On 23rd April 2024 112 OHs, Honorary members and guests gathered for the Society’s Annual London Lunch at the RAF Club in London’s Piccadilly.
After a welcome glass of fizz or a pint of aptly named Spitfire Amber Ale from the Churchill Bar a traditional St George’s Day menu of smoked salmon, roast beef with all the trimmings and fruit crumble was served, accompanied by the Club’s own red and white wines.
The Haileybury Grace was said by Tom Huckin (B 65), Chairman of the Old Haileyburian Rugby Club.
We were delighted to welcome as our very special guests Imogen Thomas, wife of much-loved Jack T (former staff) together with her son Mark Thomas (Tr 71), Martin Rayfield (Chairman of Haileybury Governors), Toby Parker (Heritage Director) and Nicky Bicket (Retiring UK Secretary of Bishops Diocesan Union, the alumni organisation for Bishops, Cape Town).
Sincere thanks must go to Graeme Titmas (H 65) who as a member of the RAF Club, sponsored our booking once again.
After the main course Society President Lizzie Graham (K 76 & Alb) gave a speech in which she told stories of her father Clement Coldwells (ISC & K 40)) and brother’s (Arthur Coldwells (K 71)) times at Haileybury before her and also about her time as an early girl. She concluded her speech with some thought-provoking comments about the likelihood of independent schools losing charitable status in the near future, and how organisations such as the Society who hold charitable status will be well-placed to serve and support their schools.
After dessert past President Doug Everard (BF 73) invited our Guest of Honour Nicky Bicket (ODU). Nicky, an extremely confident showman and orator, gave the most amusing speech which included commentary on alumni associations.
The whole event was one of fun and laughter and we are so grateful to those who attended and made it such a special day. We were especially delighted to see so many OHs from the late 70s/early 80s rallied by Deane Pennick (B 77) who are celebrating their 60th birthdays this year.
Our next similar event will be a dinner on 15th November 2024 for OHs between 1975-2000 to be held at the Union Jack Club, Waterloo so do please save the date & look out for the invitation in your inbox very soon!
Comments:
Great fun yesterday…………
Congratulations on a most enjoyable day yesterday.
It was lovely to be with you yesterday for the Haileybury Society Lunch. The lunch was a great success with everyone enjoying themselves! The menu was delicious and thank you for my extra Yorkshire pudding! The speeches were spot on; both Lizzie and Nicky caught the OH mood perfectly!
Many thanks for organising such an excellent lunch on Tuesday. It was most enjoyable. It was great to see a lot of old friends (and make some new ones too)
Thank you for your note and more importantly, thanks to all those who were involved in arranging, administering and managing the event. It was the first one I have been to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most importantly, it was great to catch up with so many faces from my Haileybury days covering all year groups and houses. The food was delicious, the wine flowed, the speeches were both interesting and amusing, whilst the camaraderie and feeling of a lifelong bond were ever-present. I really look forward to attending many more into the future and spreading the word!
My apologies for a very belated but none the less heartfelt “Thank You” for all the hard work that you and the team (President, Secretary, you and others!) put in to make the lunch such a great success.
Thank you so much for such a fun party and I look forward with anticipation to the next happy occasion.
My brother and I thoroughly enjoyed the lunch. We were very glad to meet old faces, the lunch itself was excellent, and the speeches were outstanding.
What a fun lunch!
