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 2nd June 2012, Worthian, 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.

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

2012 Events

2012 : City Lunch

The increasing popularity of Worth Society’s annual City Lunch meant that we had to find a new venue to accommodate our increasing 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 . We will be publishing the Review here very soon. 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. 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.  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!  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.  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.  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.

2010-11

Jack Clancy (F’11) – £900

Volunteering at an orphanage in Tanzania

Chris Napleton (C’11) – £ 700

Volunteering at an orphanage in Nepal 

2009-10

James Harrold (StB’10) – £250

Working with the Manquehue Movement in   Chile

Will Desmond (C’09) – £400

Working with Cross Purposes in the UK

2008-09

Tristan Stutchbury (StB’01) – £750

Teaching English in Uganda

Max Watson (F’05) – £250

Undertaking voluntary work in Tarma, Peru

Benedict Wintour (B’09) –£750

Volunteering as a teaching assistant in Kenya

2007-08

Benedict Kelly (StB’78) –£500

Fund-raising for communities in Peru

Tom McMurray (B’08) – £500

Nature guide training in South Africa

Fridolin Steinbeis (R’08) – £780

Working with aids orphans and as a hospital volunteer in Mexico 

2006-07

Luke MacWilliam (R’07) – £750

Working on an eco-tourism project in South Africa and teaching in Malawi

Rob Carson(G’94) – £500

Establishing a camp for disabled children in Ireland

 2005-06

Dominic Moor (StB’00) – £500

Working for his medical elective in Uganda

Michael Burr (F’06) – £500

Working in conservation in Cambodia

Rob Carson(G’94) – £850

Establishing a camp for disabled children in Ireland

Edmund Chedgy (G’00) – £500

Medical elective in China

Johnathan Craik (C’00) – £500

Medical elective in China

2004-05

Daniel Grace (F’05) – £500

Teaching in Chile

Elliott Webber (R’04) – £500

Teaching in Nepal

2003-04

Andrew Welsh (B’04) – £500

Teaching in the Galagapos Islands

2002-03

Francis Binney(G’00) – £200

Conservation in Indonesia

Mark Haden (G’03) – £250

Building homes for nurses in Zambia

2001-02

James Powys Lybbe (B’02) – £250

Volunteering as a carer in a Romanian orphanage

Alex Tyrwhitt (G’02) – £250

Teaching English in China

2000-01

Nick Smith (C’01) – £500

Teaching in Uganda

Ed Bonn (G’01) –£250

Teaching in Kenya

]]> http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/2012/01/24/gaas-awarded-2000-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/2012/01/24/gaa-rob-carson-disabled-holidays-in-ireland/ http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/2012/01/24/gaa-rob-carson-disabled-holidays-in-ireland/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:58:20 +0000 admin http://www.worthsociety.org.uk/?p=1399 Ireland Holiday Camp

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

Players :

• Louisa McCarthy
• Charlotte Hutchinson
• Sophia Knight
• Chloe Noakes
• Niamh Fogarty
• Hannah Nottage
• Olivia Barclay-Hudson
• Natasha Jackson

Spectators :

• Fiona Bond
• Izzy Stewart-Roberts
• Charlotte Perry
• Sasha Richards
• Julia Hollis
• Anna Webb

The very first Worthian Girls’ match was played on Sunday 11th September 2011 on Worth’s new stunning astro pitch – we were bathed in glorious sunshine to show off this fantastic new facility.

Approximately 25 players – old and new – observed one minute’s silence to commemorate those who died on this, the tenth year anniversary of 9/11.  Father Stephen led everyone present in prayer.  It was a very poignant reminder for us all.

And then the fun started!  The match was an excellent, well balanced and competitive game with five great goals being scored. 

For the Worthian girls, Charlie Hutchison shook off the fact that she apparently has not ‘touched a stick since leaving’ by leading the way with two really well struck shots.  The present Worth 1^st team fought back with an excellent individual goal from Alice Rooke, followed by another great team effort goal. 

Some solid defending by Olivia Barclay Hudson, Sophia Knight and the ever-busy midfield dynamo, Louisa McCarthy, meant that the ‘oldies’ more than held their own. Louisa – the only player to win a Cap at Worth to date – fittingly scored the winning goal to round off a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for players and the large crowd of spectators.

And so it was that the Worthian girls emerged triumphant at 3-2 – albeit after a titanic battle! 

Our grateful thanks to Louisa McCarthy for her recruitment efforts and for sorting the Worthian girls’ team and to Olivia Henley for helping set up this event.

We hope that this is the first of many fabulous events like this for girls’ sport at Worth, and to see many more Worthian girls both playing and supporting in the future.

Joey Hall-Palmer

September 2011

• Stephen Bamford (StB’70)
• Nick Barnett (G’73)
• Hugh Bett (B’73)
• James Blake (B’77)
• Patrick Davey (C’01)
• Phillip Davey (F’04)
• Peter Gottelier (R’70)
• Stuart Hiscocks (B’95)
• Will Kelly (F’02)
• Hugh Maguire (R’77)
• Paul Moran (G’94)
• Dominic Pasqua (B’76)
• Greg Pickard (StB’81)
• Rupert Pridham (G’81)
• George Ross (G’95)
• Ken Ross (G’65)
• Simon Ross (G’98)
• Simeon Stevens (StB’95)
• Matthew Wood (B’77)

2010/11 Season Report

For the 2010/11 Season, our loyal cohort of Worthian golfers were joined by a few new faces, who have been most welcome as we embarked on our usual round of golfing challenges!

The season opened with our annual match against the Old Gregorians, with the team comprising Stephen Bamford, Hugh Bett, James Blake, Patrick and Philip Davey, Peter Gottelier, Hugh Maguire and Matthew Wood.  Unfortunately, despite an excellent day and a very spirited effort, the Worthians were beaten 6/2.

Our next venue was Moor Park Golf Club, where we played the Spring Meeting in April.  Eleven players battled for supremacy with Patrick Davey carrying off the Rose Bowl Trophy with an excellent 39 points.  ‘Nearest the pin’ prizes were won by myself and Hugh Maguire, whilst Peter Gottelier launched the ‘longest drive’.

Patrick and Philip Davey, Stuart Hiscocks, Rupert Pridham, George Ross and myself represented the Society in the Grafton Morrish Scratch Foursomes Competition at the Annual Public Schools Competition in May.  Regrettably, we still have not qualified for the final weekend of this competition but, undeterred, we will keep on trying!

In early June success came our way in the Russell Bowl Catholic Public Schools event at Woking with our second consecutive win!  Congratulations to our winning team comprising Philip and Patrick Davey, Peter Gottelier, Simon Jones, Will Kelly and myself.

The season’s finale was the usual Autumn Meeting at Royal Ashdown in November.  Fifteen players took part with Paul Moran winning the Worth Salver with 36 points – a very good result at this time of year.  ‘Nearest the pin’ prizes went to James Blake and Hugh Bett while Stephanie Davey, the Society’s very first lady player, beat off the boys to win the ‘longest drive’!

Kenneth Ross (G’65)

Secretary – Worthians Golf Society

June 2011

• Jake Ambridge (C’07)
• Livio Belpassi (B’04)
• Lorenzo Belpassi (B’04)
• Luca Belpassi (G’01)
• Adam Braverman (G’05)
• Mark Breen (B’05)
• Alonso Caro (R’06)
• Charlie Forbes (StB’09)
• James Henwood (C’07)
• Stef Humphries (C’00)
• Daniel Hyde (StB’05)
• Mat Jeffery (C’10)
• Ed Kemp (F’10)
• Christian Killoughery (R’10)
• Alex King (C’10)
• Ryan Lall (C’10)
• John Manning (C’10)
• J P Matthews (B’06)
• Mike Matthews (B’99)
• William Neville Smith (StB’10)
• Jack Rackham (R’05)
• Jo Rivers (F’10)
• James Talty (StB’06)
• Ben Taylor (F’03)
• Josh Taylor (B’05)
• Harry Wake (B’10)
• Edward Wiggins (C’06)
• Harry Woodman (F’10)

The Worthians versus School team annual football match, for the Henry Surtees Memorial trophy, is now a well-established fixture on the Worth Society Calendar and gathers in momentum each year.  It is always played on the last Sunday of the Lent Term and on Sunday 27th March 2011 we welcomed a spectacular 45 players – enough players to field four separate teams!

The School Team played in a triangular tournament against both the ‘older’ Worthians and the ‘young’ Worthians teams, while both Worthian teams also played against a Staff team.  Overall the School Team came out on top, beating the ‘young’ Worthians by 1-0, thereby retaining the trophy for the second consecutive year.

Our special thanks must go to John Surtees, father of the late Henry Surtees (C’09), for coming along to support and watch the tournament and witness the presentation of the Henry Surtees Memorial Cup to by Abbot Kevin to Nick Wallendahl, Captain of the School’s 1^st XI.  It was especially heartening to see so many of Henry’s year group and good friends present – especially the ‘young’ Worthians Captain, Charlie Forbes who, as ever, did not deserve to be on the losing side!

Match tea and the presentation of the trophy took place in The Pit stop café, named after Henry.  His father said how delighted he was, to see not only the younger Worthians playing (many of whom were in Henry’s year), but also a staff team and an older Worthians team.

Chris Roberts sent us an e-mail afterwards summing up his feelings about the day; “I had a great day and it was so nice to be back at the school in the sun!  It was also good to catch up with old classmates some of whom I haven’t seen since leaving Worth”.

A significant level of skill was demonstrated amongst the older Worthians, with Stef Humphries deserving particular mention – he really should be thinking of signing for Leeds! 

For some families, football runs in the blood of course, so we saw brothers out in force – the Belpassis’, the Lalls’, the Matthews’, the Rivers’ and the Taylors’ (alongside their dad!).  It was great to see Ryan Lall back on the pitch and his brother, Dylan, deserves a special mention here as, at the age of just 15 and a pupil in Year 10, he already plays for the School 1^st XI – the only boy I have known to play four years above his age!  Sadly we will be seeing less of him in the 1^st XI next year as he is on Brighton’s books and will be progressing in a very different league.

Our thanks must also go to our stalwart supporters who came along to cheer us along on the day and who almost outnumbered the players – that in itself is a fitting testament to the skill of the football teams that we produce here at Worth.

So, to all you footballers out there – we know that our 2012 fixture will take place on the last Sunday of the Lent Term as the final match of the 1^st XI season – so we accept no excuses, if you’d like to play, e-mail Olivia Henley straight away at worthsociety@worth.org.uk.   We look forward to hearing from you!

Andrew Taylor, Worthians Football Organiser

•  James Anthony (G’97)
• Sam Barnett (C’97)
• Joe Bradley (F’09)
• Ed de Mott (B’07)
• Ben Drummond (R’83)
• Angus Gairdner (StB’96)
• Jeremy Jalie (C’01)
• Simon Jones (StB’98)
• Julian Kirk (StB’75)
• Mark Lane (F’03)
• Dominic Latham-Koenig (B’83)
• Ed Long (G’03)
• John Manning (C’10)
• Max McAlister (G’02)
• Dom Rollo-Walker (R’09)
• Greg Russell (F‘11)
• Darran Smith (B’96)
• Tim Starkie (G’88)
• Ed Watson (StB’09)
• Harry Woodman (F’10)
• Tom Woodman (F’07)
• Ben Wright (B’09)
• Tom Wright (B’08)

The start of the Worthians 2010/11 Cricket season was, unfortunately, thwarted by the weather – with our game against the School 1^st XI on Speech Day being rained off.

We had better luck for our next game against John Denman’s Worth Occasionals however, and this turned out to be a competitive, enjoyable and very close game.  The Occasionals batted first and amassed a competitive, but seemingly not insurmountable, total of 169.  Ben Wright and Ed DeMott were the pick of the Worthian bowlers with three wickets each, although the Occasionals innings was propped up by a confident 58 from James Innes.

The Worthians batted well but lost wickets regularly.  A spirited 41 from James Anthony, coming in at number 10, was not quite enough for us to reach the Occasionals total and our last wicket fell when we were just 3 runs short.  Worthian, Max McAlister, who was playing for the Occasionals deserves a special mention here as it was probably his bowling that won the day for us – he took four wickets for only 15 runs from his 10 overs.

Our next game was against St Hugh’s College Oxford Old Boys. Both sides were a little short on numbers so we developed a new format, which we are calling “Quad 15”.  Seven of us from each side gathered to play a 2 innings game of 15 overs per innings, with batsmen retiring at 30 and all fielders having a go at bowling.  Having won the toss, the Worthians batted first and amassed a creditable 117 from their first innings of 15 overs, following a healthy opening stand from John Manning and Tom Woodman.  However, nobody quite knew what a good total was in this innovative new format, and we found our score surpassed by St Hugh’s who managed to gain a 30 run lead after the first innings.  

Some great hitting by Greg Russell in the second innings – and the Worthians were right back on track, with St Hugh’s needing to chase 90 in their second innings of 15 overs.  We thought that we were unlikely to have enough runs on the board – but the pressure of the chase (and the fact that Tom Woodman was released from wicket keeping duties to turn his arm over) was too much for St Hugh’s who fell just 10 runs short.

And so victory was claimed by the Worthians team and, even though both sides were short on players, we managed to have a thoroughly enjoyable game in a fun new format!

In our final game of 2010 we took on St Chad’s College Durham Old Boys, captained by Worthian, Richard Gairdner.  The Worthians batted first and an incredible innings of 133 from Greg Russell saw us to a total of 232.  Greg took the Chad’s bowling attack apart, hitting no fewer than 11 sixes and 12 fours.  St Chad’s put up a spirited effort but fell just short, reaching 212 all out.  Six wickets from Tom Wright – and the game was ours for the taking.

So, two wins and one narrow defeat was a good overall return for the 2010 Season and, as I write, we have already started the 2011 season with our annual game against the School 1^st XI.  A great innings of 100 from John Manning saw the Worthians to 158 from their 25 overs.  But the boys batted confidently and surpassed our total with two overs to spare.

We still have three matches left in 2011 with our normal fixtures against the Worth Occasionals, St Chad’s and St Hugh’s – when we hope to see a return to our winning ways!

New players are always warmly welcomed to the team, so please do get in touch with me, Simon Jones, at skjones@reedsmith.com if you are interested in playing for one or all of our matches.

 Simon Jones (StB’98) – June 2011

The three months between finishing school in June 2010 and starting University in October lay white and rather too bare in my diary.  No more scribbled revision timetable, no more deadlines, no more school.  Of course, the freedom would be blissful, absolute, something I had been craving ever since the pressures of school had become more pronounced.  But I couldn’t help but feel that three months in the familiar and distinctly uninspiring Bromley (my hometown, and proud), would leave me slightly fidgety.  My friend from junior school, Katie, and I had always casually chatted about travelling together but, as is often the case, it had been in the knowledge that it would probably never happen.   And yet, when in February 2010 we sheltered from the pouring rain in a Soho bookshop with a map of the world in front of us, I couldn’t help but feel that this time, all the wishful thinking might soon become reality. 

Australia had always been a potential travel destination.  With copious numbers of distant relatives there, a large backpacker community and so many things to do and see, it seemed the ideal location for two fairly inexperienced 18 year-olds to catch the travelling bug.   And so, with our parents’ approval, Katie and I began planning what would inevitably be, clichéd as it sounds, ‘the holiday of a lifetime’.  Due to the fact that Australia is so far away – 16,997 km to be precise – and so expensive to get to, I decided to maximize my time there by flying out six weeks in advance for some work experience.  Thus, ‘study periods’ at school became consumed by my search for firms that might just take me on.  I sent copious emails and copies of CVs to newspapers, broadcasting companies and charities, but to no avail.  After abundant negative responses or simply no reply, I extended my search to Google by typing in ‘work experience Sydney’, then trawled through the sites that came up, but most contained seedy job adverts.  Progress was not being made.

I can’t quite remember how I ended up getting in contact with Worth Society, but I am eternally thankful that I did.  After asking where in Australia I wanted to work and the kind of work I was interested in (anything but banking!) Olivia emailed seven Worthians in Sydney who might be able to aid me in my quest for work experience.  Amazingly, about half emailed back offering to help, and not just with work experience.  I was advised on everything from visas, to the best places to visit, some even offered accommodation with their families.  I was astounded by the fact that people all the way across the world were so generous and kind to a complete stranger, the only connection being our common school.  Perhaps the Benedictine value of hospitality does pervade outside the school grounds!  So, with work experience sorted and flights booked, Australia went to the back of my mind, and exams regrettably came to the front. 

One month later, exams over and freedom attained, I boarded my flight toAustraliaand a gruelling 30 hours later landed inSydney.  I spent the next five weeks staying with some very tenuously related cousins in North Sydney, going to my placements in the day and doing quintessentially touristy things during my spare time, such as travelling toManlyBeachon the classic yellow and green ferry and visiting the bright lights ofLunaPark.   

The placements themselves were all very enjoyable; two weeks at an advertising firm, STW; one week with Opera Australia and two weeks with a PR firm, Liquid Ideas.  They all opened my eyes to the different industries and, from listening to the tales of the elderly volunteers at Opera Australia, to lunchtime wine tasting and BBQs on a Friday with Liquid Ideas, to being asked to star as an extra in an advert promoting Opera – my experiences were certainly not all about making tea and filing (which I have heard is not uncommon in many work placements!).  Each company I worked for was incredibly friendly and took me on board wholeheartedly as a member of their team.  Although the industries I worked in are not necessarily ones in which I wish to pursue a career, working in them has emphasised what I do and don’t want from a job, and helped shape ideas for my future direction. 

Undeniably, a special mention must go to Olivia from Worth Society, Andrew Caillard (C’78) who organised two work placements for me, and Joanna and Will Lockhart (StB’96) for organising a further placement.  I am so grateful to them for all their advice and help, especially when they lead such busy lives.  Andrew and his wife, Bobby, also put me in touch with their niece who was in Sydney at the time, invited me over to dinner with the whole family, secured Katie and I fantastic tickets to the Opera and made sure that my whole Australian experience went smoothly – they were incredibly, incredibly generous and hospitable, and I am truly thankful. 

Following my work experience, Katie flew over and we spent the next five weeks travelling down the East Coast of Australia, fromCairnstoByronBayand then flew back toSydney.  It was truly fantastic and an experience I will never forget – the independence, the people, the places – all amazing. 

Having just finished my first term as a student, I would say that the whole experience better prepared me for University and I would recommend travelling independently in any capacity before you start.  Apart from being more worldly and independent, you pick up skills essential for student life – budgeting being one which I perhaps should adhere to more vigorously!    Writing this from my room in cold and darkEngland, despite the fact that it’s only 4.30pm, I’m experiencing huge amounts of nostalgia for the wide blue skies ofAustraliaand would love to go back.  Having said that, my diary for next summer is still very white and bare so – who knows … … …

Jessica Coffin (StM’10)

I graduated from Leicester University in 2009 with a BA in History, but with conflicting career plans and having not taken a gap year before embarking on University, I decided to take a year out to gain some relevant work experience and to pursue my musical interests. 

As the year progressed it was the concept of law – always of interest to me from a very young age – that became more and more appealing.  Now I can safely say that, thanks in no small part to the help I received from the Worth Society, it is a career to which I am totally committed.

My own, considerable and lengthy, search for legal experience proved only moderately successful, so I decided to approach Worth Society to see if they could help me.  Within ten days I had heard back from the Society with details of an offer from Christopher Coffin (G’73) of Withers Worldwide, a highly respected international firm.  Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity, and a week’s work experience was organised within the litigation department of their London offices at the beginning of November 2010.

I have to admit that I was honing my tea-making skills in the days preceding my time with Withers, but Chris Coffin and the Withers team really went out of their way to make my time there as engaging as possible.  Through them I was given an invaluable insight into many of the varied tasks undertaken within a law firm.  

While I had little previous legal experience, much of the work I was given during that week actively contributed to many of the projects on which Withers were working at the time.  Particular highlights included taking minutes on international client conference calls; undertaking research for a number of major cases being constructed by the litigation team; and a tense meeting between Withers and two other firms who were discussing the proper allocation of money between three parties from a previous court ruling.  Some of the tasks were unexpected (remembering how to do compound interest calculations was a real shock to the system!) but all of them were extremely interesting and engaging.

Although perhaps a little daunting at first, many of the lawyers and partners turned out to be very approachable.  They provided me with a wealth of useful advice on current issues in the legal world that would put me at an advantage in any interview.  I was also able to meet many of their trainees during the week and, as a recent graduate, it was insightful to hear their experiences of law and the routes many of them had taken to securing their current positions.  

At the end of my work placement, I was also lucky enough to be offered an interview for Withers’ summer internship scheme!

To all those at Worth currently considering career options, I would highly recommend that you secure some work experience. Gaining practical knowledge of the sector you are interested in is the only sure way to know if it really is for you and it adds considerable merit to any UCAS application and also at interview – even if you do decide to apply for something totally different.

I’d like to thank Worth Society and Withers Worldwide for providing me with this valuable opportunity, and I hope to be able to return the favour and assist future Worth students as soon as I qualify!

Joseph Busuttil (B’06)

As a trainee at the City law firm, Charles Russell, I have become accustomed to steeling myself against surprise at the spectrum of demands that are asked of me in the course of my work.  And so it was, when I was asked to ‘buddy’ Matthew Scotland, a sixth form Worth boy who was due to spend time on work experience here at Charles Russell.

Being a Worthian myself, I remember the wealth of experiences and opportunities that were afforded to me by working in different places during my time as a student.  In fact, having spent time at Charles Russell on work experience I find that, four years down the line this is the place where I have taken my first proper job!

Traditionally, participation by employers in ‘work placements’ or ‘vacation schemes’ is seen by them as doing students a favour – a chance for young Jack to put something on the CV.  However, anyone who has been involved in a work placement – as either an employer or student – will tell you that, if properly organised, such arrangements can be mutually beneficial.

As part of its recruitment process, Charles Russell runs a formal ‘Placement Programme’.  The scheme is a two-week structured programme containing a wide range of activities, including a mock trial, a group exercise, a team challenge, trips to Court and an overview from each service area.  During that two-week period each placement has the opportunity to spend time in two different service areas, where they will have a mentor on hand to answer any questions and to help make sure the time spent at Charles Russell is beneficial.  The Programme is aimed at those individuals who will be eligible to start a training contract in two years time.  Not only does it allow the individual to get a feel for the firm and for life in a City practice, but it also affords the firm an opportunity to meet and assess potential applicants prior to commencement of training contract assessment centres.

As a sixth-former, Matthew was not eligible for this Scheme, and was therefore offered work experience on an ad-hoc basis.  While this is not something that the firm would ordinarily do, on this occasion an exception was made and, in conjunction with the HR department, I used the Programme’s structure as an outline template to select tasks for the duration of Matthew’s placement.

During his time at Charles Russell, Matthew helped us with a project relating to a potential new client in relation to our compliance obligations under the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct.  This was ‘real’ work, and will undoubtedly be relied upon in future matters relating to this client.  We are genuinely grateful to him for his contribution as it enabled us to speed up the process.

When on my work placement at Charles Russell, I spent two weeks in the litigation department with the then senior partner. Throughout this period I was included in preparations for, and the beginning of, an arbitration involving another major City law firm.  Both sides were acting on behalf of governmental clients. I found the whole experience fascinating. Suffice to say that my enjoyment of that time was seminal, colouring many of my future career decisions.

Hopefully, Matthew’s experiences in the courts, participation in conferences with our corporate team and his help on our client due diligence project will prove likewise for him; in this way repaying him for his efforts. I would hope that this is the case. I also hope that in future, he too will appreciate the reciprocal benefits that these arrangements help to propagate.

Oliver Rumsey (G’99)

As a fully-fledged gap year student I can honestly say that I hadn’t been awake this early since my final exams about eight months previously!   As I stood – sober, cold and waiting for a crowded train on that chilly January morning, I thought about how I had got myself into a position that a lot of you experience everyday.  I’d say something like ‘well to cut a long story short’ if the process had been at all stressful, but sorting the work experience out had been a pretty much pain-free operation.

Having made the decision not to go overseas and do voluntary work for my Gap Year, I looked into the possibility of doing an internship inLondon.  A good place to start seemed to be the WOBS network to, so I fired an e-mail off to Olivia Henley detailing what I wanted to do, and three weeks later received a call saying that Martin Green (C’76), would be prepared to accommodate me in early January on the condition that I went up for, as it transpired, a successful meeting in December.

So I found myself on the 4^th floor of Lansdowne House,Berkeley Square (‘Hedge Fund heaven’) ready to start making coffee for the Private Equity section of NewSmith Capital Partners.

Having done a few placements before I’d come here expecting a quick tour of the office followed by a couple of weeks in either the mail room or the kitchen! Not that I’m complaining, because any placement is an opportunity to learn and improve your CV.

However, NewSmith Capital pulled out all the stops and I was allocated a desk, computer and even a phone. The next three weeks went by in a blur of meetings, spreadsheets and various other ‘grown-up’ activities. In what turned out to be an extremely turbulent time in the City, the FTSE dropped 700 points in the 1^st week, I learned a great deal about an industry which is stereotype by ‘Dragons Den’.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who facilitated this opportunity – especially Martin and Olivia and I look forward to seeing a few of you inWhiteleyVillage for WOBS rugby on a Saturday afternoon!

Sam Swadling (B’07)

NewSmith Capital is a fund management business based in the West End of London, managing around $7bn of money for various institutional and high net worth clients. As is very typical in any financial services business, a number of skills and talents are required to create a successful business. Consequently our Partners come from a broad range of academic backgrounds and professional qualifications, but have spent much of their careers in money management and/or investment banking.

Sam Swadling (B’07) joined NewSmith for three weeks, during a particularly interesting time for debt and equity markets around the world (they were falling, dramatically!). Conscious of the fact that Sam didn’t have any professional expertise, but nor did we want him to just “make the tea”, we decided to put him to work on a specific project and also allowed him to “shadow” me on any meetings and ‘phone calls where appropriate.

The project was to update and collate all the very many proposals we had rejected in relation to unlisted investments, and log the reasons why they had been rejected.  I hope we managed to give Sam some insight into our thought processes and why the proposals were unsuitable (some parallels with TV’s Dragon’s Den alluded to by Sam, are true).  In return I now have an up-to-date record, which is very useful to show to both our current and prospective clients who invest in our funds.

I think giving work experience is invaluable to any student, and I always have a policy of trying to give a good flavour of what the fund management and the broader financial services business is about. Equally I believe that any firm should offer specific projects so that both parties get something out of it – rather than just a good cuppa!

Martin Green (C’76)

• Keith Owers
• Roger Stokes
• Nicholas Beazley
• Patrick Flynn
• Justin Goodbody
• Tom Gordon
• Charlie Hamshaw-Thomas
• Hugh Hamshaw-Thomas
• Benedict Kelly
• Christopher Kelly
• Luke Kisielewski
• Hugh Laughton
• Rob Lindsell
• Tim Maile
• Simon McDonagh
• Hugh Miles
• Mickey Morrissey
• John Murphy
• Joseph O’Donnell
• Patrick Renouf
• Andrew Rome
• Eamonn Shanahan
• Murray Shanks
• Alex Schouvaaloff

• Alex Buckley
• James Canepa
• Giles Coghlin
• Charles Dunster
• Tom Garrigan
• Nial Joyce
• Jason Juden
• Jon Kelly
• James (Jim) Little
• Stephen (Steve) McDermott
• Paul McGarry
• Jason Pavry
• Nick Pond
• Paul Radziwill
• Dennis Roberts
• Robert (Doug) Sanday
• Guy Stagnetto
• Martyn Sullivan
• Rob Tye
• Simon Walsh
• Marc Wiehe

• Fr Luke
• Fr Martin
• Glenn Robertson
• Nick Robinson

•  Hector Au
• Ollie Barnett
• Will Pasquali
• Andrew Bayles
• Matt Chan
• Pasquali D’Arbela
• Richard Gairdner
• Pete Gibbon
• Phil Harwood
• Peter Hilton
• Phil Holmes
• Daniel Hughes
• Simon Jones
• Edward Keelaghan
• David Micallef-Eynaud
• David Nolan
• Dermot O’Connor
• Seb Perry
• Oliver Quinn
• Damian Reynolds
• Edmund Ryan
• Ramon San Juan
• Hugo Terry
• St John Tyrwhitt
• William Walder
• Luke Windle
• Stephen Wolseley
• Anthony Woodward

• Anthony Aris
• David Bell
• Jeremy Best
• Rodney Bligh
• Tim Carr
• Michael Clarke
• Paul Clegg
• Gareth Dancer
• Terence Delaney
• Bernard Elkington
• Vincent Ellis-Brown
• Peter Esmonde
• Christopher Frederick
• Mike Gilpin
• Julian Lee
• John Muscat
• Patrick Nivelles
• James Pontifex
• Christopher Setter
• Simon Slaughter
• Nicholas Wynne and Mrs Sally Wynne

They were joined by :

• Fr Christopher Jamison
• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Fr Philip Gaisford
• Fr Kevin Taggart
• Gino Carminati, Headmaster
• James Whitehead, Deputy Headmaster
• Alda Andreotti, Chairman, School Governors
• Nick Butterworth, Chairman, Worth Society
• Olivia Henley, Secretary, Worth Society

• Fr Kevin Taggart
• Alex Buchanan
• David Caillard
• Alex Canneti
• Nick de la Bedoyere
• Ian Gilmour
• Nick Hiley
• Pawel Kisielewski
• Sandy Mallet
• James Marmion
• Steve O’Brien
• Jeremy Sharman
• Mark Shepherd
• Alex Stewart-Clark
• Chris Urwick
• Dominic Warren

• Shane Allin
• Peter Blake
• Mark Collini
• Neil Davy
• Peter Escott
• Nick Gilodi-Johnson
• Dominic Hirons
• Paddy Hopkirk
• William Horner
• Chris Kenny
• Alex Kitchin
• Richard Marriott-Dodington
• Simon McMenemy
• James Maxwell Scott
• Adrian Penfold
• Eddie Robinson
• James Vernor-Miles
• Mike Watts

• Abbot Kevin
• Keith Owers
• Tim Belson
• Desmond Calnan
• Robert Dory
• Louis Farrugia
• Tony Green
• John Harben
• Janusz Heath
• Claude Keith
• Carl Kirby-Turner
• Christopher Peck
• Jason Squire
• John Weguelin
• James Wheeler
• Mark Williams

• Abbot Kevin
• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Keith Owers
• David Adeleke
• Dick Aldridge
• Ugo Baccanello
• Edward Belgeonne
• Mark Behard
• Gerald Berkley
• Matthew Bowden
• Bruno Brenninkmeijer
• Richard Challoner
• Simon Coughlin
• Charlie Cruz
• John Dyne
• Dominic Ferguson
• Garry Goghlan
• Michael Golton
• Ben Goodger
• David Harries
• Peter Haydon
• Edward Henry
• Bernard Hickie
• Christopher Hobbs
• Charlie Hooper
• Piers Jennings
• Philip Lundberg
• Ivan Macquisten
• Michael Masrieh
• Chris Mathews
• Charles Mawenu
• Julian McCarthy
• Paul O’Donahue
• Frank O’Kelly
• Paul Parke
• Mark Porral
• Rupert Pridham
• Mark Reynier
• Stephen Rhind-Tutt
• Desmond Shanahan
• Chris Stevens
• Mike Tait
• Daniel Taylor
• John Tyszkiewicz
• Mark van der Lande
• Elena Vinycomb
• Max Walker
• Alex Walters
• Simon Warner-Bore
• David Whelpton

• Abbot Kevin Taggart
• Fr Charles Hallinan
• Fr Luke Jolly
• Fr James Cutts
• Jeremy Dowling
• Paul Miller
• Keith Owers

• Simon Bayles
• Paul Buchanan
• Mel Carson
• Dominic Floyd
• Ed Found
• Simon Gabriel
• Charlie Gerada
• Steve Heath
• Justin Jacques
• Patrick Lindley
• Rod Little
• Ross Murray
• Michael O’Sullivan
• Tom Pullen
• Mike Rigby
• Shaun Severi
• Kevin Solan
• Tim Starkey
• Mark Waghorn
• Jo Warwick
• David Wiehe

• Fiona Bond
• Sophie Bowe
• Jessica Coffin
• Sarah Featherby
• Charlotte Hart
• Laura Hurley
• Charlotte Hutchinson
• Maddy Ilsley
• Dani Jeyes
• Catherine Jones
• Alexandre Kinde
• Naomi Larsson
• Flora Macdonald
• Zarah Manning
• Louisa McCarthy
• Chloe Noakes
• Anna Webb
• Caroline Brown
• Fr Stephen Ortiger
• Rebecca Paterson
• Joanna Phillippo Nevill
• Nikki Webb
• Naomi Williams

Gino Carminati (for the School) and Nick Butterworth (for Worth Society) joined the girls for pre-dinner drinks

• Ben Babington (G’96)
• John Barnes (StB’06)
• Ollie Barnett (StB‘98)
• Charles Bellm (R’04)
• Livio Belpassi (B’04)
• Lorenzo Belpassi (B’04)
• Richard Breen (StB’75)
• Sean Buckley (G’83)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)
• Robert Butterworth (StB’06)
• Nicholas Coleridge-Watts (C’06)
• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Tom Cottrell (StB’04)
• Lorenzo Curci (B’00)
• Ben Drummond (R’83)
• Richard Gairdner (StB’98)
• Alex Gazzi (R’04)
• Simon Jones (StB’98)
• Dominic Latham-Koenig (B’83)
• Owen Lean (C’01)) – entertained us with his ’magic’!
• Marcus Lee (StB’04)
• Chris Madsen (B’04)
• Simon McMenemy (R’89)
• Alex Podbury (C’04)
• Andrew Pollen (StB’00)
• James Pymont (B’00)
• Eddie Robinson (B’89)
• Guy Salimbeni (F’07)
• Hugh Salimbeni (F’05)
• Hugo Sanders (R’00)
• Jeremy Sandle (G’74)
• Nick Smyth (StB’00)

• Fr Martin McGee
• Rob Campbell
• Lorenzo Curci
• Tom Holt
• Matthew Page
• Oliver Parry
• Andrew Pollen
• James Pymont
• Hugo Sanders
• Nick Smyth
• Alistair Stirling
• Oliver Tyrwhitt
• Will Walshe
• Dave Whyte
• John-Henry Wicks
• Peter Vere (in spirit!)

• Danny Brown (B’04)
• John Barnes (StB’06)
• Dale Bellis (F’03)
• Charlie Birchall (R’03)
• Simon Blunt
• Jack Bodkin (G’03)
• Howard Brookman (G’93)
• Christian Brunning (StB’88)
• Tom Butter (B’04)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)
• George Calvert (C’09)
• Alonso Caro (R’06)
• Giles Heather (F’03)
• Olly Ingram (B’04)
• Ed Long (G’03)
• Richard Lurcott (Worth parent)
• Rorrie Mars (R’03)
• John Paul Matthews (B’06)
• Tom McConnell (F’05)
• Simon McMenemy (R’89)
• Sebastien Plummer (R’06)
• Alex Pollen (StB’04)
• Adrian Pring (R’01)
• Daniel Pring (R’03)
• George Ross (G’95)
• Nick Vasquez (G’97)
• Max Watson (F’05)
• Christian Zaleski (StB’05)

• Father Kevin                                                   
• Richard Pollen (StB’64)                                             
• John Crookenden (G‘68)                                
• Michael Worrall (R’71)                                               
• James Forte (C’72)    
• Nick Barnett(G’73)                                        
• Steven Noel-Hill (StB’74)                                           
• Richard Breen (StB’75)                                             
• Michael Berkeley (G’76)                                 
• Mark Breen (StB’76)                                      
• Nick Butterworth(G’76)                                             
• Mark Simpson (StB’76)                                              
• John Griffith (B’76)                                         
• Ewan Ward-Thomas (B’77)                          
• Nick de la Bedoyere (G’79)
• Ian Gilmour (B’79)                                          
• Jeremy Sharman (StB’79)                             
• Mark Shepherd (B’79)                                    
• Sean Donnellan (StB’86)                                           
• AntonyLegge (G’86)                                      
• Mark Collini (StB’89)                                      
• Simon McMenemy(R’89)                              
• Ben Babington(G’96)                                    
• James Maclean (StB’99)                                           
• Andrew Pollen (StB’00)                                              
• Chris Coxall (R’02)                                        
• James Madsen (B’02)                                    
• Max McAlister (G’02)                                      
• Tom Podbury (C’02)                                      
• James Wallace (StB’02)        

28^th February 2008 went into my diary as just ‘WOBS Lunch’ which caused some concern among my work colleagues as they speculated as to what this stood for.  Having left Worth in ’76 (that’s 1976…) and having had embarrassingly little to do with the school that coaxed me through O’s, A’s and some turbulent teenage years, I confess I found myself speculating too.  Would I recognise anyone after 27 years adrift?  Who would be there and would I owe any of them money??

The sharp early spring sunshine bathed the city as I walked to Bow Wine Vaults in the heart of Cheapside.  The restaurant’s cellar (more cosy than cavernous) quickly filled with WOBS of all ages, shapes and sizes and since a Worth old boy and the bar are not long distant from each other, any rules relating to weekday lunchtime drinking were soon dispatched…

Peering from the midst of the gathering as I arrived was the unfeasibly youthful figure of Father Kevin who had given up the day to join us – and very welcome he was too.  Being a Butler boy (your very good health, Mr Owers) I was not instantly recognized by Fr Kev, and he had to take a long and very hard look before he worked out who I was.  But WOBS is a lot to do with keeping touch and after greetings were exchanged I discovered he shared a birthday with my older brother James, and had exchanged cards with him for most of the 32 years since school.  A testimony to both Fr Kevin and the power of the WOBS network.

It quickly became clear that 1976, or thereabouts, was very well represented; Mark Simpson, a brace of Breens (Mark – ‘76 and Richard ‘74), Mike Berkeley,Nick Barnettand the ebullient Steve Noel-Hill all graced the event, which boasted a two-generation attendance from the Pollens (Richard ‘64 and Andrew ’00) – a WOBS first.  The mood was spirited and convivial and all appeared fit, prosperous and surprisingly hirsute…

Proceedings were ably herded by WOBS ChairmanNick Butterworth.  Nick, now CEO at property consultancy Jackson Stops, gave an informal address which included an obit to Fra Andrew Bertie, sadly recently deceased.  He would have been proud to hear the Tibetan morning song ringing through the vaults from those that could a) sing and b) remember it.  Bertie’s accompanying plug-in, taps-on wake-up calls were as unwelcome then as they were effective, but along with his so many other talents and his irrepressible and Sahara-dry humour, he was very fondly remembered.

WOBS manages to tread the line between business and social network, grapevine and Charitable Trust so the availability of new merchandise in the form of a new WOBS tie and cufflinks which goes towards funding were gracefully presented by Simon McMenemy.

An excellent meal was brought forth and the event went off without a hitch.  Many cards were produced and within hours emails were already being exchanged and memberships renewed.  Will I come again? You bet.  And those others from ‘76 who are in my address book and who haven’t reconnected (Franks? Holditch?..) will be getting an invite too.

John Griffith (B’76)

• Fr Kevin
• Ben Babington (G’96)
• Nick Barnett (G’73)
• Richard Breen (StB’75)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)
• Tom Calnan (R’95)
• Paul Cattermull (StB’73)
• Chris Coopman (R’02)
• Rob Cottrell (R’97)
• Hugh Easterbrook (R’76)
• James Forte (C’72)
• Charles Gerada (R’90)
• Crispin Hayhoe (StB’82)
• Pete Hilton (G’98)
• Edward Horgan-Goumas (C’85)
• Julian Kirk (StB’76)
• Chris Madsen (B’04)
• James J Masden (C’77)
• James P Madsen (B’02)
• Simon McMenemy (R’89)
• Danny O’Connell (R’02)
• Alex Podbury (C’04)
• Tom Podbury (C’02)
• Mark Simpson (StB’76)
• James Vernor Miles (G’89)
• Steve Whyte (B’98)

• Father Kevin
• Richard Pollen (StB’64)
• John Crookenden (G‘68)
• Michael Worrall (R’71)
• James Forte (C’72)
• Nick Barnett (G’73)
• Steven Noel-Hill (StB’74)
• Richard Breen (StB’75)
• Michael Berkeley (G’76)
• Mark Breen (StB’76)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)
• Mark Simpson (StB’76)
• John Griffith (B’76)
• Ewan Ward-Thomas (B’77)
• Nick de la Bedoyere (G’79)
• Ian Gilmour (B’79)
• Jeremy Sharman (StB’79)
• Mark Shepherd (B’79)
• Sean Donnellan (StB’86)
• Antony Legge (G’86)
• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Simon McMenemy (R’89)
• Ben Babington (G’96)
• James Maclean (StB’99)
• Andrew Pollen (StB’00)
• Chris Coxall (R’02)
• James Madsen (B’02)
• Max McAlister (G’02)
• Tom Podbury (C’02)
• James Wallace (StB’02)

• Abbot Kevin
• Ben Babington (G’96)
• Nick Barnett (G’73)
• Ollie Barnett (StB’98)
• Simon Bayles (B’90)
• Luca Belpassi (G’01)
• Michael Berkeley (G’76)
• Hugh Bett (B’73)
• Christian Bruning (StB’88)
• Nick Butterworth (G’76)
• Desmond Calnan (R’69)                    
• Christopher Coffin (G’73)
• Mark Collini (StB’89)
• Simon Crane (StB’70)
• Phillip Davey (F’04)
• Sean Donnellan (StB’86)
• Simon Drummond-Brady (B’74)
• James Forte (C’72)
• Charlie Gerada (R’90)
• Anthony Green (C’69)
• Jamie Griffith (B’72)
• Charlie Hamshaw-Thomas (B’78)
• Mark Lee-Barber (C’71)
• Andrew Long (B’00)
• Gordon Moore (G’85)
• Mickey Morrissey (R’77)
• Nick Norton (R’72)
• Matthew Page (C’00)
• Chris Rooney (StB’84)
• Tim Ross (R’86)
• Chris Rybak (B’85)
• Jeremy Sandle (G’74)
• Matthew Scouller (G’86)
• Michael Spencer (B’72)
• David Tye (StB’70)
• Michael.Vermehren (StB’96)
• John Weguelin (C’70)
• James Wheeler (C’68)
• Tom Willett (G’85)
• Michael Worrall (R’71)

Old Farwellians do come and join us for Farwell’s 10th Anniversary party on Friday 11th May 2012 … Read more

Worth has had a wonderful response from Old Gregorians (OGs) about the Worth Jubilee Jamboree … Read more

2008 : City Lunch

On Thursday 28th February 2008,  29 Worthians and Fr Kevin descended on Bow Wine Vaults in the heart of Cheapside at 10 Bow Church Yard, London EC4 for Worth Society’s annual City Lunch.  “The 28th February 2008 went into my diary as just ‘WOBS Lunch’, which caused some concern among my work colleagues as they speculated as to what this stood for.  Having left Worth in ’76 (that’s 1976…) and having had embarrassingly little to do with the school that coaxed me through Os and As and some turbulent teenage years, I confess I found myself … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

Held on Thursday 9th October 2008 at the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry, Lincoln’s Inn, London WC2A 3TG, the Worth Society “Call My Bluff” Wine Tasting evening was attended by 36 Worthians.  “This was the second such event organised by Worth Society – although the first under its new name.  And if the audience … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Thursday 11th September 2008, around 40 of the 2007 Leavers met at the Antelope Pub, 22 Eaton Terrace, London SW1 for their Recent Leavers’ Reunion.  “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 … …” read more.

On  Saturday 15th November 2008, 27 of the Class of 1993-1998 met for an evening of drinking and merriment at the Sugar Reef in Piccadilly, London W1 for their 10-Year Reunion.  They were joined by Fr Luke, Fr Martin, Glenn Robertson and Nick Robinson.  “When Worth Society suggested a reunion for 1998 Leavers, they naturally asked for Richard Gairdner’s assistance, and he enlisted the help of myself and Ollie Barnett.  With than not proving … …” read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

On  Sunday 2nd November 2008, 21 of the Class of 1983-1988 met for lunch in the Cowdray Room at Worth School for their 20-Year Reunion.  They were joined for lunch by Abbot Christopher., Fr Stephen, Keith Owers, Jeremy Dowling and John Denman.  “On a sunny Sunday morning in early November, we returned to Worth to mark 20 years ‘on the outside’.  The years had clearly been harder on some than others … …” read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

On Thursday 15th May 2008, 22 of the Class of 1973-1978 met for dinner at The Groucho Club 45 Dean Street, London W1 – in the heart of Soho – for their 30-Year Reunion.  They were joined by Keith Owers and Roger Stokes.  “It all started on the playing fields of Downside in the autumn of 2006.  I was supporting my son in his first season of representative rugby for Downside, when I spotted a familiar face in the ranks of the opposition’s spectators … …” Read more.  Click here for List of Attendees.

On Tuesday 22nd July 2008, Abbot Christopher met with Worthians based, or living, in Hong Kong for a dinner at the Yung Kee Restaurant in Hong Kong Central.  “Abbot Christopher attended a small dinner held in his honour, where he was welcomed by Worthians living in Hong Kong.  The Abbot was travelling … …” read more.  Click here to see List of Attendees.

On Monday 14th July 2008, Abbot Christopher met with a group of Australian Worthians for dinner at a restaurant in Balmain, Sydney.  “It is almost ten years ago now that a WOBS (as Worth Society was then known) dinner was held in Sydney to coincide with a Worth rugby tour and theatrical tour in Australia… …” read more.

2007 : Charlie Sacarello Memorial Rugby Match

On Sunday 21^st October 2007 a Worth Old Boys versus Stonyhurst Old Boys Rugby Match took place at Worth School in memory of Charlie Sacarello.  Around 250 people met up - on his birthday - to play the game he loved, and was so good at … Rugby!  “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 … …” read more.

Congratulations to Hugh Bett (B’73) and Tom Carew Hunt (S’02) who represented Worthians at Real Tennis in the 2012 Schools Old Boys’ Doubles Championships on the weekend of the 21st-22nd January 2012.  They reached the final of the Henry Leaf Cup Handicap Division.  The  Worthians were defeated in the final 10-7 by Radley.   On their way through, Hugh and Tom overcame stiff competition from Marlborough, Harrow and Bradford Grammar School.   In the main draw, the two Worthians bowed out at the Quarter Final stage, beaten by the eventual winners, Charterhouse.

Congratulations to Tom Mitchell (F’07) - who is in the news once again! – having stepped up from England Students and FIRA series to make his debut for Rugby England Sevens in the next two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.  He is to play in the forthcoming tournaments taking place in Wellington, New Zealand on the 3rd and 4th February 2012, and Las Vegas, USA on the 10th and 12th February 2012.  For further information visit : http://www.rfu.com/News/2012/January/NewsArticles/180112_sevens_squad.aspx

Our New Year was heralded by the girls – as we welcomed back to Worth 25 of our 2010 and 2011 Worthian Girl Leavers for their second ‘house-style’ supper in the Cowdray Room on Friday 6th January.  It was a noisy, joyful affair enjoyed by all who attended.

We are very sad to report the death of Oxford Councillor Roger Belson (R’67).  He died on Monday 26^th December 2011, aged 62 years.

We are delighted to have found a new venue for the 2012 Worth Society City Lunch which can facilitate the additional numbers increasingly attracted to this annual event.  It is to be held at Vivat Bacchus, 47 Farringdon Street, Holborn, London, EC4A 4LL : www.vivatbacchus.co.uk on Thursday 1st March 2012.  The City Lunch offers an ideal opportunity for Worthians to catch up with old friends, to network and meet other co-Worthians for the first time.  Every year we welcome attendees who represent every decade – ranging from the 1950s to 2000s.  So why not come and join us?  For more information contact Olivia Henley at : worthsociety@worth.org.uk.

Worthian Tom Mitchell (F’07) was one of the stars of the show for Oxford University as they won the 130th Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium on Thursday 8th December 2011.  In his first game against Cambridge, Tom scored a crucial second half try to steer the Dark Blues to a notable 28-10 victory.  Tom is reading for a PGC in Historial Studies at Oxford, having already earned a BA in English and Philosophy at Bristol University.