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the
AUTUMN 2014
INCORPORATED GUILD OF
CHELTENHAM LADIES’ COLLEGE
ISSUE 12
EDITOR’S UPDATE
This year marks the 160th anniversary of College.
Our cover photo shows the Pakistani schoolgirl
Malala Yousafzai, the activist for girls’ education, who
addressed pupils, staff and guests so memorably at
Speech Day in July.
Message from the Chairman
3
Message from the President
4
A Day in the Life of a CLC Pupil
6
College in 100 Objects
8
We are continuing with this year’s theme of celebration
here, featuring College life and projects that have taken
place in this special year.
Bunwell & Roderic Re-born
10
CLC Stained Glass
12
We celebrate both the College routine of girls today and connections with our rich
history. On page 6, a visual impression of daily life gives an insight into twenty-first
century College. Dragana Hartley on page 10 demonstrates how the architects
have skilfully met the requirements of modern day students and staff in their
design for the new Bunwell boarding house. As one Guild member said: “It looks
like a hotel!’’.
CLC Expedition to Borneo
14
St Hilda’s East 125th Anniversary
16
Spotlight On
22
Spotlight Dinner
27
Opportunities for today’s pupils are varied and exciting, with trips abroad for
cultural enrichment. The SFC expedition to Borneo on page 14, led by Dr Hilary
Laver, shows how College leads the way in this field.
Guild Members giving Work Insight
28
Guild Reunion
30
Samantha Bagchi’s (page 8) entertaining account of College in 100 Objects
celebrates our interest in shared memories through everyday items and places
unique to College life.
A 50th Birthday Party Reunion
32
Guild Focus
Phoebe Fildes
Lisa King
Vicki Brandon
33
Forthcoming Events
36
On Guild Reunion Day, some such as Annabelle McDonald (page 30) were
fortunate enough to take Adrian Barlow’s (page 12) fascinating tour of the College
stained glass windows. It was a celebration of the colourful and profound works of
art that form part of College’s historic buildings. Dorothea Beale’s motives in her
choices for each window are revealing.
The daisy motif features in the stained glass and was chosen by College girls as
the subject of their wall hanging made under the supervision of Vicki Brandon
(page 21), Head of SFC Textiles. The finished work will hang in St Hilda’s East,
whose members have also made a wall hanging for College to mark the joint
celebration of the 125th anniversary of St Hilda’s East. Hannah Lancashire
has compiled more celebratory pages (16-21) which include the strong links
many Guild members such as Sister Frances and Lucy Tusa have through their
connections with St Hilda’s East.
Vicki Brandon gives examples of how distinguished designers Lisa King
and Tamara Hill Norton have given their time and inspiration with personal
presentations and annual awards, strengthening the links between Guild and
College. The girls benefit from their encouragement and inspiration. There are
other examples in very different career fields, on pages 28-29, by Naomi Morris
Omori and Hannah Owen. The visits from Guild members to speak to girls and
every link made between College and Guild continue to strengthen the bonds
that have developed over many generations.
The Spotlight dinner in London this year was well attended. Those from the world
of entrepreneurship met together as described by Fiona Matthews (page 27) with
very varied and interesting contributions from some who attended .
Many thanks to all the contributors in this issue who have so generously given
time to share their news and experiences: every single contribution is hugely
appreciated. Please keep in touch with the Guild Office by phone, email and
letter. We enjoy hearing about your careers, family lives and reunions. You are
always very welcome here, perhaps tempted to revisit the stained glass windows.
Let us know if you plan to come so that we can give you a tour of College.
I hope you enjoy this issue.
Emma Adams
(Rogers, 1968-1974, Farnley Lodge)
2
CONTENTS
GUILD OFFICE INFORMATION
Administrative or routine enquiries should be
directed to:
Guild Office, Cheltenham Ladies’ College,
Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3EP
Tel: +44 (0)1242 256581
Fax: +44 (0)1242 227882
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.clcguild.org
GUILD OFFICE HOURS:
The Office will be open for enquiries between the
hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
• Please remember to inform the Guild Office when
you change your address and when you update
your email address (alternatively, log on to Guild
Online and make the changes yourself!)
• Notices of births, marriages and deaths,
advertisements and forthcoming events should be
sent to the Guild Office.
GUILD NEWS: SPRING 2015
The copy date for all information for the Spring
2015 issue is 19 December 2014.
We are always pleased to receive articles from
Guild members for inclusion in both the Guild
News and The Slab; photographs are particularly
welcome for both publications.
EDITOR: Thanks to Linda Armitage for proof
reading and to Caroline Harris for coordinating and
preparing this edition.
COVER IMAGE: Malala Yousafzai, Speech Day
2014
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
I am delighted to be writing my first message to
you as Chairman following my election at the
Biennial Meeting in May. I want to place on record
my thanks to my predecessor, Katie Robyns, for her
chairmanship over the last four years and the energy
that she put into the role for Guild; she is a hard act
to follow. We keep our links to Katie as she remains
the Guild Representative on College Council. I
look forward to my time as Chairman – it is a great
honour.
The Reunion weekend was a great success, with
200 members attending; our thanks are due to
College for hosting us so generously. Current pupils
escorted us admirably around College which looked
magnificent. The programme was very varied with
highlights being watching a performance of Chicago
by the Cameo group, a hockey match on Field
played in replica kit dating back to Miss Beale’s time
and having a lecture and guided tour on the stained
glass in College. I certainly never realised while I
was a pupil either the relevance of the glass or the
value of it in its various locations. We have already
started to plan the next AGM and Reunion so do
let us know if there is anything you would like to be
covered.
Our events programme continues to appeal and we
regularly have members attend who have not been
in touch with College or Guild for some time. This is
very heartening as we do try to have a programme
that is attractive to as many members as possible. Guild will again be hosting two Spotlight events
in the coming year: for Digital Social Media on 19
November and, in April 2015, on Returning to Work.
In Exeter the University and Area Representatives
will be hosting a networking event on 12 November.
I look forward to seeing you at one of the events
which are listed at the back of The Slab and will
continue to be advertised in our e-newsletter.
Katie Robyns
congratulating
Olga Senior
The Guild Executive Committee, consisting of the
decade representatives, the officers and colleagues
from College, is looking at the Guild logo. This has
developed over the years and I believe the time is
right for us to ensure that we are keeping in step
with modern design principles and are also able to
use it in our electronic communications. We are also
looking at our website as this has not kept up to date
with technology. If you have not already done so, I
recommend that you look at the College website
www.cheltladiescollege.org. It has recently had a
significant upgrade and is now a clear and exciting
window to College. I hope that we will be able to say
the same about Guild’s website in the coming year.
There will be more news on this and other work of
your hard working Executive Committee in future
publications.
At the invitation of our President, I attended a
drinks party for the 2014 leavers on the evening
before Speech Day to welcome them as our newest
Guild members; I look forward to seeing them at
future Guild events.
I am looking forward to working with you all in the
coming years; if you wish to draw anything to my
attention please contact me via the Guild Office.
Olga Senior
(Hill, 1971-1978, St Helen’s/Fauconberg)
3
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
160th Tea Party
We are delighted to be opening Bunwell House
this term, the first brand new boarding facility to
be built in College for over thirty years. It is first
being inhabited by the girls of St Helen’s whilst their
accommodation is fully renovated. The beautiful new
building has replaced a utilitarian commercial office
block, and we have achieved a 25% margin above the
minimum boarding standards despite the confines
of a limited site and the restrictions of building in a
conservation area.
We have also opened Roderic House on
Christchurch Road, converted from a residential
care home into a Sixth form boarding house for
twenty girls. The renovation and fit-out quality of
the premises are a significant enhancement of our
estate. All the dormitories in both houses are named
after old girls of some distinction who were members
of those houses, and we know the girls will enjoy
learning a little more about them in due course.
Last year we completed work on a full Estates
Masterplan for the future of College, helping us to
identify our priorities for the years to come and make
best use of the resources we have. This summer we
made improvements to a large number of classrooms
and offices in College as we seek to provide the
best accommodation we can for the provision of
teaching and learning. These have included improved
spatial arrangements, investing in more interactive
‘smartboards’ and progressing detailed plans to
strengthen the resilience of our IT systems.
Much of what we do in College is designed to guide
and support the girls in becoming self-determining
young women who will value, serve and enrich the
communities to which they belong. Quite simply,
we want them to be equipped to lead fulfilling and
meaningful lives, combining their academic rigour
and achievement with a sense of purpose and
personal development, mindful of how they can
make a difference in the world. We were therefore
universally delighted to be able to host Malala
Yousafzai, youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize, as our guest speaker for Speech Day this year,
as she embodies all these qualities. Modest, sincere,
humorous, gentle, passionate and compelling by turn,
she received a standing ovation in the Princess Hall
after a speech that few of us will ever forget. We were
able to secure her as a speaker for College through
the personal connection with Malala’s family of a
current pupil from the same valley as Malala. She is
here at College on a fully funded place and introduced
our Spring Concert in Tewkesbury Abbey with a very
moving and powerful tribute to the importance of
education for girls and women. Between these two
young women we have all been provided with a strong
reminder of why College matters.
4
It is particularly rewarding to witness the initiative
shown by girls in planning activities independently,
some of which we are able to support with travel
grants and awards thanks to the philanthropic
contributions of those who have provided the
financial resources. The Vera Morpott Hounsfield
Leaving Exhibitions and the Vicky Tuck Scholarship
grants have enabled girls to travel to South Africa,
Sweden, China, the Ligurian sea and Chile,
volunteering and contributing to research and
education, and caring for the disabled. Grants
have also been approved for projects such as shark
conservation in Fiji, turtle conservation in Greece,
language teaching and the Mercy Ships. In addition,
this summer alone over one hundred girls and
twenty staff undertook travel to Borneo (orangutan
conservation), China (language and culture), and
the French Alps, Welsh valleys and English rivers for
cycling, walking and canoeing as part of the Duke of
Edinburgh Award scheme.
This is a celebratory year for the Parabola Arts
Centre (PAC) as we mark five years since it was
opened in 2009/2010. It has been used imaginatively
for drama, music, art exhibitions and many
community events. Thanks to the generosity of many
College supporters in response to our annual fund
campaign last year, we have been able to appoint a
Director in Residence for the first time who will work
with the girls and bring a new dimension to their work.
Released in July, our IB results (now a 39 point
average) firmly consolidated our position as one of
the country’s leading schools for the programme,
with two girls (Freya Granger and Chantal Liu)
gaining the maximum score of 45/45 points, a feat
accomplished by only 0.25% of the worldwide IB
entry (now over 600,000 students). Later in August,
we were pleased that our A* rate at A level was even
higher than last year, with our four-year average for
girls progressing to their firm choice of university
being 89%.
We value the very wide range of institutions and
scope of courses that the girls go on to. They
reflect the breadth, confidence, independence and
self-determination which are present in our pupils,
making decisions as to what is really right for them
as individuals. In addition to popular choices such as
law, medicine, engineering, science, history of art,
humanities and languages, courses included interior
architecture, anthropology, bioprocessing of new
medicines, communication design, drama, music and
environmental geoscience. About 10% of this year’s
leavers will be taking a gap year.
With 95.3% of the cohort gaining five or more passes
at A*/A grade and 70.2% A* grades across the 28
GCSE subjects taken here, the achievements of last
year’s UC5 girls were an exceptional year for College.
Both collectively and at the individual level, there was
much to be proud of in both relative and absolute
terms, and we are delighted to be welcoming just
over forty new pupils to join this year group as they
move into the Sixth form. As last year, we have
had very high retention of girls at this transition
point so competition for SFC places has been
unprecedentedly high.
We look forward to another exciting year.
Eve Jardine-Young
(1988, Elizabeth)
Vicky Tuck Scholarship
- Jenny Laurence at
Holy Cross Primary
School, South Africa
5
A
DAY
ATCLC
At the College
Corporate Members’
AGM held last
November, a group
of College girls from
different year groups
made a presentation.
It gave a fascinating
insight into a typical
day at College. Here
are some photos and
extracts from the
presentation.
The Morning Routine for a
Boarder: 7am wake up, shower,
breakfast. Desola: ‘I really like
breakfast in house because you get
to talk to your friends and see them
before going down to College.’
The Morning Routine
for a Day Girl - Lora:
‘Wake up at 6.30am,
have breakfast, get in
the car and go.’
After breakfast - Sydney:
‘Run down to school. We have
registration in Tutor Groups with our
actual tutor and the tutor of the other
half of the class. We have registration
to find out anything we need to know
before going off to Prayers.’
Many thanks to:Liberty Mann
(SFC1, Bayshill)
(interviewer)
Desola Awokoya
(SFC2, Cambray)
Sydney Sopher
(UC5, Sidney Lodge)
‘We have another two hours of lessons
after break.’ Desola in Biology: she has
applied for Medicine. ‘At College you can
do so many different things to help with
careers later on. I am in Medics Club.’
Lora in Spanish: ‘I started learning
Spanish this year. Last year we did French
and Latin and were allowed to either
carry on with French and Latin or drop
one and take up Spanish or Chinese. I
dropped Latin and I did Spanish.’
Lora Babbs
(LC2, St Clare)
This is a picture of House Music. We have lots of
House events at CLC. Sydney: ‘We have loads of
different ones. Not just inter house competitions,
but also House Bonding activities. This is House
Music which was a few weeks ago. Everything to
do with house is led by the UC5s, obviously with
the help of the house staff. This means that it
comes from the house - it is not something which
we are told to do; we want to do it.
6
After College we have tea, then we go to our activities. Sydney: ‘I
spend a large amount of my time playing hockey. I play sport pretty
much every day except for Sunday. We have academic lessons on
Tuesdays and Thursdays when we’re older. We have clubs after
school - this is like an extra training session. We have a match every
week - on a Saturday or a Tuesday, so we play a lot of sport. I play
hockey in the winter and in the summer I do athletics.’
After two hours
of lessons: lunch.
‘The day girls go
to Bayshill Dining
Room, the Boarders
go back to their
houses.’
Then we have
dinner in the
boarding houses.
Obviously the
Day Girls have
gone home. Then
we have Prep.’
Prayers - Desola: ‘I really like Prayers
because we learn something new
every day. In one Prayers we learnt
about the empowerment of women;
in another we learnt about the
power of the media.’
‘After Prayers we have two hours of lessons.
As we move up the school girls drop subjects
so there is a smaller number of people in class.
In my class we are about nine. I find that I learn
better because you can interact with the teacher
more and she/he can explain things better.’
Sydney: ‘I really like the food at school. I couldn’t go to a
school where the food wasn’t nice. There’s a really wide
variety: hot food, a vegetarian option and a salad bar. Every
week we have House Choice. Throughout the week a year
group has given in a form saying what they would like to
have; it might be pizza or chicken selection. We have that
food on a Wednesday. It’s a treat and quite varied.’
‘When we have extra- curricular activities
at lunchtime we have packed lunches.
Desola: ‘It’s mostly sandwiches and fruit.
It’s really good, but sometimes I miss the
lunch back at house.’
Lora: ‘I would say we have
such a variety at break that it is
almost like being at a restaurant
every day… My favourite is
pizza bread. For sweets, I quite
like the fairy cupcakes.’
In the afternoon: ‘We have
registration again with our
tutors, then we go into the next
two hours of lessons.
“As you can
Prep: Desola: ‘We have compulsory
Prep time from 7-9pm, but most of the
time I am working until 10.30 or 11pm.’
This shows Desola rehearsing with The
International Society: ‘In College we have the
International Society, it’s made up of different
cultures and people from all over the world. We
had an event with a fashion show and there was a
dance. We did an African dance here.’
see, it is action
packed from
the minute we
wake up and
it’s completely
different for all
of us but thank
you for the
opportunity. ”
7
“...I feel it has
The Tree reflected
in the Art Block
a very solid,
reliable but also
beautiful presence
in our school. ”
Sophie Coleridge
(2014, St Margaret’s)
COLLEGE IN
100 OBJECTS
This year, College celebrated its 160th Anniversary.
To mark the occasion we undertook three collaborative projects,
one of which was ‘College in 100 Objects’.
8
This project saw current girls, staff and Guild invited
to nominate the object that best represented College
to them and we were inundated with the most
wonderful, heart-warming and amusing anecdotes,
as stories and memories poured in from around the
world. It is impossible to select a favourite from the
many we received but, throughout, a theme was clear:
no matter the age of the person nominating their
object, from LC1 to our oldest members of Guild, the
common experiences of life at ‘Coll’ and the values
held dear, endure. They remain as true today as
they have for previous generations, testament to the
strength of our heritage. I would like to thank those
of you who took the time to send in details of your
object and for the thoughtful and detailed anecdotes
supporting your choice. It brought a great deal of joy
to those of us working on this project to relive those
memories and discover anew things in College that
had been forgotten.
GLENLEE TREE
It will come as no surprise to discover that the Marble
Corridor, Princess Hall and The Tree (opposite page)
received multiple nominations but there are some
delightful, and possibly eccentric, single nominations,
which bring a rush of memories for all who read them.
One of my favourites is from Mary Ellison (Allt, 1949,
Glenlee), who nominated the College Sack: ‘A very
useful way to carry everything we needed for the day, as
well as to and from our houses. And, of course, the very
sensible rule by which we had to carry our sack in our
right hand on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and
in our left hand on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
so that we didn’t end up lop-sided!’ I’m reassured
College was nothing if not pragmatic in its approach
to such things.
I hope you agree that this last quotation sums up all
that is wonderful about College. To discover more
nominations and see the full list, I encourage you to
visit the CLC website for an interactive version of our
‘100 Objects’. Each object has been photographed
and behind the image is either a nomination or an
explanation for you to explore and enjoy.
‘The tree near the sports centre and right in front of
Glenlee’s back garden. I think this school is like a tree.
The roots of a tree are like the technicians, staff in
Porter’s Lodge, staff in the kitchen and some staff that
we don’t know that are helping us from ‘ behind the
scenes’. In a tree, they are hidden by the soil, that’s why
we don’t notice them. The trunk is like the Principal,
the teachers, our housemistresses and the matrons.
They are easily noticed by students, so that’s why I say
they are the trunk which is noticed by everyone. The
branches are students, and in the summer when the
leaves (nutrients) are delivered through the trunks to
the branches, it’s like when the teachers teach us, and
with so many students, it makes the crown of the tree,
making it beautiful. There aren’t any leaves right now
because it is like when we have holidays and the tree is
having one right now!
Samantha Bagchi Development Director
The Marble Corridor
Another favourite, Green Knickers, was nominated
by Sarah Markham (Smith, 1979, Glenlee) ‘Those
delightful knickers, terrifyingly ever present (even next
to the bed every night with the damp flannel in case of
fire)… you never can be too careful’. Again, pragmatism
at play here.
And a wonderfully evocative memory from Mina
Bowater (Marriott, 1961, St Austin’s) of Granny
Grant’s Tortoises ‘I used to look out for Granny Grant’s
(my Latin Mistress) tortoises Huc and Illuc (with ‘Here’
and ‘There’ or maybe ‘Hither’ and Thither’ but I cannot
remember which!) painted in black spots on their back
to identify which was which in the College gardens’.
And dare I suggest, a certain pragmatism present
here too.
Of course a perennial feature of life at Coll is the
Tree. Sophie Coleridge (2014, St Margaret’s) speaks
for many with her nomination: ‘It’s a place where girls
meet or wait for each other; I think it encapsulates the
idea that, despite the business and intensity of our
school day, we are actually part of a community who
will stick around for each other. I also like the way you
can see it from almost every window… I feel it has a very
solid, reliable but also beautiful presence in our school’.
Lastly, I’d like to leave you with a nomination from
Joycelyne Sun, LC1, Glenlee.
9
BUNWELL & RODERIC RE-BORN
The finished
Bunwell House
In 1984 College took the difficult decision to close
Bunwell and Roderic, a pair of substantial Georgian
houses on the south side of Suffolk Square; they
had served as boarding houses for nearly a century.
The closure was attributable to the worsening traffic
conditions in Montpellier which girls had to navigate
several times a day on their way to and from College.
Nearly 25 years later, a working party of College
Council members reported on the quality and
provision of boarding facilities at College.
10
It concluded that, whilst standards were very
good, there were gaps in key areas and room for
improvement. The decision was made to commit
to a rolling programme of refurbishment of all the
Junior houses, with the building of a state-of-the-art
boarding house which would set the standard for the
refurbishment programme over the next seven years.
In addition, College has purchased a former nursing
home on Malvern Road which is being converted
to a Sixth form boarding house for 20 girls and
associated staff. Having resurrected the Bunwell
name, it seemed an obvious step to name this new
house Roderic. We look forward to welcoming former
members of both houses to their new incarnations
when you next visit.
Dragana Hartley (Lukić, 1967-1973, Cambray)
Director of Marketing & Communications, CLC
Under construction
and the finished
Roderic House
The new house would act as a ‘decanting’ house
whilst each house was renovated over a seven year
period. This new house has given College the
opportunity to resurrect a much-loved house name:
Bunwell is re-born.
Bunwell is College’s first new-build boarding
house since the 1980s and stands on the site
of the old Tax Office in Parabola Road. It will
provide accommodation for 66 girls in a mixture
of two and four bedroom rooms. There is private
accommodation for the Housemistress and up to
three live-in staff. There is a well-equipped prep
room and light, airy and comfortable common
rooms. The house opens in September 2014 with the
girls and staff from St Helen’s as its first occupants.
During their time in Bunwell, St Helen’s will undergo
comprehensive refurbishment and this process will
continue over the next few years until every Junior
house has been renovated.
11
THE STAINED GLASS
OF CHELTENHAM
LADIES’ COLLEGE
Teach me thy love to know;
That this new light, which now I see,
May both the work and workman show:
Then by a sunne-beam I will climbe to thee.
Under the image of Bunyan is the text from Pilgrim’s
Progress, ‘And Mercy said “How sweet is rest to them
that labour”’. Significantly, above Bunyan’s head - as if
in his dream - a mother and five girls are being guided
by Great-Heart, who has been told, ‘Take these my
daughters, conduct them to the house called Beautiful,
at which place they will rest’. (Pilgrim’s Progress, Pt. III).
This anticipates both the Dream of Fair Women, later
to be the subject of the painting above the proscenium
in the Princess Hall, and the correspondence between
Miss Beale and John Ruskin about the ideal of ‘the
School called Beautiful’. Stained glass was to be one of
the key means of achieving this ideal.
On the other side of the door, the portraits of
Langland and Chaucer are also important for their
texts: From Piers Ploughman, Miss Beale chose
‘Whan alle tresores ben ytryed, treuthe is ye best’,
and from Chaucer,
‘Of alle the flowers in the mede,
Then love I moste these daisies white and rede.’
Langland and
Piers Ploughman
Daisies
12
It is easy to overlook stained glass: like wall paper, it
rarely gets a second glance. But the stained glass of
the Cheltenham Ladies’ College is unique and of
exceptional interest. No other school in Britain has
such a carefully arranged scheme of glass - planned
as it was by Dorothea Beale herself to be instructive,
beautiful and found all round the school buildings.
Indeed, no other school has so much stained glass,
without even having a school chapel. Miss Beale’s
intention could be seen as making the whole school
into a chapel, but a chapel where the instruction
and the atmosphere would be literary, moral and
aesthetic; it would offer an ideal of a woman’s worth
in the world to challenge the muscular Christianity
being preached in the boys’ public schools of the 19th
century. Specifically, it would illuminate the CLC
motto, Cœlesti luce crescat (‘May she grow with the
light of heaven’).
Miss Beale’s scheme begins with the windows either
side of the College’s former main entrance. On the
left is a two-light window depicting the poet-priest
George Herbert and John Bunyan, author of The
Pilgrim’s Progress. On the right, another two-light
window shows Geoffrey Chaucer and William
Langland, author of Piers Ploughman. These windows
emphasize that literary texts will be the source for
the College’s scheme: The Herbert portrait shows
him dressed as a priest, and kneeling in his church,
Bemerton, near Salisbury. The text beneath (a verse
from his poem ‘Matins’) links directly to the ‘Heavenly
light’ of the College motto:
The daisy, as the College emblem, exemplified Miss
Beale’s conviction that beauty and worth were not
to be defined by size and ostentation. Throughout
the College, the stained glass she commissioned is
full of images of beauty in miniature: wild flowers,
dragonflies and moths, even small fossils are all
worked into the most delicate designs.
These windows, like most of the glass in the College,
are the work of Heaton, Butler and Bayne. HBB were
a London firm, based in Covent Garden; they are
responsible for much of the late 19th century glass
found in Cheltenham. This was in part because they
were the favoured designers of John Middleton,
Miss Beale’s architect for the enlargement of the
school premises. The glass is finely drawn and
coloured: George Herbert is carefully based on
the posthumous portrait of the poet by Richard
White (1674). Above Langland’s head is a beautiful
miniature scene of Piers ploughing a field at the foot
of the Malvern Hills. The face of the mother behind
John Bunyan looks like a real (almost photographic)
portrait – a technique for which HBB were wellknown. The window’s inscription says, ‘Given in
memory of Mary Winifred Atkinson, a grandchild of
the College’; could this be her portrait?
It is, then, the subjects, texts and subtexts of these
windows either side of the original main entrance
that reveal Miss Beale’s conception of CLC and the
principles on which it was to be based: the heavenly
light, the search for knowledge and truth, the House
called Beautiful, and the daisies ‘white and rede’. These
themes are reflected, directly or indirectly, in nearly all
the stained glass found throughout the College.
Adrian Barlow
Architecture and Stained Glass Expert
HEAVENLY VIEWING:
RESTORED STAINED GLASS
PANEL SEES THE LIGHT
Few Guild members will know of the stained glass
window panels packed up in wooden cases and
protective straw for over half a century under the
Princess Hall. These windows were not designed to
be hidden away from public view. Originally, they
were positioned in one of the most heavily used
spaces within the whole College complex: the Lower
Hall (or Great Hall as it was first known) was one
of the jewels in the grand scheme of decoration
directly attributable to Dorothea Beale. The two
large windows were sited in the north end of the Hall,
in the gallery, and could be seen by all the classes
taking place in this space at the same time. They
were also the work of the London firm Heaton, Butler
and Bayne. Each window consisted of three main
figurative sections, with an upper head and lower
bottom section, in addition to three tracery sections
above. The only detailed picture and description of
them that exists is in the Guide to the Cheltenham
Ladies’ College, published in 1931. In the mid 1950s
the Lower Hall (as it became known) was divided
horizontally to make space for more classrooms
above. This resulted in a radical alteration to the
north end of the hall and the windows were removed,
carefully labelled, and packed away for safe keeping
under the Princess Hall. Last year, following their
removal to another space under the PH, it was
possible to view them again and arrange for one of
the panels to receive conservation treatment (in the
form of cleaning and re-leading) from a dedicated
professional restorer, Michelle Mateley, from MB
Stained Glass, a firm based in Gloucester.
The subject matter of all the windows depicts women
of the New Testament. Fittingly, the first window
commemorates the mother of Mr Edward Lloyd,
a well-known tenor; she was one of the first music
teachers of the College and celebrated for her
beautiful recitals of sacred music. She was one of the
first staff to be appointed in 1854 (at the age of 20) and
taught at the College until 1867. She had arrived with
an outstanding reference from the Royal Academy
of Music and helped to lay the foundations of a music
department that quickly became renowned for its
excellent standard of professional teaching.
The 1890 Spring and Autumn College Magazines
record the alterations to the Great Hall that took
place when the windows were fitted: ‘The stained
glass windows in the large hall are now complete, and
add greatly to the beauty of the room. Each window
has three lights, and these contain a series of scenes
from the life of Christ which have been carefully
chosen by Miss Beale. The left hand window facing us
as we enter has been put up with the money raised by
the Guild concert last spring, when Mr Edward Lloyd
so kindly gave his services. The concert produced
exactly the sum required for the remaining window in
the hall. The three subjects of the concert window will
now stand as follows: The Daughter of Jairus rising
Lower Hall in 1891
at the Word of Christ, The Lord Blessing Children,
and Timothy learning from Eunice the Psalter. This
commemorates Mrs Lloyd and others.’
The second window, erected in memory of Miss
Buckoll by her friends and pupils, ‘expresses some
aspects of women’s lives—Mary and Martha tell of
study and active work, the Blessed Virgin, of perfect
obedience, and The Syrophoenician Woman, of
prayerful striving for one’s children’. Adelaide Buckoll
was on the teaching staff from 1873 – 1889 as Head
of the Oxford Room and Division II. Adelaide was
also the first editor of the ‘Chronicle’ section of the
College magazine. Clearly she was a much-loved
member of staff.
These windows were given a purpose that goes
beyond decoration, designed to ensure that
individuals would not be forgotten within a vibrant
organisation dedicated to education. It is hoped that
the present day careful restoration of each section
will enable them to be repositioned within College so
that the original dual purpose of adding beauty and
serving as an act of commemoration can be fulfilled.
George Herbert
On the subject of memorial windows and in addition
to the above, it would be a wonderful corporate act to
commission a new window to commemorate the CLC
contribution to the war effort as the Centenary of
WW1 commemoration events progress over the next
four years. I am beginning to uncover some wonderful
examples of war service and sacrifice by past Guild
members and feel that this would be a decorative and
traditional way to ensure that their life stories are not
forgotten within the College community.
Rachel Roberts College Archivist
John Bunyan
13
CLC EXPEDITION TO
BORNEO
When we landed at Heathrow on 19th July, the sun
set on an incredible two weeks: the CLC Expedition
to Borneo. Over 11,000 kilometres behind us, the
Indonesian sun was setting on a place we had been
hugely privileged to experience; this was no “visit”
– 17 College girls and four staff were well and truly
immersed in the landscape and culture of Kalimantan,
Indonesia, with each day bringing new adventures.
“We are
extremely proud
to be the first
school group to
reach the BOSF
release site in
Bukit Batikap
Conservation
Forest.”
14
The preparation had been lengthy. Taking a large
group of non-natives to a rehabilitation centre for
orphaned orangutans and thence to a release site
deep in primary rainforest, meant health checks
that were not for the faint-hearted, to say nothing
of the physical challenges we would face. Those
who signed up understand that these animals are
worth it: numbers of the Bornean orangutan have
declined by 50% in 60 years. Forest clearances for
palm plantations mean that their natural habitat is
being sorely depleted, with adults often shot and
youngsters abandoned. CLC joined with GapForce
and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
(BOSF) to contribute to efforts to rescue and reintroduce orangutans to the wild.
On arrival on Palangkaraya (and after jump-starting
the bus – a vital life skill), we headed for the Nyrau
Menteng rehabilitation centre to be introduced to the
project, to get our first glimpses of orangutans and
to learn some jungle survival skills. Rather like Lower
College, Nyaru is where young orangutans come to
learn basic skills in “forest school” before moving up
to semi-release state on “Orangutan Island”, which
we visited the next day. Constant monitoring means
that BOSF staff know where their “students” are at
any time and, although there are vets on hand if an
orangutan is ever in difficulty, the ultimate aim is to
wean them off human intervention.
We are extremely proud to be the first school group
to reach the BOSF release site in Bukit Batikap
Conservation Forest. On the two-day journey
- involving people cars, speed boats, jeeps and
traditional long boats (crossing the equator to and
fro) - the curiosity, adaptability and sociability of
College girls came into their own. Hours without food
and in cramped travelling conditions meant games
and reading aplenty and, whatever the arrival time,
girls would enter the spirit of the local community –
chatting, being photographed, even playing volleyball
with the locals in a thunderstorm before bedding
down under mosquito nets. The final sail upriver
felt never-ending but we finally docked on a pebble
beach with Mercury, a teenage male orangutan, in
the trees above as the welcoming party.
Loading onto
traditional
long boats
Batikap was a special, life-changing experience:
sleeping under tarpaulin with the sounds of lemurs as
the morning alarm, watching Mercury using the top of
the shower block as his bed, and living with the BOSF
volunteers was fascinating and humbling. College girls
built rope bridges, they moved sand for construction
of a new accommodation hut and helped to track the
whereabouts of released orangutans.
None of us will forget the sight of Cindy (a 7 year-old
orangutan) and her baby testing out the newlycompleted rope bridge or deciding that an abandoned
CLC shirt would look better on her instead. While both
episodes ended well, they served to emphasise that
these were wild animals that none of us would meet
again if the work of the BOSF is successful. Several of
the girls wish to return to Batikap as volunteers in the
future which, given the basic living conditions involved,
is testament to their spirit of adventure and willingness
to contribute to the greater good which were so
apparent throughout this trip.
Changing landscapes, unexpected moments and
pushing the boundaries make for a fantastic trip. The
people you share such experiences with turn it into
an unforgettable one. This trip will be etched on my
mind forever.
Dr Hilary Laver Head of Biology
Borneo Expedition Leader
Left: College girls
(Mumta Patel and
Shiao-Li Green)
befriend children in
Tumbang Tohan
“Equator Village”
Right: Jungle dorm!
Teams CLC and BOSF at Batikap Release Site
15
ST HILDA’S EAST
125THANNIVERSARY
This year is a very special one for St Hilda’s
East Community Centre - our 125th Anniversary! In
1889 Guild members established St Hilda’s East as
a settlement in the East End of London, providing
services and support to the Victorian poor of that era.
Over a century later society has changed immensely
but our mission remains fundamentally the same: to
address social disadvantage through our work. St Hilda’s East is a truly vibrant place, a thriving
and diverse charity providing opportunities and
services for all ages and sections of the community.
These range from our Under 5s project, providing
pre-school learning; Youth Projects raising
aspirations among young people; training and
English language courses delivered by our Boundary
Women’s Project for Bangladeshi women and free
Legal Advice, to older people’s services, including
Day Care to combat isolation among housebound
elderly people. Our youngest users are under one
and our oldest is 96, going on 97! Over 500 people use our services each week,
services which make an enormous difference to
the lives of a great many individuals, as the articles
and postcards featured in this edition of The Slab
testify. Where we do not possess resources ourselves
St Hilda’s East
Street Party
we strive to work in partnership with others to meet
needs, for example our collaboration with major law
firms in providing pro bono Legal Advice. Our work
has received national recognition in recent years,
and this year St Hilda’s East was proud winner
of the Tower Hamlets Third Sector Excellence Award
for Improving Health and Wellbeing. We are delighted to be sharing our 125th Anniversary
with the 160th of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. We
enjoy a rich shared heritage and history and the
support of both school and Guild greatly enhances
what we are able to achieve for the community. Our ‘twin tapestry’ project reflects these strong
and enduring links: a wonderful wall hanging has
been made by CLC girls to be mounted in our
community centre, while St Hilda’s Women’s Project
has created a beautiful tapestry to be displayed in
College. Our Anniversary celebrations continue
throughout the year, including an exciting intergenerational music project with an East End primary
school which will culminate in a performance at our
Birthday AGM in November. Guild members are
warmly invited to join us on this special occasion –
and, indeed, at any time to see our activities at
first hand. St Hilda’s East relies greatly on the help it receives
from its supporters, including individual donors,
to maintain and develop its much needed work.
With increasing pressures on Local Authority and
public funding, this source of assistance is all the
more important for us. One way of ensuring that
our services continue in years to come is to join our
Friends of St Hilda’s East scheme - just £2 a month
(or £24 per year). For more details on how to join,
please contact Hannah Lancashire at hannah@
sthildas.org.uk or ring 020 7739 8066 or write to St
Hilda’s East, 18 Club Row, London, E2 7EY. We look
forward to hearing from you! Rupert Williams
Director
16
125TH ANNIVERSARY
CO-ORDINATOR
DID YOU KNOW?
FACTS ABOUT ST HILDA’S EAST!
I attended CLC
between 2003 and
2008, and remember
attending Prayers during
SFC about St Hilda’s,
which sounded like a
slightly chaotic but fun
place to be! As part of
my gap year I decided
to volunteer there for a
bit, and discovered that
assessment was fairly
accurate. I spent a fantastic month at the centre,
mostly with the Women’s Project, learning loads
about St Hilda’s and the community and trying my
best to be at least somewhat helpful. I can’t have
been entirely unsuccessful because they are now
employing me!
CLC Guild founded St Hilda’s East (SHE) in 1889 as a
charitable settlement. This meant CLC alumnae could
live at SHE in order to work with the local community.
Today, this relationship has evolved but College girls
continue to volunteer and Guild members support our
work through the Friends of SHE scheme.
I’m working at St Hilda’s this year to help co-ordinate
activities for the 125th anniversary, with my position
funded by Guild. I’ve been there since February,
and was excited to find out that some people still
remembered me (and the cakes I made) from
the first time around! My work so far has been
focussed mostly on organising events to celebrate
the anniversary, including recruiting a team for the
sponsored walk, and my current project of planning
our street party in August. Along the way I have
visited College and spoken in Prayers, hoping to pass
on good impressions about the centre to other pupils,
and started our postcard art project (the idea for
which was shamelessly plagiarised from College
after our visit).
Volunteering at the centre in my gap year gave me
a great impression of St Hilda’s. Coming back to
work here has given me a more in-depth knowledge
of the centre and all its activities, and made it more
obvious how essential the centre is to its local
community. Additionally, it’s very interesting – I
am working on a whole variety of projects, trying
my hand at a lot of things. I’m very grateful that,
thanks to Guild, I am able to be here to support
the centre’s work in a small way. I’ve met several
Guild members who have become involved with
St Hilda’s after leaving College (some of whom
have also written about their experiences in this
section) and they seem to have found it a universally
rewarding experience. I’d definitely recommend
the experience to other Guild members – there
are a huge variety of ways to be a part of what the
centre does and to experience the great sense of
community it gives all those connected to it. After
125 years, St Hilda’s is still hugely important to
local residents, and it’s fantastic to be involved in
continuing that work.
Hannah Lancashire
(2003-2008, St Clare)
Services provided by SHE cover the areas of Older
People and Care, Young People (including under
5s) and Women’s Groups and Advice (such as legal
advice, a community archive), Training and Resources.
SHE is situated on the Boundary Estate in Bethnal
Green, the first municipal housing estate in the
country, built by the London City Council.
SHE has a number of successful partnerships with
corporate firms and would welcome new approaches
from other companies. Current and past links have
ranged from running IT classes for the community,
law firm pro bono participation in our Legal Advice
Service, assisting in organising events such as
Christmas parties and outings, sponsored walks and
designing our Annual Report!
The Food Co-op is one of the most popular services,
offering users fresh, local and organic fruit and
vegetables at affordable prices. This is a lifeline for
housebound older people using the centre and the
well-being awareness sessions (like “make your own
smoothies”) assist in combating health problems faced
by the local community.
This year SHE team joined 8,000 others to
participate and raise funds in the London Legal
Walk as part of SHE’s 125th birthday celebrations.
Festivities continue with a street party, special AGM
and the unveiling of twin tapestries with CLC.
Boccia, (a Paralympic sport) was introduced to SHE
by CLC Guild Member and former College teacher
Liz Dendy. Regular matches at the centre take place,
including our Older People’s Project taking on the
community centre’s young disabled project
In 2007, St Hilda’s was presented with a new 15-seat,
wheelchair-accessible, minibus. This was made
possible by a legacy from the former East Enders
actress, Gretchen Franklin. The minibus is called
‘Ethel’ in memory of her East Enders character and is
used for our community centre based Older People’s
Project. This year Ethel is to be joined by ‘George’,
named after Sir George Iacobescu, CEO of Canary
Wharf Group (CWG). This new vehicle is being
purchased with a donation from CWG and will be
used for our Sonali Gardens Day Centre.
SHE has an exciting red carpet connection. The
forthcoming film “Suffragette”, to be released in early
2015 and starring leading ladies such as Meryl Streep,
Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, has used
SHE as a base to shoot in the local area. We’ve been
thrilled to have film crew on-site.
DO COME
AND VISIT!
17
ART AND TEXTILES
CELEBRATE 125 YEARS
POSTCARD PROJECT
In a move shamelessly stolen from CLC, St Hilda’s
is organising a collaborative art project to celebrate
the anniversary. CLC asked all their girls and staff to
illustrate a blank postcard, and we are doing the same
with our users, staff and volunteers. The postcards are
being themed on the idea of what St Hilda’s means
to them, or what they think is the best thing about
the centre, and the responses are fantastic. Although
this is an ongoing project at the time of writing, the
response has been enthusiastic and a huge number
of our regular users have been getting creative and
producing some beautiful, moving and inventive
cards. Participants range from our crèche users, to
the Older People’s Project, Legal Advice service
users, volunteers, Food Co-op customers and even
trustees!
We are using the cards in our Annual Report to
illustrate the different projects but their eventual
destination is our main hall, where they will be
displayed together to give a full and diverse picture
of what makes St Hilda’s so important in the local
community. From the elderly people attending our
lunch clubs to the children coming to the crèche,
everyone involved has something they love about
the centre. When placed together, we hope that the
cards will demonstrate the diversity of our users, staff
and volunteers and what a creative bunch they are!
We hope to turn some of the designs into postcards
and posters to sell, to help raise money for our 125th
Anniversary Appeal and to be able to showcase
the work of the St Hilda’s community on a wider
scale. We will also include some in our street party,
themed around ‘Then and Now’, which will include
an exhibition of St Hilda’s history taken from our
archives. The postcards paint a contemporary picture
of St Hilda’s and its community.
18
TWIN TAPESTRIES
To celebrate our 125th Anniversary and CLC’s 160th
Anniversary this year, both institutions took part in
a ‘Twin Tapestries’ project to make artwork for each
other. At CLC, girls produced a wall-hanging of a
daisy, with each petal made by a different house. At
St Hilda’s, our Women’s Project worked on their wallhanging with the supervision of textile artist Mary
Spyrou and began work in November of 2013. The
St Hilda’s artwork is themed around the Guild logo
and aspects of the CLC crest, featuring the Guild
daisy and the two birds from the school shield, along
with abstract designs which take their inspiration
from CLC’s stained glass windows and embellished
pieces reminiscent of Bollywood costumes to add a
St Hilda’s flair. The tapestry has been made using a
combination of traditional Bengali sewing skills and
contemporary textile techniques. Coincidentally,
both designs happen to make use of the same blue
and green colour scheme, which matches the College
uniform – this happened without any collaboration
and only goes to show that great minds think alike!
The wall-hangings were unveiled in Prayers when
representatives of St Hilda’s took their completed
tapestry to CLC in March. After an interesting glimpse
into the design and construction of the CLC tapestry
from its creator Vicki Brandon, the St Hilda’s tapestry
was presented to the school. The CLC work will be
displayed in our foyer, and will be a perfect reminder
of the enduring link between our two institutions. We
also hope to have a formal unveiling ceremony when
it arrives, and to make a feature of it at our AGM/
birthday party in November. Our users, particularly
the members of the Women’s Project who made
our tapestry, are really looking forward to seeing the
excellent work put in by CLC girls and staff on theirs!
FUNDRAISING IN 2014
LONDON LEGAL WALK
On 19 May 2014, 29 walkers from St Hilda’s
completed the 10k London Legal Walk in order to
raise money for St Hilda’s East Legal Advice Centre.
Kitted-out in team t-shirts which had been specially
commissioned for St Hilda’s 125th Anniversary
year, we joined forces with a record-breaking 8,000
people from legal advice centres, law firms, barristers
chambers, and even the Attorney General, who had
turned out to raise money for legal advice centres
across London.
As the evening sun went down over the central
London skyline, we set off from the Royal Courts
of Justice and walked along the Thames, through
Green Park and Hyde Park (stopping briefly for a
restorative ice-cream), and back down along the
Strand to the Royal Courts of Justice where we
quickly forgot about our tired legs and soaked up the
atmosphere of a very lively street party with street
entertainment, live bands, food and drink stalls, and
lots of merriment.
terms of the contract, he was entitled to cancel the
order and receive reimbursement of his money but
the company refused to return the money saying our
client was not entitled to rescind the contract. After
months of negotiation and a report to the Office of
Fair Trading, the money was finally paid out to our
client with interest. The appreciation expressed by
the client was very humbling.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
On behalf of the St Hilda’s Team, I would like to
thank all of our sponsors who donated extremely
generously; family, friends and colleagues of walkers
were incredibly supportive as were the donors who
attended the Guild Biennial Meeting on 17 May.
Retrospective donations are always extremely
welcome so please do contact Rupert Williams if you
would like to support the Centre.
Harriet Edwards
(1999-2004, Farnley Lodge)
HOW THE FUNDS ARE USED
As well as having a lot of fun, our team raised a total
of £4,290 (plus Gift Aid!) for the Legal Advice
Centre which provides crucial legal advice on housing
matters, welfare benefits, consumer protection
queries and employment problems to users who
attend the twice-monthly clinic run by law firms Hill
Dickinson LLP and DLA Piper at the Community
Centre and the weekly clinic run by Berwin Leighton
Paisner at Sonali Gardens.
As a trustee of St Hilda’s East and a trainee solicitor
in London, I volunteer at the Legal Advice Centre,
and can see the tangible impact of this valuable
service on individual lives. One of the most rewarding
matters I have assisted with was achieving a full
reimbursement of the money paid by our client for a
mobility scooter he no longer wanted. Approached
by a door-to-door salesman, our client (who was in
his eighties) felt pressurised into buying the scooter
and cancelled the purchase a day later. Under the
19
GUILD MEMBERS’ INVOLVEMENT
WITH ST HILDA’S EAST
For this special St Hilda’s feature in The Slab this year,
we sent out a questionnaire asking Guild members
to tell us about their involvement with the centre, in
particular how they became involved and what they
took away from the experience. These are some of
our responses; other Guild members very kindly
wrote longer articles for us! We’re hoping to illustrate
the variety of ways in which we can become a part of
the St Hilda’s community, and, we hope, encourage
more Guild members to explore that option.
BEING A GUILD TRUSTEE
“I thoroughly enjoy building new relationships with the
trustees, staff and community, empowering people,
problem solving and representing diverse communities.
I’m able to transfer skills to and from my work and life
experience in a pragmatic way. It is about collaborating
and caring enough to make a difference.” At my first trustee meeting in 2003 I felt daunted and
inadequate; as a mother who had left work to raise a
family I was lacking in confidence and was somewhat
bewildered by the array of projects, funders, and the
vocabulary of service provision. I have been given so
much guidance and support by the other trustees, to
whom I am immensely grateful, particularly Dennis
Twomey, the Chair, and Jill Pittaway, the other Guild
Trustee.
Nandini Basuthakur (1982-1987, St Helen’s).
Board Trustee and Treasurer for St Hilda’s East
“My only connection to St Hilda’s East is in giving
donations from events held in Scotland and this year I will
suggest we support St Hilda’s East. Not having visited
but reading about all the work that is going on there, I
have been and still am impressed and supportive of the
initiative.”
Ann McCarter (Iestyn Williams, 1952-1958, Roderic)
“When I was at CLC I knew something of St Hilda’s
East but it seemed rather distant and unfamiliar. I’m so
pleased to have had the chance in the last ten years to
get to know the people there and understand what goes
on. Volunteering is life enhancing for everyone involved,
and all the more so when users of the service might
otherwise be marginalised. Everyone can find something
to contribute because there are so many different
activities across such a wide range of age groups. There
is such energy and goodwill at St Hilda’s East that I feel
motivated by every visit. And the food is fantastic!”
Carolyn Kirby
(Treharne Jones, 1964-1969, Farnley Lodge)
Patron of St Hilda’s East since 2002
When I look back on the 10 years I have spent as a
Trustee of St Hilda’s East, my abiding impression
is of welcome, friendliness and warmth. Everyone I
have been involved with during my time as a Trustee
has been helpful, generous and co-operative. The
staff and representatives of College, the Guild
Office and St Hilda’s itself have all contributed to this
atmosphere.
Once I understood St Hilda’s East as an organisation,
and it was very different from anything I had
experienced before, I became increasingly impressed
by its genuine diversity of approach and its
consequent ability to cut across boundaries of culture
and background. The fact that the Imam of the East
London Mosque and the Bishop of Stepney, who
both cover the same geographical area, first met
at St Hilda’s East, at a multi-faith event, is a superb
example of this success. Their meeting, in the Spring
of 2007, was shortly followed in July of that year
by the sight on the TV news of the Bishop arriving
at the Mosque to pray with the people there in the
aftermath of the dreadful tube and bus bombings in
London; a move which did much to ease the tension
of that moment.
The leadership of St Hilda’s East, particularly Rupert
Williams and Faruq Ahmed, gives so much to the
organisation. If I take away just one impression it will
be of dedicated and generous people doing so much
to help those unable to help themselves.
Lucy Tusa
(Clackson, 1975-1980, Farnley Lodge)
20
VOLUNTEERING AT ST HILDA’S EAST
I have to admit that it took me sixty years to visit St
Hilda’s after leaving CLC as a pupil. We had the
occasional PH lecture about the Centre but many of
us had a vague idea that it was in India or somewhere
else in the east. So much for our concentration!
It was not until I moved to London after my second
spell at CLC as a member of staff that I decided to
visit, probably after reading an article in the College
magazine; I was amazed! I found a large modern
building buzzing with life and activity. There were
people of all ages and backgrounds appreciating all
that St Hilda’s has to offer: physical activities of all
kinds, outings, legal advice, language classes. Many
of those using the centre are from the Bangladeshi
community, with many women having little English
and, in some cases, rarely going out of their homes.
The older group meet regularly and I thoroughly
enjoy chatting with them. I decided that they might
like to play Boccia, a Paralympic sport based on
bowls, originally developed for severely disabled
people with cerebral palsy. I found them a set and
they love playing; it is highly competitive and great
fun. A group from the centre visited the Paralympics
in Stratford in 2012 to see experts play and they now
compete against other clubs.
It is always interesting to attend events in St Hilda’s
which show the skills and interests of the different
national groups. Seeing a group of multicultural
children singing carols in the community centre last
December was unforgettable.
The wide-ranging programme is made possible by
a committed and enthusiastic staff and numerous
volunteers. Several City companies offer their
support and expertise. Everyone is most welcoming
and the atmosphere is friendly. Rupert, the Director,
has been in post for over 12 years, having started
as a community worker in 1987; the benefits of that
continuity and experience are obvious.
The continuing close contact with College, including
exchange visits, is much appreciated and Guild
members are always welcome. If you have never been
there, try to make it; you will be assured of a warm
welcome in a fascinating place and be proud and glad
that CLC set it up all those years ago.
Elizabeth Dendy
(1942-1948, St Margaret’s) (1959-1966 Head of PE)
I wasn’t bright enough to do A levels but I had a
year to fill before I could start nursing training.
Volunteering at St Hilda’s East between 1960-1961
proved to be a life-changing experience and an
excellent foundation for nursing and, indeed, for life.
One of my jobs was to go round the various
tenement blocks collecting threepence or sixpence
a week from mums who wanted their children to
benefit from the Children’s Country Holiday Fund.
Most of the children had never seen a cow or a sheep
or the sea. Over the obligatory cup of tea (stewing on
the back burner with condensed milk and plenty of
sugar, whether you took it or not) I got to know some
of these courageous women well. The menfolk didn’t
seem to be around in daylight hours and it
was down to the women to bring up their oftennumerous children.
The flats were damp, wallpaper peeling off as the
water trickled down the walls, but I don’t remember
the women complaining. I will never forget Mrs
Oliver and her youngest, Simon. She let me take
him to Hampton Court one day and somewhere I
still have a photograph of the two of us with a parrot
perched on the little boy’s arm! He was wearing a
red duffel coat I had made, though I doubt it would
have met with Miss Crossley’s approval! Then there
was Mrs Glynn, always at the front of the queue for
our weekly jumble sale, accompanied by some of her
questionably light-fingered offspring.
It was like Call the Midwife ten or twelve years on.
Visiting St Hilda’s recently the memories came
flooding back, the familiar sights, the smell of varnish
from furniture warehouses, the same street names
and pubs and, of course, St Hilda’s itself.
What a rich experience it was!
Sister Frances Dominica
(Ritchie, 1954-1960, St Helen’s)
“Seeing a group
of multicultural
children singing
carols in the
community
centre last
December was
unforgettable.”
Elizabeth Dendy
21
SPOTLIGHT ON
ENTREPRENEURS AND
SELF EMPLOYED
Sara Putt
(1980-1982, Roderic)
In common with so many I had very little notion of
what I wanted the future to hold when I completed
my History Degree at Oxford. I knew that film/TV/
radio interested me and I had spent time in my final
year doing regular work experience at Radio Oxford.
I had also applied to and been summarily rejected
from the BBC Production Trainee Scheme. So in the
July I graduated, in an act of, if I’m honest, some level
of financial desperation, I wrote to the person whose
signature had been on the bottom of that turndown
letter, asking her for some advice. She agreed to see
me and I headed up to Broadcasting House to be
offered a job as an S1 Clerk in the BBC Appointments
Department (basically the lowest rung of the ladder).
I grasped it with both hands and thus my career at the
BBC began in the most humble of circumstances.
“We began with
three clients and
now have over
150, ranging
from directors
and producers
through to entry
level trainees.”
22
Once you are at the BBC, however, a new world
opens up and over the next three years I climbed
several rungs on the ladder within radio and learnt
a huge number of life skills. I dealt with outside
broadcasts (including the moment where I forgot
to inform Wembley Stadium that Radio 1 would
be coming to record a concert there – not a career
highlight!) with studio operations, with classical music,
with radio plays. I loved it.
TV still beckoned however and also a sense that,
having been to boarding school, university and then
the BBC, I needed to de-institutionalise myself a
little. I applied for a job I noticed in a tiny classified
ad in the Guardian Media section, and found myself
working for a small film production company in
Clerkenwell (before Clerkenwell was cool). There
I learnt about crews, equipment, post-production
and, again, many more life skills. After AKA I worked
for a while for a small actor’s agency and then went
into the world of production management. My job
involved booking crew (cameramen, sound recordists
and the like) whose bookings (this was the time
before mobile phones) were kept by their “diary
service”. Getting to know the woman who ran Carlin
Crew, one of these diary services, I had my first
and key piece of marketing inspiration. This was the
late 1980s and many technicians were being made
redundant from both the BBC and ITV… How were
they all going to get work and build their careers?
Maybe there was a new service that could be offered.
Not a reactive “diary service”, there only to manage
bookings, but a proactive “agency” to help freelancers
build their careers. The model existed for actors but
not for technicians. Hence I came in to manage the
Diary Service at Carlin Crew, and 18 months later
raised private equity to buy out the previous owner
and set up Sara Putt Associates as an agency for
freelance film and TV technicians.
That was in 1990 so next year will be our 25th
anniversary. We began with three clients and now
have over 150, ranging from directors and producers
through to entry level trainees. There have been lows
but far more highs. In this quarter century I have been
married (and divorced) brought up a son (now also
reading History at Oxford) produced several short
films (one BAFTA nominated) and, as of this year, I
am now on the board of Women in Film and TV and
of BAFTA.
The world of film and TV is populated by dedicated,
creative and pretty amazing folk. It is an honour
to look after them and help to guide their careers.
Our latest innovation has been establishing our own
trainee scheme, working with entry level technicians
across various departments including camera, sound,
editing, production and production design. This
is a scheme very dear to my heart as I feel a huge
responsibility to the next generation of “behind the
camera” talent. There are many challenges in the
industry and being freelance is a demanding and
potentially isolating career choice. My greatest desire
over the past 25 years has been to build a community
of freelancers, a place where they can belong. If I
have in some way achieved this then I am very happy.
I’m looking forward to the next 25 years!
SPOTLIGHT ON
On a positive note, whilst the force was deliberating
over my exit strategy, the accident secured me a
placement in the Police Public Relations Department,
where I found my niche. Although after 18 months, I
was ‘retired’ from the force, I had already researched
and started my Institute of Public Relations
Qualification so, by the time I left, I had a PR job to
go to, leading me along a new career path. In addition
I moved to Henley-on-Thames, where I discovered
rowing and rowed in an eight at Women’s Henley!
Caroline Chilton-Bates
(Gunn, 1983-1989, Sidney Lodge)
I left College in 1989 and went to University where
I studied Classics. While I was there I took up
ladies’ rugby, much to my mother’s horror, as she
had wanted me to row. But I remember to this day
how much friendlier the girls from the rugby club
seemed so I was seduced to join their club. A good
decision, it seemed, as I proved to be quite good at
the game, becoming top try scorer and earning my
full university colours. Later, when I returned to my
home town, I was spotted and was selected to play
for Wales.
I had set my heart on becoming an officer in the
Royal Navy once I had finished my degree and joined
in 1993. However, my career as a Royal Navy officer
was shorter than I had proposed, lasting only three
years, though I have some fond memories of my
experiences. As I was among the first of the seagoing female officers, life was quite a challenge, but
with a good education and the good life skills that had
been instilled into me at CLC, I rose to the challenge
and earned the respect of my peers. During this time
I had some great roles, including port liaison officer
whilst on a tour of the South Atlantic, which basically
entailed organizing cocktail parties and runs ashore
for the ship’s company. Unfortunately my operational
and warfare skills weren’t on a par and let me down at
my promotional fleetboard, which meant I went from
rising star to being unemployed in a matter of hours.
Although devastated, I followed what seemed like a
natural progression and joined South Wales Police
Force – another challenging career choice, especially
as I was an English girl with a plummy voice joining
a no-nonsense bunch of blokes. Again, I rose to the
challenge, much to the surprise of my colleagues,
though yet again my career was cut short, as I was
hit by a falling roof tile which broke my neck so I was
pensioned out on grounds of ill health at the age of 30!
Twelve years on, having completed the Institute
of Public Relations and the Chartered Institute of
Marketing qualifications as far as I could go and
having worked for some great companies on both
a freelance and in house level – Land Rover, Aston
Martin Racing and Sue Ryder Care – I felt I wanted
to explore my real passion: food and nutrition. I was
pregnant with my second child at the time and wasn’t
sure I had the courage to leave the job I had and
commit to a three year BSc course (with no income)
and with no guaranteed role at the end.
“I can honestly
say I have never
worked harder
than I have for
this degree but,
equally, the
rewards seem
far greater. ”
Having made the decision to pursue my dream, and
after the birth of my son, I enrolled. Despite a few
wobbles, especially over organic chemistry essays, I
persevered and at the end of my second year, I was
invited to switch to an MSc in Personalised Nutrition,
which I am due to complete in December 2014.
My husband has been incredibly supportive
throughout my studies, on a financial level but
equally on the domestic front – taking the children
here, there and everywhere while I study and not
complaining when the evening meal has been (on
occasions) a bit of a hotchpotch! I can honestly say I
have never worked harder than I have for this degree
but, equally, the rewards seem far greater.
I have recently co-founded a new company and we
have just launched our new fitness, healthy eating and
lifestyle website – www.toniqlife.com. The website is
designed for busy people who desire a fun and active
life, enjoy great food and drink but also want to keep
fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Take a look!
In addition I am currently establishing my nutrition
consultancy, which offers one-to-one consultations
for private clients as well as a range of services for
corporate clients who wish to increase productivity,
lower absenteeism and improve the profitability of
their business.
Although my career path has not been a linear
progression, I have gained a huge amount from
each career step. When I look back, I recognise that
nothing I did was a waste and everything has fed
into the person I am today, making me a far more
confident, professional and charismatic individual.
The success that we are already seeing with our new
company and that I know I will have with my new
nutrition consultancy at the end of my MSc, are
testament to the early foundations that were solidly
laid down at Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
23
SPOTLIGHT ON
Nicky Mudie
(1984-1990, St Margaret’s)
It’s been an incredible journey exploring my
passionate love of textiles and interiors since leaving
College in 1990.
Cheltenham Ladies’ College provided me with a
great starting point in life, to know that anything
was achievable. It was through the strong leadership
qualities I developed and the encouragement I
received that I took on one of my earliest challenges.
Hot-housed to focus on textile design I went on a
unique journey as I was the only student to take A
level Home Economics (Textiles) in my year. I spent
the next few years building my skills and knowledge
with a Foundation course specialising in Textile
Design at Newcastle College of Art and Design and
a place on the prestigious Textile Design course at
Leeds University. Once there I started to realise I
wanted to focus more on the theory so I moved from
the practical course to a course in the History of Art
and Design.
This change was a difficult decision but one that I
stand by to this day as it opened up my mind to a
world of opportunities.
During my degree course I couldn’t wait to see first
hand what the world had to offer in textile design and
as soon as I could I went travelling; truly an incredible
experience and one that I would recommend to
anyone who has the opportunity. It was on my travels
that I fell in love with Asia. I spent a lot of time in
India and it was there that I started my first small
business. With my knowledge of textiles and the
amazing variety of fabrics available in India, I made
the decision to venture into a fashion line. I designed
a clothing collection, making the toiles myself, and
then flying to India with them and using tailors there
to realise the range.
“It was on my
travels that I fell
in love with Asia.
I spent a lot of
time in India and
it was there that
I started my first
small business. ”
24
On returning home, with my knowledge of fabrics,
manufacturing experience and design background, I
was approached to dress nightclubs for promoters in
the booming nightclub scene in Leeds. This gave me
the chance to explore the breadth of my creativity,
using fabrics to transform spaces to fit the theme
of each different night in a battle between club
promoters to create the most exciting, innovative
and unforgettable evening possible. It was during this
period that I knew my heart was in interior design and
I made a move to London to explore further.
In London a chance meeting on the tube led to my
hooking up with Nathalie Bristow (Curtin, 1983-1988,
Sidney Lodge) and Amy Bevan (Gadney, 1984-1990,
St Clare) who were in the process of developing the
successful Adam Street Private Members Club, a
space for entrepreneurial talent that is still going from
strength to strength. I was very excited to be given
the chance to work alongside Nathalie and Amy to
bring their ideas to life. During the early stages of the
refurbishment Amy became pregnant so, alongside
Daniel Hopwood, I was on hand to help install her
design vision.
I started work with Daniel Hopwood after he noticed
my passion for design. He offered me the chance to
be his PA and so I was apprenticed to him for two
years in which I was able deepen my knowledge
of interior design. I learnt directly from one of the
leading London interior and architectural designers;
working with great clients and a fantastic team I was
able to grow professionally very quickly.
I was then poached by Godrich Design Collective,
a graphics and branding company that had one
interiors project on their books at Oakwood Court
and didn’t know what to do with it. I was keen to put
my expertise into the business and, with hard graft
and great contacts, we built the interiors department
from the ground up. Within two years the business
had changed its name to Godrich Interiors, dropped
the graphics and branding services and rebranded as
a leading international interior design studio that is
now a major player in the field.
I launched Violet & George in 2009 at Decorex
and the company has been thriving for five years.
We opened our shop front studio in 2012 as an
environment for our clients to get truly, immersively
creative with us. We are an old-fashioned interior
decoration company who take a fresh and youthful
21st Century approach to design. I have an amazing
team and workshop where we make all of our soft
furnishings by hand.
What really drives Violet & George and me forward is
the knowledge that I am helping to keep alive artisan
skills in Britain that could so easily be lost. This has
been embedded into my company ethos and I’m
happy to know that I can help to keep these traditions
alive in the UK.
This September, with my business partner, Nosca
Northfields, I will be launching RepeatRPT, a new
business to complement Violet & George with a range
of fabrics and wallpapers. We have a mutual love for
cutting edge contemporary fashion, art and design
and our brand creates a fusion of next generation
art combined with interior furnishing for the styleconscious consumer. We’ve embraced modern design
and manufacturing techniques in the UK to produce
a collection of fabrics and wallpapers that are both
captivating and exciting, driven by experimentation
and the desire to avoid the restrictions on in-house
design. I have been very lucky to work with established
and emerging global, non-conforming artists from all
disciplines to create our collection and I’m very much
looking forward to seeing the collection grow. Keep
your eyes on the lookout for RepeatRPT.
I am able to look back at my time at CLC and be ever
grateful for the discipline and self-belief instilled in
me to achieve my goals. With these very important
building blocks I have explored and conquered and
continue to learn and grow.
SPOTLIGHT ON
After a few years, I was ready for my next challenge,
as a standalone HR Manager at Bain Consulting,
London. Once there, I had to learn a very different
approach to HR and have the confidence to argue
my point with some intellectual heavy-weights who
were used to getting their own way. I loved the job
at Bain: it was exciting, challenging and I learnt
something new every day. I stayed there for two
and a half years but couldn’t make it work once I had
children so I ended up taking four years out to be a
full-time Mum.
When it came to returning to work, I was terrified. I
had been in Mummy-mode for what felt like a lifetime
and I couldn’t imagine being able to add any value
outside the home. I decided to upskill and enrolled on
a Post-grad diploma in Employment Law for which I
was still studying when I started my first role back.
Abby Cox
(Crouch, 1986-1992, St Helen’s)
After leaving College in 1992, I took a valuable year
out, working and travelling, before heading off to
The University of Manchester, where I gained a 2.1 in
French Studies. During the university holidays, I did
various office roles, thanks to having done a secretarial
course, but I did a host of pretty horrible jobs too –
even working in a fish and chip shop where I had to
clean out the fryers on a weekly basis… by hand!
Having spent a week’s work shadowing in Human
Resources when I was still at College, at the
beginning of my final year at university I applied
for a number of HR graduate schemes through the
Milkround. Although I received great feedback on my
performance, my lack of commercial experience held
me back.
So I looked into how I could gain commercial
experience… At the time, I had a boyfriend who
was studying for his Accountancy exams. With
the confidence of a true CLC girl, I was sure that
anything he could do, I could do too, so I applied
as a late entry to the Big 5 Accountancy graduate
schemes. No-one was more surprised than me when I
was offered a place at PwC.
The joy was short-lived when I realised very early
on that although I enjoyed the intellectual challenge
of the work, I hated not being able to inject my
personality into it. To be honest I really wasn’t very
good at it. Leaving after only a few months was a
difficult decision. I felt that I had failed and was pretty
embarrassed that I was quitting something after such
a short time.
This turned out to be one of my best decisions.
Still relatively young, I turned back to HR, starting
at the very bottom, temping in a junior role at
GlaxoSmithKline. After only a couple of weeks, the
company offered me a permanent position and I
quickly worked my way up the ranks.
“I would never
have considered
myself an
entrepreneur but
it is amazing what
happens if you are
prepared to try
something new.”
I landed on my feet quite quickly, taking on a
Graduate recruitment and development role at
Allianz Insurance in Guildford. From the first day
I loved working with potential and new graduates,
enabling them to be the best they could be.
Everything was going well, when my husband was
offered a job that he couldn’t refuse - in Saudi Arabia.
I was extremely sceptical about what sort of life we
would have out there but, through Guild, got in touch
with another old girl from College who showed us
around and introduced us to lots of other expats. As
a woman, I found it was very difficult to work in the
corporate world of Saudi and, because of this, I began
dabbling in a bit of freelance HR work.
My HR consultancy service rapidly gained
momentum on our return to the UK two years ago
and I now support a range of small businesses with
their people management and development.
With UK employment figures having taken a
nosedive in recent years and many of the country’s
best graduates finding it hard to get the jobs they
really wanted, I felt passionately that there was a need
for greater support for young people about how they
could better prepare themselves for their dream jobs.
So I set up Evolution Careers Ltd to help people
make the transition into the working world, either at
the beginning of their careers or after a break.
I would never have considered myself an
entrepreneur but it is amazing what happens if you
are prepared to try something new. I knew that I could
always fall back on re-joining the corporate world, but
wanted to have more control over my work and work/
life balance.
I don’t always enjoy the admin which is a necessary
evil of running your own company, but I really
appreciate the trust that my clients put in me and
I am always developing my knowledge and skills.
Importantly, I can manage my own workload, so that
I can also spend precious days and moments with my
children as they grow up.
25
SPOTLIGHT ON
by the work and did not aspire to be a part of its
management. At this point, I was at a crossroads and
knew my next decisions would define my career.
My career had to combine my skills and my
passion for beauty and community work and it
led to founding Elethea, which launched in the
UK in August 2013, after three and a half years of
research, formulation, countless reformulations to
reach perfection, manufacture and testing. Elethea
encapsulates the wealth of my team’s biochemistry
research and a unique African heritage. I also wanted
to create a multi-functional product line and bring
simplicity, the purest ingredients and best results
in skincare back to a market which is suffocating in
marketing hype – skincare I myself would use every
day for life. Elethea fuses unique ingredients from
Africa with cutting-edge bioengineering technology
to create anti-ageing products, attaining 100% antiwrinkle success rates in independent clinical tests.
There are huge swings in Entrepreneurship, big
ups and downs, as the stakes are high. You take
a huge financial risk on something you believe
in passionately. I know what I bring is different:
knowledge of my country’s ingredients which I now
use my scientific skills to enhance and create worldclass skincare solutions; all this whilst empowering
communities at home in Africa to grow skincare
ingredients sustainably.
Nausheen Qureshi
(1991-2001, Cambray)
I attended College between 1999-2001 for my A
levels, choosing to study Biology, Chemistry and
Mathematics. I came to College as an international
student from Kenya. I credit my boost of confidence
and belief in my ability, my discipline with how I
organise my time, and a passion for the sciences to
my time in College. These traits have all made the
largest and most effective contributions to my career
path in Entrepreneurship. In particular, my memory of
my Chemistry classes with Miss Kirk has influenced
my “push yourself beyond your limits” attitude, which
is especially necessary in my ever-evolving world of
cosmetic science.
“You take a
huge financial
risk on something
you believe in
passionately.”
26
College allowed me to realise that my strengths
were in Biochemistry, and pushed me to work hard
to ensure a place at my first choice University,
Imperial College London, to study this subject at a
fascinating time when the Human Genome project
was in progress. After graduation, I wanted an
understanding of Business and so joined IBM as a
Management Consultant, where I undertook projects
in industries such as oil and gas, finance and public
sector. Simultaneously, I set up a UK charity called
Play Our Part (POP), which fundraises for HIVaffected orphans at the grassroots level in Kenya and
Tanzania. It was my first taste of Entrepreneurship,
albeit in a not-for-profit capability, and I enjoyed
being creative. Corporate life quickly took its toll
on me and after four years, I was no longer inspired
Along the way, I have become involved with an
amazing UK charity called Haller. Haller is a truly
inspiring charity, based on the works of UNEP
Laureate Dr Rene Haller, which creates change
in developing communities through sustainable
methods. Currently, they are educating farmers via
a newly launched mobile website in Mombasa about
how to grow different crops.
My next step is to launch a signature Elethea
facial in London in September 2014. I am looking
to distribute my product line in other countries
throughout the world and to create new partnerships.
I have many new ideas for future product lines that
I can create, each focussing on new and unique
African ingredients that outperform the synthetic,
energy-investment heavy skincare ingredients
found throughout the industry. I’d like Elethea to
be a market leader in sustainable, luxury skincare in
the future. My goal is to create fairtrade skincareingredient farming methods that will be copied
throughout the African continent. I hope the legacy
of my skincare brand will be its focus on human
beauty, both on the inside and outside.
Products available at independent facialists in
Knightsbridge, Marylebone and Belgravia and online
from Elethea.com.
SPOTLIGHT DINNER APRIL 2014
It was my first experience of a Spotlight Dinner and as
most of my family want to start their own businesses
I decided I would go to the dinner for Entrepreneurs.
Sadly Sophie (2006-2013, Sidney Lodge) couldn’t
join me as she was on the plane to Peru but another
of my daughters, Katie, joined me. The dinner was
held at the Lansdowne Club and I hadn’t been there
since the early ‘80s. It had changed so much: it was
buzzing. There was jazz on one floor, people were
sitting at tables having drinks and light meals on
the first floor and there was lots of activity in the
basement round the swimming pool. Also there was a
tube strike so it was amazing that so many people had
managed to make it to London for the CLC event.
The return journey was another story!
I arrived and saw a few familiar faces but everyone
seemed to arrive at once and then the noise level
rose. We all had drinks before sitting down for a
lovely meal and to hear our three speakers.
Philippa Dale-Thomas (1971-1976, St Austin’s)
I hadn’t seen since CLC days and the sports field. She
was a few years below me at CLC and spoke about
her experience in PR, managing her own company
world which led her to become an independent
advisor in business management and corporate
communications. She is also non-executive director
with a long list of influential clients. It is clear that she
has achieved all this because of her diligence and love
of her chosen field. www.pdalethomas.co.uk
Fiona Ellis-Winkfield (Ellis, 1976-1981, Farnley
Lodge) spoke about her family company. With a
background working in high street companies she
could add a fresher approach to her family business
when she joined in 2000. This was beneficial in the
recent recession when plastic rotational moulding was
introduced for equipment for the elderly and disabled
in the healthcare market. The subsequent years have
been a big struggle for the family firm but they are
hopefully on the other side. No longer beset by tight
margins they are now able to introduce new ideas. As
Fiona said, she is in survival mode which is due to her
persistence, challenge and belief in a product.
www.gordonellis.com
Sara Putt (1980-1982, Roderic) began her career at
the BBC and by being at the right place at the right
time set up Sara Putt Associates 23 years ago as a
very young lady. The BBC were axing jobs and these
qualified people were generally freelance but still
desperately in demand so Sara decided to join it all
together, filling a gap in the market and also offering
career management and stability. This is an agency for
technicians and production personnel at Shepperton
Studios. She travels all over the world and has clients
in far-off countries. She has produced projects for so
many clients and recently set up a trainee scheme and
taken on visual effects producers and supervisors.
Three totally different companies, but all believing
in their products and always looking to enhance
their products: very awe inspiring. There were
students there who had left a few years ago. I was
on a table with a fascinating lady, Nadia Hamdy
(1955-1957, Fauconberg), who had an amazing cv
and had started her own translation company
www.thelanguageeditor.com. Another lady from
my house Roderic, Frances Gordon-Hunter (Scott,
1970-1976) after raising her family, was on to her
second/third career, promoting 50:50 in Parliament.
Please look it up on the website and leave comments.
www.change.org/petitions/5050parliament.
Fiona Matthews
(Buchanan, 1972-1979, Roderic House)
FORTHCOMING
SPOTLIGHT
EVENTS
DIGITAL SOCIAL
MEDIA
and
RETURNING
TO WORK
Further details will
be published on the
Guild website
www.clcguild.org
and in the monthly
Guild E-Newsletter
when available.
Please let us know if
you wish to receive
further information.
27
GUILD MEMBERS
GIVING WORK INSIGHT
JOURNALISM
On a rainy December afternoon, two months into
my time at journalism school, I unwittingly made a
decision that would determine the next few years of
my life.
A large part of my course was dedicated to making
a magazine that we then distributed to national
newspapers and magazines. Crammed full of
journalism-related news and features, it was our calling
card to the industry that we hoped would employ us.
Ellie Austin took part
in College’s annual
Facing the Future
day for SFC1 girls in
June 2014.
15 Guild members
from the world
of banking, law,
consultancy,
medicine, set design
and media took part.
If you would like to
help in the future
please contact the
Guild Office.
Our first task on that dreary, final afternoon before
the Christmas holidays was to elect the editorial
team. For a couple of weeks there had been frantic
discussion about who was going for what role. As one
of the most inexperienced students (unlike my brilliant
coursemates I had neither edited my undergraduate
student newspaper nor freelanced for the Guardian
alongside finals revision) I decided to nominate myself
for a “safe” position – deputy features editor maybe.
And then, as we sat gradually working our way
through the voting, it dawned on me that I had to
stand for editor. I knew that I would always regret it if I
didn’t. Five minutes later, I had the job.
Initial elation soon gave way to unadulterated fear.
I loved reading magazines but I had no idea how
to make one. How on earth was I going to guide
a 20-strong editorial team through the next three
months, producing a show-stopping 136-page
publication in the process?
There is something strangely liberating about being
hopelessly out of your depth. You have no choice but
to trust your instincts and those around you. While I
was confident in my ability to edit copy and motivate
the team, I have never had an artistic bone in my body.
Luckily I was surrounded by design whizz-kids who
thought nothing of mocking up an eye-catching front
cover during their lunch break.
After many late nights, fraught weekends and near
nervous breakdowns, the magazine was a huge
success. The day before it was sent out to readers, the
editor of Radio Times came in to give us feedback. At
the end of the session he mentioned that there was a
role going on his features team and that he’d like me
to apply. I am now one brilliant, varied year into a job
at RT that is the best initiation to journalism I could
have possibly imagined.
Did I get the post because I was more talented than
the other 19 people on my course? Absolutely not.
However, as editor, I was more visible. It can seem
unnatural to want to stand out when we’re brought
up to be team players but employers are looking for
28
people who have the courage to speak up and seize
opportunities.
I had no idea that editing the magazine would land me
a job and, even if it hadn’t, those three months taught
me so much. Perhaps most importantly, I learnt that
good things happen when you stop doubting yourself
and start saying yes to things, no matter how terrifying
they seem initially.
That’s not to say that the past year has been nothing
but smooth sailing. In my second week at RT I had
an interview published with a well-known female
television presenter where she lambasted certain
broadcasters for using women as onscreen window
dressing. It was a logical argument but one that she
quickly retracted when some of her more accusatory
remarks were turned into angry headlines by the
newspapers.
First came a call from her agent saying that I had
misquoted her. As the interview was recorded on my
dictaphone, it didn’t take long to prove that I hadn’t.
It did, however, flag up an important point: there is a
big difference between saying something and seeing
it repeated in print where a throw-away remark can be
seized upon for maximum controversy. It emphasized
the importance of reporting accurately not just what a
person said, but also how they said it.
The following morning, I woke up and checked
Twitter. There, at the top of my feed was a tweet from
the TV presenter saying that junior journalists (i.e.
me) shouldn’t be trusted with big interviews. I was
devastated.
I had gone into journalism to ask questions and inform,
not to leave people feeling deceived. For a few days I
wondered whether I was cut out for this often ruthless
industry. Was I too concerned with not offending
people to probe and, where necessary, hold them to
account?
After toying with the idea of retraining to become a
teacher, I decided on a slightly less dramatic course of
action - I needed to develop a thicker skin. As long as
I did my job to the best of my ability, ensuring that I
was both accurate and fair, it really didn’t matter what
anyone else thought.
People are complex creatures shaped by a
combination of experience, insecurity and ambition. A
good interviewer is too busy deciphering their subject
to worry about making friends with them. I’ve still got
a lot to learn but the odd angry tweet probably means
that I’m on the right track.
Ellie Austin
(2006-2008, St Hilda’s)
MARKETING TRIP
On 26th March the Marketing Department took
the Marketing Prefects on the Committee, Phoebe
Malcolm and me, Naomi Morris Omori, to a graphic
design and advertising agency in London. Over the
past year College has undergone a rebranding process.
This has involved a new website, logo and style for
all emails, letters, pamphlets, and posters being
distributed by College; it has been a huge project.
Phoebe and I have been lucky enough to have been
involved throughout the year and to have seen how the
world of marketing and advertising works.
We took the train and tube to visit Why Not
Associates (www.whynotassociates.com) in
Shoreditch, London. Director of Marketing and
Communications at CLC, Mrs Dragana Hartley (also
a Guild member and former Council member) and
Miss Claire Brocklehurst took us on the trip to meet
the company and sit in on a meeting.
In the trendy area of Shoreditch, the bright open-plan
loft-space of Why Not looked like something out of
a magazine. We quickly counted about fifteen iMacs,
a collection of vintage washing powder boxes, and
glass walls everywhere. It felt like a different world
from the dusty streets of graffitied London!
To round off the day, we stopped at the National
Portrait Gallery. We saw a very glamorous exhibition
of ‘Hollywood Portraits’.
It was a very enlightening day and we would like to
thank the Marketing Department for the insightful
work experience.
Left to right:
Naomi Morris Omori,
Phoebe Malcolm,
Dragana Hartley,
Claire Brocklehurst.
Naomi Morris Omori
(SFC2, St Clare/Bayshill)
We met David and Shaheena from the agency
who introduced themselves and David had kindly
prepared a powerpoint of pictures about his personal
career journey and that of Why Not. Phoebe is very
interested in graphic design and I am interested in
marketing and journalism so it was enlightening to see
how someone had paved their way to success.
Why Not is a unique business. Founded over
twenty-five years ago by two creative artists-turnedentrepreneurs, it has produced the Comedy Carpet
on Blackpool Pier, advertising for Tate Modern and
the V&A, and even stretched into multimedia, creating
eye-catching adverts for ITV and BBC programmes.
Phoebe and I shadowed a meeting about the CLC
rebranding process – updates on the new website
which had recently been launched. Why Not
designed the look of the website which was built by
College’s Web Developer, Mr Elliot Goode.
WORK EXPERIENCE AT
HARRISON CLARK RICKERBYS
Lottie Goldstone (Prentice, 1988-1995, Glengar), a
trainee solicitor, currently on a seat with the Litigation
department kindly gave me the work opportunity via
CLC’s Law Society.
My week of work experience at Rickerbys was
exhausting but very informative. I am very grateful to
have been given the opportunity and the satisfaction
of being able to work on a case and get to know the
details. Then to see the culmination of it in court was a
unique experience that has been very valuable to me.
All the people at Rickerbys were incredibly welcoming.
A huge, huge thank you to Lottie, who was kind enough
to offer the opportunity in the first place. It was amazing
to work with her; I have learnt so much from her.
Hannah Owen
(SFC1, Bellairs/St Hilda’s)
29
GUILD REUNION 2014
Nostalgia is very much the domain of the ex-pat; on
my long flight from Australia, I had plenty of time to
consider my feelings about College having changed
in the forty years since leaving after A levels. Over
the hum of the aircraft engines I could hear Mr
Gilbert playing Cornelius as we left the PH for the
last time, some cheering and exuberant, some crying
- reluctant to let go of the moment. Since then, I
have visited only once - for morning prayers in 2001
- whilst holidaying in England with my three children.
How strange it seemed to be sitting in the Visitors’
Gallery looking down on a sea of green flecked with
navy and afterwards to hear the buzz of chatter in the
Marble Corridor. How much further would College
have changed since then?
Left to right:
Anne Muller,
Susan Pierce-Smith
(Adnitt),
Annabelle McDonald
Gillian Willoughby
(Tyler).
On arrival at my Cheltenham hotel, a lady seated in
the lobby enquired whether I was there for the Guild
weekend, as did two sisters at breakfast the next
morning. My accent is none the better for having
lived in Australia for the last thirty-five years; did I
have CLC stamped on my forehead?
A perfect, sunny Saturday dawned. As I stepped
into the Garden Common Room the years rolled
back and I felt as if I had never left. Three of my Coll
friends were with me and we spent a wonderful day
together, catching up and united in happy memories.
I simply cannot remember when I have laughed as
much! Well oiled with Pimm’s and a lovely lunch,
we glided along harmoniously from one activity to
another. I particularly enjoyed Adrian Barlow’s talk
and walking tour of College’s stained glass windows.
It seemed unbelievable that each of us had walked
past most of those windows day after day, year after
year, unaware of Miss Beale’s reasoned intent behind
each window pane. Neither had we thought to
question the window in the Milky Way dedicated to
Winifred Atkinson “a grandchild of the college”. Can
anyone explain this epitaph? In complete contrast to the serenity of the stained
glass windows, I found the other highlight of the
Saturday programme to be the Cameo performance
from Chicago in the old Rems Room, now a blackedout performing arts studio. I thought the girls were
so talented and uninhibited to put on such a terrific
show, filled with exuberance and enjoyment.
In a sense we never really quite leave College: the
values and lessons learned there travel with us on
our life’s journey, we are recognisable to each other
because we have shared a defining reality. Miss
Beale’s great legacy to us is the chalice of opportunity
which College offers to every pupil, it is the choice
of each girl to receive it and drink deeply or refuse it
and walk by on the other side. I think this is what Miss
Beale wanted us to understand from the wonderful
stained glass windows, that light - Lux Coeli heavenly light, enlightens and that darkness is only
absence of light.
Annabelle McDonald
(Menikides, 1967-1974, St Clare)
30
10 YEARS ON
Ten years since we left CLC, what better way to
mark the occasion than by gathering at College for
Guild’s Biennial Meeting and reunion. Over 50 of us
from the 2004 cohort trekked back to Cheltenham
to reminisce, wander down the Marble Corridor and
see old friends, some of whom we’ve been in regular
contact with, others we hadn’t seen since the day we
left CLC.
For my part, following a mad dash up from London
to ensure we made it in time for Prayers, the nostalgia
set in as we took our seats in the Princess Hall. It
was reassuring to see so many things had stayed
the same. I was particularly delighted to see my
housemistress, Mrs Gregory, still at the helm in
Elizabeth, as well as Mrs Armitage and Miss Kirk
returning especially for the occasion. As with all
things, time passing had led to a few changes: the
fabulous (no longer so) new organ, the inspiring
Parabola Arts Centre and, most importantly, the
new Principal, Eve Jardine-Young, who welcomed us
all back and told us of the exciting plans for the new
Bunwell house.
An eager bunch, the 2004 cohort delighted in
catching up on everyone’s news and rediscovering
old friendships. To facilitate that, the Guild Office
had worked hard to put together a brilliant plan
for the day, involving a concert first thing; Prayers;
the infamous tours of College led by Lower Coll;
the Biennial Meeting where Samantha Bagchi
entertained us with the story of Coll in 100 objects;
the rip-roaring rendition of Chicago by the Cameo
group and a hockey match on Field played in replica
kit dating back to Miss Beale’s time. Trips back to our
old boarding houses were particularly nostalgic for
some, whilst a tour of the new Bunwell house led to us
twenty-something’s feeling old with phrases like ‘we
wouldn’t have had such luxury in my day’ springing
to mind. “...the nostalgia
set in as we took
our seats in the
Princess Hall ”
For many of us the day ended with a lively dinner,
then seeking out old Saturday night haunts in town.
All in all, it was a really wonderful occasion. It
rekindled overwhelmingly fond memories of CLC
and re-ignited old friendships. I’m sure I’m not the
only one looking forward to the next reunion already!
Isy Summers
(2002-2004, Elizabeth)
31
50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY
FOR 1981 LEAVERS
I clearly remember my last day at College, July
1981, standing on the corner of Bayshill Road and
Parabola Road looking at West Wing wearing my
baggy school summer dress. Lord Denning had
spoken, Cornelius had marched and I was so excited
to be released into the outside world. Flash forward
to Autumn 2013 and I was tasked with arranging
a reunion to celebrate our year’s collective 50th
birthday and just as excited to meet up with everyone
and to find out what they had been doing in the
intervening thirty two years.
So, on Saturday 16th November, forty five of us
gathered at the Travellers Club and it was July 1981
again - but with much improved clothes and hair.
The very traditional club provided an elegant
backdrop for the guests whose College connections
were hugely varied and included the full 1st lacrosse
team. The College-themed cake designed as a
conversation piece was simply unnecessary as people
instantly recognised each other, shared their memories
and spilled their news. The random mix for dinner, at
tables named after our favourite Cheltenham streets,
resulted in an inclusive, entertaining, interesting
evening which was relaxed, warm and friendly. The
reminiscing, laughter and chatting lasted until well
after the Club was officially closed.
Thank you to those joined us, particularly to those
of you for whom it was a difficult decision. I hope
that not only were friendships rekindled but new
connections made. Perhaps, inevitably, because of
such a globally dispersed membership, many could
not participate. However, with plenty of photos
on display on the night you were almost certainly
remembered and definitely missed.
Many thanks, also, to Caroline Harris and Katie
Robyns for their support and encouragement.
Sue Cattermole
(Beazer, 1976-1981, Farnley Lodge)
Please join our Facebook page to see more photos:
CLC Class of 1981
32
FOCUS ON
GUILD MEMBERS
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
In April, we set sail from the banks of the Thames to
cross the North Sea to Amsterdam where we began
our journey to take our production of Hamlet to every
country on the planet. I am lucky enough to be one
of the twelve actors employed by the Globe Theatre
for its production, and will spend the next two years
touring this wonderful play until our fi nal performance
at the Globe in April 2016. It’s a pretty unique job! The idea of the Hamlet World Tour was born when
the Globe hosted its Globe to Globe Festival in 2012.
It welcomed 37 plays from countries from all over the
world, all of whom performed one of Shakespeare’s
plays in their native language. The festival was a great
success and audiences across the board were struck
by how the plays transcended any language barriers
that they had anticipated. It felt fi tting to return to
those countries with a play of our own and, before
too long, Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of
the Globe, had conceived his idea to take Hamlet
to all 205 countries in the world. We are often asked
on our travels, ‘Why Hamlet?’ and I can’t answer this
more eloquently than director Peter Brook. When
asked what he thought about our tour of the world,
he replied; “The six simplest words in the English
language are ‘to be or not to be’. There is hardly a
corner of the planet where these words have not been
translated. Even in English, those who can’t speak the
language will at once recognise the sound and exclaim
‘Shakespeare!’ Hamlet is the most all-encompassing of
Shakespeare’s plays. Everyone, young or old can today
fi nd an immediate identification with its characters,
their pains and their interrogations. To take Hamlet
in its original language around the world is a bold
and dynamic project. It can bring a rich journey of
discovery to new audiences everywhere.”
resonates within the different cultures that we visit and
to observe the different practices of theatre-going
and audience etiquette in varying parts of the world.
We’ve been on the road now for just over three months
and have already performed in 36 different countries.
We have played to over 25,000 people in a huge array
of venues: beaches, squares, village halls, national
theatres, ancient amphitheatres and no doubt the list
will grow as we continue our journey. We’ve made our
way up through Scandinavia, down through Russia
and the Balkans (performing in Kiev, Ukraine to Petro
Poroshenko the night before the General Election),
across to Iceland and Canada, down through the USA,
into Central America and over to the Caribbean. The
Autumn will see us venture to South America and a
whistle stop tour back to London before we set off for
Africa and beyond in the New Year. It is a truly extraordinary journey and it is bizarre to
think that we are but one tenth of our way along it.
Phoebe Fildes
(2000-2007, Farnley Lodge)
We travel with just one trunk each which carries our
set, props, costumes and personal belongings and
all connect together to form part of the set. Each
of us plays around four or fi ve different characters
(I play Ophelia, Gertrude, Horatio, Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern) which means that we are able to
rotate nightly. This makes for a uniquely rewarding
experience for us as actors and means that the show is
constantly growing and developing; something that I
know will become increasingly important to us as time
goes by and we fi nd ourselves preparing for our four
hundredth performance!
Some theatres choose to display surtitles or scene
synopses as we go, though I have been struck by
the number of countries that choose not to. It has
been a fascinating journey so far to see how the play
33
FOCUS ON
PRINT DESIGNER
Lisa King, who returns to CLC to award the Lisa King
Award for Design, writes to us from her Studio near
Waterloo in London.
On my recent return to CLC, I couldn’t help but
reflect on the place where my creative journey began.
Originally from Bangkok, I left College in 2001. I am
now a London-based print designer and since 2009 I
have designed prints for clients across womenswear,
costume lingerie and interiors. Alongside that, in January
2013, I decided to launch a small line of luxury scarves
bearing my signature ‘Screwprint’. I am about to show
for the fourth time in Paris, I am working on prints for
the Kylie Minogue tour, and have just received an order
from Barneys Japan. I could never have anticipated the
journey the last 18 months has taken me on.
I think I have always known that I wanted to do something
creative. At CLC, taking Art, English, Maths and Spanish
A level, I was also lucky enough to enjoy studying
literature, music, dance, and have the benefit of world
class teaching and an incredible art facility. After a
year off working in London and then teaching dance in
Mexico, I went on to study Textiles at Central St Martins.
It was through dance that I would get my first break
into the fashion industry. I met and began to assist Kylie
Minogue’s Creative Director and stylist William Baker.
I worked with William throughout my degree course,
taking up any time I had outside university. I worked on
everything from assisting the coordination production of
Kylie and her dancers’ costumes for the tour, to designing
the print of the centrepiece dress of her retrospective
exhibition at the V&A Museum. My last three years
working for William, in contrast, involved setting up his
men’s underwear and swimwear line, B*Boy. This was my
crash course in learning to set up a company: from sales
and sampling to production and press.
Today I try to balance the studio arm of the business,
commission-based print projects, with seasonal fashion
accessory collections. I like to think I approach the
design process academically, starting with a central
theme or idea, researching and referencing my ideas,
creating mood boards and then, through days of
drawing and painting, the prints begin to manifest.
Inspiration often comes from the most unexpected of
sources. At school I really learned how to research ideas,
at St Martins how to interpret them.
My Autumn/Winter 2014 collection is titled A Study of
Stars, and includes prints inspired by mathematics, myth
and fine art. I took the universally known symbol of a star
as the starting point, and from there immersed myself
in relevant images, words and stories. The scarves in the
collection draw together interpretations of stars from
Nordic tattoos, Stephen Sprouse, the circus, stainedglass windows and vintage French posters.
While people say you cannot force creativity, I am
always very aware that deadlines for production have
to be met. And indeed, many late nights, some dear
friends, plenty of tea and a sometimes punishing work
ethic have delivered a catalogue of work that I’m proud
of - the AW14 collection mentioned above was specially
34
featured in the online magazine Business of Fashion (a
must-read for those keen to enter the industry!).
While I love my job, the last year has been tough. So
much has happened since I started the business: being
not only the head of design but the project manager… the
sales team… the admin… and the accounts department
has proved difficult. With every store I sell into comes
another fifty page delivery manual. The challenge is in
scaling up a business that started with just one person,
and finding a team and the way to meet the new demand.
Despite the challenges of the present, I am always
looking forward and looking for future opportunities.
While I will always maintain my passion for design, I try
to maintain a growing business. There is some great
support in the UK for SMEs in fashion, with investing
initiatives like the UKTI and the Centre for Fashion
Enterprise. In October I’m travelling to Japan to
showcase the brand as part of the UKTI’s Great Weeks
initiative, and in November I will open my second pop
up shop in Central London.
It is evident to me that to succeed in this industry good
design must be paired with a strong business strategy and
an ability to nurture relationships. An amazing artist will
still struggle if she fails to set up the foundations for her
enterprise. I don’t believe I would be where I am today
without the support of many friends and colleagues,
especially those I made at CLC. There have been
incredible highs and some inevitable lows but I would not
change the opportunity to work for myself for anything.
I was so honoured to hear about the Lisa King Award
for Design, and loved the opportunity to return to CLC
to talk to the girls. Looking at the Art in the school, it is
evident that there is some true talent here.
If I had any advice for girls wanting to pursue a creative
career, it would be to get as much work experience as
possible in your holidays, you can’t learn enough from
people working in industry. Keep your interests wide and
varied, they will inform who you become as a creative
individual. Work hard, be ambitious, go travelling, take
your sketch book and start a blog.
Lisa King
(1995-2001, Sidney Lodge)
www.lisakinglondon.com
[email protected]
@lisakinglondon
FOCUS ON
TEXTILES AT CLC
Since joining the Textiles department in 2012 I have
had the privilege of working with some superbly
talented girls of all ages. In lessons girls are encouraged
to develop their creative and technical skills, solve
problems, devise and plan independent projects,
conduct research, analyse information, evaluate
processes and outcomes.
It was this spirit of experimentation that I wanted to tap
into when I launched the Upcycled Fashion Competition
last year. Girls were given the challenge of producing a
garment from unwanted clothes, fabrics or indeed any
other material that they could lay their hands on! This
year the variety and ingenuity of the outfits produced
were amazing: garments made use of bottle tops,
CDs, ties, sweet wrappers, emergency blankets and
an umbrella! Winner, Hope Smith (LC3) who made a
‘Bottle Top’ said, “This competition really captured my
imagination! I love making things and using products that
would otherwise be thrown away really appeals to me.”
A key factor in the success of this competition is its
association with the clothing brand Sweaty Betty,
founded by Guild member Tamara Hill-Norton (Franks,
1983-1989, Glenlee). Tamara kindly agreed to sponsor
the competition and provided very generous prizes for
which we are extremely grateful. I cannot deny that the
prizes are a highly effective incentive but the girls are
certainly more engaged because of Tamara’s connection
to College and they are very interested to hear about
her professional achievements. We hope to strengthen
links with our sponsor in the future and look forward to
inviting a member of the Sweaty Betty team to join the
judging panel next year.
Another extremely fruitful relationship has been
established with Guild member Lisa King (1995-2001,
Sidney Lodge). Having taught Lisa when she was at
College, I met her again in June 2012 at one of College’s
Networking Dinners arranged by the PGC. She kindly
agreed to come and talk to my A Level students about
her work as a textile print designer and to provide the AS
students with a brief for a coursework project. The girls
were so inspired by Lisa’s work that I decided to create the
Lisa King Design Award: an annual prize to be awarded
to an A Level student whose work shows genuine design
flair and creativity. There have been two recipients of
the award thus far: Caroline Shukla in 2013 and Jessica
Cullimore in 2014. Despite her amazingly busy schedule,
Lisa has made visits to College each year to select the
award winner and to provide written feedback to all the
students, which they very much appreciate. She has
also been able to offer work experience placements: an
invaluable opportunity for our girls.
During this year’s visit in June Lisa gave a talk to UC
and SFC girls about her career, her professional training
and life in the fashion industry. She spoke with passion
and honesty about the joys and the demands of running
a business. Lara Hillcoat (UC4) said, “Lisa’s talk really
opened my eyes to the world of fashion and textile
design. It was an amazing opportunity to look at her
sketchbooks and to see the thought processes behind
her work.”
There is no doubt that Lisa is an inspiring, not to mention
glamorous, role model to those girls who are thinking of
pursuing careers in the industry, and her willingness to
share her expertise and enthusiasm with current students
is a tremendous asset to College. Her visits have helped
to create a real buzz around the subject.
It was, however, the sewing bees of 19th Century midwest America that I had in mind when launching the St
Hilda’s East Wall hanging project in October 2013. To
mark the joint anniversaries of College’s 160th year and
St Hilda’s East’s 125th year, each institution pledged
to produce a wall hanging for the other. My personal
goal for the project was to involve as many members
of the CLC community as possible, with the emphasis
on collaboration rather than competition, to provide an
opportunity for sharing ideas, pooling resources and
developing friendships through a collective act. The
design, inspired by the College Daisy, required each of
the 14 houses to produce a petal. I invited each house
to interpret the brief in whatever way they wished and
the results were stunning. Several of the petals include
a contribution from every girl in the house. Materials
utilised included house colours, badges and even
pieces of old school uniform using an impressive range
of techniques: petals were dyed, knitted, appliqued,
embroidered and embellished with all manner of buttons
and beads. Having formed the centre of the daisy from
the name tapes of every girl in college I then invited staff
to help me assemble the wall-hanging, many of whom
commented on how therapeutic it was to spend an hour
away from their desk!
I would love to build on this current enthusiasm by
securing more links with Guild members who work in the
textiles and fashion industry – so if you are able to help
please do get in touch.
Petals made by
Farnley Lodge and Glenlee
CLC Wall hanging for
St Hilda’s East
Bottle Top (Hope Smith, LC3)
Vicki Brandon Head of SFC Textiles
(Guild Hon Member)
Umbrella Dress and Football Bag (Tilly Milne, LC2)
Caroline Shukla
(LK Design Award 2013)
35
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Please contact the Guild Office if you would like to attend any of the events listed.
Email: [email protected] or telephone +44 (0)1242 256581
For events in the PAC (Parabola Arts Centre) please email [email protected] or telephone +44(0)1242 707335
2014 AUTUMN TERM
FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER
Guild Honorary Members’ Tea
4.00pm in College
WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER
Networking Drinks at The Tucker’s Hall, Exeter
6.30pm to 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER
Principal’s Lecture Hong Kong
JP Morgan, Chater House, HK 6.30pm to 8.00pm
FRIDAY 6 MARCH
Spring Concert
7.30pm in Pittville Pump Room
MONDAY 9 MARCH
College Choir performing at Salisbury Cathedral
Details tbc
12-13 MARCH
Alice
7pm in PAC
2015 SUMMER TERM
THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER
160th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner
7.00pm in Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong
APRIL – DATE TBC
Spotlight Event – Guild members returning to Work
Details tbc
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER
50th Birthday Supper for Class of 1982
Travellers Club, Pall Mall 7.00pm
FRIDAY 24 APRIL
PGC Networking Dinner focussing on Science and
Engineering
6.30pm in College
WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER
Digital Social Media Networking Drinks
Publicis, 760 Oxford Street, London 6.30pm to 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER
Autumn Concert - Choral Society performing
Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini
7.30pm in Tewkesbury Abbey
FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER
Corporate Members’ AGM
11.00am in College
3-4 DECEMBER
The Diary of Anne Frank
7.00pm in PAC
FRIDAY 12 DECEMBER
College Christmas Concert
7.30pm in PH
SATURDAY 25 APRIL
Principal’s Lecture Series: Speaker tbc
11.10am to 12.30pm in PH
SATURDAY 9 MAY
May Concert
11.10am in PH
SATURDAY 16 MAY
Guild AGM and College Reunion for Guild
members especially those who left College in 2010,
2005, 2000, 1995, 1990, 1985, 1980, 1975, 1970, 1965,
1960, 1965 etc
20-21 MAY
The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew
7pm in PAC
2015 SPRING TERM
26-27 JUNE
Shakespeare in the Quad
7pm in College
SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY
Principal’s Lecture: Speaker tbc
11.10am to 12.30pm in PH
FRIDAY 3 JULY
College Summer Concert
7.30pm in PH
FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY
PGC Networking Dinner focussing on Environment
and Sustainability
6.30pm in College
Guild Office,
Cheltenham Ladies’ College,
Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, GL50 3EP
Tel: +44 (0)1242 256581
Fax: +44 (0)1242 227882
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.clcguild.org