Busy reunions and the latest leavers

Last weekend provided the wonderful day of reunions which Julie and Jane, with others, had worked so hard to facilitate. On a bright, clear day which lacked only warm sunshine, 60 former members of MGS Scout Troop 2 lunched in the Paton Library (named after the High Master credited with starting the great MGS tradition of outdoor activities), surrounded by the albums and other memorabilia of their past camps. We no longer have scout troops in the school, but the spirit of adventure lives on in the camps, treks and Duke of Edinburgh activities which keep boys and staff busy most weekends and holidays.


Scarcely was lunch over when further guests started to arrive for afternoon tours prior to the evening reunion dinner organised for Old Mancunians who joined the school prior to 1951. Travelling from as far away as New Zealand and California, more than 200 nostalgia-fuelled OMs toured the school's modern buildings, watched the 1st XI record a resounding cricket victory and enjoyed fine wines and delicious food before being entertained by Stewart Platt's memories, the High Master's remarks and music (including old school songs) from the Close Harmony Group. It became in the end quite a late night for most of us.

We have been delighted by the number of appreciative comments about the reunions reaching the Development Office this week.

So much, for now, for the past. For a couple of days this week the office has resembled a high-class market stall, as the hoodies for the leavers of 2010 have arrived and been sorted for distribution next Wednesday, the Upper Sixth's last day in school prior to exams. This modern leavers' tradition involves a nickname on each student's hoody, with the 2010 spelled out in the names of the whole year-group. A great memento to take on to university and beyond. I wonder whether any of these will re-emerge in years to come as their aged owners make their way back to Fallowfield in their turn for their Reunions?

Philanthropy, visitors and reunions

Can you get richer by giving your wealth away? This was the question put by Andrew Neil to an international panel of speakers in front of a large audience at KPMG's Salisbury Square, London offices on Wednesday. I was there as a guest of Carole Stone to learn more about the psychology of benefactors. And the answer to the question? Well, if you are an individual and you define 'wealth' as 'wellbeing', the answer is 'yes', and if you are a company and you want to be successful, it's no longer optional to support good causes: only those that do, succeed.

An Old Mancunian who heads the international IT corporation Thoughtworks, Roy Singham, visited school today and spoke to our sixth form economics students about his business vision and personal philosophy. Only able to attend MGS for one year in the 60s because of his family's international moves, Roy remembers Ian Bailey as one of his influential teachers. Roy was accompanied by Dan Moore, a fellow OM and one of Thoughtworks' UK programmers. I was impressed by the engagement of Roy's audience, most of whom had been up for most of the night watching the election results come through. Ah, si vieillesse pouvait!

Tomorrow is a big reunions day at school. At lunchtime, former members of Scout Troop 2 and Venturers will meet in the Paton Library. In the afternoon and evening, more than 200 OMs who started their MGS careers before 1951 will assemble to watch the cricket, tour the school and enjoy a fine dinner. This is part of a cycle of 5-yearly gatherings which are greatly enjoyed. Let's hope the Manchester weather is kind to us.

A new Director, and an anniversary portrait

Congratulations to Simon Jones, Old Mancunian (88-95) and MGS staff from 2004 (teaching Geography) who has been appointed as Director of Development from September, taking over from Ian Thorpe, who will continue as a part-time Associate. Simon is relishing the challenges involved in the run-up to our 500th birthday celebrations in 2015. More immediately, there are plans to be made for the opening of our new Drama facilities which are due to be completed during the summer.

I have blogged before about OM writer Alan Garner and The Blackden Trust. Last night a portrait of Alan by Black Country artist Andrew Tift, commissioned by the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, was unveiled. The commission celebrates 5o years of Alan's writing career, and the unveiling took place at the Mansion House in Chester, hosted by the city's Lord Mayor.

Alan is pictured in the room where he has written all his books (indeed in the chair in which he always writes the beginning and the ending of each book), surrounded by a wide range of artefacts which have inspired his work.

This is my bootleg image of a photograph of part of the portrait - the real thing is infinitely better. If you get the chance, do try to see it at the Grosvenor Museum.

London & SE OMA Dinner

Down to London on Wednesday for the annual dinner of the London and south-east-based Old Mancunians. It used to be the case that the venue changed each year for the sake of variety, but this year we were again at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, which has looked after us well in the past. The food and wine are good, and the surroundings, combined with a relatively informal dress code, produce a memorable but relaxing evening, attracting 60-plus guests.

This year's Chairman, Fred Wheeler, introduced his successor, Lee Gabbie, who proposed the toast to our Founder, Hugh Oldham. Then our special guest, actor Robert Powell, gave an extremely amusing account of his life in drama from his days in the second form, later Classical Sixth at MGS, to the present time. Like (Sir) Nicholas Hytner, who spoke at last year's dinner, Robert explained how plays at school allowed him to discover the person he was. For him, as for many, this was in an activity outside the school curriculum, which in those days involved reading plenty of literary texts but not being examined on them. He shares our excitement at the development of facilities for drama at MGS and has kindly offered to present a one-man show in the rebuilt theatre in the autumn. The High Master rounded off the speeches with a brief (yes, really, seven minutes) account of highlights of the last year.

It was good to see the age-spread of the guests - the youngest two or three are still undergraduates at the London universities, the oldest two or three joined MGS in the mid-1930s. All walks of life seemed to be represented: I sat between a retired professor of medicine and a special needs teacher, and opposite an investment banker, a commercial aviation expert and a management consultant.

Back to Manchester to catch up on plans for our big Reunion on 8 May for pupils who joined MGS pre-1950. It's exciting to know that people are coming from as far away as New Zealand and California. Thank goodness the planes are flying again.

Have you made your will?

Does this seem a depressing subject to you? Or just a boring one? It's very difficult to get excited about the world of wills and codicils unless you're a lawyer (or maybe a surprise beneficiary), isn't it? And when you say, 'Yes, I have made a will' only to be trumped with, 'Ah, yes, but is it up-to-date?' that's really not fair. I know that I need to have a look at mine, as it's 15 years since I wrote it, and my children were teenagers then.

Here in the Development Office we think about wills quite a lot. This week we received a surprise legacy gift from the estate of a gentleman who died a couple of years ago. It's worth about £12,000 to us, and is a very welcome addition to our Bursary Fund. In the past ten years we must have benefited from about 75 wills, 2 of them worth over a million pounds each. Clearly the donors believed in the value of giving clever boys a chance, with the support of a great secondary education, and we will look after their money well as we build an endowment fund to last for ever. And the donors' names will live for ever on our honours boards. By using the investment income from the fund we can currently provide about 240 means-tested bursaries - a good number, but not enough to satisfy demand. One day we hope to be able to afford a needs-blind entry system.

So if you are looking at making or revising a will, please consider including MGS as one of the charities you choose. All bequests to charities escape inheritance tax. Click here for further details.

MGS at Blackpool

Well, it wasn't quite a repeat of the WW2 evacuation of the school to the Fylde coast, but we had a great day at Blackpool today to get us in the mood for the summer term which starts tomorrow. Inspired by Assistant Director of Development Simon Jones, who was in action today in spite of a very sore knee, 20-odd sixth-formers and staff ran the Blackpool half-marathon in aid of the MGS Bursary Fund.

They have been raising money by traditional sponsorship and via pages at JustGiving.com (check for The MGS Trust to find their pages). The lads are all motivated to put something back before they leave at the end of this term - they are well aware that either they or their classmates have been able to be at MGS because of the generosity of donors to the Bursary Fund.

Supported by Jane and Julie from the Development Office (sorry about the 7am Sunday start from school, ladies) the runners were at the start-line promptly at 9am. The weather was kind and the route (south to the Pleasure Beach, north to Bispham,) was pretty flat - well at least it looked flat to the spectators.

Mr Jones was looking OK at the halfway point but was already hurting.


Ollie Salt and Tris Honeyborne were our first finishers, with Messrs Noble and Lawrence not far behind.

All the finishers (and all the MGS team did finish) collected their commemorative T-shirt and medal, and most of the team posed for the final photo.

Well done, everyone - a great day.

Term ends today

Another busy term officially comes to an end today, with a Colours Assembly this afternoon to celebrate the sporting achievements of the winter sports teams, followed by the Rugby Club's Phil Wade Memorial game and, this evening, the Rugby Club Dinner at the Cresta Court in Altrincham.

There are so many outstanding sportsmen in MGS at present (20 with international honours in their age-group) but here are two with unusual achievements: Alex Haynes is the current captain of the England Independent Schools' Football Association U18 team, and Max Drakeley has been selected for the U19 England ice-hockey team: he plays for Manchester Phoenix.

Yesterday I had a fascinating hour being shown with one of our major donors round the fast-developing Drama Centre building site. The new stage has a full height orchestra pit below to provide for our musicals, and a tall flytower above for moving scenery up and down. The auditorium has been completely reshaped to allow for proper knee-room and comfortable seats (twin revolutions for MGS!). Sponsor-and-name-a-seat opportunities still exist - please help if you can.


The old Prefects' Common Room will become our Drama Studio, with technical walkways just below the ceiling to allow shows to be rigged with great versatility. Many MGS boys still like to join TechCrew rather than strut their stuff on stage, and this will allow them to operate safely.


Completion of the project is scheduled for late summer, with opening events in the autumn and spring terms.

Next week MGS groups will be travelling as far afield as China and St Kitts. Wherever you are, enjoy Easter.