Fr Kevin Taggart announced his decision to stand down as Abbot of Worth Abbey on Saturday 4th May 2013, having discussed his position with the Abbot President during his official four-yearly Visitation of the Monastery.  Both are of the opinion that now is an appropriate time for Fr Kevin to step down in order to allow the Community to consider a younger person for the role of Abbot.   When he was elected Abbot in 2010,  Fr Kevin realised that it was improbable that he would complete the eight-year term of office because of his age .  The election of the new Abbot will take place in early August, and between the 2nd June and the time of the election the Prior, Fr Luke Jolly, will act as the Superior of the Abbey.  The Monastic Community will use the three months for prayerful reflection in preparation for the Abbatial election in August.

Professor Ewan Clayton (C’75) was presented with the hugely prestigious Crafts Skills Champion Award by HRH The Prince of Wales at the inaugural Craft Skills Awards on Thursday 2nd May 2013.  Ewan’s name was put forward by the three advisory groups for the Awards – the Heritage Crafts Association, the Crafts Council and the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community – and the judges agreed unanimously he should receive this Award.

We have been informed that Julian Dare, who taught Classics at Worth between 1965 and 1980, tragically died on the 4th April 2013 while away in Guyana.   He had a heart attack while swimming.  Julian’s burial was held in Guyana and we will notify Worthians who would have been taught by him, of any Memorial Service that might be arranged in the UK.

• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Mike Margrett
• Keith Owers
• Olivia Henley
• Ben Babington (G’96)
• Nick Barnett (G’73) 
• Tim Belson (R’69)   
• John Bennett (R’81)
• James Blake (B’77)
• Mark Breen (StB’76)
• Howard Brookman (G’93)
• Sean Buckley (G’83)
• Nicholas Butterworth (G’76)
• Paul Cattermull (StB’73)
• Andrew Clutterbuck (G’81)
• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Charles Crowe (C’75)
• Luan de Burgh (StB’84)
• Sean Donnellan (StB’86)
• Ben Drummond (R’83)
• Hugh Easterbrook (R’76)
• James Folger (B’10)
• Peter Gottelier (R’70)
• Tony Green (C’69)
• Giles Hamilton (B’82)
• Liam Hammond (C’72)
• David Harries (G’80)
• Nick Hiley (B’79)
• Jonathan Hope (C’83)
• Martin Hunt (StB’81)
• Ed Keelaghan (R’98)
• Dominic Latham-Koenig (B’83)
• Robert Lindsell (C’77)
• Mickey Morrissey (R’77)
• Justin Mould (StB’81)
• Alistair Myles (G’99)
• Dominic Neville (R’74)
• Nicholas Norton (R’72)
• Tim Pethybridge (StB’70)  
• Greg Pickard (StB’81)
• Tim Ross (R’86)
• Chris Rybak (B’85) 
• Jonathan Sara (StB’94)
• Mark Simpson (StB’76)
• Darran Smith (B’96)
• John Smythe (R’70)
• Julian Stevens (B’96)
• Dominic Strickland (C’81)
• Henry Thornton (B’81)
• David van der Lande (StB’81)
• Dominic Warren (StB’78)
• John Weguelin (C’70)
• David White (C’83)
• Tom Willett (G’85)   
• Michael Worrall (R’71)

Sadly we had to take the decision to cancel the 2013 Worthians Football Tournament this year – because of the inclement weather and water-logged pitches at School.  The match was scheduled to take place on Sunday 24th March and we had two very strong U21s and O21s teams all ready to take on the School 1st and School Staff teams.  They will now have to wait until 2014!

Happily, our second Worthians Squash Match of the 2012/13 season continued unabated on that same Sunday, the 24th March!  We welcomed Howard Brookman (G’93), Desmond Calnan (R’69), Jamie Griffith (B’72), Tom Lewis (G’05), George Ross (G’95) and Richard Stephens (C’02)  for a very competitive afternoon of matches.  The experience of Des Calnan shone through once again (as it did last year) as he resoundingly beat all-comers – although Jamie Griffith (another veteran!) came a very close second overall.  We were also delighted to welcome Tom Carew Hunt (StB’02) and Will Kenney (B’95) who, although unable to participate  because of injury, came along to support everyone.

After 2½ years hard graft, Dan Hughes (R’98) officially launched his campaign to get the first ‘Red Nose’ on top of Mount Everest w/c 18th March, and will start his Everest climb on the 30th March – in his quest to raise £1,000,000 for Comic Relief.  His aim is to get 1 million people to donate £1 towards his Everest Million campaign.  Can you help him go the whole way and reach his £1 million target?  If so, then please text: Nose70 £1 to 70070.  To find out more about Dan’s campaign – supported by the BBC, HTC, Nike, Gatorade, Specialized, Inmarsat, RAB, Coldplay and Stephen Fry –do visit his website at: www.everestmillion.com where you can also view the campaign video.

The Worth Society City Lunch continues to go from strength to strength and - in spite of our usual younger Worthians RFC group hitting the ski slopes that same week! - we still welcomed 55 Worthians and guests to Vivat Bacchus London Bridge on Thursday 7th March 2013.  It was, as ever, a great afternoon and an e-mail received the next day from Giles Hamilton (B’82) probably best summarises the atmosphere that prevailed during the afternoon; “What a terrific lunch! I didn’t stop laughing all day and got home at 11 last night”.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Paul Cattermull (StB’73) and Tom Carew Hunt (StB’02) represented Worth School in the 2013 Henry Leaf Cup - the School Alumni tournament for Real Tennis – winning the handicap division.  You can read more about their victory and find out how to get involved in playing Real Tennis by clicking here to visit the Worthians Real Tennis page.  

Tim Carr (R’63) sadly passed away on Friday 8th February 2013 at the Royal Marsden Sutton after fighting a courageous battle against cancer.  His funeral will be held on Friday 1st March 2013 at Worth Crematorium starting at 2.15 pm.  Worthians are most welcome to attend and are also invited to join Fiona (Tim’s wife) and Tudor (Tim’s son) at The Bell Inn, Outwood Lane, Bletchingley, Redhill, Surrey RH1 5PN : http://belloutwood.co.uk/ after the Service.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Tim’s family at this very sad time.

The Downside Fisher Annual Boxing Dinner is the major annual fund raising event for the Downside Fisher Youth Cub.  It is a black tie event and is taking place on Wednesday 17th April 2012, starting at 6.30pm at the Troxy – a 1930s art deco former cinema close to Limehouse DLR.  The evening is a display of amateur boxing at its very best and is an excellent way of supporting a vibrant youth club that supports young people in a deprived part of south London.  Attendees will be met with a welcome drink, followed by a 3-course meal and wine.  There will be 10 bouts of 3 rounds of boxing - involving both junior and senior boxers - and a performance by members of the Youth Club.  A charity auction will be held mid-way through the Boxing competition.  Lloyd Honeyghan, one of the club’s former world champions has again kindly agreed to attend as a guest of honour and will also present the prizes to the boxers.  You can book a ticket, or organise a table for the evening by clicking here http://www.downside-fisher.org/activities/fisher-boxing/boxing-dinner/.

Benedict Bridge (StB’07) tragically died on Friday 1st February 2013.  His funeral is to take place on Wednesday 13th February 2013 at St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church, Station Rd, Mayfield, East Sussex TN20 6BU at 12.00 noon.  His parents would very much like Worthians who were friends of Benedict to attend.   Joseph Busuttil (B’06) is helping his sister put together a memory book for Benedict’s family dating back to his time at Vinehall.  If anyone would like to share any comments, memories or pictures they will be gratefully received.  Please do e-mail them to Joseph @ : jbuz289@gmail.com and he will pass them on to his sister.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Benedict’s family at this very sad time.

Fra’ Andrew Bertie

Zany, Eccentric and With No Aura of Holiness – But Beatification Cause to Open

Fra’ Andrew Bertie Remembered for Service

By Edward Pentin

ROME, January 24, 2013 (Zenit.org) – “The only worthwhile striving is after the highest ideals: If you aim for an easy target, your standard will inevitably decline, and no progress is ever made, except through real effort and real suffering.”

These are words attributed to Fra’ Andrew Bertie, the 78th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, whose cause for beatification is expected to open next month, according to informed sources.

Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II whose family has had royal ties for centuries, was the first Englishman to be elected to the post of Grand Master in the Order’s 900 year history. He served in the Rome-based position from 1988 until his death in February 2008 at the age of 78.

But for all the lofty titles and blue blood, those who knew Fra’ Andrew remember him as a down-to-earth yet eccentric personality, a true gentleman with impeccable manners, and greatly loved by former pupils at Worth Abbey School in Sussex, England, where he taught for 23 years.

“He was an extremely vivid person and one of the teachers whom the pupils all remember,” said Father Stephen Ortiger, a colleague and friend at Worth, a Benedictine school. The priest said he felt Fra’ Andrew would be “convulsed with laughter” if he heard his cause for beatification was to be opened. 

He didn’t have an aura of holiness, Father Ortiger said, “not because he wasn’t holy but because he would rather die than exude an aura of holiness — he would do everything by stealth and wouldn’t wear his heart or his goodness on his sleeve.” 

“If he saw a balloon was coming,” he said, “he would prick it.”

Alumni of Worth recall how, on his way to breakfast each morning, Fra’ Andrew would give the fullest possible voice to the Moslem call to prayer — Allah u Akbar. “No other Roman Catholic school in England, indeed anywhere, could boast this distinctive feature and it stayed in the memory of many,” said Father Ortiger. “He was deliberately zany and deliberately eccentric.”

Highly knowledgeable, Fra’ Andrew was employed to teach French and Spanish at Worth but would also happily teach a variety of other languages — Russian, Tibetan and Sanskrit — to anyone who asked him. He was also greatly interested in Eastern religions, particularly Buddhism, though was never a relativist wavering from the true faith. A judo black belt, he also learned the sport of fencing.

“I learned from him that the accumulation of knowledge was a lifelong obligation to oneself,” said Father Ortiger, a trained aircraft pilot and former headmaster and abbot of Worth School and Abbey. “He was an inspiration to me and, I am sure, to the thousands who followed me at Worth. His knowledge of the world and mastery of so many languages was like opening an encyclopaedia when you spoke to him.”

He was also ascetic, apparently wearing just two suits, and driving a rusty old Fiat during his summer holidays in Malta. He also liked the odd whisky or two (he could drink to be the last man standing, according to one acquaintance) and smoked Gauloises cigarettes. 

Friends say he showed signs of heroic virtue, the primary requirements for sainthood, and had no shortage of fortitude, stability, humility and a profound sense of service. He also always had an eye for the underdog. “He was one of the most generous people I knew, an absolute gentlemen who would go to great trouble for people,” said Father Ortiger. “He liked to offer hospitality.”

Others who knew him remember Fra’ Bertie (pronounced Barty) as a very humble and very focused individual with a deep devotion to Our Lady. He took care of the sick very seriously, and would love to visit Lourdes. Soon after arriving at Worth in 1960, Fra’ Andrew began to promote Lourdes pilgrimages and pioneered visits from Worth and Downside, incorporating them into the Order of Malta Volunteers — a group aimed at encouraging a sense of service in the young. 

Friends say Fra’ Andrew was never happiest than when at the service of young people, and many remember him for those Lourdes pilgrimages. “To be doing something useful for them was very important,” said Father Ortiger, “to get them to think outside the box and to think in terms of Lourdes, about helping other people.” 

It was his concern for the sick that prompted him to join the Knights of Malta in 1956 and then, in 1981, to become a professed Knight — to live under solemn vows. The Order’s work for the poor and the sick is extensive, providing hospitals, hospices and medical services in some 120 countries. But more than merely setting up facilities, Fra’ Andrew rolled up his sleeves and would regularly tend to the sick himself. As Grand Master, he would frequently visit San Giovanni Battista Hospital at La Magliana on the outskirts of Rome. 

In an address to Pope Benedict XVI who visited there in 2007, Fra’ Andrew recalled how the first hospitallers chose to dedicate their lives to those they called “our lords the sick.” Remaining faithful to this choice, he said, “we, too, consider the sick the most important aspect of our mission.”

Born in London in 1929, Fra’ Andrew Bertie was the son of the Earl of Abingdon, a direct descendent of the Stuart line of monarchs. He was educated at Ampleforth College, a private Benedictine school in northern England, and graduated in Modern History from Christ Church, Oxford before moving on to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. From 1948 to 1950 he carried out military service in the Scots Guards, becoming a commissioned officer in 1949. 

After taking Solemn Vows in the Order of Malta in 1981, he was elected to the Sovereign Council, the Order’s ruling body, in 1983. Forced to choose between Worth and Rome, he felt he must go where his vows beckoned, and five years later he was elected Grand Master. He was perhaps “quite miffed” at being sent to Rome, Father Ortiger said, but he would never say it, accepting the change out of a sense of duty and obedience. 

The Order of Malta grew exponentially during his time as head of the Order, where fellow members say he left a legacy of “selfless humility and service.” 

“As Grand Master, he combined intelligence with dignity and authority, presiding over the Order at this very difficult time in the history of Europe and its increasing secularisation,” Prince Rupert Zu Loewenstein, president of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, told mourners at Fra’ Andrew’s funeral. “In our area of influence he worked hard to increase the relevance of our ancient religious Order.”

Regarded by those who knew him as someone in the world but not of the world, who always continued to strive after the highest ideals, many see the opening of his cause for beatification as a logical step — even if he himself would be both amused and surprised. 

by Peter Dewey (R’77)

All of us here will have our own particular memories of Glenn and I am sure that there has been, and will be, much reminiscing done today.  However, whether we be family, friend, team-mate, colleague, pupil or other; we have all shared and enjoyed his love of laughter, people and life, and I hope that some of what I have to say will strike a chord with you.

Glenn was born in 1944 to Tom and Connie and his early life was that of the proverbial child in a sweetshop – this may have had something to do with the fact that his Dad owned two sweetshops!

Glenn attended Northampton Grammar School where he was better known for his sporting prowess than his academic achievement – and looking around today, that trait alone may well have made Glenn the ideal choice for Worth in the 1970s. Initially he was more athlete than player – as his reaching the final of the English Senior Schools Triple Jump bears witness.  However, Glenn was selected for an England Schools final trial and from this time it was full steam ahead with his rugby.

Next stop was St Luke’s College Exeter and during his holidays he was back trying to force his way into a very strong Northampton club side.  Glenn’s forte was attack – as his 91 tries in 109 games proves.  He was never the most courageous of defenders and playing against the more physical sides often proved a painful experience. 

One such incident occurred at Gloucester.  The home side had a limited game plan – high kick followed by a determined chase. On this particular occasion, Glenn was underneath and took a clean catch.  He was immediately apprehended by three ‘cherry and whites’; each held him with one arm while grabbing something soft and strategic with the other.  Glenn hastily released the ball and his assailants ran off and up the pitch to score.  The winger walked slowly back to face the kick where he was ‘greeted’ by his irate skipper who asked why the ball had been given up so easily.  Glenn’s response being – if they really wanted it that much who was he to stand in their way?

However, it was also said of Glenn in those days that if his opposite number scored two tries he would score three.  Such attacking élan brought recognition in the form of selection for the East Midlands against the Springboks; but in spite of reaching final trials a cap never came.

But children were coming and the opportunity offered at Worth ended Glenn’s days as a saint.

Glenn was appointed to Worth in September 1970 as a teacher of Geography and PE – with the added remit of improving the standard of the School’s rugby football. He went to work on the latter immediately and his coaching magic had an instant impact as, in his first season, the 1^st XV went down by a mere 80 points to St Benedict’s.  That would never happen again, as Glenn removed them from the fixture list forthwith!

Having endured his self-styled ‘black day’ for Worth Rugby at the hands of St Benedict’s, things soon began to improve as Glenn’s know-how and passion saw Worth teams start to win (it must also be noted that Glenn would be the first to acknowledge the support of many of his colleagues in this positive progress).  He developed Rugby 7s in the School and, while never quite winning the big one at Rosslyn Park, many smaller pots were brought home.  A further initiative was involvement with representative rugby, and many Worth boys went on to play for Sussex under Glenn’s tutelage with a few going even further – Nick Walshe (B’92) being the first senior international and his son, Peter (B’93), a B Cap for Scotland.

While rugby was his main focus, Worth also produced many fine athletes under Glenn – fellow triple-jumper Larry Achike (R’93) and middle-distance runner Tim Hutchings (StB’77) both represented Great Britain at Olympic Games and of course, both played for the 1^st XV!

At the same time as all this was going on Glenn was developing a wider coaching career – first at Rosslyn Park (where he hooked up with his old St Luke’s mate Phil Keith-Roach) and then with London Division.  The Park reached two John Player finals and London had a famous victory over Australia at Twickenham.  

 Thereafter it was back to age-group rugby – first coaching England Colts, then as Assistant Manager of an England Schools tour ‘down-under’ and latterly a stint as a very well respected England Schools Chairman of Selectors.  It would also be remiss of me not to mention Glenn’s role as President of the Worthians RFC – a position of which he was rightly proud.  He was influential in supporting the founding of the Club – always giving Desmond Calnan (R’69) 100% support in all his endeavours with Worthians RFC and, most importantly, the President and First Lady always hosted a party after the annual Worthians match held at the School in September.

But even then he was still doing his bit here, at Worth.  I remember one of Glenn’s last Worth teams – an Under 16 side that had never won a game – and he was as determined to see that team win as any that he’d been involved with at all levels.

So, full-time player, top geographer and coach – how was all this possible? Simple – Annette. 

While Glenn was fully consumed with Worth and his other coaching, Annette was concentrating on bringing up Elizabeth, Gay, James and Peter.  The job she made of that remains a huge credit to her.  However, to me and I am sure many of you – and as the photo on the cover of the order of service underlines – Glenn and Annette came as a pair.  To generations of Worth boys – while Glenn provided inspiration; it was Annette who provided genuine care and consideration as well as some fantastic cooking.  When Glenn was appointed to a House; Annette was a key element in Glenn’s success and they made a fantastic team in three separate Houses. 

Glenn was on the staff at Worth for 36 years and when their life at the School ended, Glenn and Annette retired to Norfolk and a life of sand (Norfolk’s golf courses are notorious for their bunkers!) sea and grandchildren – George, Jack, Frank, Billie, Fraser, Alfred, Logan and Ben.  As Glenn liked to say: eight in total – seven boys and just the one granddaughter; but even she is called Billie!

After a difficult time in the first half of 2012, the recent arrival of Logan and Ben seemed to bring the promise of good times ahead.  If only …

During his 36 years at Worth, many boys in a variety of ways benefited from Glenn’s genuine desire to see young blokes achieve their potential.  He was not perfect – nor would he ever have claimed to be – but in many ways that made his interest and advice all the more effective; he was one of us.  And so it is the influence that he had on so many that makes up the final part of this address.

Much is made of winning but, for most of us whether it be in life or sport, there are at least as many losses as victories.  Glenn understood that and all of us who came under his tutelage were made aware of the importance of knowing how to win and how to lose.  Enjoyment was key – but so too was demeanour and the spirit of sportsmanship and particularly of rugby football.
Earlier I mentioned Tim Hutchings as a Worth Olympian.  Tim cannot be here today, but he sent an e-mail with his observations of Glenn’s influence on him:

 “He was a great man and a great coach to generations of Worth boys.  Bearing in mind its relative size, Worth became a respected rugby School, largely due to Glenn’s knowledge and gifted way of imparting it.  His know-how enabled him to coach us into cohesive units and we became so much more than the sum of our individual skills.  Some of my very best sporting memories are of working with the Worth 1^st XV under Glenn’s watchful eye – they were exceptional days and largely due to him.”
I am sure that Tim’s words ring true for many of you here and so it is that Hugh Easterbrook (R’76) – one of Glenn’s most talented protégés – and a few other Worthians have, with the Head Master’s kind agreement, decided that Glenn’s name and spirit should not be lost to Worth School or its pupils.  Thus a fund has been established, whose aim is to provide two school prizes that will be awarded annually.

The first will be : The Glenn Robertson Prize for Sporting Promise which will be awarded to a pupil in the lower school.

The second will be : The Glenn Robertson ‘Spirit of Rugby’ Award which will be awarded to the 1^st XV player who has displayed skill and ability but has also maintained all the best virtues of the game.

The future of these prizes is already assured as Hugh has already set up the fund and has £4,700 pledged at present.  The hope is that, as well as the prizes, it might be possible to raise sufficient funds to provide a lasting memorial in the shape of some investment in the sporting infrastructure of Worth School.  

A fantastic idea – and I hope you agree – a fitting tribute to a great man.

For anyone wishing to contribute to the fund, details can be found on the Worth Society website at : http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/glenn-robertson-funds/.

As I said at the start, whether we knew him as Glenn, Dad, Grandpa, Glenda, Robbo, GTR, Mr Robertson or Sir – we have all shared laughter with Glenn and I hope that you too can picture the grin that would have greeted his realisation that the family had chosen for this service a reading that involved water being turned into wine.

“Many people walk in and out of your life, but only true friends leave footprints in your heart”.

Fra’ Andrew Bertie’s cause for beatification is expected to open next month.  Fra’ Andrew was a well loved member of staff who served at Worth for 23 years.  He was the first Englishman to be elected to the post of Grand Master in the Order’s 900 year history when he became 78th Grand Master of the Order of Malta – serving in this Rome-based position from 1988 until his death in February 2008 at the age of 78.   In an article titled “Zany, Eccentric and With No Aura of Holiness” written by Edward Pentin, he is remembered as a down-to-earth yet eccentric personality, a true gentleman with impeccable manners.  You can read the whole article by clicking here.

A charitable fund named the ‘Spirit of Rugby and Sports Prizes Fund’ has been established in fond memory of Glenn Robertson, to which Worthians are welcome to donate.  The fund has been named the ‘Spirit of Rugby and Sports Prizes Fund’.  Any donations will be very welcome – click here for further details. 

Around 400 people braved the snow and ice to make the  journey to Worth Abbey on Sunday 20th January 2013 for the Memorial Service of Glenn Robertson who died suddenly on Monday 8th October 2012 while playing golf.  He will be remembered by many in his various roles at Worth School between 1970-2005 – particularly as House Master, Rugby Coach and subsequently as Worthians RFC President.  Click here to read Peter Dewey’s Eulogy. 

Worthian Arthur Russell (C’12) has been awarded a music scholarship for singing and horn.  Arthur is in his first year at Heriot Watt studying Engineering.  Director of Music at Worth School, Michael Oakley is “absolutely delighted” with this great achievement by his former pupil.  Arthur is following in a long line of Worth students who have been awarded scholarships with recent successes including Niamh Fogarty (StM’11) who is  a Choral Scholar at University College Dublin, Ben Oakley (F’08) who is a Choral Scholar at King’s College,  Cambridge and Tom Wood (B’07) who has just graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford.  But, as Mr Oakley points out, this is the first at Heriot Watt.

Worth Abbey welcomed around 200 people to the funeral of Paul Kozary (R’84) on Saturday 12th January 2013 over which Fr Bede Hill presided.

For the third year we welcomed our Worthian Girls back for their  annual dinner on Friday 11th January 2013 which took place in the Cowdray Room at Worth.  15 St Mary’s and St Anne’s Leavers were joined by Fr Stephen, Caroline Brown, Julia Cook, Sarah Smith and Louise Taylor for an evening of fine food, fun and frivolity (and a few glasses of wine!).

Around 45 Worthians attended the 2002-2012 Leavers’ Networking Evening on Thursday 10th January 2013 at the Samuel Pepys Bar and Restaurant in London EC4V 3PT.  The event was aimed at Worthians seeking guidance on their future career decisions and any who might be thinking of changing career paths.  We linked them to some of our Worthian ’movers and shakers’ in the City and business and gave them the opportunity to mingle with one another in an informal setting over a few drinks.

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Paul Kozary (R’84) died on Thursday 3rd January 2013, at the age of 46, after a battle with cancer.  His funeral will be held at 2.00pm on Saturday 12th January 2013 at Worth Abbey.  Fr Bede Hill will be celebrating the Service and Worthians are welcome to attend.  Paul will be sorely missed by his family and friends and remembered by the many Worthians involved in Worthians RFC.  He was a true supporter of the Club and a very kind man who was always keen to help the younger players, both on the pitch and in their careers.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Paul’s family at this very sad time.

On Friday 7th December, Worth School was privileged to welcome the return of esteemed actor and Worthian, Robert Bathurst (R’75).  The Performing Arts Centre was filled to capacity with students, teachers and members of the monastic community to listen to Robert’s lecture on his ‘Life as an Actor’.  He spoke of some of the home truths about acting and his personal journey from reading Law at Cambridge to finding his true calling as an actor.  As well as exposing his audience to the reality of acting, Robert spoke about other careers that surround the profession, highlighting that being an actor is not the only piece of the performance industry puzzle.  He called on members of the school to help him demonstrate the important role that the audience plays during a theatrical performance.  In a brief hour, Robert managed to epitomise the life of an actor as well as recalling his own experiences of performing as a student in the Assembly room – known today as the Whitehead Room – where he believes his acting journey began.

We were delighted to welcome Matthew Doggett (F’07), Harry Fisher (B’81), James Griffith (B’72), Joshua Hardwick (C’08) and Tom Lewis (G’05) to our first Worthians Squash fixture for the 12/13 academic year, which took place on Saturday 1st December 2012.  The afternoon kicked off at 12.00 noon with a buffet lunch in the Cowdray Room, followed by matches  against the School team from 1.00pm.  Joshua summed up the afternoon saying, ” Thanks for a great weekend. Was lovely being back, even for such a brief time – hopefully see you again in March.”  (Interested in playing at our next fixture on Sunday 24th March 2013?  Then please do contact Olivia Henley at : worthsociety@worth.org.uk).

The following 21 Worthians and 5 guests attended the 1982 Leavers’ 30-Year Reunion :

• Keith Owers 

• Neville and Helen Blewitt  
• Matthew Brown                                           
• Dan Crampton                                             
• John Dean                                                   
• Tom Ellis                                                       
• John Ford                                                     
• Giles Hamilton                                             
• Crispin and Anne Hayhoe                        
• Jo Hurley                                                      
• Ciaran Joyce                                                           
• George Katzaros                                         
• Neil Laughton                                             
• Anthony Lavelle
• Guy Lemieux                                                           
• Nicholas and Erica Moore                         
• Oliver Morris                                                 
• Peter O’Hea                                                 
• Jamie O’Meara                                            
• Donal Quigley                                             
• John and Rowena Shepherd                   
• Dominic Walker       

The following 17 Worthians plus guests attended the 1992 Leavers’ 20-Year Reunion : 

• Fr Luke Jolly
• Jeremy Dowling

• Jonny Boux 
• Rob Carter    
• Philip Coulter          
• Joe Delaney
• Rick Hook                                                     
• Simon Frearson                  
• Mark Hurley 
• Justin Kelly  
• Paddy Lynch                       
• Ben MacGregor                   
• Bill McNamee          
• Fin O’Sullivan         
• Edwhite Pe  
• Adrian Shawcross  
• Greg Swarbrick        
• James Theis                        
• Wilfrid Vernor-Miles

The following 32 Worthians plus guests attended the 2002 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion : 

• Fr Thomas
• Guy Teasdale

• Max Barnett
• Otto Blom
• Thomas Carew Hunt
• Michael Clancy
• Ronan Cloud
• James Coldwell
• James Condie
• Christopher Coopman
• Richard Dempsey
• Jasper Doyne-Ditmas
• Adam Fudakowski
• Matthew Hunt
• Simon Jalie
• Christopher Kellaway
• Benjamin Leslie
• Alexander Looseley
• James Madsen
• Matthew Maguire
• Dave Mase
• Maxwell McAlister
• Benedict Newman
• Daniel O’Connell
• Dominic Rumsey
• Alex Simpson
• Jonny Smyth
• Giles Turton
• Alex Tyrwhitt
• Charlie Vaughan-Fowler
• James Wallace
• Angus Wardle
• Harry Wyburd
• Alex Young

2012 Events

2012 : 20-Year Reunion for the Class 1987-92

Paddy Lynch (C’92) and Bill McNamee (StB’92) did a sterling job in rallying their peers for the 20-Year Reunion of the ‘Class of 1987-92′.  This took place on Saturday 27th October 2012 in the Upstairs Room of The Antelope Pub, 22 Eaton Terrace, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8EZ.  Fr Luke and Jeremy Dowling joined 17 of the Class for the afternoon, which started at 2.00pm and carried on late into the night!  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Neil Laughton (C’82), Matthew Brown (C’82), Giles Hamilton (B’82), Jamie O’Meara (R’82) and Crispin Hayhoe (StB’92) were the valiant organisers of the 30-Year Reunion for the ‘Class of 1977-82′.  21 of them met up for drinks and canapes at Quo Vadis, 26-29 Dean Street, London W1 on Thursday 20th September 2012.  They were joined by Keith Owers and some brought their wives along to join in on the fun.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Chris Kellaway (B’02) was the sole organiser of his year group’s 10-Year Reunion gathering for the ‘Class of 1997-2002′ and what a fantastic job he did!   Over 30 of them met up for lunch at Belgo’s, 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2 on Saturday 15th September 2012.  They were joined by Guy Teasdale and Fr Thomas from Worth and had a great afternoon together.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Described affectionately by the non-cycling fraternity as MAMILS (middle-aged men in lycra!),  Jamie Dunster (B’85), Fraser Moore (G’95), Gordon Moore (G’85), Michael Gabriel (C’85), Johnny Greig (G’85), Charles McHugo (G’85) and Sean Taylor (C’85) mounted their sturdy road bikes early on a sunny September morning in Barnes, to embark on a 245-mile London to Paris bike ride over three days to raise money for St Marks Hospital in Harrow – the world’s first specialist bowel disease hospital.  Riding as part of a team of 33 and representing Momentum, a charitable organisation set up in 2011 by Gordon Moore to raise awareness of colon cancer and to raise much needed funds for research projects into its treatment.  To date a staggering £250,000 has been raised. 

Successfully completing the ride - and keen to continue raising funds for this worthwhile cause – Gordon, Fraser, Michael, Jaime, Charles and Jonathan Sharpe (B’85) are cycling another challenging route in Provence at the end of September 2012 – including scaling Mt Ventoux; the infamous mountain climb of previous Tour de France races. 

To everybody who has supported Momentum so far, and to those who would like to make a donation, do visit : www.bmycharity.com/momentum. 

Rupert Dewey (F’02)

“The two things that really stood out for me from my London Marathon experience were the support from the armies of people that lined the course and the incredible generosity of those who donated to my charity.  Events like this really do bring out the best in people!  When I set out to raise over £2,000 for HopeHIV, the fundraising seemed a more intimidating task than the actual running.  But friends, family and colleagues – including Worth Society – were so generous and I am very grateful for that.  HopeHIV is a fantastic charitable organisation that helps some 50,000 vulnerable children and young people through around 40 partner organisations in 400 communities located in sub-Saharan Africa.  For me, that’s the definition of money really well spent.  My sincere thanks to everyone!”

Christian Zaleski (StB’05) and Tom McConnell (F’05)

In August 2011 Christian, Tom and two friends undertook the biggest physical challenge of their lives to date.  On their bikes they battled the English weather, near crashes (with a coach), falls, injuries, France, Switzerland, Italy and huge mountain peaks to raise funds for the Geoff Thomas Foundation.  Commenting on his experience Christian said; “This was a genuinely exhilarating trip with massive emotional highs and very few emotional lows.  We raised over £7,000 for the Geoff Thomas Foundation – a charity that has now merged with Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.  I wholeheartedly encourage you to research Geoff Thomas – a truly inspirational individual.  I’d also encourage everyone to ride the wave of British Cycling’s recent successes and – get on your bikes!”

Chris Napleton (C’11)

“It’s difficult to summarise a trip that was full of so many peaks and troughs in just a few words.  However, there is absolutely no doubt that our 23-day, 2,300 mile Paris to Istanbul Cycle Challenge really was a challenge in every sense of the word.  There was physical hardship and psychological anguish at almost every turn.  The first day was enough to make any sensible person say; “This is too much” and just turn around and go home.  The low moments – mechanical failures, passport issues, financial problems and incorrect documents – threw the moments of magnificence into even greater relief.  We conquered Alpe d’huez, crossed the flats of Northern Italy, cycled along the Dalmatian coast and finally made it to the meeting point of Asia and Europe and one of the busiest cities in the world – Istanbul.  We completed the trip in aid of The British Red Cross, a charity supported by many of my family members and one that I hold to be a really worthwhile cause.  We accepted donations at home and ‘on the road’ while proudly wearing the charity’s symbol on every day of our trip – to the far side of Europe and back again. To date we have raised just over £400, and I will continue to support The British Red Cross in my future fundraising endeavours.  Surely another challenge awaits in the wings!”

We were delighted to welcome back to Worth School on Friday 23rd November, Worthian Dr Austen Ivereigh (G’84), who gave a presentation to pupils entitled ‘Catholic Voices’.  He joined pupils, staff and members of the Monastery for supper after the presentation.

Worth School and Worth Abbey are seeking to appoint a dynamic individual to the position of Director of Finance and Operations.  This new role is reflective of the school’s growth and transformation into a thriving co-educational school of 600 pupils and it also reflects the continued close working relationship between the School and the Abbey.  Should you know of anyone who may be interested in this position, we would be grateful if you would bring this exciting opportunity to their attention.  Further details concerning the job specification and the appointment process are available from Liz Amos Associates, the appointed search consultant for Worth School.  Please contact Mary Deegan on : Mary.Deegan@lizamosassociates.com or telephone her on : +44 20 7884 9201. More information is available at www.lizamosassociates.com.  The closing date for applications is close of business Monday 10th December.

Tom Hammond-Davies (C’03) is conducting The Blenheim Singers & International Baroque Players in Handel’s Messiah in the opulent surroundings of The Orangery at Blenheim Palace on Sunday 2nd December 2012.  The performance starts at 6pm and is in aid of Cancer Research UK.  Tickets, which are priced at £40 and include mulled wine and mince pies, are available from the Box Office at: www.musicatoxford.com/Concerts/Events1213/BlenheimSingers.html. Do visit the website for further information : www.blenheimsingers.com.

Robert Bathurst (R’75), who many of you will have seen starring in recent television dramas including Downton Abbey, Wild at Heart and The Pillars of the Earth – has informed us that he is touring in Blue/Orange which is playing at the Richmond Theatre, The Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1QJ this week and over the weekend.  Discounted tickets are available – students @ £5.00; others @ £11.00 – at the links below, should anyone be in London and wishes to go and see the show.  Tess Ryan (StM’11) e-mailed us to say “I was lucky enough to see Blue/Orange in York a few weeks ago and Robert Bathurst was absolutely fantastic - I’d recommend it to all!” : 

• Student Discount Offer  To book the £5 student offer, you will need to enter the promo code : STUDY5 and show student ID when you collect the tickets from the Box Office. You can book on www.atgtickets.com/shows/richmond-theatre/ or over the phone at the Richmond Theatre on: 0844 871 7651.
• £11.00 Discount Offer   To book the £11.00 tickets, visit this link: http://store.ambassadortickets.com/gateway.aspx?E=N&QL=S8670|W3280|VRIC|GShowDatesCombo.aspx. 

Robert Bathurst (R’75) has told us about a radio series being broadcast on Sunday evenings that is written by Arthur Matthews (who wrote Father Ted) and is set in the BBC in the 1930s.  It’s a ‘good fun’ sitcom worth listening to called “The Golden Age” and last Sunday’s episode is available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nt07r.

The Memorial Service for Glenn Robertson is taking place at 2.00pm on Sunday 20th January 2013 at Worth Abbey Church.  Worthians are most welcome to attend.

The last twelve months have shown that, despite severe economic hardship for many and real uncertainty about the future, our nation responds so enthusiastically to the opportunity to organise and celebrate great events. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was a hugely uniting occasion and it is typical of Worth that the event was not only celebrated, but that great thought ensured it was as inclusive as possible. The School’s Jubilee Jamboree, organised by the Friends of Worth, included a reunion for those who were in the Prep School when the Queen acceded to the throne, drawing 25 former Prep School pupils back (some for the first time in 60 years!) to one of the most memorable of reunions. The Olympics provided a further opportunity for people to demonstrate a real feeling of national pride and the story behind the cover of this issue of The Blue Paper, by Julian McCarthy (StB’79), highlights the massive planning and detailed thought that went into the organisation of every aspect of the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

It has also been another year in which Worthians have featured in, or been behind, worldwide events as Olivia highlights in her following message.  From risking their lives to defend peace, reporting under siege on oppressed people, raising significant money for various causes through to mutual support for fellow Worthians and helping current students by attending careers events or arranging work placements – 2011/12 has shown how much so many Worthians do to help others and that’s just what we hear about as many do a lot below the radar. That is the enduring benefit of what we learnt and were inspired to do by the monks and members of staff during our respective times at Worth.

It is a hugely rewarding experience for all of us on the Worth Society Committee to help channel that interest in supporting others to those who need help.  I thank everyone who has supported our endeavours to connect Worthians, and to those who have contributed to this issue of our annual magazine which illustrates the diversity of Worthians’ lives.  I am also indebted to the ‘hard to rein back’ enthusiasm and commitment of Fr Kevin and Fr Luke, the Head Master, Dr Duncan Pring and Andrew Taylor (who we were delighted to welcome to the Committee after twelve years of highly respected House Master-ship), the respective Heads of the sporting groups along with my fellow Worthian members of the Committee – who have again committed energy, great thought and time to the continuing development of Worth Society.  Above all, I thank Olivia whose extraordinary dedication, thoughtfulness, sheer hard work and good humour as our Society Manager has been at the heart of our most active year to date.

That activity has included the introduction of the new website, an e-newsletter conveying news of events organised by Worthians, (which was viewed by considerably more recipients than the industry norm!), further development of our business networking through the Worthians Group on Linkedin (now numbering 650 members) as well as the now regular annual decade reunions, City lunches, recent leavers networking evenings and girls reunions, through to widening our sartorial collection to include a Jubilee hallmarked, sterling silver ‘crown and cross’ charm for our lady members.

Members will be pleased to hear that, following last year’s assessment by OFSTED as ‘outstanding’, the School continues to thrive and now numbers 584 students. 2012 saw the best ever level of A* grades at GCSE and 75% of grades at A level and IB equivalent were A* to B.  One of Worth Society’s primary aims is to support the School and, once again this year, Worthians supported the annual Careers Fair providing six of the eleven speakers, visited Worth to speak at lectures and to give informal talks, facilitated work placements for students and provided funding to the Global Action Awards and sponsorship.  That funding was greatly helped by a number of Worthians who generously made either specific donations to the Society, or added an amount to their annual subscription.  We are immensely grateful for this generosity.  One of our fundamental aims is to increase the level of support we offer to Worthians who are seeking to help others.  We also received a donation for the specific purpose of assisting a family who were encountering severe financial difficulties from a Worthian who had benefited from such generosity in the past.  With guidance from the Head Master we were able to direct the donation to a family with an immediate need, and this funding enabled a pupil to complete his education at Worth.

A year rarely passes without sad news and since the last issue we learnt of the deaths of three Worthians – Peter Cole (C’92), Roger Belson (R’67) and Robert Dory (StB’68).  Shortly after the last issue of The Blue Paper was published, Sister Joan Edey died at the grand age of 95 and I represented the great number of Worthians who she had helped through illness at her funeral Mass at Worth. The School also reported the very premature death of Matthew Boughton, Head of Drama and I ask that you remember each of them in your prayers.

In comparing our Society with other former pupil organisations, Worth Society has one of the highest percentages of subscribed members who have been through the School.  Looking ahead, our ambition is to increase our income by attracting more members in order that we can provide additional help through the Worthians Charitable Trust.  We are also working on ways to connect ever more Worthians to help with careers and to meet socially.  I hope all of you will see from this issue that the Society is immensely active – and that is a result of your great support for which all members of the Committee thank you wholeheartedly.

Nick Butterworth (G’76)

Though studying, working and kicking back once in a while are part of everyday life, a lot of my time is spent entertaining ideas of adventure – where to go, when to do it, how to get there.  If a school trip overseas is available, why turn it down? If there’s nothing to stop you doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award and seeing the British Isles, then why not do it?  Equally, if you have a passion for a sport, then why not see how far you can take it?

Going straight from school to university was the preferred and perhaps safer option, in a year when university fees have risen so dramatically.  Nevertheless, I couldn’t conceive turning down the opportunity of a Gap Year, and I was never going to.  Since lower sixth I had dreamed of an adventure and, although I knew the budget for this trip was never going to be big, my naivety led me to think about places like New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands all in one hit.

However, when Nick Butterworth spoke to Gervase about the Global Action Awards and the opportunities available, I began to think of a trip with genuine purpose rather than just an extended holiday.  The sport I have always been passionate about is cycling, which has led me to take part in sponsored cycle trips from London to Paris and from John o’ Groats to Lands End while at Worth.   

But I wasn’t thinking about another big cycle trip.  This time I wanted to visit The Lotus Children’s Home, which is the Nepalese Orphanage that I had raised money for on those previous sponsored cycle trips.  Finally, I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit this Orphanage and to lend a hand in person.  

I spoke in greater depth to Nick and Olivia, put in my GAA application and waited with baited breath.  It was not long before I heard that my application had been successful, and that I had secured funding to cover the cost of my return flight to Kathmandu.

So I left England on the 25^th August 2011 with my close friend Tom (Monty) Montgomery (F’11).  The thought of going with someone hadn’t originally crossed my mind, but the trip simply would not have been the same without him.  With our bags packed full, we set off for the long plane ride east and arrived tired from our journey.  But, as we soon found out, there’s no time for sluggishness in Kathmandu!  

At the airport we were met by Laxman, the owner of the Orphanage, and immediately set off into motoring madness.  I can’t emphasise how differently life goes on in Kathmandu – every scene is like a page from “Where’s Wally” – bicycles packed to the gunnels serve as mobile vending machines and all over this metropolis, cows roam with no restrictions sometimes just relaxing in the middle of the City’s busiest roads.  It wasn’t so much like stepping back in time, but just a world very unlike the west; and it was brilliant!

Monty and I arrived at the Orphanage and met all the children as they filtered home from school.  They were shy at first, but curious about their new visitors.  I can assure you that they weren’t the only ones who were nervous!  Monty and I had no knowledge of Nepalese, so interacting was an interesting experience and brought out acting skills that I never knew existed in Monty.  

Throughout our time at the Orphanage, we came to know the quirks of each character of the family; whether it was Anusga’s accident-prone attention seeking or Alvish’s passion for British pop music – each one remains a fond memory.

We had thought that much of our time would be spent teaching the children English, but their knowledge of our language was impressive and they enjoyed practising on us.  Though they knew English well, it was difficult to explain some of the quirks of our grammar and, likewise, they would explain the different Nepalese sounds which, to our ears, are hard to differentiate.  Much of our time was spent playing games with them; they took full advantage of our height and used us as makeshift climbing frames.  When energy levels ran low, we would help out in the garden or teach them chess, a game at which they became quite expert.

Although we mostly stayed in Kathmandu, Laxman, being a former travel agent, offered us many exciting expeditions all over Nepal.  With him we ventured for a week to Chitwan in the south and Pokhara in the north-west.  We were truly thankful for these excursions and had some amazing experiences – riding and bathing with elephants, cruising down croc infested rivers, honing our motor biking skills and taking to the skies on a breathtaking paragliding trip in the most stunning part of Nepal.  Laxman was a fantastic host who was keen to show us his country, and the phenomenal beauty of Nepal more than compensated for the very long, slow journeys we endured.

Monty and I often stayed up late in the evenings to play card games with Laxman – which felt like a little piece of home far away from England; the games led to some thought provoking discussions and a bit of friendly competition too; this was a great time of day to get to know this man who had sacrificed a relatively normal life to undertake an incredibly benevolent and charitable one.

I refer to the place as an Orphanage, but this word does not fit comfortably with the reality.  This is home to a big family, and Laxman is the father figure to this large family.  The weight on his shoulders is extreme.  He works as a taxi driver, but only has part ownership of his car.  As a result all his profits are halved.  It is difficult for him to manage when supporting his wife, his own two children and a further eight children at the home.  He hopes one day to own his car, or find a way back into the travel industry. 

It proved both uplifting and distressing to know that the money I had raised on those previous cycle trips was indispensable to The Lotus Children’s Home; helping to build a well in the garden, to pay for the children’s school fees and to buy their books.

There were times of desperation which would force most people into a morose outlook on life; but even in the most difficult of situations, these people rarely failed to smile. Their overall attitude to living is a joyful one.

I am extremely thankful to Worth Society for offering an opportunity as rich and fulfilling as the Global Action Awards.  I am glad to report that since Monty and I left Nepal, Monty’s mother, Eve, has visited the Orphanage and has subsequently set up a PayPal Account for The Lotus Children’s Home.  This means that Laxman’s hope of receiving ‘little and often’ can now be achieved.

The memories we hold from this trip will always remain dear to us and as soon as another opportunity arises, I won’t hesitate to visit Nepal and re-visit the many friends I made while there.

Chris Napleton (C’11)

Even when I arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport, I wasn’t sure exactly what I would be doing, or even how much I could help – if at all.  I had a vague idea that I could teach and offer some rudimentary building skills, but I arrived with the mind-set that I would be happy to turn my hand to pretty much anything that was asked of me.

I was to stay in a village called Nainokanoka in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) of North Tanzania. It didn’t take me long to realise just how tough my living conditions were going to be; no electricity – and no mobile signal!  The village is remote and it is illegal to cultivate in this area, so the Maasai live mainly off wild crops and what little they can afford to buy off their small livestock herds. 

In this remote region a high level of skill and hard work is needed to undertake seemingly simple tasks, such as cutting wood for heat and cooking.  While the logs are rock hard, the axes are not and I would find the axe head flying off at regular intervals.  I was aware that unless I mastered such everyday skills quickly, I would soon become the butt of many a joke and lose the respect awarded me by my host – Tom, the local priest, who was a highly regarded member of this community.

Although I lacked the skills of my African counterparts, I feel that I earned some respect by working hard enough to procure half a dozen broken blisters on my first day!  The Maasai made fun of my weak European skin – but I loved the work.  Not necessarily for the satisfaction of finishing a job or ‘feeling the burn’, but because it gave me the opportunity to feel like a Maasai as we worked side by side and gradually came to know one another.

They were so welcoming – the Mama Pendo family treated me as one of their own and looked after me as if I was their seventh child.  I will never forget the generosity that they, and others, showed me.  They are amongst the poorest people in the world, but gave willingly to me and were insistent when I tried to decline their offers of kindness.  One mother even offered me her eleven year old daughter in marriage; I had to be very careful not to offend when refusing such a very kind offer!

On a daily basis, I would be charged with manual work – digging foundations for Tom’s new Parish house, chopping wood, planting trees to prevent erosion, or cutting long grasses for roofing.  

A few times a week Tom and I would travel on bumpy tracks to local outposts where we would meet the local villagers and celebrate Mass; an experience unlike any other Mass in the world, of that I’m absolutely sure.  I was particularly struck by the Maasai women in their colourful robes and beautiful jewellery.  They would jump and sing and, seen live, these services were so very memorable – I would never tire of watching the choir.  Type “Maasai Mass at Naiobi” into YouTube to see a church that I often visited with Tom; which is so typical of the surrounding churches.

After Mass, I would often be invited back for a traditional meal at someone’s home – typically made from ash, water and cow dung.  Some of the food was consistently delicious (chapatti), some had significant novelty value which soon wore off (goat meat or fresh blood with milk), whilst other dishes I found unpalatable from the outset (curdled sour milk; or one dish with the consistency of a half formed scab that I didn’t dare ask the ingredients of, but know it contained blood!).  I felt it was important to appear to indulge in, and enjoy, these local dishes so became very adept at forcing the meal down with a wide smile.  

During my time I had a few one-off experiences that I will never forget.  One day one of my friends, a 19 year-old Maasai called Daniel, took me to a Maasai circumcision celebration where eight to ten 16 to 20 year olds ‘became men’ – provided they didn’t show any sign of pain.  I only witnessed the celebration from the point at which a cow is killed, the elders drink a homemade honey alcohol, and particularly intense ceremonial dancing takes place.  Despite being welcomed as a special guest, it was the only time I felt slightly intimidated, such was the intensity of the dancing and the sheer numbers of people participating.

Earlier in my stay, I had been told that the Maasai tradition of taking multiple wives originated because of the need for strength in numbers due to the high infant mortality rates and also the huge distances they need to travel in search of water and wood.  Having witnessed such a display of strength and vigour during this ceremony, I was convinced that that this philosophy of ‘togetherness’ is key to their strength and longevity as a tribe.

Close to my new home for these few months was the famous Ngorongoro crater.  It was a place that I didn’t believe I’d get to visit during my stay so I was completely overwhelmed when, on my birthday, Tom surprised me by taking me on a trip there.  As I stood in the middle of this 100 km sq crater, it was impossible to imagine the enormity of the volcano that must have darkened the skies for miles around as it erupted.  I had never before witnessed any of the animals in their natural environment before that day, so it really has remained a very special memory for me.

A further highlight of my stay was helping Tom to distribute scholarships to Maasai children.  These scholarships enable teenagers to continue on to secondary school education.  Witnessing first-hand the difference that this money makes – about £200 for the first year, and £100 per year thereafter – to these Maasai teenagers had a huge impact on me.  They are a new generation who are acutely aware of the need to change their lives and know that learning is the key to facilitating that change.

Now that I am back in England, I aim to secure sponsorship to help subsidise the funding that Tom currently obtains only from Croatia, which will enable more Maasai teenagers to continue on to secondary education.  Through Tom’s programme, there is the opportunity to sponsor individual children for one year, up to the full five years.  I have seen how Tom manages each sponsor relationship very closely – offering financial support to those children with a real desire to study and learn, so that any funding received is guaranteed to change the lives of highly motivated teenagers.  He also ensures that there is personal feedback between each individual sponsor and the recipient child.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about Tom’s sponsorship programme and my proposal, then please do get in touch with me at jwcclancy@gmail.com.  

Without doubt, during my time in Tanzania I met people that I will never forget and for whom I have the utmost respect.  Despite being amongst the poorest of the poor, the Maasai are, without a shadow of doubt, the kindest, most generous and happiest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. 

This has been a truly inspirational experience for me, and I am very thankful to have successfully applied to the Worthians Charitable Trust for a Global Action Award.  I would wholeheartedly encourage any Worthian who is looking to share experiences and memories that will remain with them for life, to think about applying for a GAA!

Jack Clancy (F’11)

I have to say that your tennis correspondent is feeling a little fed up and down in the dumps really.  In the 12 years or so in which a Worthians tennis match has been played against the school, there has been only one occasion when the Worthians have emerged as victors.

In recent years there has been a glimmer of hope – as fresh blood has been introduced into the team and some progress made towards victory.  And we are ever hopeful that, in future matches, this fresh blood will include some of our Worthian old girl counterparts, as they leave University and join the working ranks over the next few years.  In spite of Olivia’s considerable efforts to attract them, the match currently remains an old boy affair.

And so we move onto the day itself – Speech Day, Saturday 2^nd June 2012.  As a result of it being the Jubilee weekend and a number of injuries sustained in the countdown to this momentous day, the Worthians team was diminished and reduced to just three – Neil Laughton (C’82), Sean Buckley (G’83) and myself.  We were therefore forced to ‘borrow’ a fourth player from the school. 

But, where we lacked in players, we were inordinately strengthened by our own groupies and cheerleaders (OK, our family members).  Support – at least I think it was support – was vocal throughout the course of the match and the team drew a great deal of inspiration from this encouragement.

The fact that I am now in the fifth paragraph and have yet to mention anything about the match itself, might lead uncharitable readers to draw the conclusion that the team did nothing to break its now decade-long losing streak.  Well, this is not quite the case, as part of the Worthians team was able to post a victory – perhaps in part due to the change in format of the event which meant we were able to avoid yet another whitewash by the school!   The new format meant that each of the pairings played each other so, at one point, the Worthian pairs played against one another, resulting in the only ‘true’ old boy pairing coming last.  

So what was the final result?  Well, the old boys lost – let’s leave it at that shall we?  There’s always next year – when we’re hoping that more of you will join us in our quest for victory!

Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82)

After the success of last year’s inaugural Worthians Squash Match, we arranged two separate contests during the 2011/12 season – the first in November 2011 and the second in March 2012.

The following three players joined us for the first fixture in November:

• Matthew Doggett (F’07)
• Harry Fisher (B’81)
• Guy Salimbeni (F’07)

We were a little disappointed that there wasn’t greater take up – but it gave me the excuse to don my sporting gear and join them for a series of hard fought matches and we had a really enjoyable afternoon.  In the end, Harry came out on top, beating both Patrick Thick and myself, and Guy won a hard-fought match against the school number one, Matthew Hay.  Matthew Doggett also won his match against Ashley Thomas.

The second match, on Sunday 18^th March 2012, coincided with the Worthians football tournament and was better attended.  We arranged for our squash enthusiasts to meet at 1.00 pm, so they would finish in good time to either watch, or participate in, the various football matches taking place on the same day.

The following seven players came along :           

• Desmond Calnan (R’69)
• Matthew Doggett (F’07)
• James Emery (C’11)                         
• Paddy Keane (R’94)
• Tom Lewis (G’05)                              
• George Salimbeni (F’11)                   
• Richard Stephens (C’02) 

They played one another in a series of matches but it was Desmond Calnan’s 25+++ (!) years additional experience that really came up trumps.  He stole the show on the day coming out on top as the overall winner, followed by Paddy Keane (R’94) in second place and Richard Stephens (C’02) third. 

It was a real pleasure to team up with all our Worthian footballing counterparts to share match tea in the school’s social centre, The Pitstop, and to witness the presentation of the football trophies.

We are much looking forward to arranging further squash fixtures in November 2012 and March 2013 and wholeheartedly encourage any Worthian who enjoys the game (at whatever level!) to come along and join us.  So, if you’re interested in joining us, then please do get in touch with Olivia at worthsociety@worth.org.uk.

Jeremy Dowling

• Oliver Barnett (StB’98)
• Sam Barnett (C’97)
• Andrew Bayles (B’98)
• Livio Belpassi (B’04)
• Lorenzo Belpassi (B’04)
• Jack Bodkin (G’03)
• Adam Braverman (G’05)
• Mark Breen (B’05)
• Richard Brown (F’05)
• Jamie Bruce (R’04)
• Ben Calnan (R’97)
• Desmond Calnan (R’69)
• Tom Calnan (R’95)
• James Cliffe (R’11)
• Rob Cottrell (R’97)
• Sam Crowhurst (F’09)
• Tom Cummins (C’12)
• Kevin Danagher-Smith (B’03)
• Martin Danagher-Smith (StB’09)
• Nick Elvidge (C’11)
• Ed Everington (B’11)
• Nick Gandy (R’11)
• Joe Green (B’05)
• Simon Hawkins (R’01)
• Giles Heather (F’03)
• James Henwood (C’07)
• Nick Hopkins (G’05)
• Simon Jukes (R’09)
• Ed Kemp (F’10)
• Christian Killoughery (R’10)
• Harry Killoughery (R’11)
• Mark Lane (F’03)
• Chris Madsen (B’04)
• Daniele Manzi (R’09)
• Tom Middlehurst (R’03)
• Tom Mitchell (F’07)
• Craig Monteiro (StB’05)
• Tom Montgomery (F’11)
• Phil Myles (G’02)
• Tomek Nawrocki (F’11)
• Danny O’Connell (R’02)
• Eddie O’Hare (B’10)
• Dave Osborne (R’04)
• Peter Osborne (R’08)
• Mike O’Sullivan (B’89)
• Alex Podbury (C’04)
• Andrew Pring (R’10)
• Dan Pring (R’03)
• Tony Riley (R’09)
• Bernard Seyffer (‘gappie’)
• Tom Woodman (F’07)

When the going gets tough …

Worthians RFC have found the going tough in Surrey 2 during the 2011/12 season – after their great success in becoming Champions of Surrey 3 at the end of 2010/11 season.  Surrey 2 is a league where most teams – on their day – could give anyone a good game; with just two teams, Farnham and Old Cranleighans, having the edge over the rest of the table.

The first half of the season proved hard work for the Worthians, with just three wins out of nine; the only significant scalp being a disciplined performance against a good Old Emanuel team to graft a well-deserved 15-8 victory.   At Christmas, the team found themselves in a tenuous 7^th position (out of 10 teams), and cracks were appearing.  Despite securing wins against a strong Chipstead team and a weak Haileyburians outfit, a crucial error was the 23-23 draw against the Law Society, allowing them to escape the relegation tussle while putting us firmly in the danger zone.  Needing to win just one game in our last five to escape the drop, we stumbled to five consecutive defeats as end of season injuries mounted.  Miraculously however, we were thrown a life-line when a team above us exited from the League; allowing us the unexpected chance to remain in Surrey 2 to fight another campaign.

This reprieve is certainly good news for us, as we now appreciate the true rigours of, and competition within, this League.  And we now have the opportunity to iron out the errors of the season and to consolidate our position in the coming year!

So what went wrong?

It’s difficult to say – as the season started so brightly with a new number 10, Sam Barnett, who offered significant experience and discipline to the back line.  Guest player, Frankie Williams, on the wing was at his aggressive and attacking best and fellow guest Jamie Garratt started the season well with a string of tries.  Added to this was the precocious talent of young Harry Killoughery, who shared responsibilities with speedster Kevin Danagher at full back.  In the forwards most of last year’s Surrey 3 Championship team were available, including skipper Alex Podbury and prop stalwarts Giles Heather and Doz Osborne, supported on occasions by guests Ed Hackett and Harry Foster.  The back 5 had bags of experience with Jack Bodkin, Chris Madsen and a rejuvenated Andy Bayles all offering plenty of momentum, plus Joe Green and the ever-versatile Dan Pring supported by the Rayfield brothers (also guests).  Newcomers to the team were Simon Jukes, returning with great success after a long-term serious knee injury and Tony Riley who was probably our most effective loose forward (when not rowing at Bath!).

Three problems were soon in evidence though.

On the actual field of play, we found ourselves in the unfamiliar position of being out-muscled in the forwards and the resulting slow delivery to our backs meant that our back line seldom clicked as a unit.  Despite some solid games from Rob Cottrell, the scrum half position never really stabilised, and a total of nine players donned the number 9 shirt in the season.   In addition, our lineout – a major strength for the Club over many seasons – was suddenly no longer reliable (a situation we hope to rectify in 2012-13 with the return of Danny O’Connell from his Far East assignment).

But the bigger issues for us were the issues of training and availability.  We learnt the painful lesson that to compete in Surrey 2 you must train (other teams were training twice a week!).  Although training sessions were well attended in the early weeks of September and October, the numbers dwindled as the weather got worse; and with this decline came our own decline in performance.   In addition, we struggled with injuries and found a large number of our influential players side-lined for significant periods.  Most unfortunately, we lost our two top-class hookers to long term knee injuries – line-out expert Mark Lane and guest Harry Foster.  Likewise, the loss of both Belpassi brothers for the whole season proved critical.  Key players were therefore simply not available for enough games (and when they were, they weren’t fully fit) with the result that invariably new players were shipped in to help with numbers.  Although this wide pool is a credit to the Worthians organisation and network – with over 50 Worthians representing the club during 2011/12 – it is not a good recipe for team cohesion and success; and our results this season demonstrated just that.

Looking to the future and to 2012/13 – despite last season’s travails our prospects appear to be good.  We continue to get strong young recruits into the team and this season was no exception; with Tony Riley, Simon Jukes and Nick Elvidge all very useful on the field and excellent catalysts for getting others to play.  Harry Killoughery was a great find, establishing himself as the team’s regular full-back with some skilful, and sometimes risky, manoeuvres; while Martin Danagher will surely deliver great things on the pitch when he has banished his niggling injuries.  

The Cronk-Cunis National Under-21 competition in late August – Monday the 28th August this year – is a great way of getting together with former 1^st XV team-mates, and the needle game of ‘young’ versus ‘old’ Worthians in September gives prospective players a good introduction to Worthians rugby.  The key target group, as always, is those who are leaving University and, once again, we have heard encouraging noises from the 2008 Leavers as they return down south after their educational experiences.  And finally, the Sevens campaign this season established some important connections with the school team, thanks to valuable performances from First XV skipper Tom Cummins and a speedy Eoin O’Connor.

For the 2012/13 Season, we simply need to raise our game and our competitiveness to make sure that we play at our very best for the full 80 minutes; rather than in 10-minute or 20-minute bursts, which seemed to be the main feature of our play in 2011/12.  This means our players committing to regular training as well as making themselves available throughout the season.  Easy!

… the tough get going.

Up the Worthians!

 Desmond Calnan (R’69)

We have struggled on occasion to gather a team together this season – although we’re certainly not alone as other Societies have experienced exactly the same.  But we had a very good turnout at the East Sussex National, which was our inaugural golfing fixture in the autumn of 2011.  A dozen golfers played on Saturday and Sunday – and we had a great dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.  Suffice to say, those sensible chaps who turned out on Sunday for just one round, had a much clearer head and better idea of what they were doing on the golf course than the rest of us – but they had missed out on a great evening and gathering the night before.   James Blake tells me that he could have set the morning fumes alight on the course that Sunday morning!  At the end of the weekend Hugh Bett won the Worth Salver on a count back, with 38 points, from John Shepherd. 

In spite of many phone calls we could not muster a team for the Grafton Morrish this year.  It seemed to clash with a number of other events, but fortunately this fixture returns to Knowle Park next year – with the chance of moving onto the knock out stages at Hunstanton (an achievement that has eluded us to date – but we are hoping that will all change!). 

The Russell Bowl at Woking, which is the Catholic Schools Cup, also had a rather spectacular turn out.  We were just one team member short through illness; but the whole Ampleforth team failed to turn out at all, having made a note of the wrong date!  We hope for better planning next year.

The Spring Meeting at Moor Park was a great day and the weather was reasonably kind to us.  Dominic Pasqua won the Rose Bowl with 34 points, and Matthew Wood the longest drive for which he won a very smart woolly hat!  We always have a splendid lunch there, and the fact that we play a further 18 holes after lunch ensures that we can walk off the odd glass of wine.  Being a couple of members light – we were joined for lunch by two Moor Park members and the secretary to the secretary (namely Bridget, my wife!) as we had already paid for lunch in our package. 

As far as this year’s headlines go – they must surely be awarded to Rupert Pridham who, whilst playing the first round in a knockout 4 ball better ball, was struck by a car while looking for his opponent’s ball in the verge close to the roadside at his home club.  A driver swerved to avoid an oncoming motorbike and hit Rupert.  Although his injuries could have been far more severe, he sustained a broken leg, and was incensed at having his much loved golfing shoe cut away by the medical team! 

During the course of the year I have e-mailed those recent leavers supplied by Olivia at Worth Society who have indicated a keen interest in playing for, and / or getting involved in, Worthians Golf.  Regrettably, the response has been poor. 

We are very keen to encourage the younger generation to get involved so, if you happen to be interested, or know of someone who would be interested in joining and playing for Worthians Golf, do please contact me – either by e-mailing me at: kenneth.ross2@virgin.net or calling me on: 01323 641221.

So, here’s to 2013!

Ken Ross (G’65)

On Sunday 18^th March 2012, a record 31 Worthians returned to Worth for our fourth annual football match – ready to pitch themselves against the School’s 1^st XI and Staff teams.

Once again, the school team played in a triangular tournament against both the U21 and O21 Worthian teams; while the U21 and O21 teams played in a further round-robin tournament against the staff.

There were a few brotherly rivals amongst the school and Worthian U21 teams – Ollie Rivers facing brothers Theo and Joe; Dylan Lall facing brother Ryan; and James Kemp facing brother Ed.  As one would expect where footballing prowess is concerned – certainly no love was lost and the challenges were fierce!

In the Worthian U21 versus school match, the U21 side took the lead initially, leaving the School side to chase the game.  Despite this being their third game within four days, the fitness of the 1^st XI surpassed that of their University counterparts – and they played a fast-paced passing game.  A penalty enabled the school 1^st XI to even the score, which left the School team feeling re-energised and looking for a winner!  It wasn’t long before a winning strike was headed home to seal victory for the School.

In the round-robin tournament we saw a strong staff team defeated 2-1 by the O21s.  This was followed by a heavy 4-1 loss for the U21s when playing against the O21s.  The staff team then went on to draw their match with the O21s.

So, overall the School 1st XI retains the Henry Surtees Memorial trophy.  The overall winners of the round robin tournament were the O21 squad with two wins.  Once again, John Surtees, father of the late Henry Surtees (C’09), kindly returned to Worth to present the trophies.  John is always warmly welcomed back to the school and we are extremely grateful to him for his continued interest in, and support of, this annual sporting fixture.

A really excellent afternoon was had by all who took part and, once again, our very special thanks go to Andrew Taylor – whose invaluable long-term connections with Gervase ensured an excellent turnout of Worthians.

Darren Carrick, 1st XI Team Coach

Andrew Taylor, Worthians Football Co-ordinator

It would be quite easy to spend your whole gap year in the sun, beer in hand and – while I would encourage people to do this to some extent – I would also urge you to take advantage of some of the opportunities that being a Worthian presents.  I contacted Olivia Henley in late 2011, not entirely sure what I could gain, but I was aware that several other Worthians had, through Olivia’s hard work, managed to secure internships and work experience in areas of particular interest to them.

At this stage I must thank Olivia for her seemingly endlessly willing desire to help me secure an internship.  Olivia got in contact with many Worthians on my behalf to see what could be arranged.  I have a real desire to work in financial services so, accordingly, Olivia managed to arrange a two-week work placement at Daniel Stewart & Company plc with Worthian, Antony Legge (G’86), a corporate finance director there.  Daniel Stewart is a boutique investment bank specialising in AIM quoted companies, linking up investors with potentially high-growth companies.  The broking, sales, research and corporate finance departments all complement each other to provide a full service for investors and for corporate clients.

Having not had to wake up before 9.00 am for a very long time – maybe not since being at Worth, I was proud to arrive at Daniel Stewart’s offices at 8.30 am on my first morning!  During my two week placement, my main aim was to get a feel for the city lifestyle and the world of a corporate financier in order to gain a better understanding of a career that is of particular interest to me; albeit without knowing too much about what it actually involves on a day-to-day basis.

I joined the Corporate Finance team and was given my own desk in the department behind the ‘Chinese Wall’. The first week was exciting; a firm’s mining licence being revoked by a government in the week before an equity placing and, at another company, a set of angry shareholders trying to remove a director from the board.  Of course it was not all bad news; but seeing these crisis situations unfold provided me with a real insight into the pressures of the job and the need to be able to think on one’s feet.  I also spent some time building pitch books, for which I was required to focus on the specific needs of the potential clients. 

In my second week I spent some time with the research team.  While stumbling upon an excellent investment opportunity for myself, I also gained an insight into the life of a research analyst on the Sell-Side.  As well as the early starts, I witnessed the patience and care that they put into their work; building very detailed models to develop target prices for companies they follow.

The social aspect of city life was not fully neglected and a strong positive of being an intern is that no one expects you to buy any rounds!  I went to an event hosted by a Financial PR firm aimed at the younger generation of city recruits, at which I enjoyed a seemingly bottomless glass of champagne.  It was interesting to bump into several unlikely acquaintances – including another Worthian!

During the course of these two weeks, I have gained a better understanding of the life of a corporate financier – late nights, hard work, the occasional trip to the pub and good rewards.

As an intern, sometimes it can be difficult to feel you are doing something valuable at every moment throughout the day, but I am sure this is true throughout life.  But interning is a fantastic way of gaining experience that is invaluable for building your CV and, more importantly, helping to remove prejudices and misconceptions (good and bad!) from a particular career that you may have set your sights on, or simply be interested in exploring.

My sincere thanks go to Antony Legge for his time and excellent advice as well as to the corporate finance team at Daniel Stewart.  They were all so welcoming and kept me busy and entertained during my fortnight with them.

The experience has helped to provide me with a much clearer focus on what I want to do.  After all – I think it is considerably easier to be successful once you know what you want to be successful in!

James Folger (B’10)

Paddy Lynch (C’92) and Bill McNamee (StB’92) did a sterling job in rallying their peers for their 20-Year Reunion which took place on Saturday 27th October 2012 in the Upstairs Room at The Antelope Pub, 22 Eaton Terrace, Sloane Square, London, SW1W 8EZ.  Fr Luke and Jeremy Dowling joined 17 of the ‘Class of 1987-92′ for the gathering, which started at 2.00pm and carried on late into the night!

The members of the Music department were delighted to welcome Ashley Beauchamp (’12) back to Worth School on Sunday 21st October to perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto on the School’s brand new Kawai RX7 Concert Grand Piano.  Ashley was a Music Scholar when he was at Worth – he had Grade 8 Piano under his belt at the age of 14 and achieved a distinction in Grade 8 Organ earlier this year.

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Glenn Robertson died suddenly on Monday 8th October 2012, while playing golf.  He will be sorely missed and remembered by many of you in his various roles at Worth School between 1970-2005 – particularly as House Master, Rugby Coach and subsequently as Worthians RFC President.  We will let Worthians know once we have been informed of funeral arrangements or a possible memorial service.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very sad time.

Having read of the huge success of the 1980 Leavers’ 30-Year Reunion in the last issue of The Blue Paper, we knew that our time had now arrived and the pressure was on!

Step forward John Bennett, former Rutherford boy, who bravely volunteered to host and organise the event – and I offered to assist.  Fortunately for me, and all of us, John is a serial organiser of such events, so we were in very safe hands.

We set the date – Friday 7th October 2011 – and although this was many months away, the task of getting everybody together seemed a rather daunting one.  I think we were, and have continued over the last 30 years to be, a relatively close year group.  Many of us have kept in touch with the friends that we grew up alongside at school and continue to see each other on a regular basis.  That said, there are always pockets of boys who move on and who lose touch with school and friends – and it was in the process of locating these few that we needed to employ our utmost investigative skills in attempting to track them down.

Our aim at the outset was to try and make contact with everyone.  This would have been an impossible task without the internet, Facebook, LinkedIn and various other search engines.  In the end we managed to contact all apart from around five – and all I can say if you happen to be one of those reading this article, we are very sorry that we didn’t get hold of you, but we really did try our utmost!

Inevitably there were a few who were unable to join us – some felt such a gathering just wasn’t for them; others couldn’t make the journey from the other side of the world, or already had family commitments. Others made extreme efforts to ensure that they could ‘share the moment’ and changed already scheduled commitments; while some planned business meetings in the UK to coincide with our event and flew in from far and wide. 

On the night itself, 38 of our year group convened in the Ballroom at The Lansdowne Club and seeing them all and having them there was, indeed, very special.  For many, this was the first reconnection of our year group since we all left Worth back in 1981.

We were joined by some of our favourite Monks, House Masters and teachers so, in total, our gathering comprised 45 – 38 Worthians and Abbott Kevin, Father Stephen, Father Philip, James Cockburn, George Daly, Keith Owers and Roger Stokes.

Drinks were followed by a sit-down 3-course meal accompanied by plenty of the liquid stuff.   Much movement and shuffling took place between courses, as we tried to see and catch up with as many of our old friends as possible and spent much time reminiscing with one another about all the things we did and didn’t do.  

Welcoming our former Monks, Housemasters and teachers as guests was a real bonus – they added so much to the evening.  They had made a great effort to join us and we were thrilled to see them again.  And it always amazes me just how good they all are at recognising each and every one of us – in spite of the passing of time!  

In the process of tracking everyone down, some email responses came back with a sense of concern and caution in varying degrees, one of our favourites being:

“….When I first encountered the idea of this event, I was sceptical.  Do I really need this?  However, the idea has grown on me and what really sealed it was talking to Charlie Hooper who organised the year above us to meet last year. He said that everybody loved it, and it was one of the most rewarding and meaningful experiences of his life.  Yes I am nervous.  Yes, there are some people I don’t particularly want to see. Yes. I am worried that I may be judged.  However, it is just one day of my life and the potential benefits of connecting with old friends far outweigh all that other stuff…”

Of course, once we were all assembled on the night, these and similar  thoughts all faded into insignificance and we typically returned to basics – leaving much of our current lives behind us for the evening and taking off from where we had all left.

We received some amusing ‘post-event’ e-mails, one dry-humoured quip concluded:

“It was very different to what I was expecting – no bad thing, to be honest – and I had a very pleasant evening.”

It is only natural to question the merit of such a reunion, but I think that all those that came along felt it was truly worthwhile.  It made me realise how genuinely fortunate we all are to have this common link which was founded at Worth, and just how much we have to be thankful for.  Much has passed over those thirty years, but the close connections were clear for all to see. The friendships that we made during this period of our lives are invaluable, and for those who had been outside the loop for a short while, this event gave us all the opportunity to reconnect. 

It would be good to do it again before another thirty years pass, and that does seem to be a re-occurring theme of all the years that have held similar events. I do hope we manage to do it again sooner.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we even had one gate crasher – and I thought the days of such excitement were long gone!   Much to the delight of all gathered – a tall gentleman, who was one whole year older than us decided to join our gathering.   It just goes to show that even though he had attended his own year group reunion just eleven months before, he evidently felt that the 1981 Leavers’ reunion was just too good a party to miss!

Dominic Strickland (C’81)

 “It was a great evening from so many points of view. The venue was very grand and friendly giving us enough space to cope with the numbers and move around as the evening went on.  It was great credit to the organisers for gathering so many from their year – particularly as so many had not seen each other in that time and were thrilled to get together again.

“I was delighted to be asked and was wonderfully looked after throughout the evening – I managed to recognise most, although one or two eluded me for a while. It is always remarkable at these occasions how little people have changed. One gets talking and the years roll away.”

Keith Owers

“I have just returned to Shropshire from the Reunion.  It was absolutely great.  A wonderful turn out (David Adeleke even gate crashed from the year above!!).  It was excellently organised – t food was just right….and the drink!  We had two seating plans and I think I managed to speak to nearly all there.  Extremely enjoyable and so good to catch up with a great band of people in a super atmosphere.  My thanks to Dominic and John for all their excellent work.”

Roger Stokes

There were a few who questioned my motivations for organising the 1991 Leavers’ 20-year reunion, which was held at The Courthouse Modern, a central London hotel on Saturday 2^nd July 2011.  And I’ve got to come clean; they were more selfish than altruistic ones.

“You were the most cynical person in our year,” Marc Le Clercq reminded me on the day. He was clearly disappointed there wasn’t some sort of sting from the schoolboy banned from the library for reading a poem that started: “Port, poetry and prose; but nobody knows how the pomposity grows.” 

“You were wasted as a malcontent, Hamilton,” furthered Ben Hughes later on Facebook. “You would have made a good head boy.”

Praise indeed, but the reality was that I decided to organise the reunion after stumbling upon a review of the 1990 Leavers’ get-together that released my inner control freak.  While I’m sure a great time was had by all (check out Shaun Severi’s cool video online), it was held at Worth in November. So I reasoned: why not hold it in fair weather not foul and see if ‘the year that never stayed in touch’ could surprise a few and rustle up slightly more than the 21 who attended the 1990 reunion, and the 18 who showed up for the 1989 edition.

So I started the whole process in February, plumped for a central London location, decided to aim for fair weather over foul, and to see if ‘the year that never stayed in touch’ could surprise a few and rustle greater numbers than last year’s 21 and the 18 who showed for the 1989 edition.

In the end we welcomed 31 Worthians and seven monks and staff to a good central London location that offered decent enough canapés and a steady flow of beer and wine – all thanks to the sterling efforts of Chris Loftus.  It proved good value at £25 all-in and there was only one absentee from the expected list of attendees.

It was a largely chit-chat affair with some visual stimuli on the walls from old Worth Records – including accounts of the 1990 trip to Israel in which the minibus got firebombed and our ridiculously successful, mutant-like under-14s, 15s and 16s rugby sides that lost only one game in three years.

Other highlights included; one of the guys in finance (accounting for around 80% of the room) was able to succinctly explain what he did; Dave Barnett adjudicated that Major Tom Holloway was the most smartly dressed, while I was the scruffiest, although at least I don’t have any hair to worry about anymore (unlike Justin Randall who’s got bushels of it); Trent Belasco and yours truly addressed the gathering, but kept it mercifully brief; an exuberant Keith Owers was in fine fettle (his opening line to Owen Lynch was: “Who’s Beef now?”) partly thanks to an impressive 10-strong turnout from Butler; fast-talking George Daly enjoyed reliving his school play highs and staff football match lows; Roger Stokes arrived tie-less (what was he thinking?) but it emerged that his trusty briefcase was holding one of his famous red numbers; and Father Luke, Nick Robinson, and Richard Knowles were on hand to recall age-old memories from Chapman, St. Bedes and Gervase.

“You look well” was a common greeting – a defence mechanism giving each of us the chance to properly assess who was balder, fatter and more youthful in appearance. Following a 1pm start (the cool kids didn’t arrive until 3.30; something to do with Gay Pride apparently) we vacated to the hotel bar, then a pub, then a steakhouse, and finally Ciaran’s house, the numbers gradually dwindling as we moved on.

Talking of houses, Butler won the day (no change there then) – with ten from a possible 13 attending, closely followed by Gervase with nine (albeit from a possible 17), and then St Bedes with six, Chapman with four, and Rutherford with two.  And special kudos must go to Richard Bates for making it all the way from Hong Kong, Vincent Tang from Vancouver, Owen Lynch from Texas and Toby Simmons from Kingston …. in Surrey.

To conclude – we learnt the rest of us aren’t such a bad sort after all, that there might be some momentum to organise more of these in the future, and discovered that while nostalgia has its merits, networking invariably has more.

Ben Hamilton (B’91)

10 years since leaving Worth – and I have another ‘blue paper’ to write; although refreshingly not as punishment for dissent in Mr Smith’s maths class.

With some gentle encouragement from Olivia, 25 Worthians convened for supper in central London on Saturday 20^th August 2011. Events were largely co-ordinated by Adrian Pring, smoothly assisted by Luca Belpassi and Je Ahn – for which they deserve our many thanks.

We met for drinks in a pub, after which there was a short stagger to Ciao Bella, an Italian restaurant close to Russell Square in London WC1, for vast quantities of food and Grappa.  And this is when the merriment really started!  Then on we moved for further extra-curricular activities, after which a hardy few continued the marathon and went out into the night in search of Paddy Scott who, true to form, can still be found at 151 on the King’s Road.

Some stellar efforts to attend this marathon are worth of note – Louis Pitto flew in from Malta where he left his wife and children (which hopefully explains the miniature spider-man rucksack he was carrying).  The human foghorn, known as Rob Palmer, was brought in from Guernsey.  Mike Botcherby had broken his arm especially, just so he could miss rugby training to join us.  And whilst on the subject of Stella – James Coutts-Donald was there too.

Extraordinarily, no one seems to have changed.  Chris Lamb continues to be very nice, even when Luca Belpassi persistently put garlic bread on his shoulders.  Tom Noakes runs a pub in Sussex;  Niall Keelaghan plays for a rock band;  inexplicably James Dempsey has become a world class poker champion.  Graham Prior has had a haircut – while Je Ahn has forgotten to cut his.  Dom Reynolds was not quite sure if he should still be campaigning to be head boy.

We pondered important matters.  How closely related was Louis Vallejo to a duck?  What has the world made of Adrian Chong?  Was Charlie Gairdner really Fr Christopher?  Why a Performing Arts Centre instead of a rifle range?  Why did the school insist on putting wicker geese everywhere?  Owen Lean is a magician?  Will Harrison was never suspended?

We pondered what had happened in the nine years following 1992 when the first of our group arrived at Worth.  Ours was the final year to run the full gauntlet of separate classrooms in Junior House, of metal hospital beds and communal baths.  We were lucky to catch the twilight careers of the original monks and staff who founded the senior school in 1959.

Insisting that the fifth form slept in the upper and lower fourth dormitories was presumably intended to instil order – but instead created chaos.  There was no question that the headmaster was a monk; no Sixth Form house existed; day boys were a newish invention; the School firmly held the line that they would never take girls; the remnants of fagging, delivering papers and occasionally not being paid to perform rudimentary tasks, were abolished.  

After one teachers meeting we found a piece of paper lying around revealing that they had concluded that Worth excelled at turning ‘pigs ears into silk purses’ (probably not quite how the marketing department would put it these days!) but quite right – Worth boys (and doubtless girls) excel at being likeable.  We all got along with great ease at supper, whether it had been ten years or ten days since the last meeting.  There are not many schools you could say that about.  Put it down to the Benedictine ethos.

Extrapolation from blurry photographs taken during the evening reveals a good turnout of 25 from the Class of 1996-2001.  Some of those who were unable to join us sent their apologies, and we send ours to the few that we were unable to find and get in touch with to tell them about the reunion.

Jos Seligman (StB’01)

On Friday 16^th September 2011 over 100 Worthians gathered for drinks in central London to meet with Andy Taylor who retired as boarding House Master at the end of the 2010/11 academic year.

Andy continues to be heavily involved in many aspects of school life at Worth – including teaching history and being an active member of the Worth Society Committee as our Footballing guru!  But, after 12 years at the helm of St Bedes (from 1999 to 2001) and Gervase (from 2002 to 2011), Worth Society felt that this was an opportune time to celebrate Andy’s momentous milestone with those Worthians who had fallen under his care between 1999 and 2011.

Having found what we deemed to be the right type of venue – the ball was set rolling.  The date was agreed, the Nordic Bar and Restaurant in London W1 was booked and Josh Taylor set about establishing a Facebook page while Ben Taylor and Olivia issued the invitations.  It wasn’t long before the responses started flooding in!

So, fast forward to Friday 16^th September and we find that over 100 Worthians (many more than the 80 originally expected!) arrived to celebrate with Andy – a tribute to his popularity.   

With a Worth Society kitty for drinks and canapés in place behind the bar, the tone of the party was set and it was time for some serious drinking and catching up!

The majority of Worthians who joined Andy were past Gervase boys, although one or two showed up simply because they enjoyed playing in his sports teams.  There were also Worthians on Gap years, others who were home from university and even Paddy, one of Worth School’s past gap-year helpers from Australia (amazing how far an Aussie will travel for a free drink!). 

As Andy commented : “It was really heart-warming to see so many of you on Friday 16^th September, including three former Heads of House – Tom Cottrell, Alonso Caro and Fergus Hallam – and three former Heads of School – Fred Bradley, James Longman and Nick Elvidge. 

“As former Worth boys you are all very special to me, and I was struck by how many of you continue to stay in touch with one other – perhaps a sign of how important that final year in Gervase is for forging lifetime friendships.”

“My particular thanks go to Nick Butterworth and Olivia from Worth Society and my boys (Ben and Josh) for thinking of and arranging the gathering – and to all of you who came along to make it such a memorable and enjoyable evening for me.”

Olivia Henley / Andrew Taylor

September 2011 saw the Recent Leavers’ London Networking Evening return to the City for the second year, and our aim is to ensure this event becomes a permanent fixture on the Worthians annual Calendar.  

Hosted at the scenic riverside Samuel Pepys Bar and Restaurant, the event’s primary aim is to introduce ‘young’ Worthians seeking advice, to the ‘not quite so young’ who are already well established in business.  It provides a perfect opportunity to network in an informal environment and to learn about new professions, discuss old ones, as well as to meet Worthians who work across a wide range of professions.

We encourage all recent leavers who plan to attend the evening to let Olivia know the areas of business that are of particular interest to them, so that we can encourage representation from Worthians who work in that specific area.

Following on from requests received this year; we saw careers in finance, insurance, property, law and the media covered.  Everyone came away from the evening having gained much from the opportunity to network informally and inevitably – as is always the case when Worthians gather together – having had a thoroughly enjoyable evening (albeit helped along by Worth Society’s generosity behind the bar!).

We really are hoping to push the numbers up for our next gathering – particularly amongst our university cohorts and more recent school and university leavers.  So, if you fall into this group, please do come along and join us; it is, after all, you that will gain the most benefit from attending this event.

Daniel Pring (R’03)

• Michael Agius  1952-58 
• Peter Agius 1962-66
• Antonio (Tony) Bueno  1950-55 
• David Cane 1953-56
• Michael Cane  1948-53
• John Carter  1952-58
• Robin Clapham  1948-53
• Marquis Nicholas de Piro  1950-55 
• Kevin Dwyer  1953-58
• Michael Hawkins  1949-53
• David Legge  1949-54 
• Tom Maddock  1954-55
• John Magauran  1947-53
• Simon Matthews  1947-52
• Byard McHugh  1945-50
• Roderick (Roddy) Mellotte  1952-55
• Martin Monico  1943-1949
• John Moran  1947-49 + 1
• James Pavry  1959-63
• Peter Pavry  1953-58
• Richard Pavry  1950-55
• Ted Pigot  1937-40
• Anthony Pontifex  1953-56
• Alan Ridgway  1948-53
• Dr Peter Louis Wright  1948-49

The greatly anticipated day of the Worth Jubilee Jamboree dawned as a wonderful bright summer’s day, and the excitement mounted as noon approached and the guests arrived to see the huge preparations that had been made for these festivities by the Friends of Worth.

As we entered the Quad, we were greeted by Dodgems and a Meteor Centrifuge – all ready and waiting for those daring enough to have a go!  These, together with the many other fairground facilities, showed the great effort that the Friends of Worth had made for the benefit of the whole Worth community on this celebratory day.

Central to the ‘great day’ was an invitation that had been extended to boys who attended Worth during the time of the Queen’s ascension to the throne in 1952 and her Coronation in 1953.  I arrived at Worth in 1937 to join my brother, David, who had started at Worth when it first opened in 1933.  Today, I was one of those able to represent boys who were at the Prep School prior to the Second World War, until the time when everyone was evacuated to Downside in 1940.

I was thoroughly spoilt having arrived the day before to spend the night with my nephew, Giles Watson (who is Housemaster of Gervase) and his wife Anna and their delightful children whom I had not seen for four years.  So for me, it was just a minute’s stroll from Gervase to the main Quad, where I arrived in time to be greeted by the familiar face of Abbot Kevin (in our day a young Novice and a fine rugby player) and to meet some of my compatriots.

The Jamboree opened at 12 noon with a rousing rendition of the National Anthem, played on an electric guitar from the top of the Tower.  From here our worthy group was ushered into the Cowdray Room, where the Abbot conducted a brief blessing to mark the start of our reunion and the School’s current Head Master, Gino Carminati, warmly welcomed us all.  There were further warm words from the ever smiling Fr Stephen, himself a former Abbot and, like Fr Kevin, an Old Gregorian.

We were then free to mingle and talk (and talk we did!) while enjoying free-flowing champagne and some delicious canapés.

A sumptuous buffet lunch followed, when we were joined by Abbot Kevin again and other members of the Monastic community.  It was a great opportunity to reconvene with old friends and I was able to say a big hello to Dom Philip Gaisford, whom I had last met at a lunch with his father and mother at the Residency in Bangalore when he was just nine years old!  Although I had been at Downside with his elder brothers, I hadn’t seen Dom Philip since that day.

After lunch we were taken on an extended tour of the School to re-visit some of our old Prep School haunts.  The tour was led by Fr Stephen and some charming members of the girls’ houses – St Mary’s (boarding) and St Ann’s (day) – who kept us amused and entertained throughout with anecdotes as to how it had been for them joining the formerly all-male community at Worth, and of experiences from their previous schools.

We had a nostalgic visit was to the Monks’ Cemetery where I found many old friends, including Abbot Victor Farwell who was Second Master at the time that Worth was evacuated to the Worth Block at Downside during the war.  Abbot Victor continued to run the Scout Troop there, and I became the first 1st Class Scout of the Troop back in 1940!  Others that brought back many memories included Dom Maurice (it was me that nicknamed him FJ), Dom Julian, Dom Alban and Dom Oliver.

Other great memories flooded back to me – including Christmas holidays spent at Worth with my brother when our parents were based in India; the time when Dom Simon van-Zellar took me shooting with a .22 rifle and we bagged an albino squirrel; a Christmas trip to Bertram Mills Circus with the then Prior, Dom Siegbert Trafford.  Oh, what happy days these were – particularly compared to those spent at the sad convent where I went before moving onto Worth.  It was, literally, heaven on earth!

We returned to the Cowdray Room for the taking of a ‘team’ photograph on the lawn which was followed by a welcome cup of tea from the Jubilee Jamboree’s ‘Vintage Tea Tent’. 

Our thanks to everyone who helped to make this great visit to Worth such a happy and nostalgic occasion for us Prep School boys – what a day!

Ted Pigot (1937-41)

Memories Past

“I started at the Prep School in Sept 1952 and remember the Coronation well. I was in the infirmary with Chicken Pox which was sweeping through the school at the time!  Whether I was allowed out for any of the celebrations at all, I can’t remember now.”

Michael Agius (1952-58 )

“I can remember the Coronation so well – not least for the sheer magic of a ‘live’ outside broadcast which I had never seen before, and also having a television picture projected onto a screen on the building behind, what at the time, was known as Tower House.  In those days we didn’t have a television at home, so it was an additional thrill.

“Perhaps the most poignant moment for me in returning for the Jamboree was evoked as I approached the gates at the end of the front drive.  I wound down the window in anticipation of waving my car park sticker at someone, and as the azaleas came into view I caught the smell of them.  In a split second I was transported back 60 years. It was quite surreal that a 60 year-old memory could be so stimulated with one whiff; and perhaps even more amazing to think that those azaleas look as wonderful now as they did then – quite remarkable!”

Michael Hawkins (1949-53)

“The time at Worth for the Jamboree was indeed charged with emotion – reflecting our stay at Worth Priory (as it was then), was a very happy period in our lives.  Watching the Queen sail down the Thames yesterday on the television, I felt grateful to her for the Jubilee which brought us all together; a finer excuse, impossible.”

Tom Maddock (1954-55)

“I reported back to my sister, Jane, who was very disappointed not to be there.  She remembered over half of those who came to the reunion and could recount many stories about them.  I thought it inappropriate to tell the very helpful girls who showed us around of her memories of Fr Stephen who, when in Tower House, would swing from the rafters; his ambition at that age to be Tarzan!”

Simon Matthews (1947-52)

“By special request, Fr Stephen very kindly took me up to my old dormitory, now known as the O’Connor Room.  During the time that Worth was requisitioned during the Second World War, the O’Connor Room had been used as the planning room for the Canadian Infantry Division’s part in the invasion of Europe as part of VIII Corps, commanded by the highly decorated and distinguished General, Sir Richard O’Connor.

“The commemorative plaque of Worth’s military occupation (now rather difficult to read and probably the worse for wear after many more years of ‘pupil occupation’!) had been above my bed on the North wall of the room.  It now resides on the East wall.

“Another piece of Worth history that many I spoke to seemed unaware of, is that the first torpedo was tested out in the pond. Although unsubstantiated, it seems quite credible since the inventor, Robert Whitehead, bought the estate in 1881.

“Anyway, that minor excursion down the dark narrow passage to what had been the chapel and up the small winding oak staircase to the dormitory, opposite which Dom Michael Smith – know to us as Snitch – had a small room, was perhaps the most evocative part of my visit back to Worth.  I could almost hear the shrill screams of us young boys as we broke the ‘no running, no ragging around’ rules.”

Roddy Mellotte (1952-55)

“Thank you so much for your part in organising such a happy reunion at Worth.  Although much has necessarily been done to improve and modernise the school and monastic facilities since the 1950s, Worth still retains that sense of peace and wellbeing which has always remained with me.  To see it all in celebration and in perfect weather was a real treat.  Of course nostalgia ruled – but that’s no bad thing once in a while.

“Meeting old friends and recollections of many friends, teachers and mentors now at rest, came flooding back.  Perhaps most vivid of all was the memory of waiting in the Quad on Sunday mornings to see my parent’s car appear around the bend at the end of the drive to take us home for an exeat.  Happy home and happy school – what more could a boy have wanted – a true blessing.”

Peter Pavry (1953-58)

“I approached my first visit since leaving Worth with some trepidation. I needn’t have worried though, as the whole day was a delight – bringing back many memories in the most friendly and open-hearted company.  I recalled the day of the Coronation seen on a tiny monochrome TV set up on the stage in Tower House; the stables where I had ridden a series of overweight ponies; the grounds around which Dom Brendan Lavery used to ride around on his motorcycle; Dom Jerome’s ‘0’ gauge steam railway in the basement and Dom Dennis’s ‘00’ one in his study; the baby grand piano belonging to Dom Thomas Symons on which I once found a letter from Sibelius; and of course Dom Maurice Bell, the then Headmaster, and his attempts to inculcate musical appreciation on a wind-up gramophone.  Visiting the Monastic cemetery was most poignant and Abbot Kevin’s conducted tour of the Abbey church was a fitting end to our visit.

Alan Ridgway (1947-53)

“I remember particularly the day the old King died.  There were classrooms called the Potting Sheds, and everything just stopped when his death was announced.  It was quite extraordinary – we all came out of the classrooms and milled about, not really knowing what to say or to do.”

Anthony Staveacre

The Jubilee Jamboree took place at Worth School on the afternoon of Saturday 26th May 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  Organised by the Friends of Worth, the event brought together the whole School community for a giant street party-style day – with traditional attractions, high octane rides, a hog roast, barbeque and a host of family-friendly stalls for all to enjoy.  In the embryonic stages of the event’s organisation, it was decided that the day wouldn’t be complete without the presence of Worthians who attended Worth Prep School in 1952 and 1953 – covering both the year the Queen ascended the throne and her Coronation – and we had the joy of welcoming 25 Prep School Worthians, for a truly remarkable and memorable reunion event which we hosted in the Cowdray Room at Worth School.  “The greatly anticipated day of the Worth Jubilee Jamboree dawned as a wonderful  bright summer’s day, and the excitement mounted as noon approached and the guests arrived to see the huge preparations that had been made … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

We forged our ways across the country one cold January evening, revisiting those same windy roads which used to lead us to school every morning, week or term.  Whether as day girls who took the route every day, or as boarders who took it less frequently, for all of us the road back to Worth was no doubt a trip down nostalgia way.

The flow of memories from those incomparable two years grew stronger as the gates loomed up ahead.  I remembered the months of snow that had sat on the gates so winningly; making for both idyllic photos of prospectus gold-dust, and interminable days of cold.

I remembered the nerves the gates had thrown open on my very first day; the stress they engendered when approaching the school for exams; and the excitement they’d ignited after the first half term of Year 12 when I couldn’t wait to get back to my new friends.

But on this freezing cold night in January 2012, being two long summers and a year of university older; the gates seemed a little less grand, a little less powerful.  I was coming home to Worth, not as its student but as a Worthian; my rite of passage was complete.

We rolled up in front of the main reception with my mum telling me to take my ‘ridiculous’ woollen hat off as she bid me goodbye.  In the quiet before the storm, I waited outside the building with Ms Paterson, because we couldn’t remember the door code, and I steeled myself for the impending onslaught of cosy reminiscing.

The evening turned out to be just lovely.  The atmosphere was relaxed, informal and friendly as we fell in with each other like a pack of reunited wolf cubs who would never forget how to be comfortable together.   Nearly half of the 2010 and 2011 leavers attended in a healthy mix of day girls and boarders.

Julia Cook, Eimear Neeson, Rebecca Paterson and Nikki Webb, essential and much-loved members of staff who had supported us during our time at Worth, all made appearances.  Father Stephen pottered about dropping wisdom left, right and centre as usual; and Mrs Brown welcomed us back with her warm, ready smile.

The emphasis of all the conversation – unexpectedly for me – wasn’t backward-looking.  We didn’t obsess over our time at Worth (although a few tasty anecdotes were, of course, relived with relish!) but we looked forward at how our lives are progressing and at who we are becoming.

That is what is great about Worth.  Though we can all quibble about the lack of swimming pool (it had to have its staple mention OK!), Worth is well aware that its people hold it together where walls cannot.  Worth’s admirable strength of community was alive and thriving at this all girls’ reunion – and it was a very warm and enjoyable occasion for us all.

Lucy Whitehouse (StM’10)

I remember sitting in the Officers Mess at 10 Stone Buildings back in 2002 – brandishing a list of 30 Worthians who had ‘promised’ to attend our pilot WOBS City Lunch – just waiting to see if anyone would actually turn up!  These 30 had not proved easy to pin down but gradually; faces familiar, changed and new trickled in and, half an hour or so after the appointed time, we had a quorum and sat down to a lunch that would have been memorable had we not then gone on to a local bar afterwards…

Now here we are 10 years later and it is clear that the City Lunch has come of age.  Nick Barnett and Olivia had scoured the City in search of restaurants that could accommodate 60 for a sit down lunch in a private room.  They settled on Vivat Baachus in Farringdon Road and not only were these 60 places quickly filled – there were a further 14 on a waiting list.

One of the greatest strengths of Worth Society is that it offers opportunities not only to catch up with old friends, but also to make new ones who may be from quite a different generation.  This is increasingly the case with the City Lunch which, though informal and fun, is also a great networking event and an opportunity to tell fellow Worthians what you do.

This year the pre-lunch drinks were kindly sponsored by Nick Barnett who was promoting his Fine Jewellery business.  In the past lawyers, estate agents, wine merchants and distillers have all kindly supported the event.  It was particularly heartening to see the increased numbers of Worthians in their 20s and 30s attending this year – some already well established in their careers, while others were still looking for ‘that ideal job’.

Abbot Kevin joined us and was mobbed by the usual queue of those wanting marriages, baptisms and maybe even the odd informal confession conducted (I’m sure if the Church still had Chaucerian Pardoners Abbot Kevin would do rather well!).

It was fantastic to see a good number of the Society’s Honorary Members present, including Fred Belcher, Evonne Gubbin, Glenn Robertson, Nick Robinson, Roger Stokes and Helen Sweetman – who all obviously still receive their monthly package of miracle drug from elixirofyouth.com!

Lunch was hearty, sanguine fayre; bloody steaks with chips and gallons of red wine; but it really could have been sheep’s eyes in marmite, no would have cared because the real reason for being there was to talk – and the room was buzzing with chat and laughter.  

The few hours passed incredibly quickly and those running desks or with afternoon meetings started to shoot off before we had the chance to exchange much more than a nod or a wave across the table.

With diaries so difficult to co-ordinate, this really is one date to put in the diary which is the alumni equivalent of speed dating –“Hi, how are you? How many kids have you got now? I see you’ve moved job? Are you on LinkedIn?” – and then someone else taps you on the shoulder, further introductions are made and the banter continues.

It was over all too quickly – roll on 2013!

Simon McMenemy (R’89)

Neil Laughton (C’82), Matthew Brown (C’82), Giles Hamilton (B’82), Jamie O’Meara (R’82) and Crispin Hayhoe (StB’92) were the valiant organisers of the 30-Year Reunion for the ‘Class of 1977-82′.  21 of them met up for drinks and canapes at Quo Vadis, 26-29 Dean Street, London W1 on Thursday 20th September.  They were joined by Keith Owers and some brought their wives along to join in on the fun. 

Fr Luke has provided us with an update on news within the Monastery which we thought might be of interest to Worthians.  There are now 22 Monks in residence and 24 in total.  Br Gabriel Dobson and Br David Jarmy are Juniors in the Community.  Br Gabriel made his Solemn Vows in September 2011 while Br David is due to make his Solemn Vows in September 2013.  Abbot Kevin is attending the four yearly Congress in Rome of all Benedictine Abbots from around the world in September 2012.  Fr Martin has stepped down as School Chaplain after 11 years and is currently having a sabbatical while Fr Peter has taken over as the new School Chaplain.  Fr Christopher continues his role as Director of the National Office of Vocation, for the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Chris Kellaway (B’02) was the sole organiser of his year group’s 10-Year Reunion gathering for the ‘Class of 1997-2002′ and what a fantastic job he did.   Over 30 of them met up for lunch at Belgo, 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2 on Saturday 15th September.  They were joined by Guy Teasdale and Fr Thomas from Worth and had a great afternoon together. 

Congratulations to Rob Stewart (B’99) who married Sally Weigh on Friday 7th September at Combermere Abbey in South Cheshire.  They were married by Fr Stephen who is Rob’s godfather and longtime friend of Rob’s father and Worthian, Andy (B’72).

On the very first Sunday of the new academic year – we welcomed both Worthians RFC and Worthian Girls’ Hockey teams back to Worth for an afternoon of sport.  The Worthians RFC ‘youngies’ challenged the ’oldies’ to a hard-fought rugby match which saw the ‘oldies’ winning 29-24 in the dying seconds (the final three tries were scored in the last 10 minutes).  Meanwhile, down on the Astroturf the Worthian girls had a very good match against the School team and were delighted to win the match 2-1.  Everyone then joined forces for match tea in the Pavilion.

Ben Babington (G’96) and Susanna welcomed their first child on the 20th August 2012 who they have called Jack Charles Alastair.  He weighed in at 9lb 2oz and Ben reckons that he’s already eyeing up his place in the Worth Rugby 1st XV!

David Lean’s 1945 film “Brief Encounter” received five Oscar nominations and won Grand Prize at Cannes.  It was originally performed as a stage play, by Noel Coward, in 1936 called ”Still Life” which captured the passion and pain of a secret love affair between a middle class couple called Alec and Laura.  Dead Posh productions – a student theatre company from Warwick University – put on a revival of this, their dubut play, at The Edinburgh Festival this year in which Worthian,  Katharine Farmer (StA’11), portrayed Laura.

As NASA’s Curiosity rover successfully touched down on Mars – USC professors were awarded a highly prestigious Phase 2 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Research Award to develop new robotic construction technologies for building structures on the Moon and Mars.  One of these professors is Worthian, Neil Leach (G’76).  The project is based onthe concept of ‘In Situ Resource Utilisation’ (ISRU) and seeks to use resources that are readily available on the Moon and Mars as construction materials for novel robotic construction technologies in order to build infrastructural elements - such as roads, landing pads, blast walls and storage spaces.

We have three Worthians who are celebrating the arrival of babies during July.  David Matthews (B’01) and Alessandra welcomed their first child, Sophia Rose on the 15th July; Paul Radziwill (C’88) and Eloise welcomed their fourth, a daughter who they have called Willow Frances Rose and  David Ponsford (B’96) and Victoria welcomed Scarlet Victoria on the 13th July.

Congratulations to James Crookenden (StB’99) on his engagement to Holly Marriott-Smalley on the 14th July 2012.

There was a huge contingent of Worthians present at the marriage of Lorenzo Curci (B’00) to Araminta on Saturday 21st July 2012 in Porto Ercole, Italy.  Hugo Sanders (R’00) and Alastair Stirling (B’00) shared the honour of being ‘joint’ Best Men.  Also tying the knot during July were Mike Matthews (B’99) to Sarah on Saturday 7th, John-Henry Wicks (G’00) to Rhiannon on Saturday 14th and Bill McNamee (StB’92) to Pauline on Friday 20th.

We were delighted to welcome back to Worth School six Worthians  in support of the School’s annual Careers Fair which took place on Saturday 16th June 2012.  They accounted for more than half of the total number of speakers.  Tom Butter (B’04) spoke about his career at Accenture; both Dan Hyde (StB’05) who works for the Daily Mail and James Longman (B’05) who works for the BBC provided fascinating insights into the worlds of media and journalism; Robert Birchall (R’01) spoke about his life as a lawyer; James D’Arcy (StB’02) shared his experiences in the insurance world as a member of the graduate scheme at Marsh Risk Consulting and Luca Belpassi (G’01) offered insights into careers in the financial services industry.  They receive our wholehearted thanks!

There hasn’t been a single week in June 2012 when a Worthian wedding hasn’t taking place – we have a magnificent six to report.  Sir Peter Jonas (G’64) to Barbara on Friday 1st, James Lynch (StB’94) to Sinead on Wednesday 6th, Alex Bone (R’00) to Nicola on Friday 8th, Mark Churchman (C’02) to Christina on Saturday 16th, Ollie Barnett (StB’98) to Rachel on Saturday 23rd, Charles Gairdner (StB’01) to Penny on Saturday 30th June.  Our heartfelt congratulations to all of you.

We also have two engagements – Ronan O’Kelly (StB’02) to Catherine Newton on the 8th June and Liam Naidoo (C’97) to Eilis Mulkerrin on the 9th June!  Many congratulations to both couples.

Congratulations to James Crofton (B’95) and Kate whose son, Theodore Jameson Flanagan, arrived into the world on the 29th May 2012 weighing in at 9lb 9oz.

We were absolutely delighted to welcome the following 25 Worthians who attended Worth Prep School to the Jubilee Jamboree Reunion :

• Michael Agius  1952-58 
• Peter Agius 1962-66
• Antonio (Tony) Bueno  1950-55 
• David Cane 1953-56
• Michael Cane  1948-53
• John Carter  1952-58
• Robin Clapham  1948-53
• Marquis Nicholas De Piro  1950-55 
• Kevin Dwyer  1953-58
• Michael Hawkins  1949-53
• David Legge  1949-54 
• Tom Maddock  1954-55
• John Magauran  1947-53
• Simon Matthews  1947-52
• Byard McHugh  1945-50
• Roderick (Roddy) Melotte  1947-52
• Martin Monico 1943-1949
• John Moran  1947-49 + 1
• James Pavry  1959-63
• Peter Pavry  1953-58
• Richard Pavry  1950-55
• Ted Pigot  1937-40
• Anthony Pontifex  1953-56
• Alan Ridgway  1948-53
• Dr Peter Louis Wright  1948-49

The following is the list of Old Gregorians who attended Worth Prep School and have been in touch with us about the Worth Jubilee Jamboree .

We are much looking forward to welcoming those highlighted in bold and italicised to the Jubilee Jamboree on Saturday 26th May 2012 :

• Michael Agius  1952-58
• Peter Agius 1962-66
• Antonio (Tony) Bueno  1950-55 
• Michael Cane  1948-53
• John Carter  1952-58
• Robin Clapham  1948-53
• James Coxon  dates tbc
• Howard Davies  1960-65
• Marquis Nicholas De Piro  1950-55
• Kevin Dwyer  1953-58
• Marshall Gaffney  1953-1958
• Michael Hawkins  1949-53
• Peter Kemmis Betty  dates tbc
• John Keogh  1944-49
• Peter Koe  1944-49
• John Magauran  1947-53
• Simon Matthews  1947-52
• Byard McHugh  1945-50
• Roderick (Roddy) Melotte  1947-52
• John Moran  1947-49
• Anthony Norfolk  1950-54 (brother to Edward)
• Edward Norfolk  1941-44 (brother to Anthony)
• Peter O’Shea  dates tbc
• Michael Owen  1951-55
• James Pavry  1959-63 (brother to Peter and Richard)
• Peter Pavry  1953-58 (brother to James and Richard)
• Richard Pavry  1950-55 (brother to James and Peter)
• Ted Pigot  1937-40
• Anthony Pontifex  1953
• Alan Ridgway  1948-53
• Anthony (Tony) Staveacre  dates tbc
• Simon Sugrue  dates tbc
• Dr Peter Louis Wright  1948-49

On Saturday 26th May we had the huge privilege of welcoming back 25 Worthians who had attended Worth Prep School in the 1940s and 1950s.  They returned to Worth for the Jubilee Jamboree – the majority having been at Worth both for the Queen’s ascension to the throne and her Coronation.  We organised a special reunion for them all in the Cowdray Room (formerly the Monks Refectory) where they enjoyed a champagne reception with canapés followed by a buffet lunch in the company of Monks from the Monastery and particularly Abbot Kevin and Fr Stephen who they remembered so well.  Lunch was followed by a tour around the grounds and Abbey with Fr Stephen and six girls from St Mary’s.  You only had to listen to the noise levels to know how much they enjoyed the day and this wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends.   It was a truly memorable day for us all.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Linda and Ben Hancock (G’90) whose second child - a son, Walter Henry Petre – was born on the 22^nd May 2012.  At the time of writing his sister, Daphne, was just about to visit the hospital to meet Walter for the first time.

Paddy Johnson (B’06) is running the BUPA 10k on Sunday 27^th May 2012 in aid of BookAid International, a charity for which he volunteers.  Anyone who remembers Paddy will realise what a huge undertaking this is for him as, in his own words;  “Anyone who remembers me from school will no doubt be speechless to hear about my participation, as I had such a vehement aversion to all things athletic (apart from fencing)!” .  Paddy decided to challenge himself personally in a way he has never done before because, through his work, he has got involved with BookAid international and has found them to be truly inspiring in their work.  The charity promotes literacy and education in the developing world through local partnerships and investment in books, libraries and educational schemes.  If you would like to support Paddy and help him towards his £250 target, you will find his fundraising page at : http://justgiving.com/paddyrunsforbooks.

On Saturday 2nd June 2012, Chris Napleton (C’11) is setting off with his brother, Richard Legg, on an epic 2,300 mile, 23-day cycle ride from Paris to Istanbul.  Meanwhile, two others, Worthian, Benedict Smith (C’11) and Jacob Woods-Maher will undertake the challenge of putting on 100 exhibitions across 20 countries as part of the “Have you Seen Bob?” global photographic project.   The exhibitions will feature the work of the hundreds of photographers from around the world who have contributed to the project.  All this will be in aid of the British Red Cross to support the cause and raise awareness of the amazing work they do across the world.  If you would like to find out more, do visit their Facebook page at : http://www.facebook.com/#!/haveyouseenbob.  And if you’re interested in supporting or sponsoring the project, please get in touch with Chris at : napleton14@btinternet.com.

Old Farwellians attended Farwell’s 10th Anniversary Party which took place on Friday 11th May in the Pit Stop Cafe at Worth School.   We welcomed back Tom Ballard (’07), James Goodall (’04), Oliver Jacobs (’10), Andrew Kersey (’04), Tom McConnell (’05), Max Watson (’05) and Simon Westley (’04), who joined around 200 guests for an evening of celebration comprising a buffet and drinks.  Duncan Pring, House Master since Farwell’s launch in 2002, hosted the evening which was also attended by past and present Farwellians, their parents, Head Master Gino Carminati, members of staff and the Monastery.   Simon Westley wrote: “It was a great experience coming back to a place that was like a home to us all, and meeting Duncan Pring again reminded us why we all so enjoyed our time at Farwell House.”

Our congratulations to Louis Pitto (B’01) and Gianna on the birth of  their  daughter, Gianella Anna Pitto on the 3rd December 2011 – a sister for four year old Louis.

Worth has had a wonderful response from Old Gregorians (OGs) who attended Worth Junior School in 1952 and 1953 – covering the years the Queen ascended the throne and her coronation - inviting them to attend a reunion of their peers at the Worth Jubilee Jamboree.  Click here to see the list of OGs who have been in touch with us about the reunion – and we would be delighted to welcome other OGs who were at Worth Prep School in 1952 and 1953.  If you’re interested in finding out more, then please contact Olivia Henley, Society Manager at worthsociety@worth.org.uk and Sara Barclay Hudson, Co-Chair, Friends of Worth, at sbh0369@yahoo.com.  The Jubilee Jamboree is being organised by the Friends of Worth to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and takes place at Worth School on Saturday 26 May from 12 noon until 4pm.  The event will bring together the whole Worth School community for a giant street party-style day, with many traditional attractions.

The following 7 Worthians played in the 2012 Worthians Squash Tournament : 

• Desmond Calnan (R’69)                    
• Matthew Doggett (F’07)
• James Emery (C’11)                         
• Paddy Keane (R’94)
• Tom Lewis (G’05)                              
• George Salimbeni (F’11)                   
• Richard Stephens (C’02)       

The following 31 Worthians played in the 2012 Worthians Football Tournament : 

• Rishi Amin (F’11)
• Dale Bellis (F’03)
• Nick Bell-Young (G’05)
• Mark Breen (B’05)
• Nick Elvidge (C’11)
• James Henwood (C’07)
• Daniel Hyde (StB’05)
• Jack Jenkins (C’07)
• Matthew Jeffery (C’10)
• Ed Kemp (F’10)
• Alexander King (C’10)
• Julian Kirk (StB’75)
• Ryan Lall (C’10)
• Edward Long (G’03)
• John Manning (C’10)
• Mike Matthews (B’99)
• Scott McIntosh (R’10)
• Rajesh Patel (C’11)
• Theodore Rivers (F’11)
• Joseph Rivers (F’10)
• Adam Smyth (B’06)
• Michael Solomon (C’04)
• Matthew Stagnetto (B’10)
• Tim Starkie (G’88)
• Andrew Talty (StB’08)
• James Talty (StB’06)
• Ben Taylor (F’03)
• Josh Taylor (B’05)
• Harry Woodman (F’10)
• Tom Woodman (‘07)
• Stephen Young (G’03)

The Worthian girls’ Reunion for 2010 and 2011 Leavers was attended by :

Members of the Monastery and Staff :

• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Caroline Brown
• Julia Cook
• Eimear Neeson
• Rebecca Paterson
• Nikki Webb

Worthians :

• Jessica Coffin
• Sarah Featherby
• Frances Hampson
• Charlotte Hart
• Laura Hurley
• Charlotte Hutchinson
• Dani Jeyes   
• Alexandre Kinde     
• Naomi Larsson        
• Garance-Amanda Lauer    
• Barbara Loefflmann
  Flora Macdonald     
• Imogen McMurray
• Ellie Minch   
• Rosetta Mondeh
• Tara Nagelschmitz  
• Sophie Nash           
• Chloe Noakes         
• Hannah Nottage     
• Charlotte Perry        
• Natasha Plummer   
• Tess Ryan    
• Tanera Simons
• Anna Webb  
• Lucy Whitehouse 

The following attended the 2011 Recent Leavers’ Networking Evening :

Working Generation : 

• Ben Babington (G’96)     Jackson Stops & Staff (property)
• Andy Bayles (B’98)     Law
• Christian Bruning (StB’88)     Greshams (private equity)
• Howard Brookman (G’93)     Bloombergs (business and financial news info)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)     Jackson Stops & Staff (property)
• Ben Elwes (G’81)     CIG (investment management)
• Charlie Gerada (R’90)     JGR Law (commercial law)
• Greg Pickard (StB’81)     Hampton’s International (property)
• Jonathan Sharpe (B’84)     Ratio Asset Management (hedge fund management)

Younger Generation : 

• John Barnes (StB’06)
• Dale Bellis (F’03)
• Marco Boodramsingh (C’11)
• Joe Bradley (F’09)
• Sam Bradley (F’09)
• Tom Butter (B’04)
• George Calvert (C’09)
• Alonso Caro (R’06)
• Mark Corbyn (R’04)
• Anthony Garai (StB’11)
• Ben Green (G’03)
• Rorrie Mars (R’03)
• James Matthews (B’08)
• Daniel Pring (R’03)
• Nick Rush (R’03)
• Sam Swadling (B’07)
• Andrew Talty (StB’08)
• James Talty (StB’06)
• Tom Woodman (F’07)

The following Worthians (and more!) attended the gathering for Andrew Taylor :

• Rishi Amin
• Ben Barham
• John Barnes
• Harry Beer
• Dale Bellis
• Nick Bell-Young
• Jack Bodkin
• Dom Bosher
• Fred Bradley
• Adam Braverman
• Mark Breen
• Edward Bridge
• Marco Boodramsingh
• Charlie Bunn
• Sam Burman
• Calum Butler
• Edward Calvert
• Alonso Caro
• Jack Clancy
• James Cliffe
• Valentino Dulis
• Nicholas Elvidge
• Edward Everington
• Anthony Garai
• Ben Green
• George Gwilliam
• Fergus Hallam
• Giles Heather
• Laurence Hegarty
• Richard Holt
• Nick Hopkins
• Graham Hutchings
• Dan Hyde
• Oliver Ingram
• Paul Keenan
• Chis Kellaway
• Christian Killoughery
• Marcus Lee
• Ben Leslie
• Toby Logue
• Edward Long
• James Longman
• Rorrie Mars
• Henry McNeil
• Nick Michell
• Edward Michie
• Hugh Minch
• Craig Monteiro
• Michael Montgomery
• Teddy Noel-Hill
• Ben O’Donnell Bourke
• Peter Osborne
• William Palmer-Brown
• Andrew Pring
• Peter Rankin
• Nick Rush
• Giles Sacarello
• Sam Shepherd 
• Benedict Smith
• James Soulsby
• Lewis Stagnetto
• Matthew Stagnetto
• Sam Swadling
• Jonny Smyth
• James Talty
• Ben Taylor
• Josh Taylor
• Jack Udale
• Harry Wake
• Sebastian Ward
• Will Watkins
• Andy Welsh

The 10-Year Reunion for the Class of 1996-2001 was attended by :

• Je Ahn
• Perdo Alves
• Luca Belpassi
• Rob Birchall
• Mike Botcherby
• Phil Butterworth
• Alex Cooper
• Mike Corbyn
• James Coutts Donald
• James Dempsey
• Ian George
• Simon Hawkins
• Niall Keelaghan
• Chris Lamb
• Tony Long
• Matt Margret
• Andy Mars
• Tom Noakes
• Rob Palmer
• Louis Pitto
• Adrian Pring
• Graham Prior
• Dom Reynolds
• Jocelyn Seligman
• Phil Symonds

The 20-Year Reunion for the Class of 1986-91 was attended by :

Monks and Former Staff :

• Fr Luke Jolly
• George Daly
• Richard Knowles
• Keith Owers
• Nick Robinson
• Roger Stokes

Butler :

• Dave Barnett
• Oli Clark
• Benjy Hamilton
• Jamie Kenny
• Chris Loftus
• Owen Lynch
• Ed Mauleverer
• Alex Nickson
• Douglas Ogilvy Watson
• Sam Smith

 Gervase :

• Richard Bates
• Trent Belasco
• Chris Brading
• Justin Duckworth
• Timothy McCann
• Piers Nightingale
• Al Prescott
• Vincent Tang
• Marc Vinycombe

St Bede’s :

• Paul Collini
• Hugh Crossley
• Edward Gairdner
• Marc Le Clerq
• Justin Randall
• Toby Simmons

Chapman :

• Tom Coghlin
• Tom Holloway
• Ciaran Naidoo
• Dom Newland

Rutherford :

• Ben Hughes
• Dom Newby

The 30-Year Reunion for the Class of 1976-81 was attended by :

Monks and former staff :

• Abbot Kevin
• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Fr Philip Gaisford
• George Daly
• Keith Owers
• James Cockburn 

 Worthians :

• Andy Adams
• Simon Atkinson
• Richard Bell
• John Bennett
• Andrew Bernard
• Chris Bloy
• Benjamin Burroughs
• Andy Carroll
• Rohan Cavaliero
• Andrew Clutterbuck
• Jeremy Cox
• Simon Cruz
• Martin de la Bedoyere
• Hope Elletson
• Ben Elwes
• Aaron Firth
• Harry Fisher
• Christopher Fitzwilliam-Lay
• Iain Gately
• Peter Hall
• Nicholas Hooper
• Martin Hunt
• Robert Mannix
• John Mocatta
• Justin Mould
• Richard Nunn
• Paul Owers
• Geoffrey Page-Morris
• Greg Pickard
• Daniel Preston
• Gregory Renouf
• Dominic Rolls
• Jonathan Stordy
• Dominic Strickland
• Richard Urwick
• David van der Lande
• Nicholas Wallace
• James Wardlaw
• Christian Ward-Thomas
• Dominic Wheeler

The increasing popularity of Worth Society’s annual City Lunch meant that we had to find a new venue to accommodate our ever-growing numbers this year – but even that proved too small to accommodate the 70+ Worthians who wanted to attend. A magnificent 58 Worthians, honorary members and guests, including Abbot Kevin, gathered on Thursday 1st March 2012 at Vivat Bacchus, 47 Farringdon Street, London EC4.  “I remember sitting in the Officers Mess at 10 Stone Building back in 2002 brandishing a list of 30  Worthians who had ‘promised’ to attend our pilot WOBS City Lunch … …” read more.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

On Friday 6th January 2012 we were delighted to welcome back to Worth 25 of our 2010 and 2011 Worthian girl Leavers’ for a ‘house-style’ reunion dinner that was held in the Cowdray Room at Worth School.  They were joined by those who were closely associated with them during their two years in the sixth form at Worth – Fr Stephen Ortiger, Caroline Brown, Julia Cook, Eimear Neeson, Rebecca Paterson and Nikki Webb.  “We forged our ways across the country one cold January evening, revisiting those same windy roads which used to lead us to school every morning, week or term … …” read more.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.

Honorary Members and Guests :

Abbot Kevin

Fred Belcher

Evonne Gubbin

Glenn Robertson

Nick Robinson

Roger Stokes

Helen Sweetman

Olivia Henley

Worthians :

 1960s

Desmond Calnan (R’69)

Terence Calnan (R’65)

Mike Clarke (G’63)

Anthony Green (C’69)

Gavin Hamilton-Deeley (R’70)

Claude Keith (G’69)

John Weguelin (C’70)

James Wheeler (C’68)

1970s

Nick Barnett (G’73)

Mark Breen (StB’76)

Richard Breen (StB’75)

Nick Butterworth (G’76)

Paul Cattermull (StB’73)

Martin Green (C’76)

Jeremy Sandle (G’74)

Mark Simpson (StB’76)

John Tate (G’76)

1980s

Mark Collini (StB’89)

Luan de Burgh (StB’84)

Sean Donnellan (StB’86)

Ben Hancock (G’90)

Chris Kenny (B’89)

Antony Legge (G’86)

James Maxwell-Scott (R’89)

Simon McMenemy (R’89)

Tim Ross (R’86)

Chris Rybak (B’85)

Matthew Scouller (G’86)

1990s

Simon Albert (G’98)

Ben Babington (G’96)

Oliver Barnett (StB’98)

Howard Brookman (G’93)

Richard Gairdner (StB’98)

Nick Kelly (R’00)

Richard Lynton-Jones (StB’97)

John-Henry Wicks (G’00)

2000s

Livio Belpassi (B’04)

Lorenzo Belpassi (B’04)

Luca Belpassi (G’01)

Charles Birchall (R’03)

Sam Burman (B’03)

Calum Butler (B’07)

Mark Corbyn (R‘04)

Giles Heather (F’03)

Mark Lane (F’03)

James Madsen (B’02)

Chris Madsen (B’04)

Rorrie Mars (R’03)

Adrian Pring (R’01)

Daniel Pring (R’03)

Christian Zaleski (StB’03)

If the idea of an afternoon on the Mercedes-Benz World test circuit at Brooklands appeals to you – then why not get a team of 4-5 of you together and enter the Henry Surtees Brooklands Team Challenge Event?  This 2-hour endurance race is taking place during the afternoon of Wednesday 4th July 2012 and is a charity fund-raising event, in aid of the Henry Surtees Foundation.   It is being organised by John Surtees, father of the late Henry Surtees (C’09), and the racing will be followed by a champagne reception, prize-giving and interviews.  The entry cost per team is £1,000.  For further information about the event, do visit : www.daytona.co.uk.

Congratulations to Ewan Ward-Thomas (B’77) who married Beatrice de Cizancourt on Saturday 17th March 2012 in London.  They will be dividing their time between living in London and France.

News from Jake Ambridge’s (C’07) parents – Paul and Ali – to tell us that the Wellcome Trust has awarded Jake a £5,000 bursary and all fees covered to spend a year doing Veterinary Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College.  He will graduate in Veterinary Pathology at the end of this academic year, before finishing the last three years of his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree.  This is a great achievement as only nine people from all over Europe are selected for this course, and only five bursaries are offered. 

Further news from Paul and Ali Ambridge to let us know that Tom Ballard (F’07) got accepted to study Law following his first degree at Durham University.

Andrew Cloud (B’00) has just told us about the launch of his new website which aims to help people learn about different jobs so they are better prepared to choose a career and gear their current learning and attitude appropriately.   The website is called www.JobAdviceRoom.com and is well worth a visit.  If any Worthian is interested in adding an entry to the site, then Andrew would very much like to hear from you at : Andrew@JobAdviceRoom.com. 

We welcomed around 35 Worthians back to Worth on Sunday 18th March 2012 for our fourth annual Football Tournament (click here to see List of Attendees) and our second Squash fixture for the 2011-12 season (click here to see List of Attendees).  Thanks to the sterling efforts of Andrew Taylor for football and Jeremy Dowling for squash, a great afternoon was had by all.  In the football tournament, the School 1st XI beat the Worthian U21s to retain the Henry Surtees Memorial Trophy, while both Worthian teams and the Staff played in a Round Robin tournament.  The Under 21s beat the Staff 1-0;  the Over 21s beat the Under 21s 2-0;  and the Over 21s beat the Staff team 5-2.  Over on the Squash courts, Desmond Calnan’s (R’69) 25+ years additional experience evidently worked in his favour with the pre-2000 leavers coming out on top and Desmond as the overall winner.  Paddy Keane (R’94) came second and Richard Stephens (C’02) third.  Everyone gathered for Match Tea in the Pitstop following the matches and John Surtees, father of the late Henry Surtees (C’09), kindly came along to present the Henry Surtees Memorial Tropy to the School 1st XI.  Thank you to everyone who attended and contributing to a really great afternoon.

We were absolutely delighted to welcome 58 to the 2012 City Lunch – 50 Worthians and 8 Honorary Members and guests – which was held on Thursday 1st March at Vivat Bacchus in the City of London.  If the noise levels at the Event itself – and the feedback that we have received following it - were anything to go by, then it was an afternoon enjoyed by everyone who attended.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.  We are hoping to find a venue next year that will be able to accommodate greater numbers, so we will no longer need to operate a waiting list.

The Friends of Worth have just announced plans for their next big event – the Jubilee Jamboree will celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and is taking place on Saturday 26th May 2012 at Worth School from 12 noon to 4pm.  This giant street party-style day will have many traditional attractions, musical entertainment , a beer and pimms tent, tea tent, and some high octane rides for those with strong stomachs!   There will also be a huge hog roast and BBQ and lots of family-friendly stalls for all ages to enjoy.  Worthians and their families are most welcome to come along and join in the fun.

Worthian, Nick Barnett (G’73), has commissioned a beautiful pendant as a memento of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.  Exclusive to his company, HandMadeJewels, the design has been approved by the Office of the Lord Chamberlain.  It can be made in platinum, 18ct gold, or silver and can be diamond set – as shown in the photograph.  Although shown here as a pendant, it can also be made as a brooch or cufflinks.  For more images and information do click on : http://handmadejewels.co.uk/2011/12/the-queens-diamond-jubilee.

Jonathan Palmer Brown is a Worth School parent and is Chairman of the Board of CAFOD – the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development.  CAFOD has recently been awarded UK Aid Match Funding – which means that the Government will match pound-for-pound every gift CAFOD receives for its Lent appeal.  Whether you are a long-time supporter of CAFOD or hearing about this for the first time, please do visit their website at : http://www.cafod.org.uk/give where you can find out more about how access to water can change the lives of some of the world’s poorest people, and how your support can help make that change.

The Downside Fisher Annual Boxing Dinner is the major annual fund raising event for the Downside Fisher Youth Cub.  It is a black tie event and is taking place on Wednesday 18th April 2012 at the Troxy – a 1930s art deco former cinema close to Limehouse DLR.  The evening is a display of amateur boxing at its very best and is an excellent way of supporting a charity that has been active in a deprived area of London for over a century.  Attendees will be met with a welcome drink, followed by a 3-course meal and then treated to a demonstration of street dancing and entertainment by members of the youth club, followed by the boxers’ parade and around 10 bouts of three rounds involving both junior and senior boxers. The evening will be rounded off with a charity auction.  Former world champions Terry Downes and Lloyd Honeyghan, who learned their boxing skills as members of the Fisher Amateur Boxing Club, will be Guests of Honour.  You can book a ticket or organise a table for the evening by visiting :  Boxing Dinner 2012 Booking Form

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Robert Döry (StB’68), aged 61 years.  Robert was found at his home on Tuesday 14th February 2012.  His funeral is to be held at 11.00am on Wednesday 14th March 2012 at the Brompton Oratory, Brompton Road, London SW7 2RP.  Should anyone wish to write to Robert’s sister, Katrina Rose, her address is : Vale do Lobo, Apartado 579, 813-034 Almancil, Algarve, Portugal.

Our congratulations to John-Henry Wicks (G’00) who proposed to Rhiannon Tracy on the 12th December 2011 in Rome.  They will be marrying on the 14^th July 2012 in Edinburgh and Olly Parry (StB’00) is to be be joint best man.

Our congratulations to James Lynch (StB’94) who is engaged to Sinéad O’Driscoll.  James proposed on New Year’s Eve 2011 and they are hoping to get married at Worth during the summer of 2012.

2011 : City Lunch

By popular demand, we returned to the Bleeding Heart Restaurant, Bleeding Heart Lane, London EC1, for the third consecutive year for Worth Society’s annual City Lunch which took place on Thursday 17th February 2011.  40 Worthians attended with Fr Kevin.  “It’s certainly a truism that where there’s good food and wine, you’re bound to find Worthians!  And so it was on a sunny afternoon in February, that a swarm of Worthians descended, as bees to a honey pot, on the … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

Held on Thursday 27th January 2011 at the Prince Albert Pub, 85 Albert Bridge Road, Battersea, London SW11, the Worth Society “Call My Bluff” Wine Tasting evening was attended by 32 Worthians.  “The third Worthian “Call My Bluff” wine tasting broke new ground this year whilst maintaining the deep-rooted traditions of the previous two.  So, what was … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

2011 : Recent Leavers’ Networking Evening

On Wednesday 7th September 2011, 28 Worthians gathered at the Samuel Pepys Bar, Stew Lane, Upper Thames Street, London EC4 for Worth Society’s second Recent Leavers’ Networking Evening.  “September 2011 saw the Recent Leavers’ London Networking Event return to the City for the second year.  Hosted at the scenic … …”  read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Friday 7th January 2011 we were delighted to welcome our first cohort of 2010 Worthian girl Leavers’ back to Worth for their inaugural reunion dinner.  “The start of 2011 was greeted with the sound of excited screeching as 17 of the original 32 girls returned to enjoy a meal in the Cowdray Room.  Having been treated to regular ladies’ dinners whilst at Worth, it soon felt completely natural to be enjoying school food and wine with old friends, and we were lucky enough to share the evening with many of the Staff who had worked closely with us during our two years … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On the evening of Saturday 20th August 2011, 25 of the Class of 1996-2001 met at Ciao Bella, 90 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1 for a 3-course meal before moving onto a nightclub for all-night entertainment!  “10 years since leaving Worth – and I have another blue paper to write; although refreshingly not as punishment for dissent in Mr Smith’s maths class … …” read more.  Click here to see the List of Attendees. Our thanks to Je Ahn, Luca Belpassi, Adrian Pring and Jos Seligman for taking up the mantle and acting as our event co-ordinators.

2011 : 20-Year Reunion for the Class of 1986-91

On the afternoon of Saturday 2nd July 2011, 31 of the Class of 1986-91 met at The Courthouse Modern Hotel, just off Oxford Street at 19-21 Great Marlborough Street, London W1 for a wine and buffet lunch and ‘pay as you go’ bar with their six guests – Fr Luke, George Daly, Richard Knowles, Keith Owers, Nick Robinson and Roger Stokes.  “There were a few who questioned my motivations for organising the 1991 Leavers’ 20-year reunion … …” read more.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.  Our thanks to Ben Hamilton, Owen Lynch, Trent Belasco, Chris Loftus and PJ Bickford who so kindly took on the role as co-ordinators of this Reunion.

On the evening of Friday 7th October 2011, 40 of the Class of 1976-81 met in the Ball Room at The Lansdowne Club, 9 Fitzmaurice Place, London W1 for a champagne reception and 3-course meal with guests - Abbot Kevin, Fr Stephen, Fr Philip, James Cockburn, George Daly and Keith Owers.  “Having read of the huge success of the 1980 Leavers’ 30-Year Reunion in the last issue of The Blue Paper, we knew that our time had now arrived and the pressure was on! … …” read more.  Click here to see the List of Attendees.  Our sincere thanks to John Bennett, David van der Lande and Dominic Strickland for acting as our stalwart event co-ordinators for this gathering.  To view the photographs taken during the evening, do visit : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2354142128212.134701.1089952151&l=ae1fb71a1a&type=1

1960s

• Desmond Calnan (R’69)

 1970s :

• Andrew Agnew (G’77)
• Nick Barnett(G’73)
• Michael Berkeley (G’76)
• James Blake (B’77)
• Mark Breen (StB’76)
• Robert Bodnar-Horvath(B’74)
• Nigel Burnford (StB’72)
• Paul Cattermull (StB’73)
• Mark Drummond-Brady (B’75)
• Hugh Easterbrook (R’76)
• Jeremy Fletcher (G’72)
• James Forte (C’72)
• Steve Fowler (R’75)
• Gavin Hamilton-Deeley (R’70)
• Brian Heathcote (C’70)
• Paddy Jago (StB’75)
• Nick Metcalf (R’75)
• Steven Noel-Hill (StB’74)
• Stephen Thorton (C’75)
• Tony van den Bosch (C’74)
• Anthony Ward-Thomas (B’76)
• Charlie Whelpton (B’74)
• Michael Worrall (R’71)

1980s :

• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Sean Donnellan (StB’86)
• Crispin Hayhoe(StB’82)
• Charles Hooper (C’80)
• Martin Hunt (StB’81)
• Simon McMenemy(R’89)
• Elizabeth Robertson (B’86)
• Alex Walters (StB’80)

 1990s :

• Ben Babington(G’96)
• Simon Douglas (B’90)
• Charlie Gerada (R’90)
• Alex Kenney (B’97)
• Will Kenney (B’95)
• Richard Lynton-Jones (StB’97)

2000s :

• Je Ahn (R’01)
• Luca Belpassi (G’01)
• James D’Arcy (StB’02)
• Giles Heather (F’03)
• Mark Lane(F’03)
• Chris Madsen (B’04)
  Rorrie Mars (R’03)
• Tom Podbury (C’02)
• Adrian Pring (R’01)
• James Pymont (B’00)
• James Wallace (StB’02)
• John-Henry Wicks (G’00)

Honorary Members, Monks and Worth Society :

• Fr Stephen
• Fr Kevin
• Evonne Gubbin
• Keith Owers
• Nick Robinson
• Glenn Robertson
• Helen Sweetman

2010 : City Lunch

For the second year we returned to the very popular and renowned Bleeding Heart Restaurant, Bleeding Heart Lane, London EC1, for the City Lunch which took place on Thursday 25th February 2010.  50 Worthians attended together with 5 Honorary Members of Worth Society and Frs Kevin and Stephen.  “I was particularly struck as I arrived at the Bleeding Heart Restaurant, at the sense of history that pervades the whole place.  It is not at all difficult to believe that a murder … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Wednesday 22nd September 2010, 28 Worthians gathered at the Samuel Pepys Bar, Stew Lane, Upper Thames Street, London EC4 for Worth Society’s inaugural Recent Leavers’ Networking Evening.  “It was an informal gathering aimed at bringing together the bright minds of Worthians already established in the City, with recent School and University leavers needing guidance in their future … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On the evening of Thursday 7th October 2010, 15 of the Class of 1955-2000 gathered for drinks and a buffet at The Antelope pub, 22 Eaton Terrace, London  SW1 with Fr Martin..  “Whilst we were relatively few in number, ours proved to be quite a formidable gathering in the private room of the Antelope Pub, off … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Saturday 6th November 2010, 21 of the Class of 1985-90 returned to Worth for a special reunion lunch in the Cowdray Room (formerly the Monks’ Refectory) with Abbot Kevin, Fr Charles, Fr Luke, Fr James, Jeremy Dowling, Paul Miller and Keith Owers.  “The memories came flooding back as soon as we arrived at Three Bridges where we were met by two Barkers taxis (sadly there was no Mrs Blake there to meet us, but a 50-year old taxi driver … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On 17th September 2010, a magnificent 46 of the Class of 1975-80 gathered for drinks at The Pillars of Hercules in Soho before moving on to The Dining Room at Soho 21, 21 Old Compton Street, London W1 for a meal with Abbot Kevin, Fr Stephen and Keith Owers.  “Well, I will be honest – as I walked out of the School in July 1980 I did not look back and, as I had the whole of the rest of my life in front of me (still do actually), I set off to find out what life had in store for me; and lost contact with those 75 or so souls that I had spent up to eight years living alongside … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Friday 8th October 2010, 14 Worthians – all in their 60th year – gathered for dinner at Shampers, 4 Kingly Street, London W1 with Abbot Kevin and Keith Owers.  “Was it some macabre fascination that attracted 14 of us to attend a Reunion organised by Des Calnan and James Wheeler?  After all, most of us had not seen each other for 40 years and Father Time was not going to turn a blind eye to deterioration – well, not … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

2009 : City Lunch

Held on Thursday 26th February 2009 at the Bleeding Heart Restaurant, Bleeding Heart Lane, London EC1, the City Lunch was attended by 24 Worthians and Fr Kevin.  “And so to the Worthians City Lunch, which took place at The Bleeding Heart; home of much action in Little Dorritt and on a more personal level, the location for one or two fairly long lunches and dinners … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Tuesday 21st September 2009,  we welcomed 21 of the original 34 Founder Members’ of the Senior School back to Worth for lunch in the Cowdray Room.  They were joined by Abbot Christopher, Fr Stephen, Fr Philip and Fr Kevin from the Monastery.  “The big day finally arrived – Tuesday 21st September 2009.  Worth – magnificent in late summer sunshine – is still approached by the same broad drive that we all took on another sunny day 50 years ago (and with similar trepidation) to begin the work of building a new senior school from scratch, based on the preparatory school … …” read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

• Tom Carter
• Claudio de Petrillo
• Danny Garrigan
• Richard Griffiths
• Matt Grinsted
• Pearse Lynch
• Mike Matthews
• Alistair Myles
• Eduardo Panizzo
• Alex Perry
• Marcus Ripley
• Oliver Rumsey
• Julian Staveley
• Will Taylor
• Andrew Tjaardstra

On Thursday 3rd September 2009, 15 of the Class of 1994-1999 met for several beers and some pub food at The Antelope pub, 22 Eaton Terrace, London SW1 for their 10-Year Reunion.  “Ten years have certainly passed unbelievably quickly and we haven’t changed very much – other than acquiring jobs, wives, houses and all those other things that awaited us when we left Worth as fresh-faced 18 year olds in … …” read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

On Thursday 8^th October 2009, 18 of the Class of 1984-89 met for dinner at Franco’s, 61 Jermyn Street, London SW1 for their 20-Year Reunion.  “If you were a fly on the wall you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a meeting of heavyweight wrestlers (long past their best before date) or people with short term memory loss who had no recollection  … …” Read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

On Friday 9th October 2009, 15 of the Class of 1974-1979 met for dinner at The Bleeding Heart Restaurant, Bleeding Heart Lane, London EC1 for their 30-Year Reunion.  They were joined by Fr Kevin.  “It was the year Margaret Thatcher came to power; the year Trivial Pursuits was invented; the year, in fact, when nudists were first allowed on Brighton Beach!  … …” Read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

Sunday 21^st October 2007 – Worth Old Boys versus Stonyhurst old boys

Charlie Sacarello (B’97) was a much-loved Worth boy who died in a tragic accident shortly after finishing his A-levels at Worth.  It left hundreds of his family and friends at a great loss.  Many of his friends and family attended StonyhurstCollege– our Jesuit brothers up in Lancashire.

As a mark of remembrance, around 250 people met up on his birthday to celebrate his life – a decade after his tragic death.  And what better way to do so than playing the game he loved so well, and was so annoyingly good at …Rugby!

The day kicked off with everyone attending a mass held by Fr. Luke – the 250 attendees filled a good half of the Church.  It was truly wonderful to see so many people reunited after such a long period of time, on what turned out to be the sunniest day of the year to date.

As Worth and Stonyhurst are not on the same schools Rugbycircuit, both teams arrived on the day not really knowing what to expect from each other.  Our aim was to try and reunite as many of the 1st XV of the 96-97 season that Charlie had played in, and of course to include family members who had been at Worth.  The 96-97 1^st XV team remains one of the most successful all-time teams at Worth, and so Stonyhurst’s task was never going to be an easy one.

It was apparent before kick off that this game had a little more edge than most WOBS fixtures, as there were several egos at stake.  There had been months of banter preceding the game as to who was, in fact, the better rugby-playing school!  Certainly Stonyhurst have an incredible pedigree, but this match had far more riding on it than your normal game.  Stonyhurst sang a rousing, yet out-of-tune, rendition of ‘Pater Noster’ to try and intimidate the Worth side (I believe one player burst out laughing at the sound of it, so I’m not sure how well that tactic worked), and there followed a very moving one-minute silence.

For eighty minutes both teams smashed each other!  Every individual who stepped onto the pitch was totally committed and passionate about wearing their school colours.

Worth had a simple but effective game plan – soak up the pressure; work tirelessly in the forwards led by Stephen Ebbett (R’97); throw it wide when the time was right to the pace of Nick Vasquez (G’97) and Teddy Sacarello (B ’06) – respectively, Charlie’s cousin and brother.  As expected. Stonyhurst came out with all guns blazing, but they couldn’t hold off Worth’s relentless and superbly organised attack that was camped deep in their half.  Rewardingly, we secured a try in the top right corner, with the conversion narrowly missed by Sam Barnett (C’97).  Stonyhurst continued to battle hard in the first half, while Steve Whyte’s (B ’98) spotless throwing in at the line-out was accurately hitting the jumpers at 2 and 4, proving that Ben Duke (C’97) isn’t in fact as heavy as he looks after all!  The forwards battled away incessantly, with notable carries from Mic Cataldo (S’97) and James Burt (C ’98) gaining yards, but frustratingly being stopped by a combination of poor refereeing and hard hits from the Stonyhurst pack.  Most unfortunately for Worth, our ‘safe-as-houses’ fly-half, Sam Barnett (C’97), limped off with a hip strain, which is testament to his hard work in National League Two with Westcombe Park.

The first half was predominantly locked in a stalemate, save the two penalties apiece.

So, we broke for half-time where changes were made, and the same commitment followed in the second half.  Matt Pardo (B’01) deftly slotted in at fly-half replacing Sam, but he too was soon sidelined and Worth began to tire psychologically.  Suddenly Stonyhurst were on the front foot and looking confident with ball in hand.  Two almost identical tries were scored on the left wing and in the space of five minutes, Stonyhurst had turned the game around and now led 13-8.

The onslaught from Worth soon arrived.  For nearly ten minutes Stonyhurst stood strong on their try line.  To Worth’s credit we gave it everything, but to no avail with Stonyhurst’s  pack standing strong when it was needed the most. Some darting and direct hole-punching – by Pete Hilton (G’98) and Ebbett (R’97) in the forwards, as well as Richard ‘Gooch’ Cottrell (R ’98) in the backs – were frustratingly halted by a referee who seemed intent on disallowing a free-flowing continuous game.  Alas it was too late, and for Stonyhurst the game was won.

A huge thank you to Father Luke, Des Calnan and to all those spectators and supporters (both friends and family) who made this such a great event.  So great, in fact, that it is sure to become a yearly fixture.  Get your boots out lads …..

Rob Cottrell (R’97)

Since leaving Worth in July 2006, when we spread to all parts of the globe, the 2006 leavers have remained in regular contact for three main reasons – our extremely sociable nature, the WOBS’ network and, last but by no means least, facebook!  Easter and Summer 2007 saw two reunions at one of WOBS’ HQ’s, The Antelope Tavern off Sloane Square, London– no map needed.

The Easter gathering was the first occasion when almost half the year was reunited.  The evening got off to a great start with a free bar (which didn’t remain so for very long!) with Matt Whitehouse chained to it, and saw a credit crunched WOBS’ Chairman exit the funding market almost as rapidly as Northern Rock. The only disappointment was the limited ability of some attendees to cope with alcohol – presumably the consequence of the ‘one beer’ parties experienced at Worth!  As a result the evening was not destined to hear the last bell, and was brought to a slightly premature ending with an unfortunately triggered fire alarm.  The attendees did, however, perform an extraordinarily orderly exit – the result of years of practice escapes to the front quad.

Our thanks to Worth Old Boys’ Society for helping to finance our first reunion!

The second reunion saw most of those unable to make the Easter event turning out, and demonstrated the hardening impact of Uni through exposure to copious quantities of white lightning, resulting in a perfect demonstration of undergraduates’ desire to stay until lights out!

Once again a very successful evening and, on reflection, you realise the great bond that Worth has created between us all.

Here’s looking forward to many more reunions!

Robert Butterworth (StB ’06)

When Worth Society suggested a reunion for 1998 Leavers’, they naturally asked for  Richard Gairdner’s assistance, who enlisted the help of myself and Ollie Barnett.  With that not proving quite enough of a draw – we entered the IT space age in a way that would have made Father Christopher proud!  And it was through Facebook and an email barrage that numbers began to rise.

The date was set for November, and planning got under way over the summer months, with the ‘committee’ convening in various locations aroundLondon. Unfortunately, not a lot could be recalled on what was actually agreed at these meetings;  nonetheless,  after a rigorous selection process, The Sugar Reef in Piccadilly was chosen as our favoured destination.  And so it was, on the 15th November 2008 – just after England had taken a hiding from the Aussies at Twickenham – the ‘98 leavers and four teachers descended on central London to re-kindle old friendships and share some great stories about ‘parades’, ‘blues’ and ‘long dorms’.

It was especially good to see some who had been in our year group but who had left in Junior House – Pasquale D’Arbella was a very close friend to many back in the early 90s, so it was just brilliant to see him again.

It really was very rewarding (and a slight relief!) to see so many people make the effort to come along, not least the teachers – Nick Robinson,Glenn Robertsonand Father Luke and Father Martin.  It was great to see them again, albeit slightly strange calling them by their first names.  (I’m sure I heard David try to attract Glenn’s attention by shouting “Sir” across the bar!). James Williamsand Alan Mitchell sent their apologies, and The Sugar Reef was understandably dismayed at this loss of significant income.

It was great to catch up with everyone again and, although things do change at the ‘old place’ with the building of a new sixth form house, conversion of the main school and the introduction of girls – some things never do change. Worth boys always know where to find the bar and how to have a good time!

The greatest measure of the success and relevance of the night was that everyone who attended said it had been too long since we had all seen one another, and that we could not possibly let another ten years pass before we arrange something similar.  I totally agree – and have already delegated responsibility for 2009’s ‘do’ to Stephen Wolseley!!

However, on a serious note I would be very happy to make such an event an annual occasion, and open it to a wider audience of Worthians.

David Micallef-Eynaud (B’98)

Due to the miracle of social networking that is Facebook, and Olivia Henley’s efforts, early September 2008 saw a good cohort of Worthians from the 2007 crop gathered at The Antelope pub in the heart ofLondonfor their inaugural reunion. I always felt that ours was an excellent year – ‘naughty but nice’ was how Janine Forbes-Kiely (Gervase House Matron) described the 1988-1989 harvest!  And true to that description we enjoyed a nice – and naughty evening.

All of the 40 or so Worthians present had stories to tell – from all night raves at the Full Moon Party in Thailand, to scaling the heights of Machu Pitchu in Peru.  And there were even those who had already braved the world of higher education, and had expert advice on how to deal with university life for those of us about to embark on it.  Invaluable information included:  “Just remember that you only need 40% to pass”; “Fresher’s flu is unavoidable” and “I wish I’d done less work last year!”

Personally, and I think that all present would agree, I had a great evening and it was lovely to see an eclectic mix of my colleagues from school and have an opportunity to catch up with old friends.  Unfortunately the evening became a little raucous, as certain members of the group took ‘naughty’ to heart with a performance of their favourite Australian drinking games.

Despite this, there was very positive feedback from all those involved and hopefully we’ll be able to have a repeat of the event soon. Thanks must go toNick Butterworth,Andrew Taylorand Father Kevin for joining us, and to Olivia Henley for organising the evening.

Sam Swadling (C’07)

Our esteemed panel :

• Eddie Robinson (B’89)
• Simon McMenemy(R’89)
• Shane Allin (B’89)
• Julian Gairdner(StB’89)
• Mel Carson (B’90)

 The tasting teams! :

• Robert Bodnar-Horvath(B’74)
• Richard Breen (StB’75)
• Nick Butterworth(G’76) and Geraldine
• Simon Gordon (StB’74)

• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Piers Connolly (R’88)
• Charles de Viggiani (B’85)             
• James Dunster (B’85)
• Michael Gabriel (C’85)
• James Maxwell-Scott (R’89)
• Gordon Moore (G’85)

• Ben Babington(G’96)                                 
• John Concanon (B’96)                    
• James Burt (R’98)                            
• Simon Douglas (B’90)
• Simon Gabriel (C’90)
• Angus Gairdner (StB’96)    
• Peter Hilton (G’98)
• Nick Lobb (C’90)
• Andrew Micallef-Eynaud (B’96)                  
• Richard Morgan (StB’97)                            

• Charlie Bellm (R’04)            
• Sam Burman (B’03)             
• Chris Coxall (R’02)                          
• Oliver Ingram (B’04)             
• Mark Lane(F’03)
• Ed Long (G’03)                                            
• James Madsen(B’02)                     
• Rorrie Mars (R’03)                           
• Alex Podbury (C’04)
• Nick Rush (R’03)                              

Back in December 2007 my brother, Sam (C’97), suggested we enter the Marathon des Sables (MdS).  I knew a little bit about it – namely that it’s a few consecutive marathons in the Sahara desert.  So I said “Yes”, we put our names on the waiting list and I put it out of my head.

Fast forward to Jan 2009 and Sam reminds me that I have agreed to do the MdS in 2010, and that really the build-up training should start now – it was at this point that I thought I’d do some further research into what kind of event required 15 months training…! 

It turns out that the MdS involves running the equivalent of 6 marathons in 7 days across the Western Sahara inMorocco.  In addition to the distance and the heat, competitors are required to carry their own food and equipment throughout (apart from water and a tent). 

With this in mind, training began in April 2009 with the London Marathon. We both put respectable times – although the prospect of doing five more consecutive marathons was a little terrifying!  Over the next 12 months we completed a series of events in preparation – including mountain marathons, back-to-back marathons along the Pembrokeshire coast, back-to-back 30 mile marathons and a weekend of ‘sessions in the heat chamber’ at the Porsche human endurance centre at Silverstone.  And we found out just how extensive the ultra-marathon community is!

And so, on the 1st April 2010, we congregated at Gatwick Airport to fly to Morocco for the start of an adventure of unknown magnitude.  The first evening was spent at a hotel in Morocco, before we were bussed out the following day for a six hour journey to the middle of the desert.  Here we had our first experience of the bivouac – a large circle of 150 ‘tents’, which would be our homes for the duration of the event.  The ‘tents’ were bits of material strung up over old bits of carpet – there are no sides and the wind and dust blew straight through.  We underwent our final medical and kit checks, until finally, on Easter Sunday at 09.00 local time, we set-off on the 25th Marathon des Sables. 

We each carried kit weighing in at around 13kg – though anticipated reducing this very quickly by eating as much of our food as early in the race as possible!  To break us in gently, Day 1 was a reasonable 30km (19 miles) effort – although it was our first exposure to the type of terrain we could expect to encounter.  Despite being mostly flat we came to realise that the ground would be either energy-sapping loose sand dunes or rough rubble – which was better on the legs but took its toll on the feet and led to blisters and hot-spots.  Sam and I had vowed to stay together throughout and we crossed the line for this first stage in just over four hours in reasonable shape and feeling confident for what lay ahead. 

Day 2 (35km/22 miles) was significantly harder than the first day due mostly to the fact that it was noticeably hotter, in the late 40s at its peak, included a lot of hills and one huge sand dune in the last 3kms.  Afterwards, Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, who was also participating, proclaimed that Day 2 was the single hardest thing he had ever had to do!  Once again Sam and I stayed together and we completed Stage 2 in around 5 hours 20 minutes.  As we settled in to our evening routine of stretching, eating and re-hydrating, we were a little more apprehensive about the rigours that lay ahead.

Day 3 (40km/25 miles) was a much flatter day than the previous one, so we were able to make good headway to begin with.  However, once again it was noticeably hotter and after the second checkpoint at about the 20km mark, we had to slow the pace right down as we crossed what seemed like a never-ending dried-up lake.  Arriving at the third checkpoint at the 35km mark we were pretty frazzled, and had to push ourselves hard to carry on.  We completed the last 5km as best we could and completed this stage (still together!) in just over 6 hours. 

All eight of us who shared the tent were still going well – although ahead of us we had the 4th stage looming, a distance of 80km (50 miles) non-stop.  Our strategy was simple – we would be disciplined with our pacing and would not set off too fast and risk burn out (quite literally) before the end.  The going was not easy, mainly loose sand and dunes for the first 30km or so, and at the second checkpoint around the 27km point, morale was quite low –we knew that we still had a long way to go! 

On this long stage the top 50 runners set-off three hours after the rest of the pack and somewhere around the 30km mark we were overtaken by the leaders, who glided past us, hardly sweating!

We pushed on and by last light had reached the 50km point.  From then on things became easier – we had well and truly broken the back of it.  Rather cheekily the organisers had designed the course so that 20 of the last 30km were quite serious sand dunes, though I’m glad that we did them in the dark as it meant we couldn’t see them looming in the distance!  We eventually finished the stage at about 1.30 am, roughly 16 hours after starting.  A few members of our tent were already tucked up in their sleeping bags, but one of our crew had suffered real problems with the soles of his feet, and hobbled over the line after 32 hours, a truly heroic effort.

We were lulled into somewhat of a false sense of security after completing the long stage, in that we thought the worst was over and we just had to saunter through the last couple of days.  However, stage 5 is a full marathon (42km/26 miles), and we went of at quite a fast pace.  One bonus was that our bags felt noticeably lighter by this stage, and we were able to push hard throughout the day.  It was a reasonably flat stage and we crossed the line in about 5¼ hours – not a great time in for a marathon in normal conditions, but reasonable given the circumstances.  Once again we were significantly dehydrated, which caused some bladder problems again (!), but at the same time we were excited that we only had a half marathon to go to.  There was a bit of a party atmosphere in the bivouac that night, and theParisorchestra played a concert!  We didn’t bother going to actually sit in the audience, but it was quite relaxing (if not a bit surreal) dozing off to the sound of classical music!

We had heard that the final stage can be pretty rapid as people push hard for the final time, and this year was no exception.  We knew that about half of the final 20km (13 miles) was sand dunes, and these were as hard as they had been all week – the fact that it was the last day didn’t make them any firmer or less steep!  We pushed on hard and crossed the finish line in about 2¼ hours – there was inevitable elation at finishing, as well as a hug and a medal from Patrick Bauer, the crazy Frenchman who dreamed up the idea of the MdS.  The elation was pretty rapidly replaced by tiredness, and as we sat on the bus for the 6 hour journey back to civilisation we noticed how much we all stank!

All our macho talk about having a few beers when we got back turned out to be just that – talk.  We had a decent wash and a massive feed, and then went to bed!  The following day we spent at the hotel, relaxing and eating – and we managed to squeeze in our first beers for several months!  Frustratingly, we were banned from the swimming pool because they were convinced that our feet would be infected.  Most people ignored the hotel staff and had a decent splash around!

We flew back to Englandthe following day, fortunately preceding the volcano ash by about a day, still pretty shattered but proud and relieved it was over.  There were some surprisingly emotional scenes in the arrivals hall at Gatwick (not from us, but from fathers and mother seeing their families again for the first time!), and we said good bye to people who’d become staggeringly close friends in a very short space of time simply because of shared hardship and ultimately shared success.  Sam and I managed to stick together throughout, and the camaraderie and team work element of the race was as enjoyable and important part of it for me as completing it was.  We finished 234th and 235th, out of about 1,000 competitors (the record book will show Sam officially beat me by 1 second; I will never forgive him for ducking me on the finish line…!), which was a pretty pleasing result.  All of this effort was in aid of Take Heart India(www.takeheartindia.org/main.htm), an education and development charity based inIndia which is run by a friend of ours.  With the help of family, friends, colleagues, the Worth Society and several Old Boys we have managed to hit our target of raising £20k, which is very pleasing – thank you to everyone who donated.

I am going on holiday toFranceshortly and am very much looking forward to walking along the sandy beach, carrying no weight, and sitting down wherever and whenever I like!

Ollie Barnett (S’98)

Matthew Burnford (StB’77) undertook a lone cycle ride of 850 miles, starting at his cottage in Todenham in Gloucestershire, and finishing at his sister and brother-in-law’s ‘s home in Ardouane near Montpellier in France.  He averaged 80 miles a day and cycled for ten days.   Matthew carried his tent in order to be completely independent and he doesn’t want to see any more French bread or Camembert for a good while!  He raised £2,135 for the Sarah Greene Clinical Fellowship which goes towards a £300,000 target to fund a new post for a talented medical doctor to join the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at King’s College London.

2010 saw the longest charity ride that Andy Carroll (R’81) has ever attempted for Leuka.  As one ‘Firefly’ he has cycled across the Alps on several occasions, but in 2010 he decided to join the original five Fireflies on a ride from London to Cannes, via Geneva and the Alps.  They covered just over 2,000km in 14 days.  This 2010 ride was the tenth anniversary Fireflies ride and they hit their £1,000,000 fund-raising target for The Catherine Lewis Centre at Hammersmith Hospital – an amazing centre at the forefront of Leukaemia treatment and research.  The photo captures the hell of one particular leg – where Andy was caught as a blizzard closed in on the summit of Col d’Iseran, the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps.

Tim Davies (C’10) and Will Brenninkmeyer (StB‘10) completed the ascent and descent of Mont Blanc in a single day – with the help of fine weather, a great local guide and sheer grit and determination!  It took them 6 hours to reach the top of the Aiguille du Midi and then a further 4 hours 15 minutes to make their return down the mountain.  Their route for the ascent was technically more challenging than the ‘Gouter’ route they had originally planned to take.  “It was extremely windy during our ascent and involved crossing numerous crevasses,” commented Tim.  “It certainly proved to be quite a challenge as we were faced with a significant amount of rock climbing which demanded a lot of rope work – but it did mean that all our advance training was put to very good use”.  Tim and Will raised £615 for Lupus UK and the Alzheimer’s Society. 

When Giles Heather (F’03) secured a place to run in both the London and the Brighton Marathons in the same week, he had no idea that it was going to be the hottest spring on record for decades!  But he was cheered on his way by a number of Worthians who came out in force to support him – pictured from left to right at the 2010 London Marathon are Rorrie Mars (R’03), Jack Bodkin (G’03), Giles, Daniel Pring (R’03) and Mark Lane (F’03).  Giles managed to raise over £2,800 for the Lymphoma Association

Dani Jeyes (StM’10) chose to “Climb Kili for Kids” as part a charity project being run at Nottingham University.  She had to raise a minimum of £2,440 for Childreach International, £700 of which covered her 10-day trip to Tanzania where she climbed Kilimanjaro and visited a local school supported by the Charity.  Dani raised £2,552 in total and, out of a total group of 27 students, 25 of them made it to the summit of Kili.  “Walking for 9 hours overnight to reach the summit was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and it was made worse by the fact that I suffered from severe altitude sickness,” she said.  “Having said that, it was also one of the most rewarding things I have done and I would like to thank Worth Society and everyone else who sponsored me”.

Mickey (R’77) and Hugo Morrissey completed the Edinburgh Marathon on the 22^nd May 2011 in 3 hours 58 minutes and 3 hours 56 minutes respectively.  They got off to a fantastic start, completing the first half in 1:49 and 20 miles in 2:55 minutes – then they found themselves running the last six miles into the wind with gusts of 35-40mph along the coast road to the finish at Mussleborough.  It proved to be a real test of endurance!  They raised a magnificent £5,000 for The Irish Guards Appeal and WellChild

In a time of just over 4 hours, Fraser Moyle (R’08) completed his second London Marathon in 2010.  “The experience of running through London with thousands of other people watching and supporting cannot be compared to anything else,” he said once he’d finished.  Fraser ran for the charity CLIC Sargent – raising a total of £1,000 from donations and sponsorship as well as playing in concerts.  He is looking forward to running more Marathons in the future, and has just completed the Edinburgh Marathon in 2011

The Worthians Charitable Trust Global Action Awards comprise annual grants of up to £1,000 that are made to pupils in Year 13 at Worth, and to Worthians, who are proposing to spend time in unpaid work for the good of others.  This involves either working directly for people within a community or for the environment.  It is also intended that the process of applying for, and the duties of the winner of the Award, should promote skills that will be of use to the recipient outside school.

Purpose of the Journey or Project

The thinking behind the Award is that it should assist Worthians in a gap year project. It is not intended to set down a list of onerous criteria or to be overly prescriptive as to what constitutes a ‘worthwhile project’. But it is expected that the successful applicant will be doing something both beneficial to themselves personally, and to the wider community.  It is hoped that this will perhaps involve travel outside the United Kingdom and/or possibly working with those who do not have the opportunities afforded to a Worth pupil.

Conditions for Receiving a Global Action Award

There are just two conditions for receiving an Award :

1. Every Award recipient is expected write an article for The Blue Paper (Worth Society’s annual magazine) about their experiences.
2. Award recipients are expected to return to Worth School to give a presentation to pupils and speak about their experiences and what they have learned once they return home on completion of their project.

The Society feels that it is very important that the winners of an Award should be involved in promoting the benefits of their activities to those who might follow in their footsteps, and this will be an important factor in making the Award. In particular it is hoped that all winners of the Award will be members of the selection panel in a subsequent year.  Candidates will be expected to prepare a budget for their trip as part of their application.

Making of an Award

Applicants for the Award are asked to prepare a presentation or paper outlining what they are intending to do and how it will be of value to themselves and to the wider community.

This written application should be e-mailed to Olivia Henley at worthsociety@worth.org.uk.   Depending on the number of applicants received either all, or a selected shortlist of applicants, will be asked to make their presentation to the Awards Committee.  While lengthy presentations should be avoided (not least because in the real world people will only read executive summaries) applicants should make sure that they do themselves, and their projects justice.

Awards Committee

The Committee will consist of a representative of the academic staff of the school, two members of the Worth Society Committee, and a former winner of the award (if available).

Timing

Any Worthian interested in applying for an Award should contact Olivia Henley.  GAAs are awarded throughout the academic year, but are considered on a first come, first served basis.

Factors in making an Award

• Development of the individual
• Benefits to members of a community
• Proposals for providing feedback to the school
• Promotion ofWorthSchooland Worth Society
• Costs and budgeting
• The extent to which the candidate has used their own initiative in making their application

Questions

Any further questions in relation to the award should be addressed to Olivia Henley who you can find in the School Office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9.00am and 4.30pm.

Or make contact with Olivia at Worth Society, c/o Worth School, Paddockhurst Road, Turners Hill, West Sussex RH10 4SD

Telephone     : 01342-710241

E-mail             : worthsociety@worth.org.uk.

I boarded a plane in early January 2010 to leave for my four months in Kenya with Africa and Asia Venture. 

It is a country within a continent that was completely alien to me!  On arrival, I teamed up with cohort, Nick, and we headed to Lelwack Boys High School (for Years 9-13) which is situated in one of the most rural areas of Kenya, near a small town called Kapsabet.  It was here that we would spend the next three months teaching.  We felt a little on edge at first as we were exposed, not only to a completely different way of life, but to people with a very different mentality to our own.

It is almost impossible to sum up such an experience – all I can say is, from the moment we arrived, Nick and I had the most incredible four months of our adult lives.  The pairing couldn’t have been better as we got on so well throughout our time together.  

There were the inevitable highs and lows; from running out of electricity and attempting to make lanterns from vegetable oil, to anxiously refereeing a rugby game in front of 2000 spectators.  We found ourselves using our initiative to find ways around potential difficulties; like carving a hole through a chair and placing it over the long drop at the end of the garden (we didn’t want to dwell for too long on the consequences of falling in!).

Although we were provided with school lunches, Nick and I were left to fend for ourselves for other meals and, to my huge disappointment; he was just as feeble a cook as I was!  Luckily, we were rescued by the English teacher ‘Susan’ who became our ‘Kenyan mum’ and taught us to cook some delicious dishes such as succulent deep fried chicken – so we didn’t go hungry after all.

I chose to teach Religious studies and English as my main subjects and also took drama classes several times a week.  The classes were big – I was teaching up to 40 boys per lesson; but they were passionate learners which made my job relatively easy and made the teaching incredibly rewarding.

Even though I could never have been labelled ‘Mr Athlete’ at Worth – the thing that Nick and I felt most passionate about was the sports teaching.  Experiencing the incredible talent on the sports field was something that took both of us by surprise – and our local town, which only spread over a few hundred square metres, is home to many prior Olympic champions. 

On one of our first days, we arranged a small rugby game – the results of which were, well, interesting!   Balls were being thrown high in the air and the boys were jumping on each other’s backs in their attempts to tackle one another; now I could understand why local teams refused to play Lelwack for fear of injury!  Being a proud member of Worth’s fourth team I felt semi-professional in comparison!  We started introducing the rules slowly, gradually the boys responded and we started a relentless training programme as the weekend approached when we had a fixture diarised to play another local school – it became our mission to beat them!

One day a few new boys joined us for a game of touch rugby and it was then that Nick and I caught our first glimpse of Elkana;  who took the ball and ran with jaw dropping speed down the wing.  We soon discovered that his main sport was handball and that he was the fastest runner in the school.  Not ones to miss an opportunity, Nick and I managed to persuade Elkana to play in the match against our rivals, Samoei High, at the weekend. 

So the weekend arrived and we watched in awe as our opposition arrived in a huge truck – out of which tumbled a group of confident rather bigger boys.  Not to be deterred, we told our friends that we had a surprise awaiting them!

As soon as kick off took place, all four coaches were yelling passionate encouragement to their team from the side lines.  Our team tactic was to ‘pass the ball to Elkana who was to sprint like hell’ but, every time the ball was on its way to the wing it was dropped, and Nick and I were left boiling with frustration. Finally our moment arrived – the ball met Elkana’s hands and without a moment’s hesitation he burned down the wing.  Not one boy managed to get within five metres of that ball!  It was truly one of the most exciting moments of our time at the school.

Nick then started focusing on the Rugby and I worked on Athletics.  I measured a two hundred metre line with the help of the local children and created a running track.  None of the boys knew how to sprint start and I worked with them, and particularly with Elkana, on their starts and running technique.  It was a very exciting moment when I timed him over the 100 metres sprint.  Barefooted and running on grass, he achieved a time of 10.20 seconds which meets the Olympic qualification standard of 10.21.

Later that week, we heard that Elkana was dropping out of school because there were insufficient funds to pay his fees.  This meant that he couldn’t attain his Form 4 certificate and without this he wouldn’t be able to get a decent job in Kenya.  Most who fail to achieve Level 4 can’t get a job, end up suffering from depression and this often leads to drink and a very slippery slope.  If Elkana stopped his education now, he certainly wouldn’t have the qualifications to further his athletics career.  So Nick and I took the decision to sponsor him through his final year at school.

Since then Elkana has gone on to acheive the Provincial, Regional and District level qualifications – and is now in the Nationals!  

Nick’s continued perseverance on the rugby field really paid off as he transformed a group of clueless players into the second best team in the District.

During our time in the area we made some great local friends and at the weekends would visit different areas to meet up with other friends who were also teaching.  During the half-term break, we drove to Uganda and went white-water rafting – a terrific experience.

After our three months of teaching was over, we had a remaining month to explore Kenya.  Starting in Nairobi, we travelled to the northern coast of Kenya and made our way down through Lamu, Watamu, Mombassa and Diani Beach.  We spent time exploring the coast and went sailing, fishing, rode camels and swam with dolphins – meeting some really interesting people and hearing some fascinating stories along the way.  We completed our travels with a safari in the Massai Mara National park.

I have been so lucky to be able to visit such an incredible place and to immerse myself in, and grow to feel part of another community.  Worth Society supported the cost of my flight to Kenya and I am so grateful to them for their help; as without this support I would have missed out on an incredible experience. 

I would strongly recommend that any student hoping to spend a Gap Year undertaking community work abroad, should certainly apply for a Global Action Award.

Ben Wintour (B’09)

The last twelve months have been spent working on my career, improving my CV, and thinking of little else other than my friends and myself.  Then, rather suddenly, I had a dawning realisation that the summer of 2009 could well be my last long holiday for some considerable time as, following the usual pattern set out by University, I would be finishing my year’s internship and entering a daunting final year – hoping to embark on a career as soon as exams were done.

Even a simple internet search into voluntary programmes can leave one rather dumbfounded by the variety on offer.  I admit my criteria were perhaps more ideological than most – I wanted to avoid organisations that created profit from unwitting young people with backpacks; NGOs whose budgets were largely spent upon lobbying and advertising; and, even more importantly, governmental and super-governmental agencies whose agendas are intertwined with nations’ foreign and security policies.  This, it appeared, was going to be a rather tall order.

But, on casting my mind back, I remembered a talk given by one of the monks about his work in Peru.  And so it was that I got in touch with Outreach Peru – by way of an email via Fr Bede – asking whether they knew of any schemes in Peru that might need some voluntary help.  He sent back an enthusiastic response, with information on a school in Tarma that Outreach Peru had been supporting through the Catholic educational charity, Fe y Alegría. 

Outreach Peru provided the funding necessary to build the school, using the monks’ historical ties within the country to help them choose both an area in need, and a group of people capable enough and driven by the same principles to make a real difference.  Father Bede offered to contact the headmistress of the school to see whether they were interested in having me for a while – I jumped at the chance!

A couple of weeks later I was invited to pop over to the Abbey to talk over the project with Fr Bede.  His enthusiasm for the project was entirely infectious, the photos and stories captured my imagination and what had recently started as a dream began to take shape. 

Funding was my next challenge.  I approached Payden and Rygel, an asset management company for whom I was working at the time.  They most generously agreed to sponsor my flight and pay for a brand new printer/photocopier for the School.  Subsequently, Duncan Pring got in touch having spoken with Fr Bede.  He suggested that I apply for a Worth Society Global Action Award.  I did – successfully – and with this further funding, I was ready to embark on my volunteering adventure.

So, on the 6^th July 2009, I set off for Peru. I was collected at the airport by Sisters’ Charo and Jenny and taken to their Order’s house near to the parish of San Benito, which Fr Bede had founded some years before.  Now, the only very important bit of advice I would give to anyone embarking on such an adventure, is to learn at least the basics of the native language of the country that you’re visiting.  It makes things a lot easier (not heeding Fr Bede’s warning was a big mistake). Luckily, he arrived the next morning and after a couple of days in Lima, we took a coach to Tarma, in the Junín region of the central Andes.

The School is set high on the mountains surrounding the altitudinous City of Tarma, and was chosen for its poverty and lack of access to the City’s other schools.  It is a fantastic project, the School being funded by Outreach Peru, the Sisters of St Joseph and Fe y Alegria; while the teachers are paid by the local educational authority.

Fr Bede was there to check on progress, and to take part in the School’s opening ceremony.  A group from Worth School arrived shortly after us for the ceremony, complete with Alan Mitchell (quite shockingly, sans moustache).  The day was a riot of colour, music and dancing, and it quickly became very clear just how much this project means to the local community and how the lives of these young children can be transformed through a good education.  Once the party was over, and Fr Bede and the Worth group leave, I remember the reason why I had made this journey.

Peru is a truly fascinating place and its people are friendly and open. However, 20 years of civil conflict has torn communities apart and destroyed a great deal of trust. Between 1979 and 2000 Maoist extremist groups such as Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path) and the MRTA declared guerrilla warfare upon the Peruvian state, often targeting civilian communities in order to evoke terror.  Every family in Peru was affected by insurgent or government brutality, and the extreme circumstances allowed Fujimori’s dictatorship to occur and justice to be shunned for order.  The scars still run very deep and the continued failure of politicians means that the work of NGOs is essential to the restoration of the country.

I spent the rest of my time in Tarma doing a wide array of work – from helping in English lessons, to giving guitar lessons, cleaning windows still filthy from the building work and moving and assembling furniture.

During this whole experience, I gained so much more than I could ever offer. The children I was lucky enough to meet were welcoming, inquisitive, funny, unworldly and ebullient.  Some were raised by elder siblings – their parents having moved away to find work – and nearly all came from families many would consider too large given the income brought in by their parents.  Without a welfare safety net that many in Europe take for granted, it is likely that these children would have been deprived of the basic opportunities to improve their lot without the schooling afforded by Hermana Charo, her fellow teachers, and organisations such as Outreach Peru and their donors.

I would strongly advise anyone interested in voluntary work to get in contact with Outreach Peru – my two months spent there was just incredible.  I was treated like family and encountered some of the most genuinely lovely people I’ve ever met, whose humility and faith allows them to transcend material constraints to achieve so much. 

I would very much like to thank Worth Society for the £250 they provided to help me make the trip, and would love to think that others who read this account might take the opportunity to visit Tarma.

Max Watson (F’05)

I can safely say that, before embarking on my trip to South America, I knew hardly anything about the experience I was about to undertake.  It was only on the flight over to Santiago that I began to ponder and question a few important things, like;  Who is picking me up from the airport?  Where am I staying?  What am I going to do about food?  Where am I actually working and living for the next four months? 

To which the answer to every single question was: “I haven’t a clue!”

So, what made me choose Chile in the first place?   I knew that I wanted to spend part of my gap year doing something worthwhile and very different.  Worth has a well-established relationship with the Manquehue Movement, which sends missionaries over to visit the School and Abbey every year.   I really enjoyed their company when I met them during their visit to Worth, and respected the messages they were bringing from their work in Chile. Despite the movement taking Gringos (a friendly name given to any foreign gap student) since the 1980s, nobody from Worth had yet taken this opportunity.  Ampleforth and Downside have been sending gap year students since the beginning of the Gringo programme, and I thought it was a terrible shame that no-one from Worth had taken advantage of all the amazing opportunities that lie in wait there.  In addition, this was my chance to learn a new language, gain experience of a new culture and undertake some fulfilling work within a school environment.

On my arrival I was thrown into a period of intense activity – learning about Chilean customs, meeting lots of people, trying to get to grips with the incredibly fast Spanish that is spoken here. Even after a few days, I still had very little idea as to how my time in Chile would be spent.

I soon discovered that the very essence of this experience is one of faith, which forms the root of all activities in which Gringos are involved.  I was placed in Colegio San Anselmo, the movement’s newest school, which they established in 1995.  The setting is dramatic – established in a high valley 30 minutes from Santiago, surrounded by a desert landscape and a backdrop of impressive mountains.  San Anselmo is a little oasis among all this.

My main work was to assist in English classes and a department called Tutoría.  Tutoría is quite a unique section of each school – its sole purpose being pastoral with the aim of building relationships between the younger and older students in the school. Every Monday afternoon the final lesson of the day was set aside for a Tutoría session. Older boys and girls would be split into groups and sent to visit the same class each week.  The Tutoría would begin with a reflective prayer, followed by chaotic versions of football or other unique games!  Above all, this was a special time for the students; offering them the opportunity to bond with one another and develop friendships across all age groups.  To see the spirit in which the Tutoria was carried out was quite something and I felt very privileged to be part of it.

 One of my favorite aspects of Tutoría was the ‘acompañamientos’, which involved taking 11 to 16 year-old students out of class and simply talking to them individually.  My role was to listen and to give them my full attention. The openness of some of the boys took me by complete surprise.  They entrusted me with very personal problems and issues they had.  As my Spanish developed, I was able to help them and offer advice where I thought appropriate.  Being a mentor was not something I even expected when I arrived in Chile, but it became a very important part of my day.  Although some were a little apprehensive to start with, you could tell how thankful they were to have somebody outside their everyday life to talk to, and I really valued this special opportunity.

One of the main ‘rites’ of the experience with the Movement is the Gringo’s accommodation.  Most commonly they stay in a house of single oblates of the Movement, in what they call a ‘community’.

I was very fortunate to live in a house, named Casa San Eduardo, which was located in the suburbs of Santiago. I lived with a group of three young Oblates and another gringo from Ampleforth, called Johnny Wells.  The five of us lived very simply (without internet or TV!) under the rule of St Benedict.  I found the first few weeks were pretty tough.  Although my housemates were great, I was a little uneasy about how to approach this new way of community living. Everything we had – i-pods, computers, books, etc – we shared, and there was never much time just to be alone. It was very important to the Oblates that our ‘community’ was healthy and strong, which meant always being together in the evenings as well as doing activities together at the weekends in order to help our friendship to grow and develop.

There were times when I focused on the impracticalities of everyday living and allowed myself to become frustrated. Part of our house’s mission was to invite old boys from the Manquehue schools to live with us for a short period of time.  We found our little 3-bedroom house was filled to bursting point with an additional six students at times.  My focus was entirely on the practical – we didn’t have enough food, beds, chairs, etc for their stay.  Why hadn’t the Oblates thought about this?  However, when they came to leave, and indeed when I left, I feel I had learned an incredible lesson in community living. Through the Oblate’s example, this aspect of the experience developed my capacity to share and look out for others without focusing on the negative.

Apart from my regular work in San Anselmo, there were many others things that occupied my week.   Johnny and I were in the school’s ‘Servicio’ team, and so were taken to visit a local prison; quite an intense experience! 

My favourite memory was working in San Lorenzo, the Movement’s school in a very poor area of Santiago.  I went once a week with a group to help in ‘Casa Santa Escolástica ‘ – an after-school day-care centre for young pupils whose parents were facing difficulties.  I visited the same young girl each week and spent an hour doing whatever she wanted to do.  Sometimes I helped her with homework, other times we painted pictures – and to her amusement, sometimes she painted me!  She spoke no English, but my Spanish improved over time and I could at last have a proper conversation with her.  Despite our limited understanding of each other initially, it still amazes me how we found other ways to communicate, how our friendship grew through seemingly simple activities, and how rewarded I felt in giving my time to help someone who probably had a very difficult time at home.

Another very special memory is the weekend that I helped a group of students to build a ‘media agua’ – a house designed for emergency accommodation after an earthquake, but often used as homes for people in the poorer regions of Santiago.  We were building this particular media agua for a woman who had been left homeless after the house and land that she had rented for many years was sold.  We worked all weekend to finish the project, and throughout it all, the woman was there thanking us.  This sense of gratitude was so uplifting – and I was actually having fun in the process, having made some great friendships with the students I was with.  The house was like a grand garden shed – but for this woman it was to be her home.  The fact that we had helped change this woman’s life for the positive in such a short time was a very powerful experience and it has encouraged me to volunteer more of my time in the future.

I have learnt and achieved so much by coming to Chile – and for this I have to thank Worth Society for generously supporting my adventure.  I started slightly apprehensively as I boarded the plane, bound for a country tucked away in a different corner of the world, where I arrived without any expectation.  Things haven’t necessarily been easy – indeed aspects have been extremely difficult – but the value in facing and overcoming these difficult periods has become clear to me over time.

In all honesty, it is impossible to convey just how much I have gained from my whole experience with the Manquehue movement. I feel that I have grown mentally and spiritually, I have learned more about myself and been shown a unique way to live and to love. Having an open heart and mind is something very important for anyone planning to come here (it is unlikely that you will find me happily washing and pairing my housemates socks in any other situation!).  

If I was to take one thought away from this whole experience however, I think it can be best described in the Movement’s motto:  “Nadie tiene mayor amor que el que da su vida por sus amigos” (Jn 15:13) which translated means : “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends”.  Living this verse taught me so much in Chile – and it is the very essence of life in the Manquehue Movement

This has been an incredible journey for me, and I know I will never forget it.

James Harrold (StB‘10)

Lucky me…three months paid sabbatical for ten years hard labour ….now where to go?

In true Kelly tradition, it had to includePeru. Peruis not justMachu Picchuand theSacredValley.  It has 29 million people, many of whom – especially the children – go hungry every night.  Dominic, my eldest brother (StB‘70), spent time in the Apurimac valley back in the 1970s when Worth had its mission there; and his daughter Celina, a Woldingham old girl, travelled to Cuzco in 2006 when she raised money for, and helped in, local orphanages.  She continues to keep up with them and it made sense to keep the link going.

So, having decided on our mission – to raise money for the children of struggling mountain communities nearCuzcoinPeru– it was time to fund-raise by running a few marathons. 

Well, that is a bit of a cheeky way of saying that as a family – myself, my wife Elizabeth and our four boys (Thomas 18, Humphrey 15, Marcus 13 and Joseph 10) – would run the equivalent of 2.5 marathons with four of us participating in the Reading 2008 ASICS half marathon, and Marcus and Joseph running a quarter (6.5 miles) of a marathon each.

We raised US$18,000 including a generous contribution from Worth Society.  So, reading The Blue Paper does make sense after all!

With our plans in place to travel toPeru, we agreed as a family to give one week of our time, and the US$18,000 that we had raised, to specific projects.  No money would be wasted and we planned to stay with one of Celina’s charity contacts inCuzco.

On arrival in Cuzco, we set to work purchasing supplies from local markets and visited our three chosen centres:  WaWacha, a day care centre for under 5s in Cuzco; Huayacocha, a village which is one hour’s drive east of Cuzco; and Pucarune an even more isolated village which is 3½ hour’s drive north-east of Cuzco, with the last half hour on mud tracks.  At Pucarune we were at 4,100 metres and the school we visited was particularly desperate.  It was rundown and severely under resourced – corruption is rife inPeru. The children had long walks to school everyday, experienced a constant shortage of teachers, as well as dilapidated class rooms and a very limited supply of books.  In addition to this, they were hungry and malnourished from families frequently suffering from alcoholism and its concomitant problems.

Having visited the three centres; where we did some teaching and played football with the children; we identified two projects where the remaining money could be used.  Wawacha needed a bigger play area, made possible by renovating a side access, and Pucarune desperately needed a new loo and cess pit.

Plans are a good starting point and we were well organised.  However, we knew that we could not just turn up with all this money and expect to buy all the necessary food, clothes, toys etc that the children needed; then build a classroom and do some teaching all in a week.  After all, US$18,000 is a lot of money – especially inPeru– and things move very slowly. 

So, having established some good and trustworthy contacts inCuzco, we have put in place the necessary financial arrangements to make the money available for the two projects.  Another niece, Rebecca Arkwright, an old girl of St Mary’s Ascot, has recently been toCuzcoand she went to visit some of our contacts and projects. Things are progressing slowly but surely and Elena is keen for the local families and parents to be directly involved in the projects.  We expect the imminent GAP years of my many nephews and nieces and sons should also help us keep in close touch and to see how things are progressing.

Benedict Kelly (StB’78)

10 Year-old Joseph Kelly’s account of the Kelly’s visit to Cuzco

Last summer I went with my family toCuzco,Peru.  Because lots of people had sponsored us very generously we raised US$18,000 to buy things for children in two remote mountain villages inPeru.

We arrived in Cuzco– a very dirty city with loads of beggars on the floor and children under five selling things to people.  With Elena, who was our friend there, we went shopping for things like rice, clothes for children, condensed milk, school books, toys – but the best thing was the football shirts which we got printed with the local team’s name. The shops were in a market with wet dirty floors and all the things were scattered around. It was dark and horrible. We saw people selling black bugs to eat from the jungle and lots of raw meat.

We drove 3 hours in a really old landrover. We could see theAndesmountains covered in snow but the land was very dry, brown and barren. On the way up we saw men sitting by the road drinking, because alcohol is very cheap there.

The kitchen at the mountain village when we arrived had goats and cows roaming around it. The floor and walls were made of mud.  We went on to the school playing field and all the children came running up to us. Thomas and Humphrey started to play football with the older boys.  Then we all played against the 11yr old team – they beat us 4 -0!  We gave them the football shirts and they looked so happy and put them on straight away.  TK went around shaking their hands.  We visited the classrooms and Mummy gave an English lesson to the oldest class.  We showed them whereEnglandwas on a globe.  The loos were so dirty the headmaster wouldn’t show them to us. There were no dictionaries and not many books.  With the money we are going to build new loos and they will have food and warmer clothes and toys.  Elena will get a doctor to visit every month to give the children injections.

Then we went and lit a huge fire and cooked all the condensed milk and gave a huge queue of children a milk drink and biscuits.  Lots of the children had swollen tummies from parasites and bad coughs because the air was so cold because it was so high.  Their feet were very dirty and their skin and their faces were very sore. Their shoes were made out of old tyres.

Papa and Marcus and Humphrey went to another village later which was 4,000m high but I couldn’t go because I was ill. 

One day I would like to go back there and see the children I played football with.

2011-12

Niamh Fogarty (StM’11) – volunteering with Tanzanian NGO, TanzEd : £500

Xavier Geissmann (B’11) – working with Manquehue Movement in Chile : £700

Francis Dring (C’12) – volunteering with The Peru Mission in the Amazon : £1,000

2010-11

Jack Clancy (F’11) – working for 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 Manquehue Movement in Chile : £750

Will Desmond (C’09) – working with Cross Purposes in the UK : £400

2008-09

Tristan Stutchbury (StB’01) – teaching English in Uganda : £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) – fundraising 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 and teaching in Malawi : £750

Rob Carson(G’94) – running a camp for disabled children in Ireland : £500

2005-06

Dominic Moor (StB’00) – medical elective in Uganda : £500

Michael Burr (F’06) – conservation 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 : £500

Elliott Webber (R’04) – teaching in Nepal : £500

2003-04

Andrew Welsh (B’04) – teaching in Galagapos Islands : £500

2002-03

Francis Binney (G’00) – conservation in Indonesia : £200

Mark Haden (G’03) – building nurses homes in Zambia : £ 250

2001-02

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 : £500

Ed Bonn (G’01) – teaching in Kenya : £250

With financial assistance from the Worthians Charitable Trust, the Order of Malta Volunteers and the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin, we took 12 children, 12 helpers and 8 therapists on a five day long holiday camp in Carlingford, Ireland.

The aim was to give children who attend the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) inDublina break, to give their carers a break and to give helpers a chance to spend five days looking after a bunch of fabulous children. The CRC is a non-residential national centre for the care, treatment and development of children and adults with physical disabilities. Services are provided for people with physical conditions ranging from the very rare to the more familiar, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy and arthrogryposis.

We stayed at the An Tain residential activity centre in Carlingford, and this was our base for the five days. The camp was perfectly set up to enable the children, many of whom are in wheelchairs, to take part in a whole range of physical activities. We had a go at archery, canoeing, climbing, water slides, wheelchair football, banana boating and much more. We had a disco and a prize giving ceremony.

Holiday camps such as these are so important for a number of reasons. Children need to be able to be children and often when a child is disabled or sick this becomes very difficult. Watching someone who is wheelchair bound being hoisted up a climbing wall, sliding down a waterslide or having a go at archery is so special as this is normally so far outside the bounds of possibility. The sense of achievement and involvement for the children is wonderful. The children also rely on fulltime carers who are often family members. The carers very rarely get a break and it is so important to realize their enormous contribution and the toll it can take. The five day break can give them a chance to go on holiday and recharge their batteries.

The twelve helpers came from the OMV membership mainly and we had three wobs: Dean Hurley, James Burt and myself. All the helpers were tremendous (most wanted to stay inIrelandwhen the camp was over!!) and the therapists from the CRC were inspirational in the way that they looked after the children (we had four Occupational Therapists and four Speech and Language Therapists).

The financial support from Worth Society was critical. The camp cost around £6,000 to put on, all of which I had to raise. We managed to secure support from WOBS, from the OMV, from my company, from a few very generous people and then through a sponsored bike ride fromLondontoDorset!! I would like to particularly thank WOBS for the support they gave.

I hope that the camp will take place on an annual basis now, so the fundraising starts again now! If you would like to sponsor us, or come along as a helper (the camp will again be in the first week of July) please contact me atrob_carson@hotmail.com.

Robert Carson (G‘94)

• Philip de Ayala (C’76)
• Ben Elwes (G’81)
• Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82)
• Chris McCourt (B’83)
• Neil Laughton (C’82)
• Greg Pickard (StB’81)

After last year’s stirring performance when the Worthians team did not lose a set, match, or indeed a single point (all because the match was abandoned because of appalling weather!) spirits were high as we gathered for our 2011 challenge against the School.

Our crack team of six Worthian tennis players assembled for an intensive pre-match training session – well, a quick knock-up before the match is perhaps a more realistic interpretation – before moving into our designated pairings comprising Ben Elwes and Philip de Ayala, Greg Pickard and Chris McCourt and Neil Laughton and myself.

The school team consisted of Tom Hicks and Ed Gritten; Will Neville-Smith and Jamie Elson-Drew; Ed Bridge and Seb Ward.

Once we (the Worthians) had applied copious amounts of liniment, adjusted our ankle, knee, thigh, back, elbow and wrist bandages and Philip had been persuaded that it was no longer frowned upon to use a tennis racket made from something other than wood – the matches got underway.

Conditions were far from ideal.  As readers who know the tennis courts at Worth will remember, a peculiar microclimate pertains there and it can be one of the most windswept places in Britain.  And so it was on match day – not quite as bad as the famous ‘hurricane horror’ of 2009 – but it was very close. 

We gave it our absolute best – delivering stupendous serves, vicious volleys, stupefying smashes, gritty groundstrokes – and points, games, and even sets were won.  There were a few memorable highlights including Neil Laughton’s ability to seemingly defy gravity (as only one who has driven a flying car can) to launch himself high into the fencing surrounding the court to successfully return an un-returnable smash.

But for all the flair, charm and exuberance of the Worthians, the merciless professionalism of the School team was not to be outdone.  For every point won by the Worthians the School won two points, for every game won by the Worthians the School won two; and for every set won by the Worthians, the School won two.  Thereby the final result came out with the School on top, beating the Worthians by 6-3.

And 2011 may be the last time that we experience an all-boys line-up on the tennis courts.  In 2012, we are very much hoping to find some girls playing alongside us as we welcome more Worthians tennis enthusiasts of the fairer sex into the fold. 

If any Worthian out there would like to join us for next year’s tennis challenge – male or female – then please do contact Olivia Henley at worthsociety@worth.org.uk.  It could be the dawning of a new age … … …

Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82)

• Charlie Bridge (StB’09)
• Howard Brookman (G’93)
• Robert Butterworth (StB’06)
• Matthew Doggett (F’07)
• Alex Dungate (F’08)
• Joshua Hardwick (C’08)
• Andrew Hodson (B’93)
• William Kenney (B’95)
• Tom Lewis (G’05)
• Richard Pannell (C’08)
• Guy Salimbeni (F’07)
• Matt Scotland (C’08)
• Darran Smith (B’96)
• Tim Spiers (C’07)
• Edward Wheeler (StB’06)

Will Kenney kindly invited me to play squash at his Club in London last year, along with Darran Smith and George Ross.  Over dinner afterwards, they suggested organising a Worthians match against the School’s current squash team. I thought it an excellent idea and was delighted when Olivia contacted me independently, proposing that we should introduce an annual Worthians squash match to the Society’s list of sporting fixtures. 

We put together a list of past enthusiastic squash players, set the date for Saturday 20^th November 2010, sent out a notice – and were completely overwhelmed by the response!

Fast forward to the 20^th November 2010 and we welcomed fifteen Worthians back to Worth.  The day started with a tour of the School for those interested in seeing all the new developments since leaving Worth, followed by a buffet lunch in the Cowdray Room.

Then the serious business began with matches starting promptly at 1:00pm! 

Rob Butterworth and Ed Wheeler won their matches against Dylan Warren and Edoardo Loison.  Next up were Tom Lewis and Tim Spiers, who played Abraham Baucher and Matthew Hay – two close matches were fought, with Matthew just winning the only game for the School team.  Matthew Doggett and Charles Bridge then played the school’s 3^rd and 2^nd string players, Patrick Thick and James Emery.  Once again, two good games were played with Worthians coming out on top again.

Perhaps the hardest fought match of the day was between George Salimbeni (the school’s number one player) and his brother, Guy.  It was a very exciting match to watch, with Guy saving one match point to secure an overall win.  

As Worthian numbers far outweighed the number of School team players, I arranged for an exhibition match of top quality squash and we witnessed some very exciting games.  Darran Smith just beat Will Kenney while, on the other court, Howard Brookman and Andrew Hodson both enjoyed their first competitive game of squash against each other for some years (just how many years will remain unpublished!).  Then, Richard Pannell, Matthew Scotland, Patrick Forsyth and Alex Dungate played some games while Tim Spiers, Matthew Doggett and the Salimbeni brothers had a game of doubles.

It was a great pleasure to welcome Martin Powys-Lybbe who came along to watch some of his former pupils play and also Nick Butterworth, Chairman of Worth Society who came to support his son, Robert, and meet with Worthians.

We had a really great day and there has been an enthusiastic call to organise two matches a year – one in the Christmas term for Worthians who left before 2000 and another in the Easter term, for those who left after 2000.  

So, if you’re interested in getting involved in future matches do get in touch with us, we’d love to hear from you!

Jeremy Dowling

• Jake Ambridge (C’07)
• Andy Bayles (B’98)
• Adam Braverman (G’05)
• Lorenzo Belpassi (B’04)
• Otto Blom (R’02)
• Jack Bodkin (G’03)
• Mark Breen (B’05)
• Richard Brown (F’05)
• Jamie Bruce (R’04)
• Ben Calnan (R’97)
• Rob Cottrell (R’97)
• Kevin Danagher-Smith (B’03)
• Martin Danagher-Smith (StB’09)
• Joe Green (B’05)
• Simon Hawkins (R’01)
• Giles Heather (F’03)
• James Henwood (C’07)
• Peter Hilton (G’98)
• Ben Holloway (C’93)
• Ed Kemp (F’10)
• Christian Killoughery (R’10)
• Chris Madsen (B’04)
• Daniele Manzi (R’09)
• Max McAlister (G’02)
• Tom Middlehurst (R’03)
• Craig Monteiro (StB’05)
• Andy Morris (R’06)
• Phil Myles (G’02)
• Danny O’Connell (R’02)
• Eddie O’Hare (B’10)
• Mike O’Sullivan (B’89)
• Dave Osborne (R’04)
• Peter Osborne (R’08)
• Alex Podbury (C’04)
• Tom Podbury (C’02)
• Alex Pollen (StB’04)
• Adrian Pring (R’01)
• Dan Pring (R’03)
• Rob Rooney (G’01)
• Jules Stevens (B’96)
• Warwick Symcox (R’07)
• Nick Vasquez (G’97)
• John-Henry Wicks (G’00)
• Alex Williams (R’06)

We are the Champions – of Surrey 3 League!

The 18^th season of Worthians Rugby was perhaps our best ever.  We managed to secure the much coveted Surrey League 3 Championship, and with it, promotion to Surrey 2!

The 2010-11 season looked particularly promising after a stunning 32-20 victory over the Old Cranleighans in the RFU Junior Vase.  This was followed by good wins in our opening two League games.  But our euphoria was short-lived, as our form dipped seriously in October with three successive League defeats, and a disappointing exit from the Cup, leaving us in an unimpressive mid-table position.  From that point on, the Worthians won a remarkable 12 out of the following 13 league games, including vitally important home and away victories against our main league challengers in the Table. 

The ‘team to beat’ in Surrey 3 was the newly formed Old Tonbridgians who dominated the League with massive victories over all-comers – until they met their match in the form of the blue-and-gold army of Worthians on Saturday 11^th December 2010!   In a thrilling match the Worthians scored five times, winning by an impressive 34-17 to deliver the first ever defeat suffered in the Old Tonbridgians’ history.  Later on in the season, the Worthians repeated this feat in a nail-biting 33-32 victory on our home ground at Walton-on-Thames – with the lead changing hands five times in the game – to clinch our well-deserved promotion.  Other main contenders in the League, including the well-established Old Rutlishians, were given the same treatment home and away.  In each case the Worthians came from behind, first to win narrowly by 19-17 at home, and then a hugely satisfying 25-19 away victory, in front of a crowd of a hundred baying Rutlishian supporters.

Being a mobile pack was the team’s strength.  Often significantly lighter than our opposition, we always held our ground in the set-pieces.   ‘Player of the Season’ was runaway prop Lorenzo Belpassi, ably supported in the front row by Doz Osborne, Giles Heather and guest, Ed Hackett.  The Worthians dominated the line-outs where Danny O’Connell was supreme, fed by the precision throw-ins of skipper Alex Podbury – this combination often producing vital tries from unstoppable driving mauls.  

Also available for second row duties were specialist jumpers Richard Brown, James Henwood and guest Tom Lewis, returning to the team to make a big impact in key games.  In the back row, we were extremely lucky to have two powerful match-winners, the experienced Jack Bodkin and our talisman Chris Madsen, ably supported by an equally solid Adam Williams and super-sub Andy Bayles, back on the field after a four year break.  Tom Middlehurst and Phil Myles also played their part in some big games.

Scrum half duties were shared by Rob Cottrell and Jamie Bruce.  Rob played in most games to secure the position, bossing the forwards to great effect, while Jamie was used primarily as an impact player to change the game.  The midfield backs of guest players, Mathieu Denarnaud and Jamie Garratt, became a very effective unit, recovering after the loss of our centre, Tom Podbury, with an unfortunate shoulder injury.  The back three – silky-skilled Kevin Danagher, powerhouse guest Matt Williams and youngster Christian Killoughery regularly turned the game in our favour with many thrilling tries, and they were well supported by Ben Calnan and Jules Stevens, who provided good cover in the backs. 

Dan Pring made the most appearances for the second season running, and demonstrated his skills and versatility week after week playing with equal confidence at lock, flanker and wing.  Likewise, ‘most improved player’, Giles Heather found himself at various times in all three rows of the pack, settling in best at prop; while guest, Lee Howard, in his 10^th season with the Club was equally versatile and unselfishly offered his services in all positions in the backs.

In addition to the gruelling League season, there were several games tailored for the Club’s new recruits.  On the August Bank Holiday weekend an Under-21 side – skippered by Giles Sacarello and managed by Jamie Bruce – competed strongly in the Cronk-Cunis National Under-21 Competition.  A fortnight later, a well-contested Young versus Old Worthians game at Worth saw the oldies avenge the previous year’s defeat with an impressive 31-14 victory over their younger brothers. 

These two events serve to introduce new players to the Worthians RFC team and they are a vital part of our recruitment effort.  During the year, several younger players joined us in the main fixtures, including Christian Killoughery, Eddie O’Hare, Daniele Manzi, Martin Danagher and Mike O’Sullivan.  Each made a big impact when they played, with Mike playing a huge part in our Cup victory over the Old Cranleighans, and Eddie giving the Worthians team a new dimension on the open side flank with some rampant performances in vital league games.  The season’s revelation, however, was Christian Killoughery who brought real class to the League team with his scintillating runs, and massive side-steps.  Martin also added pace to our league team, and really came into his own with a super-fit display of the sweeper role in the Caterham Sevens, before unfortunately damaging his knee in a bad fall – but he will be returning to the Worthians pack next season.

Our skipper, Alex Podbury, led the team by example on the pitch throughout the season and he also led the midweek coaching sessions – we train every Wednesday under floodlights in Battersea Park.  Desmond Calnan continued to manage the team – for a magnificent 18^th successive season! – since the foundation of the Club back in 1993.    

Desmond Calnan (R’69)- June 2011