It was wonderful to visit Christ’s Hospital again on Friday 3 March with Past Masters Lesley Day, Tom Rider and David Szymanski. We were made very welcome by the Director of Development, Hugo Middlemas, before meeting with Deputy Head Ruth Brading and CEO Jenny Baxter Clark. We also met with Kiyan Rahmann, our current presentee, who is doing so well at the school. Before lunch, I presented a cheque for over £38,000 to Headmaster, Mr Simon Reid, to support our next presentee.  

After a tour of the school including the chapel, we had lunch with the Headmaster and his colleagues in the main hall which was crowded with students and staff. They serve about 1400 lunches each day, which means the canteen has to be extremely efficient! After lunch, it was also a great treat to watch the Christ’s Hospital band and students marching on parade, practicing for the school’s open day next week. 

On Thursday 9 March, we had our Craft awards ceremony and luncheon at Trinity House. The room was absolutely packed to capacity, with each of the 123 seats filled. I am very grateful to our guest speaker Lt Col Guy Cheesman, Commanding Officer 1 RMSE, who awarded the prizes, the Chairman of the Craft Committee, Court Assistant David White, and our Learned Clerk Heather Smith for organising the event. 

There was a great atmosphere in the room, with everyone keen to celebrate the achievements of these talented individuals.

It was a huge privilege to award Matt Timby, Roof Slater & Tiler, as a Master Craftsman and to award Simon Dixon and Chris Cox with special Recognition for Services to Education & Industry. A full report listing all the award winners, written by Court Assistant Ian Wilson, is featured on the website events report page. Well done to all our award winners!