise live on the street or in abusive situations. In 2008 it changed its objectives and now runs a free school three days a week, teaching a variety of core subjects to children who would normally spend all or part of their day in the street. While some of TASK’s beneficiaries do attend school, they only do so for half of the day due to the struggling Brazilian school system, so often have a great deal of time on their hands and very little supervision. The school run by TASK sits on the poorer side of a hill which comprises the Santa Teresa

neighbourhood, formerly the centre of the wealthy colonists’ residences but now a semi-urban Bohemian district. The students come from the surrounding area, many from places a Westerner would call favela. Despite western media’s fascination with the term it is rarely used in Rio, and there are a great many areas of un- or underregulated housing that have varying levels of development.

The worst of these, some of which have clearly defined boundaries, are recognised as favelas but given the much more positive label comunidades, ie ‘communities’.

When I arrived in Rio I thought I had sufficiently lowered my expectations about my future students’ level of education.

I didn’t expect to find 12 year-olds unable to add single digit numbers or 15 year-olds who could not read. These students were in school and attending most lessons taught by teachers who had not held them back a year (supposedly standard procedure in Brazil), let alone report severe learning disabilities. It is not fair to blame the chaotic, understaffed maelstroms that are inner-city Rio schools.

I found the truth to be much more complicated, or to understand. There is a pervasive disdain and apathy towards any sort of education within broad swathes of Rio’s lower classes, an attitude I expect extends to the entire country. This is not a case of tension between the more and the less studious in a class, sometimes evident in British schools, of ‘nerds’ being picked on by fellow students, but something far more widespread. The standard response for many new TASK students to “what is 7 plus 4?” isn’t a puzzled expression or an “I don’t know” but simply “I don’t care”. The same goes for corrections to basic Portuguese or general knowledge.

The children who arrive at Casa Jimmy, the school building named after a very generous member of Led Zeppelin, are taught English, Maths, IT skills and what we call PSHE. As challenging and fulfilling as this teaching is, especially given the open, easy-going nature of the kids who were far more curious about me than about Maths, it is the pastoral role which I believe will be of truly lasting benefit to them.

Trying to instil a greater respect for knowledge, for the process of learning and for their fellow students is what drove me to persevere. As anyone who has worked with children can testify, the innate ability of the young to change and learn is astounding. At the start of the year one of my students refused to talk to me for weeks. He abused his size by bullying his fellow pupils and couldn’t write his own name. Six months later he was a respected member of the class to whom the other students looked for protection and advice, mature enough to handle significant responsibilities and able to read at a fair pace. I cannot take credit for his transformation; the safety and stability of Casa Jimmy was the rock in his turbulent life that allowed natural human compassion and maturity to take hold.

I would often wander down the Santa Teresa hillside in the evenings, normally the only time of day cool enough to do so, and meet children playing in the street. With a grubby football or rickety skateboard between 10 boys and girls they would be laughing and crying, like children anywhere.

Except the street was quite dark and steep, with motorbikes whipping up and down every so often or drunken labourers

Charlie entertaining a pupil

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stumbling home after half a day’s work. The children would be there until the early hours of the morning, some as young as 6, and yet without a parent in sight. The boys were proud and aggressively curious, blurting out a string of questions about England and English football and English swearwords without giving me time to answer. They would strut and boast and argue but the minute I asked someone if they could say “good evening” in English, there would be total silence. I accidentally stumbled upon perhaps the only thing that consistently left them shy – speaking another language. Even after insistent querying about school lessons the best I could get out of them was “wun, chu, tree” or perhaps “mai naymi iss” without a following name.

Even so, I’d be lucky to escape in under half an hour some evenings as they continued to be fascinated by my foreign-ness.

After a few weeks, when most would greet me with a genuine attempt at “good evening” or “good night”, I started challenging them to come to Casa Jimmy and

improve their English, find out how to talk to any gringo they met on the street. Some of them did, and loved it, but it took me a while to realise that my teaching had actually started back out on the street. I represented something completely alien to these children – someone who valued honesty, politeness (perhaps to excess) and their education.

I hope the positive aspects of my attitude and fortunate education rubbed off on them as much as their lively, outgoing and curious energy has affected me.

In my first foray into charitable work, an undertaking which the Worth Society sponsored so generously, I have learned a great deal. The uphill struggle faced by many in the charitable and educational sectors is something I never gave much consideration to at School. I now have a much greater respect for those who choose to teach or to devote their lives to others, simply because I have seen how hard it can be.

Charlie Bridge (StB’09)

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The Global Action Awards

A deep encounter with the Lord

Right: Peter (on right) with a good friend he made in Chile Right middle: The Portsmouth Abbey School Group Far right: Peter with the rest of Casa San Juan Crisostomo Below: Lago General Carrera

I

never quite got to grips with what it was I was going to be doing in Chile for 6 months before I arrived. I think most of the time I just tried to convince myself that it was all an excuse for a jolly around Chile. How wrong I was.

Perhaps it is better to pick out a few highlights of my time there, because there were highs, but also lows. For most of the time I was working in the Colegio San Benito, the original of the three schools that the Manquehue Movement runs, in the Tutoria department (sort of like the Chaplaincy), helping with English lessons, violin lessons and a few art lessons. I also went to San Lorenzo, another of Manquehue’s schools but in a much more difficult area, twice a week.

My time in Chile was incredibly difficult, there is no denying that – I was the only ‘gringo’ that went and so sometimes felt very lonely. In some sense though, it was this difficulty in San Benito that made other parts of my stay so rewarding. For a good proportion of my time there, life in the community was a strain. The house had a schedule and customs that attempted to follow the Rule of St Benedict. It was a big shock to the system, letting go of my total freedom – not the typical idea of a gap year! After many months though, this became a real joy, and in some ways very freeing. The community begins to be all there is, and the fact that things are planned and ordered means that small things that normally fill so much of your thoughts and time just disappear.

In late April I was sent down to the Movement’s retreat house in Patagonia, San José. I had no idea what to expect, other than almost every Chilean I had met told me it would be the highlight of my trip. I flew to Coyhaique and from there it was roughly a seven hour journey to the retreat house. San José houses a community of permanent oblates of Manquehue, and also a male and a female community of students, in most cases ex-students of the Manquehue schools now at university, who stay for four months. It is one of the most beautiful settings imaginable, and the

A Patagonian mountain range

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sheer desolation that surrounds it makes it just an incredibly silent and peaceful place. However, what really struck me most in my time there were the students that had gone to live there. They had put everything on hold, their studies and their social life, to attempt something they would almost certainly find incredibly difficult; living an intense community life, and seeking a personal encounter with God. My experience there was unique for me. While I try to avoid self-indulgence, I had a very deep encounter there with the awesome love and power of God. Several months later in June, a group visited from St Louis Priory School (an Ampleforth foundation and part of the EBC) in Missouri. They came to learn about Tutoria for two weeks and I was a small group leader for their visit. I had a group of seven St Louis boys, and two Chilean tutors who were there to help me. I was incredibly nervous about their visit, as I was not particularly enjoying my time there then, finding life in the Movement difficult. More importantly, I felt I had absolutely no experience in what I was supposed to be showing them. I spent two weeks with my group, and it was the strongest experience of shared faith, Tutoría and community I had ever had. I was able to share much of what I had experienced thus far in Chile, and being honest about it made me confront, challenge and strengthen my convictions about what I was telling them. Sharing Lectio and being together every day, they experienced a more caring and open friendship that was so different to what they were used to at home.

I made some incredible friends in Chile, and some incredibly different friends. In July a second group of Americans came, this time from Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island.

They came to go on a ‘trabajo’, a service activity that the Manquehue schools organise for their students; the students travel out of Santiago and build a house/hut for someone who badly needs it and I went to help as an ‘honorary’ Chilean for the week! Whilst the service side of the activity is incredibly important, the experience that many of the students treasure most is the community life.

For me however, it was a very difficult experience. I found myself becoming frustrated with the way things were being run. Towards the end of the week a friend came to me, and, being blunt, told me exactly how he saw where I was going wrong. I had been trying to make the week about ‘me’ and not living it for the American students I was responsible for.

That turning inwards was what had made me feel so frustrated and angry. This was a very important moment for me, and indicative of the type of people that I met in the Manquehue Movement. They live their relationships for each other, whatever implications that may have.

My time in Chile was special, and this only describes a few highlights of it. It will take me a while to fully take stock of everything that I experienced. However, what will stop this from being just a ‘gap year tale’ is when I bring some of the things I learnt into my new life studying Theology and Religion at Durham University and beyond.

I would like to thank the Worth Society for their generosity in facilitating my trip to Chile, which helped massively to make my trip such a brilliant experience.

Peter Webb (C’14)

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The following Worthians represented the Worthians RFC Club during the 2014-2015 Season:

Worthians Rugby 2014-2015 Season

T

Sport

he 2014-15 season was an enormous success, with the Worthians deservedly achieving promotion to Surrey 2. We’ve been in Surrey 2 before, but this time we expect to stay there – and hopefully push for another promotion in the next couple of years.

The season was a typical ‘game of two halves’ with the WOBS pitching in from the start with 8 successive League victories in a row – just one win short of our best ever run of four years ago. In fact our only League defeat before the Christmas break was to our arch-rivals Old Georgians. But despite that defeat we were riding high at the top of the League at Christmas well clear of our nearest rivals.

Our fine vein of good form recommenced in the New Year and continued into January and February with four more wins on the trot. But then, just needing one more win in our remaining 5 games to secure promotion, we took our foot off the accelerator… and scraped our promotion by winning just the one game required. There were reasons for this sudden decline though. The loss of key players to injury in these last few games, just when we were playing our strongest rivals, while they too were all striving for promotion themselves, meant that we simply weren’t as good, as focused, and as confident as we had been at the start of our long season. As it happened, we deserved our promotion – and anything short of this would have been a crushing disappointment given the supreme form we had shown in the first 3 quarters of the season.

The team line-up was relatively stable through the season, with a good blend of experienced players from previous seasons plus some great talent just out of the school, notably Dom Suckling in the back row and James Kemp at outside centre. Both of these rookies made a huge impact in their games, James as the top try-scorer in the club (13 tries) in his remarkable run of 22 games, and Dom with 5 tries in his 7 appearances. Front row has often been a problem in the past – but we were well served this season by the always-improving Marco Boodramsingh and Peter Osborne as our regular props, along with the ever-green

Rob Rooney (G’01), James Madsen (B’02), Jack Bodkin (G’03), Giles Heather (F’03), Dan Pring (R’03), Jamie Bruce (R’04), Adam Braverman (G’05), Chris Brown (C’05), Richard Brown (F’05), Craig Monteiro (StB’05), Josh Taylor (B’05), Dom Bosher (R’08), Andrew Furness (F’08), Tom O’Hare (B’08), Peter Osborne (R’08), Giles Sacarello (StB’08), Oliver Scanlon (G’08), Kevin DanagherSmith (StB’09), Ed Kemp (F’10), Christian Killoughery (R’10), Marco Boodramsingh (C’11), Nick Elvidge (C’11), Ed Everington (B’11), Tomek Nawrocki (F’11), Dom Robinson (B’11), Harry Killoughery (R’12), Eoin O'Connor (F’12), Tom Poynder (F’12), Tom Chandler (’13), Ben Derbyshire (B’13), Louis Gorringe (C’13), Jack Rafferty (C’13), Max Bergot (F’14), James Kemp (F’14), Hugh Murphy (B’14), Dom Suckling (B’14), George Suckling (B’15)

and fiercely competitive Giles Heather. Guest Ed Hackett was our match-winning hooker – but when Giles left for Qatar at Christmas, and Ed suffered a shoulder injury in February our fortunes slipped as we lost our solid platform.

Guest Phil Swann became our regular hooker in the latter part of the season, making a notable impact in some key games, while Ed Everington made a difference to the team when he was available to prop.

Our second row was provided principally by Dan Pring (when not injured), Peter Osborne (when not propping), and our new find, the experienced guest-player Jonathan Burbidge, who was tempted to join the WOBS after watching his younger brother playing for several months. Our back row was dominant when former captain Jack Bodkin, Dom Suckling, Giles Sacarello and guest Adam Burbidge were playing and on the rampage. But again we suffered from injuries, losing Giles (knee) after 14 successive League games – while Dom Bosher and Josh Taylor were confined to the physio’s bench for most of the season. Richard Brown made a welcome return to the team late in the season after a serious injury last year, to secure our vital final League win with a stunning 40 metre try. And James Madsen and Hugh Murphy both made an impact in the few games they played.

Our backs were always going to be strong – but two unfortunate injuries meant that gym-junky and supreme athlete Chris Brown (with an ugly dislocated knee accident) played just three games and skipper Adam Braverman (neck/back) missed the second half of the season – so we were unable to play our strongest line-up after the opening few games. We had an abundance of talent and speed nevertheless, with James Kemp at 13, and a back three of Christian Killoughery, Kevin Danagher and Ed Kemp. Behind the scrum were Player of the Season the all-tackling, jinking guest Neil Pickford at 9, along with Rory Garratt (a longterm regular with the club) and Olly Owen sharing the number 10 and 12 shirts. Eoin O’Connor and Ben Derbyshire, both made frequent appearances on the wing – with Eoin demonstrating his remarkable footballing skills on several occasions – while the experienced Craig Monteiro

The ‘Younger vs Older’ match, September 2015 Back row: Marco Boodramsingh, Desmond Calnan, Luke Cummins, Finbar Tilford, Ed Kemp, James Kemp, Niklas Giesse (g), James Henwood, Dugald McDonald (g), Ashley Guest (g), Rob Cottrell, David Love (g), Alex Winter (g), Fergus Murphy-Hunt.

Front Row:Tomek Nawrocki, Nick Elvidge, Rory Garratt (g), George Suckling, Christy O’Brien, Christian Killoughery, James Madsen, Joe Rivers, Angus Bonner, Toby Jozwiak.

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Remember this is your Club, for all Worthians, and we always need new players! Everyone is welcome to play even if you can’t commit to a full season.

Take your pick of these choices to join in: • In August/September: Play in the National Under-21 Competition (Bank Holiday Monday). Play in the ‘old’ versus ‘young’ Worthians match (played at Worth on the second Sunday of September) • During your gap year: Sign up for a few games before you set off on your gap travels • While at University: Play in the Under-21 fixture at Christmas. Play in the Sevens at Easter. Or ring up for a game if you’re visiting parents for the weekend!

• After University: Join Worthians RFC full time if you’re working in London or nearby If you’re thinking of playing, all you need to do is call one of the following people: • Jack Bodkin (Captain): 07917 415165 • Desmond Calnan (Chairman): 07535 939582 or 01372 386511 James Kemp considers passing as his brother Ed approaches….

Sport

Luke Cummins, the captain of the ‘Young Worthians’, receives ‘The Glenn Robertson Challenge Trophy’ from Fr Kevin in the pavilion, following his team’s 41-26 victory

added much midfield solidity to our defences, often playing at late notice when free of his Rugby League commitments.

Jack Bodkin stepped aside from the captaincy for this season, after two successful years, though he continues to play for the club. Adam Braverman replaced him and has been an inspirational leader on the field, urging the team through difficult games to achieve their remarkable run of 8 League wins. Unfortunately Adam himself was injured midseason, but continues to be prominent in his support of the team on match days and even more prominent afterwards.

Ed Kemp leads the team now on Saturdays, while the fourth person in this dynamic group of leaders is Giles Sacarello, our Social Secretary, who manages this role with style and also coordinates and cajoles the weekly training activity on Wednesday evenings in Battersea. We are very grateful too for the match-day services of physio Lucy Sacarello who has been invaluable to the team.

For the coming season in Surrey 2, the key to success will be a stable front 5 in the forwards – which needs to include several spare players for the inevitable injuries, skiing holidays, stag parties and weddings which regularly interfere with the season. And our line-out needs to return to the skill levels of the O’Connell/Pring combo of the WOBS in the late noughties, or dare I say it, the days of fox-hunter Dom Jones in the early days of the Club.

The connections with the School and the Leavers, vital for the continuing success of the Club, have been good in recent years, with James Kemp’s recent contribution to this particularly important. The trick will be to keep these connections ‘live’ right through to the University Leaver stage, which is where the real prize lies. Entry every year to the Cronk-Cunis under-21 National XV’s Festival helps in this regard and participation in several Sevens Competitions in the summer months is also important. The Worth game in September is always a good attraction and great fun, but maybe the innovative and hugely successful ‘Worthians Festival of Rugby’ Fun Day (reported in detail on the following page) will prove to be the most valuable of all in attracting former players to take up their boots again.

Desmond Calnan (R’69)

Marco Boodramsingh keeps possession!

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The Inaugural Worthians Summer Rugby Festival

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Sport

t was the perfect way to end the summer, and to begin the 2015-2016 rugby season in style. At the Worthians’ home ground in Walton-on-Thames, the Club hosted its very first Worthians Summer Rugby Festival on Saturday 5th September 2015. Following up on the League success of last season, the club identified the need for an inclusive annual event to improve our recruitment drive and to raise funds for the continued development of the Club. The day was as much for the enjoyment of the spectators as it was for the players. Whilst relishing the high quality of rugby talent on show, spectators feasted on the delicious Italian meatballs supplied by the Belpassi Bros, and on home-made cakes provided by our ever-faithful supporters.

Livio and Lorenzo Belpassi with Philip Swann, an Amplefordian who works with them, provided the catering for the day with their famous meatballs

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The complexion of the Tournament was very different to any seen before, with Touch and Sevens combined in the same competition in the form of two Groups and a knockout stage. Each team was to play two group games, and based upon this would enter into semi-finals or the 5th/6th play-off match.

Group 1 consisted of teams captained by Edward Kemp (F’10) with 2010 and 2011 leavers combined, and Daniel ‘Wasali’ Pring (R’03) and the ‘Fat Boys’ Touch team of WOBS rugby legends led by PJ ‘Heart ’n Soul’ Bailey (R’95). They say age matters in rugby, and it showed in this group. Ed Kemp’s young team prevailed in both of their pool matches to qualify top. The first game was between ’11 leavers and the ’03 leavers, and this was a nail-biting first game ending 14-12 to Ed Kemp’s team. Then followed the two Touch games where the innate skills (for ‘innate’ read ‘long past’) of the Fat Boys gave them a first half lead in each game.

Sadly, in the opening game the Fat Boys lost two of their playmakers – Lee Howard to a tweaked/dodgy hamstring and skipper PJ to an unusual condition known as ‘appallingly unfit’ – PJ’s soul remained, but sadly his heart packed in after a little less than 5 minutes. However, with doubleinternational Tom Calnan (R’95), former WOBS captain and head boy Rob Carson (G’94), and a sprightly Guy ‘Flid’ Robinson (G’93), there was plenty of play still in the Fat Boys, and they were unlucky to lose both matches by a single late try in each game.

Group 2 had the tournament favourites, a young James Kemp’s (F’14) team, comprising almost the same Sevens Squad who had played at Rosslyn Park for the School in 2013, after their gap year exploits but still looking sharp and athletic as ever. Up against Peter Osborne’s (R’08) makeshift team and Adam Braverman’s (G’05) team, aptly named the ‘glass-men’ for their surprising decision to opt out of contact to contest their games in Touch. The group had it all; size, flair, hair and despair as the ’13 team narrowly edged out the ’08 leavers, with some brilliant quality sevens. Osborne’s post-match team-talk dwelt upon their fitness, but many supporters present probably would have put the result down to the consumption of pre-game beers.

This was an example that the ’05 leavers were not going to follow. All ‘dressed to impress’ in their matching sky-blue kit, this team was the essence of a squad with all the gear and no fear, playing touch was their forte and they were out to cause an upset. Unfortunately, they did all but that, as they lost (to their credit, narrowly) to both of their opponents.

The next round of matches paired up the two Touch teams (’95 and ’05) to battle it out for the wooden spoon in the 5th/6th place play-off. Once again the Fat Boys of 1995 took a quick lead but they were always in trouble when Braverman’s Boys threw the ball wide to the left, where the rather speedy Stefan Humphries (C’05) lurked – as he tended to score at will. Despite the assistance of Abu Dhabi Aussie ringer Alex, the (only) Woman of the Tournament Kat Bailey, and the hyperactive dummying Silver Fox, the Fat Boys could only muster 2 tries; the first a neat touch down in the corner by Kat after some good link-up play, the second a fantastic finish by the Chairman who fooled everyone (himself included) with a series of wild dummies, eventually opening the way for him to scamper in at the corner with all the pace and determination of a fox being pursued by a pack of baying hounds. However this was not enough, and the game was put to bed by a superb tap pass

by Rory Garratt to allow Richard Brown (F’05) to score the Braverman Boys’ fourth and final try.

The competition was now heating up like a freshly cooked Belpassi meatball, as the spectators turned their attention to the semi-finals. In the first match, Daniel Pring’s 2003 outfit were up against the 2013 leavers, the favourites. The first half was a closely fought encounter with the ’13 leavers going into the break just one try up. However, a few basic mistakes in the first few minutes of the second half led to a couple of quick tries for the ’13 leavers and their superior fitness told in the end to run out as eventual winners.

Despite this set back, Daniel Pring’s outfit went into the 3rd/4th place play off with plenty of confidence and ran in 4 unanswered tries in the first half, to secure a respectful third place in the tournament.

In the second semi-final, the ’08 leavers were vying for an upset to stop the possibility of an all Kemp final, to defy the odds and to have a chance of avenging their defeat in the group stages. The match kicked off and it was the perfect start, some sublime handling and offloads from Andrew Furness (F’08) and surprisingly Peter himself, and the 08’ leavers were two tries up. Sevens proved that dominance is short-lived and there was a quick response from Edward Kemp, easily out-sprinting Giles Sacarello to go in under the posts, the latter was raising a few spectator eyebrows having played wing at school. The match ended 25-23 to the ’08 leavers.

The Worthians Rugby Summer Festival Final was to be contended by a repeat of the Group 2 classic between the ’13 and ’08 leavers. There was a complete contrast in playing styles on show here. The ’08 leavers played a direct, physical game offloading out of every tackle, against the ’13 leavers who relied upon their agility and fitness. It was surprisingly Peter Osborne’s ’08 leavers that were victorious on this occasion, compensating for their loss in the group stages winning a very tightly contested match. Special mention must go to Tom Cruz (B’08) for his fearless tackling and relentless determination.

The Club’s thanks go to all of the supporters who came down to Walton to watch their peers. There were 70 players and 70 spectators on the day, including Duncan Pring and Alan and Sue Mitchell from the School, and many Worthians from the earliest days of the club, including former captain Chris Jackson and Old Brightonian Teds Littlewood, now bringing their children rather than their boots. A sighting of our esteemed London mayor Boris Johnson was also recorded, although this may have just been Dom Suckling (B’14) as he came out of the shower. Non-playing Tom Mitchell (F’07) offered sound (but largely unheeded) advice from the touchline, and the valuable prize of a signed England Sevens shirt for the raffle. Over a hundred people stayed on in the clubhouse afterwards to witness the presentation of the coveted ‘Silver Fox’ Cup to the winners and to enjoy the England vs Ireland warm-up international.

It was a great spectacle and a great day out.

Please come next year, as this Festival of Rugby will be an annual fun day for all players, friends and families – with the prospect of more sport and entertainment for all ages.

Giles Sacarello (StB’08)

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Worthians Cricket 2015 Match Report

As is customary, the season started with the Worthians taking on the School 1st XI on Speech Day. Sadly this season the report on the fixture is a little shorter than usual, mainly due to the fact that the scorecard has been misplaced!

Although there is little to report in terms of cricket, the day as a whole was extremely enjoyable and it was nice to see so many people coming down to support the School. The day ended in the Worthians losing a closely fought fixture.

The Worthians vs Occasionals fixture is always a tightly contested match. This year had an extra edge with John Denman poaching a strong selection of old boys to represent the Occasionals. The Worthians won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a good batting wicket. The game got off to a bit of a shaky start with the Occasionals taking two quick wickets. This brought an in form Theo Rivers to the crease. Theo played a stunning innings, easily the best innings by a Worthian for at least three seasons, hitting a classy 81 and missing out on what should have been a well-deserved century. Thanks to some good supporting batting from Luke Donegan (23) the Worthians ended their innings on 152 for 5 from 30 overs.

The Occasionals got off to an equally shaky start losing two quick wickets. A special mention goes to Tom Planterose who took the first wicket with an excellent piece of fielding, throwing down the stumps at the non-strikers end with a quick pick up at mid-off. Although there was a solid spell of leg spin bowling from Theo Rivers (2-18) the Worthians never really found their bowling groove and the Occasionals put together some very impressive partnerships. Toby Pullan (26), Damian Cummins (19) and Luke Cummins (50 n.o.) all contributed to the Occasionals effort, helping them to chase down the total in 28 overs. Although it was disappointing to lose, the performance of the old boys representing the Occasionals provided a lot of positivity for the remainder of the season.

and Hugo Bashall (28) deserving special mention as we chased down the total within 22 overs.

The final fixture of the season was against Downside Wanderers. Last year the Downside fixture was the highlight of the season with the Worthians winning the match in the final over. Hopes were high that we would have a similarly close fixture this season. Downside won the toss on a beautifully sunny day and chose to bat. They got off to a slow but steady start, accumulating 40-0 off the first 10 overs. Some tight bowling from Greg Russell (0-21) and Michael Bilbé (2-27) kept the pressure on Downside forcing loose shots and reducing them to 50-2 off 12 overs. This pressure did not last long though with Downside putting together a fluent 138 run third wicket partnership.

Thankfully Christian Killoughery (1-49) got the much needed breakthrough with some excellent line and length bowling and Thomas Bilbé (2-30) stopped the tail from wagging to leave Downside 201-6 off their 35 overs.

The Worthians response got off to a weak start being reduced to 36 for 2 off 9 overs. Thankfully the Worthians fought back hard in the middle overs lead by a magnificent innings from Hugo Bashall (60). Bashall found the boundary with ease (including three 6’s in a row!) and was well supported by Luke Cummins (23) and Greg Russell (23).

This left the Worthians in a strong position of 126 for 4 off 22 overs. Things suddenly took a rather unexpected turn with Downside taking some quick wickets, leaving the Worthians 167 for 9 off 29 overs. From such a strong position this was rather disappointing and left the final pairing of Thomas Bilbé and Christian Killoughery a monumental task. Thankfully both fancy themselves as middle order batsmen and proceeded to demolish the Downside bowling, hitting the boundaries off nearly every ball and showing us all how it is done. The highlight of the cameo was Thomas Bilbé (35 n.o.) dutifully hitting a straight 6 to bring the winning runs and take the Worthians to 202-9 off 33 overs.

The following Worthians represented the Worthian Cricket Team during the 2015 Season: Andrew Keatley (C’96) Richard Gairdner (StB’98) Michael Bilbé (StB’06) Thomas Bilbé (StB’06) James Innes (C’06) Tom Planterose (R’06) Ed de Mott (B’07) Ed Hall-Smith (R’07) Anthony Lamb (R’08) Ben Oakley (F’08) Tom Wright (B’08) Matt Donnegan (StB’10) Edward Kemp (F’10) Christian Killoughery (R’10) Joseph Rivers (F’10) Rishi Amin (F’11) Greg Russell (F’11) Theo Rivers (F’11) Luke Donegan (StB’13) Ben Pullan (C’13) James Kemp (F’14) Toby Pullan (C’15) Luke Cummins (C’15)

It is fixtures like this one that make the effort of arranging the Worthians cricket team worthwhile and I would appeal to anyone who has any interest in cricket to get involved in the W.C.C. Players of all standards are welcome and we are keen to get as many new players as possible involved in the club.

Michael Bilbé (StB’06)

Having lost the first two fixtures of the season the Worthians vs St. Chads fixture was an important game. St Chads were put in to bat on a day when the Worthians bowling attack was firing on all cylinders. Tight bowling from Greg Russell (1-13), Christian Killoughery (1-11) and Ed De Mott (4-9) reduced St Chads to a tame 109 all out. With victory in their sites the batsmen went out to chase a small total in a confident manner. Although there were a couple of cheap wickets the result never looked in doubt and the Worthians cruised to an easy victory with Ed Hall-Smith (25)

Worthians vs School 1st XI on Speech Day

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his season was my second full season in charge of the Worthians Cricket Club and by far the most enjoyable.

On paper the Worthians only managed two wins from our four fixtures. However I do not believe this is a fair reflection of the season. The standard of cricket played was probably the highest I have seen for the last few years and there were some excellent individual and team performances. As always our season was hampered by unforeseen circumstances. This year the fixtures against OACC and Emeriti were cancelled due to the opposition being unable to field sides. Had these fixtures been played I am confident we would have ended up with a winning seasons.

Moor Park Golf Club, the annual venue for the Worthians Spring Meeting (to be held on 27th May 2016)

Worthians Golf 2014-2015 Season

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he annual autumn meeting was held again over a weekend in November at The East Sussex National Golf Club and was well supported. This year Dominic Pasqua (B’76), who was a close third the previous year, came to the fore winning the Worth Salver. Cleverly he only played in the Sunday competition game, having alternative engagements on the Saturday. As such he managed to avoid the annual dinner the night before which took its toll on some members, names not to be published!

The 2015 season opened as usual with our annual match against The Old Gregorians at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club. Matthew Wood (B’77) gallantly led the team with Hugh Bett (B’73), Patrick Davey (F’04), Greg Pickard (StB’81) and James Robertson (B’89) in support. The match was close but unfortunately we lost by 2 points to 3.

Each year the Society plays in two scratch foursomes events.

In early May the South East qualifying round of The Public Schools Old Boys Golf Association is played at Knole Park Golf Club near Sevenoaks. The competition is of a high standard and, despite entering each year, to date we have failed to qualify for the final weekend at Hunstanton, and unfortunately this year was no exception. Nevertheless it is always an enjoyable day and the Society was enthusiastically represented by Stephen Bamford (StB’68), Phillip Davey (F’04), Stuart Hiscocks (B’95), Graham Hutchings (G’05), Ken Ross (G’65) and Matthew Wood (B’77).

The Catholic Public Schools Russell Bowl competition is played annually at Woking Golf Club in early June when the course is in magnificent condition. The format is again scratch stableford foursomes over 36 holes, with an enjoyable lunch interlude between the two rounds.

Hugh Bett (B’73), Peter Gottelier (R’70), Ken Ross (G’65), Simon Ross (G’98), Rupert Pridham (G’81) and Matthew Wood (B’77) did battle for the Worthians and avoided the wooden spoon!

To do better in these events requires a greater depth of low handicap members and so it would be appreciated if anyone reading this report could let me know of any such players.

The final event to report is the annual Spring Meeting which for several years has been well supported at Moor Park in June. The staff at Moor Park are excellent hosts and a most enjoyable day was had by all with two rounds of golf between which lunch and wine was consumed with enthusiasm!

Graham Hutchings (G’05) took the Worth Rose Bowl home with 36 points, followed by brothers Simon (StB’78) and Greg Pickard (StB’81) in second and third places respectively. Prizes for nearest the pin went to Alastair Milne Home (C’93), Matthew Wood (B’77), Peter Gottelier (R’70) and Nick Hopkins (G’05), whilst Greg Pickard (StB’81) swung his driver with sufficient alacrity to win the longest drive prize.

I am pleased to report that in the last year a number of younger Worthians have joined the Society, but we still only have a relatively small number of members when one takes into account the probable large number of Worthian golfers that must be out there swinging their clubs in earnest either frequently or infrequently with varying success like the rest of us. The Society would welcome new members of all ages and standards, and with a growing membership more fixtures and events could be arranged. If you wish to know more please get in contact with me at kandbaway@gmail.com Ken Ross (G’65)

Worthians Squash 2014-2015 Season

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ur first match of the season against the students took place on 15th November 2014 with the following players taking part: Bobby Acworth (C’81), Harry Fisher (B’81), Stephen Barham (StB’94), Tom Lewis (G’05) and Matthew Doggett (F’07).

The second match of the season, on Sunday 22nd March 2015, coincided with the Worthians Football Tournament and was arranged to start at 11.30am, so they would finish in good time to either watch, or participate in, the various football matches taking place on the same day.

As Bobby and Harry were far too strong and experienced for the current Worth team, they played an exhibition match between themselves, displaying their usual determination on court and treated the spectators to a hard-fought match which Harry eventually won. Stephen Barham played Nathan Amin and brought out the best performance that I had seen from Nathan all term with him coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. Tom Lewis won a tight match against Alex D’Amario and Matthew Doggett, in his first game of squash for some time, lost the first game to Phillipe Wijjs but fought back to win 3-1.

The following players came along: Desmond Calnan (R’69), Howard Brookman (G’93), Matthew Doggett (F’07), Ben Oakley (F’08), and Sam Buckley (F’09).

They played one another in a series of matches and again it was a pleasure to watch Desmond Calnan on court against his younger opponents, his guile and experience ensuring victory against all apart from Sam Buckley, who turned out to be the eventual winner.

We are much looking forward to arranging further squash fixtures in November 2015 and March 2016 and wholeheartedly encourage any Worthian who enjoys the game (at whatever level!) to come along and join us. If you’re interested, then please do get in touch with Mary Lou at worthsociety@worth.org.uk Jeremy Dowling

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Worthians Football 2015 Match Report The U21s 2015 Team

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The football was competitive and very close with only a one goal margin required to win in every game. Ben Oakley was injured in the over 21 v staff game in a 50-50 challenge with John Everest. Ben has only recently returned to playing 5-aside football on Thursday nights with the staff. Meanwhile John Everest will be helping me run the 1st XI this year! We also saw a dangerous tackle on Dan Hyde nearly prematurely ending his successful career at the Telegraph!!

Happily he, and everyone else, was able to reach the bar in the Pit Stop for a beer, a sandwich and time to reflect on what might have been.

TEACHERS TEAM OVER 21s UNDER 21s

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W

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2 2 2

1 2 0

0 0 0

1 0 2

3 6 0

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he 7th Worthian Football Tournament took place on the pavilion pitches on a cold but sunny Sunday on the last weekend of the Spring term.

The O21s 2015 Team

The 1st X1 won The Henry Surtees memorial cup beating the Under 21s in a game of two halves. The under 21s started to tire in the second half having played 2 matches already in the H Trophy tournament.

Once again I am grateful to a number of people who should be mentioned here. Mary Lou Burge for all her administrative badgering, her organisation of players and me, and her husband Alex’s photographs of the day. The Captains, Mike Matthews (Staff), Mark Breen (O21s) and Alex Davis-White (U21s) who competed for the H trophy and assisted me greatly in sorting out the teams. The ground staff, catering, referees, all of those who played football on the day (including the 1st XI) and the supporters, especially Mr Rivers, who had all 4 of his sons playing, 3 for the old boys, Joe, Theo and Ollie and Max, who captained the 1st XI. But most of all, of course, a huge thank you to Mr John Surtees OBE, who continues to support this event whatever the weather. Once again he was kind enough to present the trophies in the Pit Stop Café and to sign my copy of his autobiography!! (This is available in all good book shops, half of the price going towards The Henry Surtees Foundation.) A super present for Father’s day!?! I continue

The Worth School Staff 2015 Team

to be impressed by the humbleness of John Surtees who is a true legend and one of our greatest sportsmen. As I said on the day, “The only man to win the world titles at Formula 1 and 500cc motorbike and a winner of Sports Personality of the Year”.

Finally, may I remind you all that the Football Tournament will be held, as always, on the last Sunday of the Spring Term - Sunday 20th March 2016. Make sure you put the date in your diary, contact members of your year group and come and join us, it’s more than just a game. All the best.

Andy Taylor Far left: Max Rivers proudly receiving the Henry Surtees Memorial Trophy

The following Worthians played in the 2015 Football Tournament: Under 21s Captain: Alex Davis-White (B’14) Edward Kemp (F’10) Joseph Rivers (F’10) Tim Long (B’11) Theo Rivers (F’11) Charlie Wawn (StB’11 Alex Blake (B’14) Marcus Fletcher (C’14) James Kemp (F’14) Oliver Rivers (F’14) Andy Taylor

Over 21s Captain: Mark Breen (B’05) Tim Starkie (G’90) Dan Hyde (StB’05) Jack Rackham (R’05) Jack Jenkins (C’07) Ben Oakley (F’08) Tom Wade (F’08) Jonathan Whitehead (StB’08) Christopher Adlam (C’09) Charles Forbes (StB’09) Matthew Stagnetto (B’10) Harry Woodman (F’10)

Left: John Surtees presents Mark Breen with the Henry Surtees Award

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Scott of the Antarctic

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The whole team in Punta Arenas before leaving

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grew up at Worth reading stories of daring do and adventure, the likes of Shackleton, Hillary and Scott featuring heavily. When the time came to leave I had a vague notion that I would love to work outdoors, and to somehow visit some of the places I’d read about. I had little idea of how to turn this notion into a career, so after studying Theology at Bristol, I followed lots of my contemporaries into the City.

I spent a couple of years working for an oil broking firm but found office life difficult to swallow. Eventually I took a break and conducted my own expedition hiking solo from Glasgow to Cape Wrath, raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society. The expedition made me realise that it was time to direct my working endeavours outdoors, to adventure, and to my passion for documenting what I saw through photography. After some good advice from family and friends I decided to train as a cameraman, and gradually, through a lot of luck and meeting some very kind people, I fulfilled my wish. As a freelance I have been to some incredible and interesting places, from war zones to remote wildernesses, but there had always been one place above all that I had wanted to venture to since reading about it as a school boy; Antarctica and the South Pole!

When I was asked to join the Willis Resilience Expedition to Antarctica in November 2013 my excitement at realising a childhood dream was huge. The expedition had a duel purpose - to test man’s resilience in extreme conditions and to gather research data to help understand our changing planet. I was to be cameraman to Parker Liautaud, a 19 year

Linking up with other Arctic Trucks to refuel

old American, as he struggled to trek 507km on skis in the extreme climate from the coast to the Pole. The plan was to fly in to Antarctica, via Punta Arenas in Chile, to a base at Union Glacier. There would be two parts to the expedition; in the first we would drive to the South Pole and then across to the Leverett Glacier, taking ice cores at regular intervals across the way to aid in climate change research. When we finally got down the glacier where the sea ice started, Parker and experienced Antarctic guide, Doug Stoup, would begin their attempt to break the record for the fastest journey skiing from coast to pole.

Showing its inhospitable nature right from the start we had to wait in Punta Arenas for 10 days for a weather window suitable for us to fly. On the plus side, the delay gave me the opportunity to meet and chat to Doug Allen, a huge hero of mine, and one of the BBC’s top wildlife cameramen, who was on his way to film leopard seals. Finally given the green light to go we were told the flight would be that night. We went to one of the best restaurants in town for a last solid meal (we live off freeze dried food while on expedition), and had just ordered some huge Argentinean steaks when we got the call saying our flight had been brought forward and would leave in an hour - we had to leave before the steaks were even cooked!

The flight into Antarctica is usually the same whether you fly in via South America or South Africa. The only planes that can land on the blue ice runways are Russian Ilyushins, which are like something straight out of a Cold War film and crewed by ex-Russian Air Force members, many of whom

Left: Paddy with a replica of Shakletons whisky he took on expedition Above: The Ilyushin II-76, one of few planes able to land on blue ice

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Scott of the Antarctic continued Paddy with a bottle of Doyne-Ditmas Family Chilli Oil – a real treat!

I'm sure are Cold War veterans! We took off in night-time darkness and then as we flew south gradually saw the sun slowly appear over the horizon as we got closer to Antarctica. This was to be the last time we would see darkness for the next two months.

As we were already delayed 10 days we began our drive across the continent as soon as we landed. Many people think of Antarctica as being flat ice or a layer of flat soft snow, but in fact it varies enormously and you get anything from deep powder to hard blown waves of ice called sastrugi. Some of these can be up to 2 metres in height so rather than driving over them you have to wind your way through them as if in a maze, and often finding yourself at a dead end. The vehicle we were using to navigate the sastrugi was another highlight of the expedition. Arctic Trucks are an Icelandic company that make the kind of vehicles you see in comics, only much much bigger! They made the truck in which Jeremy Clarkson attempted to drive to the North Pole. Even so, our travelling speed across the unpredictable ice varied from 50kmph to as little as 8kmph in bad conditions, but with Eyjo, the brilliant Arctic Trucks engineer, on our team, we made steady progress.

One of the hardest things about being in Antarctica, aside from the cold, is the constant daylight, and indeed below a certain latitude the sun does not even dip but just rotates around the sky in a continuous loop 24 hours a day. This means it is very easy to lose all sense of time, and in our haste to make up the time we had lost at the start we were running on 30 hour days, travelling for 20-22 hours and then resting for 8. Lack of sleep, irregular hours and 24 hour daylight can make you quite confused, almost delirious.

Time starts to become irrelevant and all that matters is distance travelled, a monotony broken by our scheduled stops to drill ice cores every few hundred kms.

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After about 2 weeks of constant driving we finally made it across to the other side of the continent and then dropped off our two skiers. The expedition then changed dramatically and we started to follow the skiers at the pace they set as they trekked against the clock to set the speed record to The Pole.

For the most part conditions were good and the coldest temperatures we experienced were around -40, which as I found out on an expedition the following year, is relatively mild for Antarctica! High winds are always a problem, and a big fear is letting go of the tent while setting it up to see it disappearing in to the distance and having to sleep the rest of the expedition crammed into the truck.

After 19 days we reached The Pole on Christmas Eve, Parker and Doug had beaten the previous record of 21days, although by a shorter route than the previous record - an impressive achievement.

After a few days rest Eyjo and I drove back to the base where we could catch the Ilyushin flight out while the others waited for a plane that would fly them back. This was my first chance to drive the 6 wheeled truck that had been our base for so long, and I can’t deny that I was pretty excited to get behind the wheel of the ice crunching beast!

The guys from Arctic Trucks had told me endless stories of the hallucinations they had experienced while driving in Antarctica’s endless whiteness on very little sleep, and whilst I believed them, I did think that they had possibly exaggerated the crazy visions! However about 10 hours in to my first stint behind the wheel, after not sleeping for about 36 hours, I experienced them at first hand. It is really extraordinary what the brain will do. I was seeing small blue men and sheep running around in front of the truck and it was all I could do to stop myself swerving to avoid them!

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The pit we had to dig each time to get ice core samples

Paddy during his time at Worth

Although extremely tired, you are thinking clearly and telling yourself this is a hallucination, but the vision doesn’t go away. The only explanation I can offer is that your brain being so sleep deprived and yet forced to stay awake needs to invent something other than the monochrome white landscape to look at in order to stay active.

After 56 hours of grueling driving with only two short stops, one to cook some food and the other to replace a wheel that had flown off, we finally arrived back to the base at Union Glacier. We were greeted with a couple of beers, which were a very welcome site!

When I finally touched down in Chile, the first thing that hit me was the smell. I had expected to be struck by the temperature change, which I was, but your sense of smell is so heightened after 2 months in the frozen landscape that you can smell the grass and the flowers beside the runway from about 300m! It feels great to get back and enjoy everything as if for the first time; showers, fresh food… more beers! Having spoken to others it seems everyone has a similar reaction being back, at first you swear that’s the last time you will go to Antarctica, however within about a week of being back; the bad bits fade from memory and the idea of going back seems quite tempting. Indeed when I got the call 6 months later to ask if I would like to join another expedition driving a Massey Ferguson tractor to the South Pole, I did not think twice!

Parker and Doug at the ceremonial South Pole

Paddy Scott (B’01)

Paddy filming the skiers

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Fighting Spirit

I believe – Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics There comes a moment When my heart must stand alone On this lonely path I've chosen Like a house that's not a home Sometimes when I feel I've had enough And I feel like giving up You willed me to be all I can be Now nothing can stop me I believe in the power that comes From a world brought together as one I believe together we'll fly I believe in the power of you and I

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Vs Peter Barwell (England)

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started my fencing career at Worth in the 1990s and, like any aspiring athlete, making my national team (I’m a Canadian) was always somewhere on my bucket list. My early fencing days were driven largely by results; pushing the envelope at every corner; always going for broke. By 2000 I was on the right track to the high performance squad, but alas tendonitis set into my sword arm which initially hampered me competing, but later, without proper rest, forced me to stop. Hopes were dashed, equipment got zipped up, the journey was over.

At the onset of the condition I was unable to perform simple tasks such as opening door knobs, lifting milk jugs, pouring tea, or writing at length. Six years passed before I could return to the sport, and even then in a very limited capacity; any blade contact was accompanied by shooting pain. I had to form my game around that porcelain elbow, so nothing less than proper technique would do. In retrospect, it was by breaking apart that I was able to rebuild and redevelop.

There’s a thing to be said about technique: nobody is too small, too slow, too fragile, or too anything to fence; everyone has a chance to develop and make something of it. This is an intricate sport and there is a lot going on behind that mask. The strongest and fittest don’t necessary finish first. Fencing is riddled in layers, you need to be patient as you work at it, unpeeling more and more of the puzzle.

It would be a decade since the initial injury before I resumed competition nationally, and this time with a denser will to succeed - I think I had something to prove to myself. Being back, amongst other things, I had to relearn my opponents, find my place in the ranks, adapt to rule and style changes, and rebuild confidence. Competition can be harsh; aside from the occasional peak in performance, there were many long periods of flat lining. Travelling across the country I would find myself at airports and hotels with lots of time to ponder upon the sanity of this wayward endeavour.

By the 2012 Nationals, I failed to make the round of 32, beaten by a lower seed, and at that point I had the conversation with myself, “32 young fellas ahead of you, no resounding national or regional level result in the last couple years, the family’s busy, what are you in it for? Look, it’s over, time to move on …” And so I heeded the advice, no more expeditions, just stayed home and fenced for health. I was resigned to that ending…

The Canadian Foil Team

In November 2014 I had the privilege of being selected to compete for Team Canada at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships, held in Largs Scotland, for Senior and Veteran foil. The Championships are held every four years, and every two for Veterans.

I finished the Senior event ranked 37 of 50, with participants coming from countries such as Australia, South Africa, India, and the Home Countries. It was thrilling to see the upcoming fencing power, Singapore, with their nifty footwork and sweeping blade actions, take on the age old classical style of some others. Full coverage, including webcams from L16 onward, can be found on the website www.cfc2014.org

On Medalling at Veterans Foils

The following week I did Veterans Individual and Team, and won bronze at both events. The thrill of winning no different than winning my first Sussex U14 medal! Wearing your team colours, and having your team-mates cheer you, elevates you outside your skin; you get that huge adrenaline rush, and for that brief moment you are in a different world.

At the Veteran event, I bumped into an old school rival, Jim Crawfurd (Kings Canterbury), now Veteran Sabre Champion for Wales. We were once South East England foil teammates, and we met again at different weapons 22 years later! Fueled by the camaraderie respect, we cheered one another on, both upset the top seeds along the way to podium finishes, and then exchanged team jerseys to wrap up an awesome week of fencing.

So in sharing this journey, if you happen to find yourself stuck in a rough patch, keep your guard up and battle through the storm. For it’s when one door shuts that another opens; and you may be inches away if only you’d known. I would like to close with lyrics from a Canadian legacy (see opposite): to my dear wife Teresa; endorsing the adventure; never losing faith; letting me be; and without whom it wouldn’t have been possible.

With Jim Crawfurd (Wales)

Julian Tang (G’93)

Then in Winter 2013, as luck would have it, one of the core qualifiers got held in town. I squeaked out a decent first round: 4 of 5 victories, 3 of them narrowly at 5-4 score. I was hanging on added time, and I well knew it. In the 32s; on digesting the reality check, I came out a worker bee, one emotionless focused blank state of mind, some call it ‘being in the zone’. This time there would be no mistake – and I barrelled into the top 16. How odd, once you do it, you can do it again, and again, and again, and so that summed up my qualifier year: 2013-14 a bumper season, plus a spot on the Commonwealth senior team.

Left: With Vincent Tang (G’91) and Miguel Mertens (StB’90) in Vancouver Right: In the old gym at Worth c.1990

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Making the difference in Public Service “Hello, I’m the Leader of Brighton & Hove” I said to the Mayor of Oslo. “Oh,” he replied “is that near Brighton by any chance?” So began my first trip to a European conference of city leaders a few years back. After that I learnt that when overseas I was always from Brighton, but when at home it was most definitely Brighton & Hove!

I’ve just completed eight years of being an elected councillor on Brighton & Hove City Council, an authority which serves the 280,000 people of the City with around 8,000 staff and a £750 million annual budget. For the last four years (May 2011 to May 2015) I was part of the UK’s first Green council administration, first as the person in charge of council finances, then for the last three years as Council Leader.

As I recover from political life over this summer I look back with no regrets but quite a bit of exhaustion. It’s been an incredible experience serving the residents, businesses and 11 million visitors to the city I call home. I’ve had striking bin workers marching on my office shouting my name, I’ve had the opportunity to cut ribbons and dig first sods for fabulous projects, collect national awards for our work and rebut national media frenzies over manufactured and barely true reports of what we had or hadn’t done!

One of the key projects I helped to ensure was funded to fruition is The i360, currently under construction, which will be the tallest building in Sussex. The tower was designed and delivered by Marks Barfield who designed and built the London Eye before operating it for its first decade. I spearheaded a deal which used a government loan to fund the i360’s construction and will create £1.1m a year profit to the city council for the next 25 years, whilst ensuring a major new attraction is built in Brighton.

I’ve learnt a huge amount about personal resilience, public service and leadership. One thing that has struck me which might be good for all Worthians to consider most of us simply don’t know enough about how our local government works. Council Leaders and Directly Elected Mayors hold far more power and influence than most MPs, yet I was continuously asked when I wanted to step ‘up’ to being an MP. No thanks! In most countries leading a city is seen as the step up. We all need to do more to be engaged with and understand our councils, especially at a time when demand for their services is growing whilst budgets are being squeezed.

Jason (far right, seated) signing the Greater Brighton City Deal with Greg Clark MP, Cities Minister (centre, seated) surrounded by local MPs, council leaders and business leaders

My lasting impression is that councils are filled with people, both elected councillors and officers, who are dedicated public servants working hard to make a positive difference in their area.

Jason Kitcat (B’97)

Jason (second left) breaking ground on the i360 observation tower

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Jason (left) receiving the LGiU Judges’ Special Award for Contribution to Local Government 2015

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Worth Serving

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rom quite an early time at Worth I was interested in the Armed Forces and became aware that a number of Worthians had gone into the three Services.

Having started the selection process for the Royal Navy during Sixth Form I was encouraged to defer an application until after University, but by that time I had become a ‘moth to light’ in the draw to a commercial career in London (I’m currently working as a Property Analyst). Perhaps the attraction of confined spaces had waned after luxury ensuite accommodation at Worth for which I was an early beneficiary! However my interest in the Navy was never extinguished and thus I decided to combine military service with a civilian career.

Midshipman Butterworth on exercise

HMS Iron Duke

Following acceptance by the Admiralty Interview Board I was attached to HMS President Royal Naval Reserve division in the City of London. After two years of training at various naval establishments including Dartmouth, the next stage involved two weeks at sea where I was on board HMS Iron Duke. The ship is a frigate with multiple capabilities ranging from anti-submarine warfare to disaster relief. Respecting the limits of what I can recount, I experienced a joint exercise with an Indian warship which involved various activities including live missile firing. Having to settle into a strict daily routine was somewhat reminiscent of school life, albeit without having to jump overboard to avoid being caught smoking!

The more time I spend with the Navy the greater I appreciate the importance of its role, which most of the population are not aware of having lost identity with the sea following no major naval operations since the Falklands conflict. Not only does our Navy protect the global shipping lanes through which 95% of our trade relies but plays a major role around the wold in anti-drug running to fishery patrols, as well as humanitarian efforts to protect our nation’s interests and supporting others.

Robert in his day job as a Property Analyst

I believe that the recent emphasis on expanding Reserve Forces in the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy provides an incredible opportunity for many, who like me, have a real interest in the Armed Forces yet wish to have a civilian career. I am aware of at least one Worthian, Lt Col Simon McMenemy (R’89), who has combined a highly successful career as a lawyer with achieving a senior role in the Army Reserve and is currently Commander of The Royal Yeomanry.

The great comradeship and mutual support during my training, both at sea and in the field, were features I experienced at Worth and under-lies the spirit of the Armed Forces. I would encourage anyone that might be interested to investigate the opportunity.

Robert Butterworth (StB’06)

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Flying for Heroes

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s we prepared for the most difficult and probably dangerous flight of our lives, the man whose legs had been blown off in a ditch in Afghanistan, showed not the slightest sign of nervousness on his rugged face. “Let’s do this!” Cayle Royce said eagerly.

We were a team of British pilots with wounded, injured and sick services personnel from Help for Heroes as our passengers, embarking on a 21 day, 1,000km flying expedition in Kenya during September and October 2014. We had three shiny black two seat paratrikes lined up at dawn on the grass airstrip very close to our campsite called Monkey Bridge, near Lake Nakuru at the bottom of the Great African Rift Valley. Our mission that day was to fly approximately 90km to a remote farm on the high Laikipia Plateau which

Neil’s passenger, Cayle Royce

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meant an 8,000 feet height gain. The problem was the weather. On the airfield, we had a mere 500m horizontal visibility and cloud base was down to 150 feet at best. This was for me, with only 30 hours experience flying this open cockpit, 70 horsepower propeller paratrike, a very serious prospect, as we would be heading for a series of vertical rocky cliff faces rising to 11,000 feet above sea level. You need to be able to see where you are going! But like most expeditions, we were under severe time pressure and a day or two had already been lost due to poor weather.

As expedition leader, the safety of the team was ultimately my responsibility and so it was down to me to make good decisions. I felt decidedly uncomfortable as Alex Ledger and Kester Haynes, my two fellow instructor pilots prepared their aircraft for flight and underwent the pre-flight routines including checking fuel & oil, warming the engine, setting out the fabric canopy behind the paratrike, securing the passenger into the rear seat, testing communications between aircraft, checking the electronics and finally assessing the wind strength and direction prior to launch.

Alex had suggested that we should all take off and head in a North Easterly direction and hunt for a hole in the cloud base in order to punch through to the blue skies we knew were above us somewhere. If we were to find a hole, we would spiral upwards and when above the cloud, head for the steep cliffs and terraces of the Rift Valley.

I had always wanted to organise and lead an expedition for the benefit of wounded soldiers, having served in the Armed Forces myself. I had been appalled by the sheer number of casualties and traumatic injuries suffered by so many young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I knew that bodies and minds had been damaged but the desire to get back to work, lead a fulfilling life and take on exciting personal challenges was still very strong for many of them.Charities like Help for Heroes have provided a lifeline for their mental and physical rehabilitation post trauma and now they were supporting this rather formidable adventure in foreign lands. It had taken two years of detailed planning and preparation and thankfully everyone seemed to be having a great time.

My paratrike was the last to launch on the green grass airstrip. An intense 30 seconds of activity that started with foot pressing down on the accelerator pedal, wait for the canopy wing to lift off the ground causing the three wheeled aircraft to jolt a foot or so backwards before accelerating slowly forwards, reduce the pressure on the accelerator pedal and simultaneously applying half brakes on the canopy steering lines to prevent the wing overshooting and causing a frontal collapse, a quick check on the direction of travel with adjustments made from both feet, check the canopy is now fully flying above ones head and that there are no snags or tears, commit to full power, wind beginning to sting the face, wait for the front wheel to lift into the air at approximately 45mph and then apply light touch steering to navigate away from the airfield with trees, hangars and

power lines on either side. Phew! A big sigh of relief as we achieve another successful simultaneous launch of our Squadron of Paratrikes.

Normally we would circle around and wave a farewell to our ground support team comprising more wounded soldiers, sponsors and volunteers in three donated Land Rover Discovery 4’s but, because of the length of this next leg, difficulty of the terrain and of course the very low cloud base, we all flew straight and level at 100 feet looking for that gap in the puffy white stuff. It did not look too promising for a while but then suddenly a little light blue sky could be seen. Alex and Kester made a beeline for it and started circling to gain height. I followed anxiously as we passed through waves of dense cloud rendering us blind for a number of seconds at a time. Finally we emerged from the gloom into bright sunshine and could at last properly see where we were going. Cayle let out a blood-curdling shout of joy and we shared a happy few minutes of laughter at our good fortune.

Neil during a break from flying

But the drama was not quite over for us as we approached the steep rising ground. It became apparent that a combination of higher altitude and our combined weight (despite Cayle not having any legs!) meant that our height gain was only 0.5 metres a second. This was barely enough to clear the trees and rough built houses of the Rift Valley slopes. We held our collective breath as I pulled maximum power from the paratrike engine, adjusted the trim settings and weaved a line between the tallest obstacles. I called Alex and Kester to advise them that we were struggling to gain sufficient height and that we would have to detour a longer route up onto the Laikipia Plateau. They bid us well and we set about a different and less aggressive route to the next destination, a farm called Ol Maisor Ranch. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed safely to a warm welcome by members of our Advance Party.

Flying for Heroes was one of the most adventurous expeditions ever undertaken by a group of wounded personnel. Eight members suffering both severe physical disabilities and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) took part and completed an arduous 1000km voyage flying paratrikes from Mt Kilimanjaro in the South of Kenya to Mt Kenya in the North. In addition, ÂŁ65,000 has been raised and given to Help for Heroes that will be used to offer further aviation related opportunities for wounded soldiers.

Neil Laughton (C’82)

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Pig Farm Rehearsal Photo Credit: Specular. Dan Fredenburgh (Tom), Charlotte Parry (Tina) and Stephen Tompkinson (Teddy)

The Journey from St Mary’s to St James most importantly, to work collaboratively. By the end of my two years at Worth I knew that I was interested in directing theatre and had been given the tools to prepare myself for the next phase.

After Worth, did you go to university? If so, where, and what aspect of your degree helped with your career?

Katharine Farmer (StA‘11) has just had her West End directing debut at the St James Theatre in London with Pig Farm, written by Tony Award Winning Writer Greg Kotis of Urinetown, starring Dan Fredenburgh (Love Actually, A Few Good Men), Erik Odom (The Twilight Saga, Last Train To Nibroc), Charlotte Parry (Blithe Spirit, The Importance of Being Earnest) and Stephen Tompkinson (Spamalot, Wild At Heart). Here, West End producer Julian Stoneman - who has worked on productions such as Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys and Billy Elliot - interviews Katharine about her time at Worth, what she’s been doing since she left, and what she’s up to now.

What role did Worth play in your love of theatre?

From a young age, my family had always encouraged an appreciation of the arts – which is often where it all starts.

I’d been taken to the theatre a lot in my childhood and by 16 years old Drama had become my favourite subject and I was keen to pursue it further. Before joining Worth for Sixth Form I was lucky enough to see a number of school plays including Merry Wives of Windsor and School for Scandal and was blown away by the professionalism of the productions.

When I later joined Worth, I took A Level Drama with Mr Boughton and was thrilled to have a part in his production of Master and Margarita. Mr Boughton understood instantly that I was passionate about theatre and encouraged me to apply for Drama School. By Year 13, I was attending acting classes at the Junior Guildhall School for Music and Drama every Saturday. From the material he selected in class, to time he spent helping us with auditions and assessments, Mr Boughton was a huge inspiration to us all. Sadly our time with him was cut short when he fell ill during our second year of study. The impression he left has shaped each decision I’ve made pursuing a career in theatre. He opened my eyes to the range of different roles within professional theatre, he taught me to think creatively yet critically and,

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I attended the University of Warwick straight after Worth and read Theatre and Performance Studies. I’d spent a lot of time selecting a university that would prepare me to enter the industry, as well as having a strong drama society so I could work on plays alongside my degree. Having the Warwick Arts Centre on campus, I was exposed to a range of regional and touring theatre as well as art exhibitions, concerts and opera. With a major professional arts centre at the heart of the campus it infused the University with a sense of how the theatre business worked. Producing ‘packs’ to apply for funding for a production at the Arts Centre was possibly the most useful thing I learnt during my studies. It taught me to write budgets, think creatively about staging, make marketing plans and learn how to pitch. We got the opportunity to work in teams and take on responsibility of a full production, which was completely invaluable experience, yet in a safe and supportive environment.

What, when and how did you first have an experience of putting on a full professional production?

Although I loved every second of my degree, it’s always important to gain industry experience as well. And what better way to learn than by taking a play to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! During my first summer holiday at university, I produced, marketed and played the role of Laura in Noel Coward’s Still Life (also known as Brief Encounter). Described by the Fringe Guide as a ‘matinee theatrical treat’, we took the teatime slot at C Aquila and provided tea and cake for the audience. We were 16th top grossing play and averaged 54 audience members per show, which was remarkable considering it was 2012 and due to the Olympics the average Fringe audience size went down to 3. To make this production possible, I set up my own theatre company called Dead Posh Productions. It was a hugely rewarding experience and only confirmed to me that I was on the right track. It was also hugely helpful in affirming that I preferred being the other side of the stage!

What were your plans after university?

A rather serendipitous meeting with an American Artistic Director led to me securing a year working for a theatre company in California called Rubicon Theatre Company.

In the autumn of 2012, I had the pleasure of meeting Karyl Lynn Burns who was on a trip to the UK to open her show Daddy Long Legs. We struck up conversation about the play and she later invited me for brunch. I hadn’t thought much had come of our meeting until I received an email a couple of months later inviting me to come out and assist in a

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Pig Farm Production Photo Credit: Specular. Erik Odom (Tim) and Stephen Tompkinson (Teddy)

Photo Credit: Christopher Brown. Lily Nicksay (May) and Erik Odom (Raleigh)

Photo Credit: Christopher Brown. Lily Nicksay (May) and Erik Odom (Raleigh)

production. Due to exams in the lead up to the Christmas break, I had to turn the offer down. However, the invitation quickly turned to offering me a chance to work on a new play development programme called Plays in Progress during my Easter break. I went out to work at Rubicon in Spring 2013. In preparation for this I was sent 50 scripts, with the intention of selecting one to work on. The script I chose ended up being optioned for a rolling world premiere, with which I am affiliated as an Assistant Director and Producer. So far the show has been produced at the St James Theatre Studio which I directed in 2013. It was then produced at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, New York (2014) and then most recently at Rubicon (2014). The premiere will continue when it opens at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in Canada in 2017.

As soon as my degree finished I moved out to California for a Theatre Directing and Producing Internship at Rubicon.

During the year I managed to assistant direct Conviction (Ovation Award nomination for Best Playwright and Best Season), Last Five Years (Ovation nomination for Best Musical Director and Best Season), the Off-Broadway production of Wiesenthal and the Off-Broadway production of Lonesome Traveler (which both received Outer Critic’s

Circle Award and Drama Desk Award nominations).

Earlier this year I was given the chance to direct my own show on the main stage at Rubicon. I directed a production of Last Train To Nibroc by Arlene Hutton, which received three Ovation Award nominations, including Best Production of a Play (in a Large Theatre). Despite having moved back to London, Rubicon have invited me to return in the new year to direct the rest of the Nibroc trilogy.

So what are you doing now?

I’ve just finished co-directing an adaptation of The Importance of Being Lewis at the Dominion Theatre as a fundraiser for the Duchenne Research Fund and am now having my West End directing debut at the St James Theatre in London Victoria with the darkly comic play Pig Farm.

Written by the Tony Award Winning writer of the equally dark musical Urinetown. The show stars Stephen Tompkinson, who you may remember from TV shows such as Wild at Heart, DCI Banks and Drop the Dead Donkey and also stars Last Train to Nibroc actor Erik Odom (Twilight). It has been a huge honour and an exciting process to launch this play in the UK and I can only hope that the production reflects what great fun it was to work on.

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THE GREAT REFORMER Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope

By Austen Ivereigh (G’84) Allen & Unwin 2015 Book Review

Yorio and Jalics (both Jesuits under him as Provincial)? This is a pivotal question in the book. Currently there are two schools of thought on it. One says he behaved with integrity throughout but was misunderstood and misinterpreted in the heat and dust of the political fray; the other that he did collude with the military to a degree that was significant, but later underwent a profound conversion experience to become the man he is today. Austen’s research leads him to paint a picture that accords much more with the former than the latter. He quotes from an interview with Bergoglio who confesses that at 32 years old he was promoted to Provincial too early for such responsibility. It seems he had never been the Superior of any Jesuit community before being made Jesuit Provincial in Argentina. So he clearly lacked experience. On the other hand within a couple of days of his election as Pope Francis, we heard him declare in public, “I am a great sinner!” And that might seem to support the latter view.

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or anyone seeking a better understanding of the direction the Catholic Church is taking today under Pope Francis’ leadership, Austen’s book is required reading. The complex and often nefarious machinations of 20th century military regimes as they attempted to suppress revolutions in Latin America are very visible in this book, though of course Austen’s prime focus is on the man Francis.

Having myself lived in South America under a military regime confronting a revolutionary movement, I can testify to the cruel dilemmas in which truly conscientious members of the Church living in such situations could find themselves. They were often falsely branded as ‘Marxist’ or ‘Revolutionary’ in the political sense. Sometimes other people’s physical integrity depended on their decisions, and they were often faced with having to choose between the lesser of two evils, with no right option open to them. Furthermore, because of the political intrigue, deception and confusion, ignorance about what was really going on left many with only the background of their sometimes narrow seminary training for the priesthood on which to draw for decision making. In this confusion, rife with suspicion, not only might they become subject to violence from the State or from those who fought the State, but within their own ranks secular clergy suffered divisions and misunderstandings, which in some ways were more painful than the oppression.

Austen writes of this dilemma as it affected Bergoglio and his fellow Jesuits. Did Fr Bergoglio act in a covert alliance with the military or with the Peronist Iron Guard, and in particular, did he therefore tacitly allow the military to detain and torture Frs

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Perhaps I may be allowed to throw in another factor. The giants of the Latin American hierarchy in this period were Cardinal Pironio and Archbishop Angelleli (Argentinians), Bishop Romero of El Salvador, and Archbishop Helder Camara of Brazil, all utterly courageous in their love of the poor.

Angelleli and Romero were murdered by the military; Pironio was removed to Rome to avoid the same fate; and Helder Camara lived permanently under explicit threats of murder.

These men all had one thing in common: they were utterly devoted to deeply sincere personal prayer (Camara used to rise at 2am every day to pray). Such a deliberate exposure to the divine over a long period of time has a unique effect. It produces a clear-sightedness about good and evil (what we call ‘purity of heart’ in holy-speak), which is characterised also by powerful charisma and great humility (the latter not being ‘mousiness’ by the way, but an ear for the will of God and an ever courageous response to it). Such people see things with great clarity and single-mindedness, which is why their interventions are often so pithy. A well-known example is Helder Camara’s observation, “When I say the poor have no bread, they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor have no bread, they say I am a Marxist.” But he too had his early weakness: he freely admitted to being a fascist as a young priest. I place Pope Francis firmly among this group, where I think he can be better understood. I am not in a position to affirm whether he made errors of judgment from inexperience but it would be strange if he hadn’t. The fact is that in Austen’s account we see a man who without a shadow of doubt was deeply dedicated to prayer, and I am clear that that is what has made him the man he is today: hugely prescient, honest and courageous. It convinces me much more than the mid-life conversion story.

I did feel one hesitation about this book; it concerns the picture that emerges of liberation theology. A less than careful reading of Austen’s work might lead one to suppose that it originated in Argentina and was impossibly tarred with violence. I would just point out that the term originated at a

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to decide what God was calling them to be and do. This is so very close to Bergoglio’s concept of the ‘pueblo fiel’ that Austen describes, “the people whose collective fidelity to tradition is always to be respected.” (See also last para on pg 305 for Bergoglio’s perspective.) It would have been a betrayal of the gospel itself to try to tell them what their response to it should be. In summary, main line liberation theology never was violent, but it did give people, through the lens of the gospel, the freedom to start sharing in the shaping of their own destiny – and dictatorships don’t like that!

Book Review

meeting in Chimbote, Peru, in 1967, and was coined by none other than Fr Gustavo Gutiérrez, the Peruvian theologian who contributed most to this theological line; he lived and worked in the same deanery as ourselves in Lima. Austen acknowledges his significance on pgs 195 & 287. The other principle theologian contributors to this line, if my memory does not fail me, came chiefly from Brazil and Central America. In Peru we met the occasional ‘theological refugee’ who managed to escape from Argentina while being hunted down by the military. The ones I encountered were always very tight-lipped about their experiences and wouldn’t utter a word. I felt an aura about them of having experienced or been involved in violence, but I never got to know the truth. The best ‘nutshell’ description of liberation theology that I know is ‘reading the gospel through the eyes of the poor’. Its practice by pastoral agents required them to live among the poor, opening up the gospel with and for them, and allowing them

Austen’s book is a splendid work, the best available on the topic and highly readable. It’s authoritative and thoroughly researched, as even a cursory look at the list of sources at the end suggests. It has had enthusiastic reviews. Get your copy before it goes out of print! And thank you, Austen, for a most worthy production.

Reviewed by Dom Bede Hill OSB

DIALOGUE OF THE HEART: Christian-Muslim Stories of Encounter

By Dom Martin McGee OSB Veritas Publications 2015

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any former students might well know that Fr Martin has a passion for the French language.

This prompts him to take opportunities when they occur to explore and use that language in a variety of contexts. Several years ago this took him to Algeria and subsequently Morocco. He had heard of the life of a small Cistercian Monastery, at Tibhirine in Algeria. This small community of brothers sought to live a life of Christian witness alongside their Muslim neighbours – to be ‘people of prayer among a people of prayer’ – not to convert, but simply to be alongside them. Their story became dramatic when the military authorities became suspicious of their presence, and rather than leave their neighbours they decided to remain faithful, and paid the ultimate price when seven of them were kidnapped and martyred in 1996. This moving and powerful story became an award winning film in 2010, Of Gods and Men. Fr Martin’s first book Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People (Paulist Press 2008) explores this story, and brings into English much in untranslated French sources.

Dialogue of the Heart, Fr Martin’s second book, takes this experience on and seeks to break open the dynamic which inspired the monks to ‘live among strangers’ – and also sustained them when their very lives were put on the line through remaining faithful. The book begins with five short biographical reflections on the inner attitudes of the brothers. He explores the deep sense of a common shared humanity, which genuinely accepts the differences which mark them, but yet seeks to go beyond the fear and mistrust which ‘difference’ so often evokes. A real brotherhood emerges through very ordinary practical sharing: Brother Luc (a physician) among his (mainly women) patients; sharing the highs and lows of family life; and joining the challenge of sustaining an income by trading at the local market.

It is perhaps the experience of Fr Christian, the Prior, which is the foundation from which the Community was able to explore and express its life among their Muslim neighbours.

As a young man on military service in Algeria, Fr Christian

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Book Review

who can also be recognised as active in those outside the visible church. Perhaps it isn’t surprising that this was taken hold of by a group of monks living according to the Rule of St Benedict, who encourages us to “receive all guests as Christ”.

The chapter headings in this part of the book give us a hint of the dynamic as it is being experienced: Learning to Love our Muslim Neighbours; Friendship, the core of InterReligious Dialogue; Loving those who are different; If the other were to really become my brother. These sections, with a strong emphasis on love, bring us to the heart of Christian discipleship: “to love the Lord your God with all your heart...and your neighbour as yourself”. This path is of course not without its challenges, and as Fr Martin puts it, is an expression of the essential of Christian life as conversion, something which is starkly expressed by a former Archbishop of Algiers (and friend of Fr Martin) Monsignor Tessier:

struck up a friendship with a rural policeman, Mohammed, a devout Muslim.

“Their regular discussions developed into a spiritual friendship.

Then one day Mohammed had to intervene to protect Christian’s life which had been threatened by the National Liberation Front.

The following day Mohammed paid with his own life for this courageous act of friendship. He was found assassinated by the edge of a well.”

This act became a turning point in Fr Christian’s life – this act of pure love “revealed to Fr Christian the beauty of God’s love at work in his Muslim brothers and sisters.” He went as far as to say that he could not but see Christ in his Muslim neighbour, the one who had ‘given up his life for him’.

“The love, which reveals God, is not any old sentiment. It has at least two characteristic features. It is universal and free. To love those of one’s own side is in the end to love oneself. But to love without erecting boundaries is to respond to the Sermon on the Mount. ‘For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?’ (Mt 5: 46)“ Dialogue of the Heart is based on one particular context – the deeply religious perspective of the Muslim people of North Africa. This book doesn’t offer us a practical handbook, which can be translated directly into our largely secular multi-cultural context. Perhaps what it does is offer us the challenge to look at our lives, and ask, “How do I relate to those around me who are different?” and in doing so we could well find ourselves experiencing a ‘conversion of heart’ which for all with a Benedictine foundation is the beginning of the following of Christ, and by so doing in small ways we begin to change the world.

Reviewed by Dom David Jarmy OSB

In Part 2 of the book, Fr Martin seeks to explore ways in which our attitudes can be transformed through encounter with those who are different. This is very powerful at the present, when ‘media outlets’ are very keen to present the endless examples of the negative effect of ‘Islamisation’. Fr Martin shows how the teaching of the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council and especially through the teaching ministry of St John Paul II proclaims that “Christ is present in every human being” or as Gaudium et Spes puts it “by His incarnation, the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every man”. This statement opens up huge potential for dialogue and encounter – whilst not devaluing the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church, but

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Caught on Camera Chris O’Shea (G’03) starring in Point of Honor, an epic series about the American Civil War on Amazon Prime

Max McAlister (G’02), Alan Mitchell, Tom Calnan (R’95) and Mark McAlister (G’98) all met up in April 2015 at the Hong Kong 7s

2012 Leavers Conor Keating, Illan Aboitiz, Charlotte Cotterell, Louise Moon and Alice Rooke splashing around in Nuknukan, Philippines summer 2015

Graham Hutchings, Nick Hopkins, Paul Keenan & Peter Rankin (all R'05) having completed The Ridgewalk Challenge in June 2015; a 52 mile trek across Oxfordshire & Wiltshire for the charity ‘Sense’

Al Ferraro (G’91) with his wife, Sue, backpacking in Galloway, Scotland in August 2015

Worthians Christopher Lamb (R’01) and Austen Ivereigh (’84) covering Pope Francis’s visit to the US

Teddy Sacarello (B'06), Nick Bell-Young (StB'05), Ben Dunhill and Javier Triay (B'06) get together in Gibraltar

Charlie Barclay-Hudson (C’13) receiving his gold Duke of Edinburgh award in November 2014 in his Liverpool University Air Squadron uniform

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Caught on Camera continued

John Barnes (StB’06) flying back from Copenhagen was surprised to hear Jamie Edgington (C’06) over the tanoy as First Officer with Norwegian Air

Luke Navin’s (F’14) first album of solo piano music now available on iTunes, Google Play Store, and Spotify

Simon Hoskyns (B’83) on the London to St Tropez charity bike ride he organised in June 2015

Joe Warwick (R’90) came to interview students in December 2014 for Radio Four’s Christmas Food & Drink programme

An illustration of a red tail hawk found in Southern California by David Barder (C’63)

Former Head Boy James Longman (B’05) came back to Worth in October 2014 to talk to students about his adventures as a BBC correspondent in the Middle East Lachlan Sykes (B’03) looking very professional in his barrister’s kit!

Jonathan Wilkins (C’70) won overall prize at Wikipedia Loves Earth 2015 photograph competition with his photo of the birth of a drone bee

52 I

Jeremy Best (C’64) returned to Worth to interview Fr Kevin for the start of our ‘History Capture’ project

Worth Society Life

A lovely shot of a very happy Chris Kelly (StB’78)

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

The 1979 Rugby Team; Rohan Cavaliero (B’81) in the middle, to his right Ben Elwes (G’81 & current governor) and over his left shoulder Jonathan Stordy (StB’81). All three now have second generation together at Worth (Ella Cavaliero, Barney Elwes & Anna Stordy). Over Rohan’s right shoulder is his best man, Mark Jenner (C’81), sporting the grand fop hairstyle which was oddly in vogue at the time Several Worthians helped on the OMV Pilgramage to Lourdes in July 2015 here with HE Dominique Prince de la Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Military Order of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes & Malta

Jamie (StB’13), Simon (St’78) and Rory Pickard (StB’11) having completed a cycle ride from Geneva to Nice in September 2015 to raise money for the Mathew Elvidge Trust

Worthians Charles de Viggiani (G'85), Jaime Dunster (B'85), Gordon Moore (G'85), Michael Gabriel (C'85) and Fraser Moore (G'95) at the Eiffel Tower on their Paris to London cycle ride raising money for 40tude curing colon cancer

Hugo Sanders, Nick Smyth, James Pymont and Lorenzo Curci (all 2000) and other friends during the Maratona des Dolomites endurance cycling event in Italy in July 2015

Robert Carroll (R’71) with then European Union President, the ever affable Jose Manuel Barroso discussing China, East Timor and Macau at an EU diplomatic cocktail party in Hong Kong

David (StB’94) and Uma Mishra-Newbery with daughter Leela Wendy on vacation in Austria

Michael Saunders (C’77) (on left) now a Captain for Ryanair at his Wings Ceremony with Ryanair Chief Pilot

Mark Collini (StB’89) with Beatrice in Provence, August 2015

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Announcements Births Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82) and Anne, a son, Samuel, born on 3rd July 2015, a brother for Sarah and Benedict

Andrew Bayles (B’98) and Maeve, a daughter, Darcey, born on 26th September 2014

Mark Collini (StB’89) and Alex, a daughter, Beatrice Martha Hope, born on 2nd February 2015

Alistair Myles (G’99) and Zia, a daughter, Martha Rose, born on 12th June 2015, a sister for Eliza

Edward Gairdner (StB’91) and Lizzie, a daughter, Matilda Beatrice, born on 23rd March 2015

Robert Birchall (R’01) and Natalie, a son, Samuel Edward, on 19th March 2015

Patrick Lynch (C’92) and Geraldine, a son, Patrick Eamonn John, born on 24th November 2014

Samuel Hayhoe

Tom Calnan (R’95) and Bonnie, a son, Archie William McMahon, born on 7th September 2015 Dan Harlow (B’95) and Krista, a son, Joshua Thomas, born on 9th June 2015, a brother for Sam and Ben Toby Rumford (R’95) and Floriane, a son, Edwyn, born on 5th August 2015

Engagements Anthony Long (G’01) to Sian Lewis on 25th April 2015 Philip Symonds (B’01) to Alice Turtle on 1st April 2015 Jim Condie (B’02) to Kelly Johnson on 9th September 2015 Javier Triay (B’06) to Harriet Ziegler on the 24th July 2015 Fred Bradley (R’04) to Louise Allen on 23rd January 2015

Angus Gairdner (StB’96) and Julia, a daughter, Myla Molly Fitch, born on 16th February 2015 Phil Holmes (StB'97) and Justyna, a son, Aidan William, born on 6th June 2015

The Collini Family

Darcey Bayles

The Gairdner Family

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Aiden Holmes

James & Rebecca Madsen

Marriages

Distinctions

Alex Kenney (B’97) to Jacqueline Sainsbury on 26th September 2015 at The Hermitage Club, Vermont, USA

Dr Giles Maskell (G’72) was elected President of the Royal College of Radiologists

Adrian Pring (R’01) to Annie Dickenson on 12th April 2015 at Worth Abbey Tom Carew Hunt (StB'02) to Sarah Johnson on 2nd May 2015 at St Margaret's, West Hoathly James Madsen (B’02) to Rebecca Taylor on 4th July 2015 at St Michael & All Angels Church, High Ercall, Shropshire Angus Wardle (R’02) to Ann Charlott Karlsen on 1st November 2014 in Tromsø, Norway Charles Bellm (R’04) to Alice Hay on 19th September 2015 at All Saints Church, The Priory Roger Greaves (StB’04) to Alice Chilton on 30th May 2015 at St Mary’s Church, Reigate

Deaths Nicholas Blake (StB’67) on 30th May 2015, aged 66 years

Roger & Alice Greaves

Tadjio Szczepanik (C’68) on 12th May 2015, aged 65 years Patrick O’Toole-Quinn (StB’70) on 12th September 2014, aged 62 years Anthony Carroll (R’71) on 18th April 2015, aged 62 years Tomasz Szczepanik (C’71) on 13th April 2015, aged 62 years Guy de Burgh (StB’73) on 21st December 2014, aged 59 years James O’Donnell (C’78) in March 2015, aged 54 years Nicholas Sharman (StB’78) on 5th March 2015, aged 54 years

Alex Podbury (C’04) to Lizzie Ryan on 13th June 2015 at St Leonard’s Church, Turners Hill Michael Burr (F'06) to Jenna Hallesy on 17th January 2015 at Rhinefield House Hotel, Hampshire

Dominic Gordon (StB’85) on 1st June 2015, aged 48 years Patrick Biggs-Davison on 11th January, aged 24 years

Michael & Jenna Burr

Adrian & Annie Pring

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News in Brief News in Brief

Former Staff James Cockburn (Worth Staff 1980-1990) Now leaving France and have bought a house by the sea in Walmer near Deal in Kent. Flora and I would be delighted to see any Worthians if you are in our neck of the woods.

Paul and Carol Miller (Worth Staff 1980-2003) After twelve years at Stowe School, have decided to retire from full-time education at the end of August 2015 but hope to keep involved in tutoring and voluntary work in the area of north Oxfordshire where we live. Always delighted to hear from former colleagues and Worthians at psmiller49@gmail.com Nicholas (Nick) Robinson (StB '75 & Worth Staff 1986-1998) Now in 18th year as Headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge, and still enjoying touring the world with the famous King's choristers. Recently awarded runner up by Tatler for Best Head of a Prep School for 2015.

Celebrated 10 years as Chair of the Duchess of Kent's music charity 'Future Talent', and also now a Trustee of the new St Aloysius Schola Foundation in Glasgow.

Roger and Margaret Stokes (Worth Staff 1968-2001) Roger was Head of Economics and Politics, Assistant Housemaster to Fr Bernard in Rutherford, Housemaster of Chapman, Deputy Head of School for Fr Stephen and Deputy Head for Fr Christopher. Margaret taught Geography, Maths and RE in Junior House, One time Deputy Head of JH and Assistant to Fr Luke when he was Farm Manager. Celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary this year - in fact celebrated it twice with two big parties; one in January when we were indeed married (for local friends) and the other in the summer when the weather was likely to be clement. It was great, and family came to them both (that is 4 children and 13 grandchildren).

Many old Worth friends came to the second one including some from the Monastic Community. We spend much of our time looking after grandchildren and keeping up with the family. Roger is Chairman of the Church Stretton Arts Festival (do google the website) having been involved for 14 years since we settled back in Shropshire. Margaret is a pillar of the WI and our village hall, and works for many charities especially our wonderful community and health centre. Have had some wonderful holidays recently in Malaysia, India and South Africa, trying to fit things in before we have difficulty flying and walking... but all good at present. Reminisce about our very happy days at Worth and think of many of you who have passed through our lives and we hope benefited from this. Best wishes to you all.

Worth School 1960s Peter Campbell (C’64) Still living in Brisbane Queensland and have reached the tender age of 69. Still tutoring children, composing music and following a very active life. Am also engaged to be married in October this year!

Alexander Nauta (G’64) I retired in 2012 from a long career as an airline captain but, finding this new life to be a bit too docile for my liking, I decided to continue on a part-time basis, as a flight simulator instructor here in the USA. I am thoroughly enjoying it and will carry on until the time comes that I can’t continue. Have been in touch with John (Piti) Dibos (G’63) who now lives in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, who seems to be doing well and we’ve planned to see each other in the near future.

Richard Pollen (R’64) Last year saw us return for a while to London after thirty years in the country. So we are now luckily surrounded by our seven children and, so far, four married and four grandchildren. I am happily back in the corporate communications world, whilst my wife and I retain our Pollen Organics brand.

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Paul Weitz (G’65) After leaving Worth, graduated with a degree in Zoology, together with a Post Grad Cert Ed, and became a biology teacher.

After 10 years decided I wanted a change, and embarked on a career in sales and business management. Can only advise anyone contemplating such a move to consider this very carefully! Worked for many years for an established large technology business in which my management role included the promotion of an offer for the UK Identity Card Scheme – a UK national project which, as we know, never saw the light of day. Married Diane in 1972 (then a biology teacher). We now have 4 children, and 3 grandchildren. Am pleased to say that all 4 are in established professional roles and all married. Diane set up a very successful financial planning business based at home in Cheltenham. Spent part of my pension building an extension at the back of our house to provide an office and meeting room for the business which has worked well. The business now has 5 employees, including myself part-time, and I even get paid! In my semi-retirement, also work as volunteer treasurer for a local branch of a national charity. Have rediscovered a strong interest in oil painting - am sure this derives from days in the Worth art room under the tutelage of Mr Renouf. Work in what my wife refers to as a ‘studio’ - my garden shed.

Not good to see others we have to come to know well succumbing to serious illness of one sort or other, at our time of life. Very fortunate to be in good health. Have given up going to the gym - because it is boring, but play golf (without always hitting the ball straight), and tennis regularly.

Would be very pleased to see, or hear, from any other Worthians paulweitz@live.co.uk Compliments to the Worth Society for its professionalism and excellent publications. Have been involved with a number of schools, which I’m sure could learn from what the Worth Society achieves, even if it takes 50 years for some of us to take a more active communication with the Society!

John MacWilliam (StB '66) Still working as a White Father missionary priest in North Africa. Having recently been made Provincial Superior, will now be spending more time in Algeria than in Tunisia, probably based in Algiers. Invites your special prayers for peace in the region.

Peter Symonds (StB’66) My son Tom married Elsa Buckler on the 12th July last year. Fr Christopher gave a brilliant address. Tom also trained his 50th winner and ran the London Marathon in 2 hours 38 minutes – the fastest done by a member of the horse racing world. My elder son Philip will marry Alice Turtle on the 2nd April next year. I have reduced my farming activities in order to accommodate Tom’s racehorses and have acquired a brood mare. She has a colt foal at foot which – one day – Tom will train for me.

Robert Herring (G’68) Now 65 and eligible for my pension!! Something that seemed incredibly remote when I was a schoolboy at Worth 50 years ago. Have become increasingly retired over the last 20 years from a (part-time) career researching and writing on energy efficiency and environmental history at the Open University. Now still very active as an ebay stamp dealer, bridge enthusiast and keen cyclist. I live in Holt, Norfolk and looking forward to my 2 grandchildren coming to visit and building sandcastles on the beach. Glad to say I still like childish things with occasional sophistications. Great to be a pensioner and very healthy and active (and the pension coming in regularly). Best wishes to you all.

David MacLure (R’69) Earlier this year I was appointed the Scottish Delegate for the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

1970s Jonathan Wilkins (C’70) Still living in Brazil. Won the overall prize at Wikipedia Loves Earth 2015 photograph competition with the birth of a drone bee, placed 7th in Brazil and will be competing with other countries.

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Robert Carroll (R’71) Did Art Basel, and two fascinating celebrity film director interviews this year at the HKIFilm Festival; Peter Greenaway and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, as well as interviewing several leading Hong Kong politicians during the Occupy protests. Planning to be off to several African countries early 2016 for a series of interviews with political leaders. The marvellously eccentric auteur Greenaway (The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover) - who I also filmed for a short music video discovered knew rock star Ian Dury whose ex-guitarist I drummed with for years including in Jona Lewie's backing group (Stop The Cavalry, Standing in the Kitchen at Parties). Cannes-winning director (Kandahar) Moshsen Makmalbaf, I found out, is a true humanitarian, champion of the poor and suffering; A rare idealist in an often cynical profession.

Paul Leverton (StB’72) Marrying Annie Mitchell aboard the Dazzle Ship (WW1 warship - google for more information if curious) on the Thames on 27th November 2015.

Richard D'Alton (B’74) Retired from the Police (2011), now working for Civil Aviation Authority as a Senior Aviation Security Inspector. Married (to Jackie) living in West Molesey with one son (Ben) who has just started university reading law.

Mark Madsen (C’74) Married for 33 years to Caroline. Sons James and Christopher, and daughter Emma who is getting married in August 2016.

Runs the leading media sector M&A brokerage www.madsenconsulting.com and launching IntelligentForums in 2016. Lives in Kent and spends his time shooting, salmon fishing and diving as much as he can.

Jeremy Sandle (G’74) Instead of trying to buy a London flat as an investment how about buying an apartment or a villa in the delightful Mijas Pueblo, near Malaga in Spain? As well as a good investment you could stay in it and enjoy being outside all year round! I have 2 properties in Mijas so have put money where mouth is! The market is on the way up as it offers such good value. www.vivamijas.com Tim Aldridge (B’75) Still working but beginning to spend more time pottering about West Sussex.

Nicholas (Nick) Robinson (StB '75) Now in 18th year as Headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge, and still enjoying touring the world with the famous King's choristers. Recently awarded runner up by Tatler for Best Head of a Prep School for 2015. Celebrated 10 years as Chair of the Duchess of Kent's music charity 'Future Talent', and also now a Trustee of the new St Aloysius Schola Foundation in Glasgow.

Robert Bathurst (R'76) Working in theatre and TV; two recent projects are Love Loss & Chianti at Chichester and the third series of Toast Of London on Channel 4.

James Madsen (C’77) Have now retired from being a full time executive with the HSBC Group after 34 years and we left Dubai in April this year.

However still going back to Dubai and Riyadh as a Non Executive every quarter to catch the sun. My wife, Fran, and I are splitting our time between our home in Mere, Wiltshire and a newly acquired house in the Gironde, France, getting to know and enjoy the wines from Bordeaux. Our daughter Pippa is working in Geneva for JP Morgan and married to another banker. Our son Charlie stayed on in Dubai and works in PR, specialising in Food & Entertainment. Hoping to catch up with old friends from Worth now I am back in Europe.

Patrick Sadd (StB’77) Married to Louise, a painter – children Gabriel (11) and Madeleine-Rose (8). Living in west London, a barrister for last 30 years – currently Counsel to Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, looking into child abuse in the island.

Michael Saunders (C’77) Have left Monarch Airways and joined Ryanair as a Captain based at East Midlands airport.

Lawrence Spiller (B’77) Married Jane Varden (Knibb) and now lives in Pangbourne whilst mostly working in Zurich. In February went to Rome as a guest of the Order of Malta to attend the opening stage of the Beatification of Fra Andrew Bertie.

Justin Brown (C'78) Import, marketing and distribution in Myanmar with established channels to represent.

Justin Goodbody (B’78) Thanks to the Society’s help with contact, I am delighted to report that Justin, Sarah, and Amelia Goodbody dropped in on Oliver (G’78) and Sophie Butcher at their lovely home in Ojay, California this summer. Over a delicious lunch in their garden Oliver and Justin, who hadn't seen each other for over 25 years, caught up on each other's news!

Philip Mould (StB’78) Just opened a new gallery in Pall Mall specialising in portraits and British art and the odd old master. Working on next series five of Fake or Fortune? on BBC1 - an art discovery programme I present with Fiona Bruce. Addicted to ponds and meadows which I try to engender in Oxfordshire with mixed results. President of Plantlife the wild plant conservation charity and Kids in Museums (name self explanatory). Married to Catherine Morgan. One son of 19 just off to American University in Paris. Met up with Simon Pickard (StB’79) to my great delight this year. Recently acquired hon doctorate from my old University, East Anglia.

Andrew Rome (G’78) Just back from a nine week sabbatical which involved travelling on my own to British Colombia and Alaska for 6 weeks to go fishing. Quite wonderful to spend time in the wilderness and the fishing was bloomin’ marvellous!

1980s Andrew Bernard (C’81) Still in Hong Kong, developing a taste for Chinese food (or ‘food’ as we know it here) and otherwise engaged in the usual mix of work and idle sloth. Just celebrated 28 years of marriage to Catherine, and actually managed to catch up with all the ‘children’, who are generally off doing their own things rather well. I have been out in the Far East for 15 months and have a small amount of badly accented Cantonese, most of which involves food, alcohol and school boy profanities - not unlike Spanish lessons with Fra Andrew Bertie. Would be delighted to see/catch up with any Worthian travellers to the region.

Rohan Cavaliero (B’81) Still living in Kuala Lumpur with my family, corunning a property development business with an ongoing integrated resort project in Langkawi. Often see Gerry Ambrose (G’76) who also lives here in Malaysia in addition to regular, assault-like visits from Henry Thornton (B’81).

My eldest daughter, Ella, has just started at Worth in Sixth Form.

Jonathan Stordy (StB’81) Still living in Madrid and leading the International division of San Miguel. Highlight last year was investing in an American craft brewery called Founders. Enjoying seeing daughter Anna at Worth. Wonderful to occasionally see legends like Frs Stephen, Kevin, Charles and the great Helen Sweetman when we go to see Anna and that she is at Worth at same time as Ella Cavaliero and Barney Elwes, children of two friends of mine from Worth days.

Matthew Brown (C’82) lives in Shaftesbury, Dorset, with young family. Earns a crust by coaching individuals on personal productivity.

Marketing brilliant debut novel to a reluctant publishing industry. In touch with John Shepherd (B’82), Nick Moore (B’82), Giles Hamilton (B’82) and Donal Quigley (R’82). Happy to chat with any Worthians matthew@brownglobalenterprises.com Peter Cullinan (StB’82) Still residing in Durban, South Africa, but have worked remotely in Qatar for the last 2 years on one of the FIFA 2022 W/C stadiums. After deciding to leave the ME one of my options was to head up the company expansion into East Africa and those who know me will know my long standing friendship with Hugo Douglas-Dufresne (G’82), so after six years of looking after his and Antoinette’s kids in boarding school in SA, it’s their turn to look after me. Really looking forward to working up there and our kids are looking forward to the Christmas holidays there.

Eldest (Joshua) is off to University in Cape Town to study Bio Chemistry and youngest (Danielle) is still at school but incredibly sporty so we travel the country on waterpolo and netball provincial competitions (nice way to meet new people and drink more wine).

Giles Hamilton (B’82) STILL in the City. But a very different City to the one I joined in September ‘82. Married to Mini, living in Wandsworth and getting up at 5am. We have two children, Lexi, 10, at Broomwood Hall and Hugo, 14, at Eton (sorry Worth!). Would love to hear from any former Worthians with sons at Eton. Have already linked up with John Ford (B’82) and found myself sitting next to Dan Wilkinson (StB’89) at a parents' dinner. His boy is in my lad’s house. In my spare time I continue to write about 1970s rock music and tinker with customised motorbikes (as I did

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News in Brief

David Parker (StB’72) is now the Master planner for the Kentucky Army National Guard where he minimises the mismatch between personnel and buildings (present and future).

Chris (Kellog) Kelly (StB’78) Popped in at the City Lunch in March and enjoyed a good few moments. Delighted to see Frs Stephen and Kevin again, and to meet the present Abbot. As they know I am ever grateful to them for the education I received and the seeds of faith sown while at Worth - my prayer accompanies them. Have apparation (4 minutes) in the BBC2 series Secrets of the Castle last December presenting pilgrimage in the 12th century and the great tympanum, a masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture, in the Abbey at Vezelay in Burgundy where I live and work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMz7dnVMJuQ

at school!) and am an avid supporter of Crystal Palace FC (along with Chris Bloy & Dan Preston R’81). Brother Angus (B’84) is still involved in sports betting in Las Vegas and Costa Rica and my brother Ben (B’91) is Editor of Scandinavia's English language newspaper, The Copenhagen Post.

Simon Hoskyns (B’83) Lives in London with his wife, Louise, three stepchildren and his daughter, Ottalie. Working in the ski holiday industry and Partner at Alpine Answers and Alpine Luxury Chalets, organising ski holidays to the Alps. Recently bumped into Ed Mannix (StB’78) who runs chalets in Zermatt.

News in Brief

Luan de Burgh (StB’84) Living in London with my wife and son and running a communication training company working with SMEs to leading global firms. Spend a lot of time speaking at conferences in the UK and abroad and also in the media, most recently for the BBC during the General Election. More than happy to help any Worthian or their company - you can contact me through the Worthian LinkedIn Group.

Paddy Morrissey (R’84) Have just done the London to Paris bike ride left on 10th Sept and arrived on 12th Sept - with 20 colleagues from my company Sheffield Haworth (287 miles in three days). We have raised over £26,000 for Hospice UK in memory of my Mother who died in 1984, my A level year at Worth (she died in St Catherine's Hospice, Crawley).

This is combined with me hitting 50 in June this year!! Happy to hear from any Worthians who work in financial services when considering a career move.

Michael Bishop (StB’85) Works for a Swiss bank in London. Married to Samantha with 3 children (Holly, Annabelle, George - one at Bristol University, two at school). Home is near Marlborough in Wiltshire.

Robin Taylor-Hunt (B’85) Recently became engaged to Hazel Corpes.

Live in Farnham with Hazel and daughters (Anna & Maria, 16 & 14 years old). Work at Turbomeca, the French helicopter engine manufacturer, as UK Military Business Director. Still play squash and been learning to play tennis at a very low standard.

Jon (Sharks) Sharkey (R’87) Living in Bucks with Bee and Philip (13), Imy (12) and Kit (9). Working at KKR in London. Plodding around the odd triathlon course every now and then, and enjoying coaching kids locally in rugby and cricket. Always keen on West End beers. In touch with Mike Turner (G’87) and Charlie Dunster (B’88).

Alexander (Alex) Buckley (G’88) Got a little bit fed up of working for others and making them rich, so currently setting up my own business (www.h-lister.com) that provides a social media plug-in to merchants that increases customer loyalty and increases their revenues! It's a win win... (looking for investors if anyone is interested, it's going to fly...)

Dominic Taylor-Hunt (B’88) Engaged to Luz Saavedra and lives in Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Both work in the humanitarian relief sector; Dom is the Disaster Risk Adviser at Concern (the Irish equivalent to Oxfam), and is frequently to be found traveling to countries such as Congo, Haiti, Afghanistan, Lebanon.

Mark Collini (StB’89) Alex and I have been enjoying parenthood following the birth of our beautiful daughter, Beatrice Martha Hope, on 2 February 2015. We're taking her to Australia at the end of September to introduce her to the kangaroos and the koala bears.

Julian Gairdner (StB'89) has been living in Palmerston North, New Zealand for over two years and heads up the data and digital business of NZX Agri (the agri-information division of the NZ stock exchange). His wife Mel is a wonderful Mum and ‘busy as’ looking after the kids and generally tidying up after us all! The lifestyle is great here (including the weather...generally!) and NZ has certainly taken off the dual income work pressure. Ollie (12) is playing representative cricket and soccer for the region. Freddie (5) started school in January this year and Phoebe (4) is at ‘kindy’. We have had some great summer holidays (Coromandel in the North Island) and winter skiing trips, most recently to the Nelson Lakes area of the South Island. We were home in April and it was good to catch up with family and friends. Worthians welcome to stay any time!

Edward ‘Dobbo’ Robinson (B’89) Still happily married to Helen, and the boys (Tim and Jamie – 11 and 9 respectively) are another year older and eating more – nearly as much as me which is the worry! Still working the Maidenhead residential market and trying to keep my golf handicap down. Big news for me is that I’ve given up drinking - since the middle of June 2015. Woke up one morning with another nasty hangover and said, “That’s it!” Have tried to trace how my drinking started and it was probably at sixth form dances trying to impress Woldingham/Mayfield/ Roedean/Benenden girls – it worked (kind of) back then but has not since

58 I

September 1996 when Helen and I started courting! So if my profile next year says “happy to meet up with any Worthian at the pub and get stuck in to the beers” you will all know I’ve had a depressing year and have fallen off the wagon! By the way, I would recommend giving up to anyone, as I sleep better, have lost a bit of timber (weight) and am more positive generally - saved a small fortune on holiday as well! Tim has started The Oratory near Reading so if there are any other sons of Worthians who go there then please let me know and perhaps we can chat at matches, etc. Poor Tim is destined to follow his Dad and start drinking heavily at the age of 17 in an attempt to woo the ladies as it is a single-sex Catholic school! If he is good (and the Bursar makes an acceptable offer) then he can go to Worth in the Sixth Form to mix his drinks and with the ladies! Will check in again next year and am happy to meet up with any Worthian in the area, play golf or have a drink as long you don’t mind me having a ginless tonic water!

Mike Watts (C’89) Still teaching at St Benedict’s in Ealing (now with at least two other Worthians). Happily married, and very much enjoying (most of the time) having 3 young boys.

1990s Dominic Stobart (C’90) Living in Pelham, NY. Married to Caden. Three kids - William, Stella and Thorfinn. Working as a TV Producer and racing bikes for Twin Six. Al Ferraro (G’91) Based in Nottingham, and still thoroughly enjoying my work as an NHS consultant in Renal (Kidney) Medicine (over 6 years now).

Never regretted my career choice, ever. In addition to my hospital ‘day job’ I have a growing portfolio of other work-related roles including contributing to 2 national programmes that should encourage and enable patients to be more involved in managing their own long-term kidney issues. Away from work, family life (for my wife Sue, me, and boys aged 9 & 7) includes church (including leadership roles) & various energetic hobbies (including triathlons, skiing, camping, walking, climbing, and now surfing). Some things never change...

Tom Calnan (R’95) Married Bonnie at the beginning of the year, and had our first child, Archie William McMahon Calnan, born 7 Sept 2015 weighing 7 lbs 6 oz. Mum, Dad and baby are all doing fantastically. A very special moment for WOBS RFC Chairman Desmond also - first grandson for him and Julie! Am now a Partner at King & Wood Mallesons law firm, still based in Dubai and specialising in commercial Real Estate.

Ralph Coman (B’95) Now a chartered accountant and tax adviser and running my business from Dulwich, London. My website is www.comanandco.co.uk/ Angus Gairdner (B’96) Myla Molly Fitch Gairdner was born on the 16th February weighing 7lbs exactly. She is gorgeous – Mummy and Daddy totally besotted and actually (as I write this) getting some sleep! Still living in Putney and working for Sky and doing lots in Germany following the European Sky merger in November 2014. The three of us head off down under in December to see family and friends in Australia and New Zealand including brother Julian (StB’89) and his family for a week in the Coromandel. In the meantime family trips to Devon and Cornwall are as far as we are going until Christmas having also missed the ski season this year (but for a very good reason!!!)

Robert Cottrell (R'97) Married Ashley in August 2013 by none other than legendary former Abbot, Fr Kevin - it was lovely to see him again and great to have him preside over the ceremony where several old boys were in attendance: the Madsen Brothers, Stephen Ebbett, Joe Thompson, Jason Recordon and of course my brother Richard (Gooch) (R’98) as Best Man. I changed careers from recruiting in the City to teaching Modern Languages and Games, and having completed a PGCE whilst teaching full time at Sutton Valence School in Kent for the last two years, I will be starting a new post at 'Teddies' (St Edward's, Oxford) in January 2016.

Alexander (Alex) Kenney (B’97) In 2015 moved back from New York to London via a nice two month trip passing through Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Mongolia and Russia. Now working in Canary Wharf helping banks with AML and regulatory compliance issues. Recently went back to the US to get married in Vermont and was very grateful that a number of school friends made the trip from different countries for the wedding.

Lucian Sumpter (St B'97) We now have two daughters, Ava (3) and Olivia (11 months). Our once beautiful house is slowly being turned into a Disney franchise.

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Andrew Bayles (B’98) Very happy to report that we had a little girl in September 2014, Darcey Bayles. Still living in Wandsworth and working as legal counsel for Fujitsu in Baker Street, London.

Daniel Mourad (B’99) recently made appearance for Singapore 7s International Rugby.

2000s Jack Harrison (G’00) After 3 years with Jardine Matheson (KFC Taiwan) am swapping ‘The Colonel’ for Jamie Oliver - left to join a start up with the franchise for Jamie’s Italian in Greater China. Spending the next few months in HK so look forward to bumping into some Worthians here.

Robert Birchall (R’01) My wife Natalie and I are very happy to announce the birth of our first child Samuel Edward Birchall on 19 March 2015.

Christopher Lamb (R'O1) Rome Correspondent for The Tablet, the International Catholic Weekly, covering the Pope, the Vatican and the Catholic Church worldwide. Living in Italy with wife Isabel and children Joseph, 6, and Martha, 3. Anyone from Worth travelling through here feel free to get in touch ctrlamb@gmail.com Owen Lean (C’01) Currently living and performing magic in Paris. Just back from a Canadian tour performing at festivals across the country.

James Madsen (B’01) Married to Becky (July 2015), living in London, still playing the occasional rugby. Working in Financial and Corporate Public Relations.

Adrian Pring (R’01) Married Annie Dickenson on 12th April 2015 at Worth Abbey. Wedding service was co-celebrated by Fr Aidan and the reception was held on the sunken lawn by the main school and new Gervase. It was glorious!

Philip Symonds (B’01) will marry Alice Turtle on the 2nd April 2016.

Tom Carew Hunt (StB'02) married Sarah Johnson at St Margaret's, West Hoathly on 2nd May 2015. Giles Turton (F'02) was Best Man. Jim Condie (B’02) Got engaged to Kelly Johnson in September 2015 and planning on a late Summer 2016 wedding. Currently living in London and still see a number of Worthians of similar vintage.

James Madsen (B'02) Got married on 4th July 2015 to Rebecca Taylor in Shropshire. Best men were Chris Madsen (B'04) and Tom Podbury (C'02).

Amongst his ushers were Otto Blom (R'02), Chris Coxall (R'02), Daniel O'Connell (R'02), Sam Middlehurst (R'02) and Rob Cottrell (R'97).

Giles Heather (G’03) Qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in November 2014 and now working in Doha, Qatar, for a global construction consultancy.

Tom Symonds (B’03) married Elsa Buckler on the 12th July last year. Fr Christopher gave a brilliant address. Also trained 50th winner and ran the London Marathon in 2 hours 38 minutes, the fastest by a member of the horse racing world!

Stephen Gray (F’04) Internal Communications Manager at PRS for Music who license music services on behalf of 110,000 songwriters, composers and publishers, and is the largest employer in the UK music industry.

Roger Greaves (StB’04) Married Alice Chilton at St Mary’s Church, Reigate on Saturday 30th May 2015.

Christopher Madsen (B’04) My wife (Hannah) and I are expecting a baby boy at the end of November! Had a fantastic summer celebrating the marriage of great Worth mates Alex Podbury (C’04) to Lizzie and Charles Bellm (R’04) to Alice and my brother James Madsen (B’02) to Rebecca. I have been working at Chelsea FC for 5 years now and currently focus on the sales of the players’ image rights.

Paul Keenan (R'05) Runs a sports injury business called Sussex Injury Clinics based at the Dolphin Leisure centre in Haywards Heath and the Withdean Sports complex in Brighton. Having worked for a premiership football club, with world champion athletes and lectured at Kent University amongst other things, have most recently been asked to go to

Oliver (Oli) Mulcahy (C'05) Back in Portsmouth (still in the RN) as Guns and Missiles Trials Officer. Had a busy move with the arrival of Theo (11th Feb ‘15) just four days after arriving in the new house - wouldn't recommend it! Now enjoying more shore time to spend with my young family.

Michael Burr (F’06) This year has been relatively exciting as got married to Jenna Hallesy on 17th Jan 2015 and then moved out to do a year’s placement in Malaysia as a Finance Manager for Tesco. Had a number of other Worth old boys, including Chris Roberts (R'06) and Laurence Hegarty (StB’06) as groomsmen.

Edward Hall-Smith (R'07) Working at Sotheby's in London. Recently scored 1 run for our cricket side, so a big improvement since school. Do get in touch if you have a valuable art collection.

2010s Oli Jacobs (F’10) Recording/Mixing engineer at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios near Bath. I’ve been involved in some very interesting records, with several albums released in the past year (including mixing a #1 album - albeit in the world music charts, not sure if that counts?). There are several albums coming out in the next few months which I’ve been very lucky to have been a part of in some small way which I won’t bore you with here but I normally put on my website.

Andrew Pring (R'10) I have just graduated from the University of Bristol with a 2:1 Master of Engineering with Honours in Aeronautical Engineering!

I will be looking for stimulating public sector orientated work between September and January to pass the time, after which I will start Army life at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst which I eagerly await!

Katharine Farmer (StA’11) Just returned from living in Los Angeles for a year working for Rubicon Theatre Company. During my time in the States I was able to assistant direct two Off-Broadway shows called Lonesome Traveler and Wiesenthal, both nominated for Outer Critics' Circle Awards and Drama Desk Awards. Had my professional directing debut in April 2015 with a play called Last Train To Nibroc by Arlene Hutton, which won an Indy Award for Direction, Have now returned to London and directing the aptly named Pig Farm by Greg Kotis at the St James Theatre in London this autumn - a brooding dark comedy with a cast including Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks, Wild at Heart) and Dan Fredenburgh (The Bourne Ultimatum, Love Actually).

Jan-Philipp (JP) Hotze (B'11) Having spent the last three years in Rotterdam, I graduated with a BSc in International Business Administration at the Erasmus University. Last year I spent some time in Canada and worked for a land development company as an intern. I will now focus on scoring highly on my GMAT to start my Double Masters in Finance and International Energy in September 2016. Let's see if and how that will work out. If you can help with work experience in the energy industry, I would appreciate it a lot jp.hotze@me.com. Feeling alive.

Rory Pickard (StB’11) Jamie (StB’13), my Dad (Simon StB’78) and I have just completed a cycle from Geneva to Nice in order to raise money for the Mathew Elvidge Trust. So far we have raised nearly £5,000 and it's not too late to donate!

Theo Rivers (F’11) Have just moved to Australia as have been signed to play for a cricket club in Melbourne for 6 months. If any old boys are out in Melbourne let me know.

Kitty Gibson (StA’12) I have just graduated from the Royal Agricultural University and am going to take a year out. I am planning on a trip to Berlin to learn German in November for three weeks.

Arthur Russell (C’12) Commissioned as Second Lieutenant into the Scottish and Northern Irish Yeomanry Reserves in September. Still studying Civil Engineering at Heriot Watt University with 2 years remaining.

Luke Navin (F’14) Have just released my first album of solo piano music. 7 and a half Visions of Love - 7 original pieces for the piano, composed and performed by myself. Available now on iTunes, Google Play Store, and Spotify.

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News in Brief

Hugo Sanders (R’00) Along with Nick Smyth, James Pymont, Lorenzo Curci (all ‘00) and some other friends completed the Maratona des Dolomites, an endurance cycling event in Italy in July. All wearing Huez* clothing, a company started by Hugo and Lorenzo which has now just completed one year of trading! Would be great to have other Worthians involved next year.

Vancouver, Canada with a patient to support her performance in the Women's Powerlifting Commonwealth Games. Business is going from strength to strength. Have also 1 Alaskan Malamute and 2 Canadian Eskimo dogs which I compete with throughout the winter. Am in the process of organising a 1,000 mile trek across Sweden for Cancer Research UK in conjunction with Bear Grylls and a company called Survival Wisdom (who train foreign special forces).

Tadzio Szczepanik (C’68) 16/03/50 to 12/05/15 Obituary

He retired early in 1993 and spent the rest of his time enjoying family life, developing his hobbies and taking pride in seeing his children grow up and settle down. Recently he enjoyed a new lease of life as a grandparent, known as ‘Dziadzio’, the Polish for grandfather.

Tadzio’s devotion to Marie-Claire, his children and grandchildren, and to his sisters and brother, became very clear in the last days when he knew he was so ill. Fighting both mental and physical pain, and with the tragic death of his brother Tom and of his uncle shortly before his own death, Tadzio showed incredible bravery. His primary concern was that Marie-Claire would be taken care of and that his affairs were in order.

In thinking about what mattered most to Tadzio there is no doubt that his family was paramount. As one of his early work colleagues said, “He always put family before ambition”.

His love and care extended also to his godchildren and his inlaws. As one put it, “He had a big generous heart, extending his generosity to the wider family”.

T

adzio was born on 16th March 1950 in London, the first son of Edward and Hanna Szczepanik. His father was a renowned economist and ended up as the Prime Minister in Exile of the Polish Government during the last days of the Communist rule. Tadzio was the younger brother of Basia and the older brother of twins Zosia and Tom. Much of his early life involved travelling, spending his early childhood in Hong Kong and Rome as his father took up posts with universities and the UN. In 1962 Tadzio came to Worth – a happy time by all accounts and where he engaged with his Catholic faith in a practical way, finding his skill early on as an altar server. One of the monks, Andrew Brenninkmeyer, told the family, “Tadzio was my right hand man in the liturgical team, being probably the best MC that I had in the 12 years I was on the job”.

After a gap year spent travelling from Rome to Poland, he started his physics degree in 1969 at Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he took up rowing and real tennis and became involved in the Catholic Chaplaincy. He was also a founder member of the new Polish Society. And there he met his wife to be, Marie-Claire.

Marie-Claire and Tadzio married in July 1973. After a year in Birmingham they moved to Worcestershire and brought up their family, three daughters (Helenka, Yvonne, Ania) and one son (John Paul).

Tadzio’s first job was with Dunlop in Birmingham, followed by a time with a company called CDC, then moving to Droitwich to work for LINK. Realising that, primarily for health reasons, working for large organisations didn’t really suit him, he eventually set up his own company SSS (Szczepanik Software Systems). This was very successful as he developed a software package to enable councils to manage the new Community Charge or Poll Tax. He later sold the company very profitably to MacDonald Douglas.

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He was very faithful to his Polish Catholic cultural roots and to his Catholic practice, supporting Parish life in Pershore and acting for over 20 years as one of the main MCs at Sunday Mass. He was also a regular and generous member of the Catenian Society in Pershore where, according to one Catenian, “he could always be relied upon to bring wisdom and a pithy comment to all our discussions!”. He was also a lifelong and generous supporter of CAFOD and other charities.

His childhood gave him a love of travel and learning languages. He loved to speak Italian, French and Polish and to organise family holidays, especially in Europe and Cornwall.

He took forward various home and garden improvement schemes and had a passionate interest in tennis and international rugby, particularly Wimbledon and the Six Nations.

In the condolence cards two of the most recurring attributes were CLEVER and KIND. Tadzio was undoubtedly very intelligent and this was evident in his success in his professional career and in managing his own affairs. He was also METICULOUS and SYSTEMATIC – a real perfectionist. He liked things in order and was always a Man with a Plan – and woe betide anyone who tried to alter his plan!

At the end of the day, though, it was his KINDNESS and GENEROSITY that touched so many hearts; always looking for connections with people and always a loyal friend.

But perhaps his grandchildren put it best. They described Dziadzio’s qualities well with words like GENEROUS, LOVING, JOYFUL, KIND, CARING, FUNNY and even COOL, and, of course, DZIADZIO’s CAMERA. John Paul Szczepanik (B’01)

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Patrick O'Toole Quinn (StB’70) 03/03/1952 to 12/09/2014

P

Pat began life at Worth in the autumn of 1965. He was extremely tall and thin with a shock of ginger hair and arrived at St Bede's carrying a large bow. In his first year at the School this item caused a certain amount of mayhem and was confiscated after an attempt to bag one of Mr Renouf's chickens. Now deprived of his beloved archery Pat sought other distractions and joined the Antiquarian Society. This somewhat quiet interest only served to enhance his eccentric ways. He was regularly in trouble with his Housemaster Dom Edward Cruise - known as 'Ol Cwikey - often being caught smoking in the bushes or anywhere else for that matter. This usually warranted four from 'Ol Cwikey's whacker but often became six after repeated offences (for which Patrick was allowed to sign the implement). On one of his other forays he had strapped clusters of large bangers together and lobbed them through the prep school dormitory windows after lights out where they caused a Chinese cracker effect across the dormitory floor. A further visit to Fr Edward was required.

Pat didn't enjoy sports and wasn’t really interested in academia either. But, he was an entertainer. His writings – he invented and wrote of a character named Armpit Nugga – and his impressions, accents and ‘madness’ made him many friends. He got on well with Fr Bernard Moss who had said to him in history class “Squinn …you’re a monster!”

Later he also became known as Lord Quinn. In 1968, during the holidays, he was escorted out of Guildford Castle by security: dressed as a hunchback his 6’4” frame – later to become 6’6” – had lurched from the shadows of the upper turrets muttering Shakespearean lines whenever tourists wandered near. In 1969 however, he committed the cardinal sin at Worth and ran away with one of the nursing staff. They were both caught soon after. She was immediately asked to leave the school, he was called up before the Head Master with, as he described, a tremendous dread. Ten from the Head Master’s cane combined with being expelled were the most extreme punishments of the day… both were applied to him.

After Worth Pat was sent to Foyes School in Dorset for one year – ‘Foyes for naughty boys’ as he called it.

He left there at the age of 18 and became interested in wine and all its associations. Soon he was studying in the UK and France to become a Master of Wine. This continued from 1972-79 when the wine supplying branch he was working and studying with went broke. So, Pat decided to become self-employed selling wine with his brother Michael. His eccentric ways continued: during part of this time he shared a house with his brother and a female nudist … you never quite knew who would answer the door. The Quinn brothers became infamous around Guildford in the 70's and 80's – often Pat could be found in one or other of the local taverns

Obituary

atrick Timothy O’Toole Quinn was born to Lorna and Major Paddy Quinn in Sidmouth, Devon on 3rd March 1952. His early years were spent living in the West Country. In 1960 he was sent to All Hallows Prep School for five years. During this time the Quinns moved from Somerset to a farm near Guildford.

where, after a few pints, he would leap upon a table spouting Shakespeare and mesmerising the locals. (Many other events took place and were much chuckled about at his wake.)

In 1984 his mother Lorna died and his life was about to change as she had asked him to look after his elderly father Paddy. Pat gave up work and nursed his father for eight years until his death in 1992. He now realised what he really wanted to do and took up a career in caring.

In 1991 he had met his future wife Janet and they married in 1997. The honeymoon proved a nightmare as Pat suffered heart failure on the ferry to Jersey. His new bride had to leave him in hospital on the island attached to wires and tubes while she headed to the honeymoon suite on her own. Fortunately he – and she – recovered and his caring work for those with learning difficulties continued.

Pat and his brother now found they had been left a large packet of letters and a painting by their parents. The letters were from Mahatma Gandhi to their father – they had been good friends in the Raj days – and the painting soon made a half-page spread in the Guardian as a potential 'lost' Caravaggio. The latter represented a fortune but manipulations within the art world meant the Quinn brothers received only a relatively small amount. Pat didn't have a lot of interest in material goods, apart from Land Rovers, so the loss of a possible life of luxury didn’t affect him too badly. He forged on with his caring work until diagnosed with cancer in early 2014. After a successful operation he vowed to return on a part-time basis but was subsequently issued with chemotherapy tablets. These caused a massive allergic reaction and he died on the 12th September 2014 at 12 minutes past 12 in Guildford hospital.

Pat was a compassionate and truly gentle giant who loved a giggle and often a great cackle. He leaves a wife and a brother but was loved by many more.

Tim Marlow (StB‘70)

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Tomasz Stanislaw Szczepanik (C’71) 06/03/53 to 13/04/15

T

Obituary

om was born on 6th March 1953 in Hammersmith, the youngest child of the Economics lecturer Edward Franciszek Szczepanik (last Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile) and Hanna Maria Janikowska, who had arrived in England at the end of World War II. Tom was christened three times: firstly by the midwife; secondly by the hospital chaplain; thirdly in church. His brother Tadzio and friend Adas even did a fourth version of their own, using soot from the chimney! Tom moved to Hong Kong with his family on 16th January 1954, when his father became a lecturer at the university. Tom made such good friends with the children on the campus that they all still meet up for reunions in London.

Tom was one of the first pupils at Gleanealy Junior School and could even spell his complicated surname before he went there. During Edward's sabbatical in March-December 1958, Tom attended school in England and spent autumn 1958 in Bangkok, Thailand.

At the end of 1961 Edward moved to Karachi, Pakistan, so Tom spent two terms at the International School there before starting at Worth in September 1962. Tom remembered fainting as an altar boy at one of the services!

Later, he attended Dulwich College for sixth form - attracted by the bright lights of London. During Tom's schooldays, his summer holidays after September 1963 were spent at his parents' new home in Rome and on the beach at San Felice because Edward worked for the FAO. Tom read Economics and Social Anthropology at Manchester University. His university friends were envious of his holidays in Italy, whilst his Italian friends were envious of him living in Manchester - near Liverpool, home of the Beatles!

After University, Tom became a graduate trainee at the Clarks factory in Glastonbury, especially growing a beard to appear older when he ran a department of 20 girls!

Subsequently he worked at Texas Instruments in Bedford.

Then he established his own computing firm and later worked for Jermyn in Sevenoaks.

Fulfilling Tom's mother’s prediction that he would become a banker, from 1981 Tom spent the next 34 years working in various roles at Citibank: Citibank Savings in Hammersmith; Diners Club in Kensington; the Private Bank in Berkeley Square; the Consumer Business; Citi Insurance; Compliance and most recently Operational Risk at Canary Wharf. Tom was always very kind and enjoyed being a computer helpdesk for family, friends and colleagues.

Tom continued to work for Citibank whilst Lynette comanaged BML Estate Supplies (a small subsidiary of Wilson Smithett tea brokers) and then she ran the office of the International Tea Committee. Tom and Lynette married on 26th July 1986 at St Saviour's Church, Tonbridge, Kent with a reception at Penshurst Place, spending their honeymoon on Bequia in the Caribbean.

Their daughter Tessa Charlotte Paulina was born 9 weeks early on 22nd June 1987 in Hammersmith. The new family moved to Tunbridge Wells in September 1987 to be near Lynette's parents in Tonbridge and have a garden for Tessa to play in. The family lived in Brussels between August 1989 and September 1990, showing family and friends the city and battlefield of Waterloo, before returning to Tunbridge Wells. They have lived in Tonbridge for the past 25 years.

Tom and Lynette used to go skiing and latterly enjoyed visiting family in Europe, America and Canada. Tom, Lynette and Tessa are all keen photographers, both of family and friends as well as their holidays abroad.

Recently, Tom enjoyed delving into his Polish roots and discovering more about his Polish great-grandfather, the explorer Leopold Janikowski. He scanned in and republished a book about him, aided by his Uncle Stas. Tom also wrote about his father Edward and great-grandfather Leopold on Wikipedia.

Tom and Lynette were so proud of their daughter Tessa gaining a 2:1 in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and following her dream of becoming a Genealogist by gaining her Postgraduate Diploma via Glasgow's University of Strathclyde.

Tom and Lynette are blessed to have wonderful, caring family, friends and neighbours. Lynette and Tessa wanted to write that without all your love, care and support, they wouldn't have survived this traumatic ordeal of losing their beloved husband and father to a sudden, fatal heart attack and they wanted to thank you for the very kind and thoughtful letters of condolence from several members of staff at Worth.

Lynette and Tessa Szczepanik

In October 1984 Tom went to a Halloween party in Sevenoaks and met his future wife, Lynette Angela Patricia Murray, who was the Acting Commissioning Editor for Academic and Defence Books at MacMillan Publishers. They got engaged a year later at Piso Livadi on the island of Paros in Greece. Tom and Lynette had a secret code, adding the word ‘queue’ into any conversations with guests to refer to Lynette's size 'Q' engagement ring, which privately meant 'I love you'.

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Guy de Burgh (StB’73) 23/06/1955 to 21/12/14

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Obituary

uy was born on 23rd June 1955 and was the second child and eldest son of Michael and Penelope de Burgh. He spent much of his early childhood in East Africa before the family returned to England to live briefly in Manchester before settling in Duncton, West Sussex.

Guy went to St John’s Beaumont Preparatory School where he began to show his excellence in science and maths as well as in boxing. From St John’s, Guy went to Worth (St Bede’s House) and was part of the year group that produced eight Oxbridge candidates. While taking his ‘A’ Levels in Maths, Pure Maths, Applied Maths, Physics and Chemistry, Guy was also taking his English ‘O’ Level for the fourth time!

At Oxford (St Peter’s College) Guy read Engineering as well as representing the University at Judo and Rowing. After Oxford, his first job was with Racal Electronics and it was only a matter of time before his expertise was identified by technology companies in the USA. In 1983, Guy moved to California where he lived, with a brief stay in North Carolina, for the rest of his life. He worked for various technology companies including setting one up himself before he was offered a role at Apple which he took up and was working on right up until he was unable to continue. At his memorial in January, Guy’s manager from Apple spoke of the unique role at the company that Guy had and how they were struggling to find anyone who could match the technical expertise in the specific area in which he worked.

Guy was a gifted and enthusiastic photographer, amateur astronomer and dedicated marathon runner taking part in the London and Los Angeles marathons on a number of occasions as well as various others around the US. He was running up until his illness prevented him from doing so.

He also greatly enjoyed playing competitive Frisbee.

Guy died on 21st December 2014 at home in California and is survived by his wife Martha and two step sons B.J. and Jake in America and by his father, sister Melony, and two brothers, Shaun (StB’74) and Luan (StB’84) in the UK. The de Burgh Family

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The Abbot had agreed to a unique opportunity for five of us to look more closely at what life was like for Benedictine monks, novices and postulants, before and after they taught us. It was only a week, and I regret that my impressions - 45 years later may suffer from some loss of focus.

The 1970 Monastic Experience Reunion

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n 1970 Dom Hugh O’Neill, as part of his RE Course, devised an essay competition to discover why, up to then, there had been so few vocations to the priesthood amongst pupils. The winning entry, by 16 year old Jeremy Brooks, stated: ‘The monks at Worth do not do nearly enough to inform people about religious life. You wish to know why no boys join the Monastery? Well, it is that you do not open the door to us. We are lazy, I admit, but we need help. Let us see what it is like, let us gain knowledge.

A way to gain interest is to have a small group of boys to stay in the Monastery for, say, five days. Let these boys do everything a monk does; let them wear the same clothes, eat the same meals, go to the same Offices, but above all, keep cut off from the ‘outside world’.’

And so it was that, with Abbot Victor Farwell’s blessing, the future Lieutenant Colonel Brooks and four other boys, Paul Thompson, Charles Weston-Baker, Gavin Hamilton-Deeley and Simon Nixon, went into the Monastery for a five-day ‘taster’ in the final week of the 1970 Summer Term.

45 years on, we tracked them down and asked them back, to reminisce, recreate the original photograph and to reflect on how that short experience may have helped shaped their future lives.

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In order of priority, I would say that having time to empty my mind was special. Although Edward Cruise, my Housemaster, would probably say that an empty mind was probably status quo for me, silence - and what might now be called sensory deprivation - helped generate thought. But I had no way of disciplining, or ordering them; prayer (which I remember was quite frequent) helped. And I noticed other monks in the community seemed to prove that practice makes perfect. So I should have stayed for longer.

The second was the nature of community life 'off duty'. All the monks were characters in some way and no doubt, sources of joy (or irritation) for their fellow monks. You would need to be patient, loving, a generous listener, if you are to spend your life there. I am sure they were in equal measure refreshed and riled by the boys, but it never showed. I wonder what it's like now that the monks don't teach.

The third was the joy of eating in silence, unhurried, while skilled monks (Dom Anthony, I do remember, with a range of accents) read to us. Ian Fleming's Thunderball I recall was one, but I tested this with Fr Stephen on our recent reunion, and he assures me I was dreaming.

I shall be eternally grateful to Abbot Victor Farwell, Dom Hugh O'Neill and the community of May 1970, who probably needed a stiff gin after we'd left. For me, in retrospect, it was a pretty good taster of what 30 years living with soldiers in a Regiment would turn out to be.

Jeremy Brooks (StB’72)

What I think I do particularly remember, apart from how surprisingly comfortable and practical wearing a habit was and the mysterious aura (at least to me) of the monastic library, which none of us had been in before, was the utter calmness and tranquillity, as it struck me, of monastic life.

It felt very other-wordly which, for us youngsters who were already beginning to strain at the leash to get out into the 'real world' was, I suppose, probably more intriguing than inately attractive. Perhaps we were too young really to appreciate it.

Now, looking back and in reminiscences in the years since, I think it certainly reinforced my sense that Worth is a very special place and I think it also gave me some greater insight

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

into the spiritual life and that there is more to life than simply making a success in the big wide world. In now returning to Worth, it was wonderful to see that the School and the Monastery, whilst both much changed, and the old Cowdray Estate which they so happily share, have all developed so well and in harmony with each other. Worth remains to me a very special place which I realise all of us, who have some connection with it, are very privileged to share. Long may that continue.

great truth of my stay in the community was the honesty and honourable character of the monks. When I left Worth these values shaped the way in which I dealt with the variety of people I was to meet.

Left to right: Simon Nixon, Jeremy Brooks, Paul Thompson, Charles Weston-Baker and Gavin Hamilton-Deeley

Paul Thompson (StB’72) The week I spent in the Monastery many years ago was a truly inspiring experience which has stayed with me ever since.

I found the daily routine of worship and reflection moving and enjoyed the mix of quiet time with busy work and social interaction. What did surprise me was the deep sense of community amongst the monks and the sense of fun that was also apparent. I subsequently visited the mission to Lima and found the same positive atmosphere there, despite the poverty. Above all, my stay in the Monastery has given me an understanding of monastic life and a profound admiration for St Benedict, whose rule established so many centuries ago is relevant and alive today.

Charles Weston-Baker (B’72)

Worth was very much a monastic community first and a school second in my day and as a young boy there seemed to be a lot of Catholicism and dogma to digest. I wanted to experience life in the Monastery to see what really went on behind the scenes.

What I came away with was the realisation that Catholic Benedictine life was not all about dogma but a way of life and that has stayed with me. My immediate impressions were having to get up at about 6am to start life as a monk, working hard in the forest during the day, eating in silence and wearing a strange outfit which was a stark contrast to the school life I was used to. On the plus side I realised that food could actually taste good at Worth and wine was not just for Mass. After that the time for reflection and beginning to understand what the monks were experiencing started to kick in and I found the experience surprisingly rewarding.

Gavin Hamilton-Deeley (R’72)

In order to fully experience the monastic way the absolute prerequisite is faith and, in this respect, I failed. Despite coming from a Jesuit background, I have never felt any conviction that scripture held an ultimate veracity to which I could adhere. I lacked the intellectual maturity to be able to understand this at the time and, while I attended each prayer session and performed the other offices as directed, the underlying requirement of faith meant that the experience failed as an incitement to consider joining the community.

That said, the experience was one with substantial gains. The easily communicated values of decency, morality and spiritual substance were a lesson in core values that I’ve taken to heart and are an essential authority that I can readily accept. The

If a ready acceptance of Benedictine commitment was not for me, the experience definitely helped me to be more equipped to bring those values to prick my conscience when I fell short of the community’s standards. Perhaps any of the major religions may have this facility, but I am particularly grateful to Worth for awakening this in me.

I can’t leave off without a comment on my fellow inmates.

A deliciously varied band that have travelled disparate paths.

Rather like a 1970’s war movie when a band of veterans are assembled for a highly dangerous, but vital, mission to thwart the enemy menace. The cast would number the Richards Harris and Burton, David Niven, James Garner, Donald Pleasance et al. While united by a common purpose, their varied characters invite gloomy speculation about their ability to form a cohesive band.

Our gallant leader was undoubtedly Jeremy Brooks. His pulchritudinous outer crust reminiscent of a floppy haired, but slightly superannuated Hugh Grant, and his inner military steel that of a Captain Mainwaring. Jeremy’s ability to make an Abbot meekly acquiesce to his demands was the catalyst for our assembly.

Charles Weston-Baker has the lugubrious eyes of Robert Mitchum. They speak of great depths of experience and travails. Sadly, the romantic-tragic hero effect is undone by the Ernest Bilko thatch.

Paul Thompson was the brains of the gang. His high forehead creating an image of the Tefal scientist from the 80’s ads.

Indeed he may have managed to get away with his intellectual authority unquestioned, had I not spotted him on the opposite platform heading back to London after our reunion. He had his mobile phone in his hands and a look of befuddled incomprehension on his face that exploded the boffin myth.

Gavin Hamilton-Deeley retains the pin-up good looks of a Robert Redford. His enormous motor car, only slightly smaller than a Hercules transport plane, making him the ideal choice for logistics and get-away driver.

Your correspondent unfortunately looks like a dissipated Depardieu. His Cyrano days behind him, the loose cannon role, normally filled by an erratic Telly Savalas, is earmarked for him.

We failed in our mission, but better men, headed by Abbot Luke, had more success.

Simon Nixon (StB’72)

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Head Master’s 2015 Report Gino and Anne Carminati

A

s ever this has been a very busy year with infinite levels of energy expended over a wide variety of activities across all aspects of School life and the commitment and achievement of our pupils and staff has been immense. I congratulate everyone who has contributed to the life of the school throughout the year, for the level of excellence that has shone through and for the manner in which the community has conducted itself and enhanced the ethos, values and expectations that guide our very being.

Production of The Crucible

I would especially like to acknowledge and thank those colleagues who will either be retiring or leaving Worth at the end of the academic year for their outstanding contributions and dedication. They include Mrs Anne Lynch who leaves to take up the well-deserved headship of The Royal School in Haslemere, Mrs Kate Huxley, Mrs Danielle Lloyd, Dr Sheila Bartlett and Mrs Anne Carminati, all of whom are retiring this year. Mrs Sue Cummins moves to a full-time position at Brambletye Prep School and Mr Eamon Manning leaves Worth to join the Oratorian Order and will train for the priesthood. All these colleagues have made exceptional contributions to the life of the School in so many different ways. Many pupils and parents owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude and I should like to thank them for all they have done and to wish them every happiness and joy in their future careers or well-earned retirement.

My professional career as a teacher, Head of Department, Boarding House Master, Head of Sixth Form, Deputy Head and Head Master on three occasions, has spanned 33 years across six very different but excellent schools; four in the state sector and two in the independent sector. I have had the privilege to have been engaged in every aspect of school life from picking up litter and dealing with overflowing washrooms to planning and delivering major projects and change. Overall, the 33 years of my teaching career have been blessed with overwhelming happy encounters and memories, and when difficulty or tragedy has struck, I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by the care, compassion and support of my communities and colleagues. It is a delight for me to acknowledge that the vocation which I was called to take up in my green and salad days has been one which I have enjoyed, loved, and learned much from and have tried to serve as best I can.

Over the years I have of course experienced and sometimes had to endure, countless new initiatives from selfproclaimed educational experts from various government offices and think tanks. I have seen 14 Secretaries for Education come and go with alacrity at times, each generating a tsunami of innovation. As a Head, if I had adopted, as directed, all the initiatives that came down from on high I would have faced mental exhaustion years ago and have been complicit to the advancement of educational vandalism and the intellectual impoverishment of my students. There can be virtue in the application of appropriate resistance.

The ever increasing self-indulgence by successive governments in the politicisation of education, the gradual neutering of idealism, altruism, and the blurring of strong moral values at the expense of poorly conceived political correctness and relativism, makes me wonder whether anyone with great political influence or power, has really understood what they are doing when it comes to educating the young and whether they had a well-founded vision as to why they are doing it in the first place. It has often felt as if we live in an age of ideological and ethical bankruptcy in which popular and shallow sound bites are used as a feeble substitute for gravitas and well-reasoned intellectual conviction.

Raising money for 1 Voice

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Abbot League Olympics

Confirmation 2015

My generation has seen many benefits and advancements in our society and many exciting innovations which have made the current age stronger and better for the majority if not necessarily for all. The opportunities that are available for engaging in creative and imaginative teaching and learning have been revolutionised from the black board, coloured chalk and the bander machine, to interactive white boards, the application of the internet and the myriad of apps that can be downloaded instantly. I only have to look at what goes on in our own classrooms to see that we have an exciting and vibrant learning set of experiences here that were unimaginable when I started teaching.

and inadvertent exploitation. Whatever happened to the pursuit of beauty, goodness and truth for the greater intellectual and cultural enrichment of man and the nurturing of spiritual well-being for the advancement of humanity and for the greater glory of God?

But we have also witnessed in many of our schools and universities the advancement of a learning culture dominated by skills-based training for the advancement of utilitarian mediocrity, the promotion of selfish individualism and the infectious spreading of secularism. When these ingredients are combined and left unchallenged, they produce a toxic force that can rob the young and those that educate them, of any real sense of vision and idealism and in turn, can rob a nation of its higher sense of being.

The key values that dominate many of our educational establishments today are the pursuit of examination achievement as the principal measure of success, training people primarily to serve the work place and the promotion of mean-minded materialism, with its various false images

In case you mistake these words for the cynical rant of a retiring and jaded Head, let me reassure you. I remain as passionate, hopeful and idealistic as when I first started my teaching career, albeit I hope, perhaps a little wiser and a touch more forgiving and patient – but only a touch!

I firmly believe that we must embrace change and modernity with confidence and seek out that which has real value.

There is no place in education for King Canute entrenchment.

Yet we must also be bold enough to dismiss superficial nonsense and that which has no real fundamental value or undermines what is right. The education of the young is too precious a gift and too great a responsibility to be left in the hands of intellectual appeasers, lack-lustre visionaries or here today, gone tomorrow politicians.

I remain confident and optimistic because whenever I look around the audience of a school assembly, whenever I meet parents and prospective students on an open morning, when I sit down to write reports on the achievements of the year or stop to reflect upon what is happening in my School and take the time to speak with my students and colleagues, I constantly see very uplifting, inspiring and

Head Boy, Oliver Campbell, on Speech Day

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First IB trip to Cuba

energising things. I see passion and eagerness to understand and learn; I see people who seek meaning from life; I see people with real social conscience, well-formed values and a desire to do good and make things better for others as well as themselves. I see young people who will shape our future and be our future leaders; and what I see is good and noble, and this sustains my hope and confidence.

Here at Worth relative secularism and utilitarianism do not dominate and they are vigorously challenged and rebutted.

The culture of examination success at the expense of the rounded education of the whole person does not have preeminence but is apportioned its due level of respect in the overall picture of what we are trying to achieve. The pursuit of selfish individuality and false image do not hold sway but are diminished by our Benedictine teaching of community life, by the value we place on the unique contribution of each individual and by the promotion of a faith that gives us a vision of humanity shaped in the image of the Divine, that is to be respected and loved.

At Worth we have a strong philosophical rationale for our existence and for the work we do. We promote the values of a liberal western culture, the pursuit of reason and rational thought, and we appreciate the need to engage artistic creativity and the imagination alongside science, logic and the advancement of physical well-being.

Moreover, we are a school founded on a clear philosophy and way of life that is Christ centred and firmly reflective of the teachings of the Gospel. We promote the living out of a

The House Chaplains

life of Christian Love and putting into daily practice the values which we hold. We believe that each individual member of our School has a unique vocation. Our aim is to educate our pupils to discern this vocation, to inspire, challenge and nurture them to realise this vocation. We think it right that life should be lived to the full, with fun, joy and delight and that part of what enables this to happen, is to instil a sense of aspiration and an appreciation of excellence in all that we do so that goodness, truth and beauty have real merit and are sustained as ennobling, life giving attributes.

The result is that whilst we at Worth can also train and prepare the young for later life, to make valid contributions to society and to make positive contributions to the economy and the world of work, we are prepared to go much further. Worth encourages its young to be beacons of light in all things and to be visible examples and role models for others to be inspired by. Whatever limitations we sometimes have and whatever mistakes we occasionally make, this School is firm in its pursuit of excellence and in challenging its community to be bolder, better and add real value beyond that which might be naturally expected.

It is for these reasons that parents send their children here as opposed to anywhere else. It is for these reasons that as a school we have grown to our filling number, why the levels of achievement in all areas of life improve year on year, why our pupils are better prepared for what lies ahead of them beyond school and why the levels of satisfaction and support for what we do are overwhelmingly positive from the feedback that we receive. This is why the monastic community and governors invest heavily in our continual development and in the further improvement of our facilities and the opportunities we offer and it is for these reasons why my colleagues expend immense effort and commitment to making our mission and our values a living reality.

Over the last eight years the School has changed significantly in size, in gender balance, in the range of what is available both academically and in extra-curricular terms. It is a stronger and bigger beast with a fulsome appetite for further success. This encourages us to be ever more professional in our operations and more far reaching in our visioning and planning. It is for this reason that a vision for the longer term development of Worth is being devised – a vision that will greatly enhance and transform

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Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Achievement Award Winners

Ann Widdecombe after her lecture to students

the campus for both the Abbey and School, so that together we can take our joint mission and vision to new and more dazzling heights.

what we do here works; that what we do is good, and true and beautiful and I am deeply proud of all that we achieve together.

The last eight and half years have been very special ones for me and for my family. When we arrived as strangers to this community, we were warmly and generously welcomed and supported to an extent which we had not experienced in any previous school. This sense of welcome and support has never diminished. I have witnessed what a Worth education can do from the perspective of a Head Master and a parent and I have seen the enormous and positive effects that can be made to happen when we all work together. I have seen a school that in most respects practices what it preaches and succeeds in its endeavours.

I have had the privilege to live and work with inspirational people of all ages, pupils and adults, who have taught me a great deal and have allowed me the privilege of playing a small part in their growth and development. I know that

To my successor, Mr Stuart McPherson, I willingly transfer the leadership of this exceptional place knowing not only that it is in a robust and healthy condition but in the sure knowledge that it will be cared for, led and developed by someone who has already shown a real love of Worth and its mission.

To the Worth community, to the pupils, my colleagues, parents, governors and the monastic community, I offer my sincere thanks and heartfelt appreciation for the gift, the honour and the privilege of leading this very special family and wish Worth every success for the future.

Gino Carminati, Head Master, Worth School Taken from the Head Master’s Speech Day Address, May 2015 Corpus Christi Procession

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Farewell to Gino Carminati

A

s we were saying a fond farewell to Worth’s sixth Head Master, Gino Carminati, it only seemed right that one of the very first cohort of girls should come and talk to him about one of the key challenges of his headship! Andra Hess (StM’10), after leaving Worth, went off to Whistler in Canada to work as a ski instructor and then came back to Birmingham City University where she was awarded a First Class Honours degree in Real Estate. She is now working at Barber Wadlow, Fuel & Automotive Property Advisers, and having just bought her first flat, is finding this ‘growing up’ malarkey rather weird!

Did you join Worth knowing that the transition was planned to go co-educational?

Gino Carminati

That soon broke down! I knew that you were all the strong suffragette type and that you weren’t going to take that rubbish and that you’d cope with it very well - and you did.

You also had a great Housemistress in Caroline Brown who helped you.

I think that was one of the things, when I look back, that we were probably the year that had the strongest characters.

No, the Governors had already consulted lots of people, but the final decision hadn’t been made so I was appointed on the understanding that it could still remain a boys’ school but it was very likely to go co-ed. I said that I would be happy with either but I much prefer co-ed and that was part of the reason for coming to Worth.

Well you had to, that is the reason I chose you. We were so over-subscribed that year. I had virtually three girls to every available place. It was wonderful. Not only could I go for the best of the best and brightest, I also went for the ones who could add lots of different things. Sport was particularly important and you all established girls’ sport at Worth so quickly, when it could have taken years.

Were there quite a lot of schools at that time going co-ed?

Haven’t the girls just had an unbeaten hockey season in 2014/15?

I remember 20 years ago when I first became a Head, the majority of schools were all boys and 20 years later I think that you can count the all boy schools on one hand, maybe two.

Yes, an unbeaten season for hockey – the girls’ sport is really top notch here. We don’t play other schools’ mixed teams anymore; we play their best and knock them for six.

Why do you prefer co-ed?

I think it is a better ambience, better balance, and more natural, and I always take the view that if you are going to marry each other and live with each other then you better get used to it as early as possible really!

Yes, I think a few boys could have benefited from that to be honest!

Well it was quite interesting at the time because the boys certainly the Upper Sixth boys and even the boys in your year group - were a bit hesitant. It was as if they felt “oh it’s the end of the world as we know it” but they all fell into line virtually straight away.

Were there any parents that had a bit of a wobble?

I think originally there were fewer than 10 parents that actually had reservations, but most of these were parents with boys towards the senior end of the School who were thinking “well at least it’s not on my watch and my son will be out by then”. But those with younger boys who expressed reservations and said that wasn’t what they signed up to, were all won round shortly after. They all thought it was great and nobody left, so it was a seamless transition in many ways, and very easy.

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I think as the first cohort of 36 girls coming into Year 12 it was a challenge with the year above when we first arrived. They were the hardest to approach and I think there was almost an unwritten rule stating that they shouldn’t talk to us!

Did you have any set criteria for the first year of girls, except for them being able to bring something to the table?

Yes I had to have a variety so we could break into music and sport. I needed very strong girls who could hold their own but gel quickly. It was quite difficult to put together that first intake. I had to make sure that the characters didn’t clash as when you put strong characters in a room together that can happen. I needed to make sure that collision would be minimal and it was. There were one or two sort of ‘prima donna’ moments but very few. It could have been a lot worse.

Did you keep the same criteria going forward or did it change with each year?

The girls we recruit still have what I call backbone and they are still feisty girls which I think is good but I think they still need to be. Even though we have over 200 girls in the School now, we could do with a few more. We want to get to 60:40. However they are certainly loud enough to make you think that there are more girls than boys!

Have you seen any changes with the boys? Have grades dropped?

No, quite the opposite. Grades have gone up. The academic standards of the School have risen and risen. The boys have just calmed down a bit really.

Worth Society Life

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

A welcome to the new Head Master Were there any years where you thought co-ed wouldn’t work?

No, never at all. I thought that the boys’ reaction to co-ed was really very positive. On the whole, I think they were very welcoming. There were some silliness’s…

Any in particular?

None that I am prepared to repeat or have published! They were minor things really. On the whole, I think that the feedback from the girls at the end of their two years was really positive, 97% positive I think.

We were quite nervous being the first year and having another year coming in. We were almost territorial, a bit like the boys might have been with us!

T

he Autumn Term has seen the arrival of Worth’s seventh, and third lay, Head Master in Worth School’s 56 year history. Stuart McPherson was born in 1968 in Perth, Western Australia, and educated at Applecross Senior High School and the University of Western Australia.

He was a teacher at Sydney Grammar School from 19902000 and from 2000 to 2015 taught English at Eton College, where he was also House Master of Penn House between 2010 and 2015. He is married to Johneen, who is Director of Studies at St Mary’s Ascot, and has four children between the ages of 16 and 22. He enjoys reading, fishing and brief periods of wild camping.

The Worth Society offers him and his family a very big welcome!

Ah yes, the Queen Bee Syndrome.

Do you think that your legacy will be the introduction of girls?

My legacy? Whenever people talk about a legacy I always think of Tony Blair, so I like to think I won’t be leaving a legacy…Um…Oh I suppose so. If they look back on significant dates then yes, but we have done so much since I have been Head in terms of new buildings and conversions.

Did you need girls?

No, Worth could have quite easily continued as a successful all boys’ school but it would never have reached more than 450 pupils. It’s a happy place, it is a great community and it has got stronger and better.

What do you think the future looks like for Worth?

Great. I really do. My successor is a lovely man who has fallen in love with the place. He is down to earth and I think people will like him very much. As far as Worth is concerned, we are doing very well and we have ridden through the economic recession without noticing it.

Numbers are good.

Are you going to miss it?

Yes, I will miss some of it hugely. I won’t miss being a Head. I won’t miss having to worry about everyone else’s responsibilities as well as my own. I won’t miss the forward planning, but when you have worked all your life with young people, who although can be frustrating, keep you fresh and alive – I shall miss that. This is such a special place.

I will miss having all of this on my doorstep.

Will you come back and visit?

If I am invited! I can’t just drop in but yes hopefully I will be invited back.

Andra Hess (StM’10)

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We are delighted to announce that this year’s Glenn Robertson Spirit of Rugby Trophy was awarded to Christy O’Brien (R’15) and the Glenn Robertson Sporting Promise Trophy was awarded to current student Gabriel O’Brien

Worthians—The Second Generation: September 2015 Pupil Surname

Christian Name

Current Year

House

Father’s/relatives name

Adams

William

12

Rutherford

Charles (R’86)

Bruning

Emma

11

St Mary’s

Christian (StB’88)

Byrne

Henry

7

Austin

Nephew of Edward Sherlock (StB’85)

Cavaliero

Ella

12

St Mary’s

Rohan (B’81)

Elwes

Barnaby

12

Rutherford

Benedict (G’81)

(house, year left)

Gabriel

Samuel

8

Austin

Michael (C’85)

Halffter

Toby

9

St Bede’s

Nephew of Jaime (StB’77) & Fernando Zobel (StB’78)

Hamilton-Deeley

Harry

11

Rutherford

Gavin (R’72)

Jamison

Archie

9

Rutherford

Great nephew of Fr Christopher Jamison

Many congratulations to you both!

Jenkins

Callum

11

Farwell

Jonathan (G’81)

Pack

Frederick

9

Chapman

Nephew of Laurence (G’83) & Benedict (G’97) Kennedy

Pack

George

12

Chapman

Nephew of Laurence (G’83) & Benedict (G’97) Kennedy

Rowland

Michael

11

Chapman

Michael (C’67)

Stordy

Anna

13

St Mary’s

Jonathan (StB’81)

Worthians Children currently registered to join Worth

• Did you leave Worth between 2009 and 2015?

• Were you doing your DofE Gold Award and never quite got round to finishing?

It may not be too late...

If you want to find out if you could still receive your Award (and go to St James’s Palace to have it presented) please contact the School DofE Manager, Giles Watson, at gwatson@worth.org.uk

Pupil Surname

Christian Name

Proposed start date

Year group

Father’s/relatives name

Archer-Perkins

Georgina

2022

9

Richard (C’66)

Bailey

Genevieve

2016

7

Sebastian (R’93)

Bayles

Sebastian

2017

9

Simon (B’90)

Bruning

Annabelle

2016

9

Christian (StB’88)

Ceparano

Matthew

2018

12

Anthony (C’88)

Gracia

Beatrice

2016

9

Niece of Eamonn Store (C’86)

Johnstone

Dominic

2017

12

Rupert (R’85)

Le Gouellec de Schwarz

Amedee

2018

9

Nephew of James (G’93) & Simon (G’98) Albert

Le Gouellec de Schwarz

Maximillien

2019

7

Nephew of James (G’93) & Simon (G’98) Albert

Le Gouellec de Schwarz

Sophie

2016

9

Niece of James (G’93) & Simon (G’98) Albert

Little

Lochlan

2018

9

Roderick (G’90)

Little

Matilda

2016

9

Roderick (G’90)

Main

Calum

2016

9

Kevin (StB’76)

Owen

William

2017

9

Nephew of Alex (G’88) & Justin (G’91) Duckworth

Pavry

William

2016

9

Justin (StB’91)

Samuels

Raphael

2017

9

Dominic Quennell (C’74)

Simpson

Charles

2018

12

Nephew of Alistair (StB’95) & William (StB’96) Lockhart

(house, year left)

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Worthians—Year 13 University Destinations 2015 Name

Course

University

Name

Course

Georges Abousleiman

History

Kent

James Kemp*

Ancient History

King’s College London

Brennan Alleyne

Engineering

Hertfordshire

Benedict Konst

History and Philosophy

Queen’s Belfast

Alberto Alvarez Gonzalez

Computer Science and Mathematics

Spain

Leo Lau

Civil Engineering

University of Surrey

Gordon Li

Anthropology

Durham

Christopher Bailey*

Mechanical Engineering

Plymouth

Carlo Lucarelli

International Management

City University London

Chloe Barnes

Music

Oxford

Ben Maher

Economics

Warwick

Josephine Bateson

Music and Philosophy

Nottingham

Maddy Man

Psychology

Exeter

Frederick Bernstorff

Materials Engineering

Swansea

Monica Marsh

English and French

Nottingham

Freddie Boag-Jones

History

Southampton

Leonard Boodramsingh

English and Italian Law

Swansea

Angus Bonner*

Psychology

Bath

Samantha Bowler

Events Management

Leeds Beckett

Alexander Brammer

English Literature

Sarah Buller*

Pharmacology

Eduardo Caderni*

English Literature with Creative Writing

University of East Anglia

Nicolo Carlotti*

Mechanical Engineering

Sussex

Victoria Caruana

Interior Design

Regent’s College

Tomasz Cebrat

Liberal Arts Programme

University of Washington, USA

Edward Chadwick

Biology

Dominik Masojada*

Economics and Management Bristol

William Masters

Business Management

York

Jennifer McGregor*

Theatre Studies and English Literature

Glasgow

Exeter

Daniel Montagu

Psychology

Exeter

Bath

Patrick Murray*

Philosophical Studies

Newcastle

Kennard Ng

Computer Science

Newcastle

Christy O’Brien

Politics and Philosophy

Sheffield

Francis O’Donnell Bourke

English

Sheffield

Dilim Odinkalu

Law

Canterbury Christ Church

Cian O’Mara

Economics

Warwick

Otto Orssten

Mathematics

Reading

Henry Palmer*

Social Anthropology

London School of Economics

Zbigniew Peplinksi

Mechanical Engineering

Southampton

Gregoire Philipon

Business Management

Southampton

Toby Pullan

History and French

Exeter

Cormac Riddell

Philosophy

Manchester

Dentistry/Biomedical Sciences Plymouth Media and Cultural Studies

Keele

Jeffrey Chan

Pharmacy

Bath

Daniel Cheng*

Business Management and Chinese

University of Central Lancashire

Ruva Chipato

Architecture

Ryan Choi

Politics, Philosophy and Economics

University

Nottingham Warwick

Laura Chow

English Literature

Leeds

Alice Robinson

David Corr*

English Literature

Manchester

Nina Roussell

Luke Cummins

Exercise and Sports Science

University of South Wales

Rosanna Curtis

Geography

St Andrew’s

Benedict Davenport

Physics

Cameron Dent

Economics/History

Glasgow

Claire Dowle

Law with French

UCL

Benedict Eakin

Industrial Economics

Nottingham

Jasper Elwes*

Education with Social Science Keele

Samuel Elwes

Religious and Theological Studies

Patrick Ely*

American Studies and English Nottingham

Thomas Ferguson

Economics and Politics

Leeds

Oliver Fletcher*

Accounting and Finance

Oxford Brookes

Stephen Free

Biomedical Sciences

Kent

Amanda Fullalove

History of Art

Exeter

Matthew Gallacher*

Medicine

Queen Mary University of London

Emily Guest

Business Management

Suffolk

William Harries

Economics

Edinburgh

University of the Arts, London

Freddie Roux

Combined Studies

Oxford Brookes

Alexander Rumsey

Real Estate/ Property Management

Westminster

Fergus Ryan

Accounting and Management Oxford Brookes

Hertfordshire

Jim Salmon

Ancient History

Winchester

Lorenzo Sartori

Law

Kent

Michael Shi

Politics, Philosophy and Economics

London School of Economics

Sian Skiggs

Forensic Computing

Plymouth

Piers Spencer*

European Politics

King’s College London

Oluwatobiloba Talabi

Business Management

Kent

Kingsley Tang

Civil Engineering

Brighton

Patrick Tang

Economics

Nottingham

James Thompson

Geography

Liverpool

Edward Tighe

Business Management

Portsmouth

James Tomlin

Philosophy

Southampton

Frank Wang

Actuarial Science

Heriot-Watt

Peter Webb*

Theology and Religion

Durham

Mia Wilcox

Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Warwick

Cardiff

Elliot Hartley

Graphic Design

Norwich University of the Arts

Alexander Henderson

Psychology

Plymouth Federica Williamson

Management and Spanish

Nottingham

Thomas Hicks*

Integrated Wildlife Conservation

Bristol University of West England

Milhelm Wong

Law

Kent

Emily Hollings

English Literature

Exeter

See Yan Wong

Economics and Mathematics

Swansea

Aaron Jannoun*

Economics and Finance

Exeter

Patrick Young

Economics, Politics and International Relations

Oxford Brookes

Polina Zotova

History

York

Olivia Jeffery

Theatre

York

Emily Johnson

History of Art

UCL *denotes 2014 leaver

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Worth Society Life

Please note: these details were correct at time of going to press

Life and Times of Worthians

The Old Place

Wearing the Society Colours Worth Society Merchandise

www.worthsociety.org.uk

Ties @ £20.00 each Choice of: • 100% smooth silk with Worth cross and crown motif embroidered onto a navy background (pictured above) • 100% smooth silk, navy blue and gold striped tie • 100% reppe silk, navy blue and gold striped tie

Enamel Cufflinks Each pair comes in its own presentation box and is available in either a chain-link or T-bar fitting • Chain-link @ £35.00 per pair • T-bar @ £30.00 per pair

Sterling Silver Charm @ £30.00 Engraved with the Worth crown and cross motif, has a sterling silver lobster claw fitting for attachment.

Hallmarked on the reverse and comes in its own navy blue presentation box

Socks @ £10.00 100% cotton striped in Worthian colours, choice of: • Gentlemen’s, short (size 6-12) • Ladies’, long (size 3-7)

Visit the Merchandise section of the Worth Society website at www.worthsociety.org.uk and purchase items safely and securely using PayPal.

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