From Our President

In some respects life at St Bees has changed little in half a century despite all the comings and goings. The crease still floods, the cricket square usually remains green, the rough on the golf course is thick, the school buildings are majestic on bright sunny days but foreboding on wet ones. The trains running the coastal route to Carlisle however no longer belch smoke, they do run slower and the heavy gates on the level crossing are long gone! This year the coastal path along the sandstone cliffs on the golf course has been deemed unsafe due to coastal erosion and a new diversion route is planned. Time does have an impact after all!

However there is rarely a quiet moment on the St Bees School campus as plans proceed to reopen in September. Activity levels are high and at last it seems to be becoming recognised that there is going to be education on the St Bees School site again.

The school is not merely being reopened, it is being reinvented, and this is necessary if it is once again to enjoy the prestigious position that it once held. This has been a major challenge to the school's Senior Leadership Team, The Trust and the Joint Venture Company.

Few schools have closed to be reopened again successfully and for this, Full Circle Education have to be commended for their determination and their financial investment in St Bees.

The expectation for first year pupil numbers has been significantly scaled back and the school will now reopen with only year 7 (1st form) children. Further year groups will follow. However the level of varied commercial activity now taking place on the site, including sporting, cultural and business, is significant and reflects the sense of optimism and momentum at St Bees.

Those of you who were on School House (every OSB that I meet since I took office seems to have been on School House. Where are the rest of you?) might like to know that the whole School House building is being refurbished. It will become the principal boarding facility on site for the foreseeable future, providing accommodation for the school and for a variety of proposed residential courses. The building works are now largely completed.

There will be a Cumbria Dinner at school on Friday 28^th September on the evening preceding St Beghians' Day on Saturday 29th. The Chapel service on St Beghians' Day will be a special memorial service to remember those Old St Beghians who served in the First World War, this year being the 100th anniversary of the ending of those particular horrors.

On St Beghians' Day last September I launched the Grindal Society New School Foundation Appeal. The purpose of the appeal was to support the St Bees School Charitable Trust in helping to finance its share of the Joint Venture refurbishment and reopening costs. These costs have escalated significantly since September last year and the Trust is now expecting to have to raise funds considerably higher than the £1.2m originally forecast. Ultimately the Trust's share of refurbishment costs alone is likely to exceed £2m.

The St Beghian Society’s assets, primarily the Lonsdale Terrace properties, are held within its Guarantee Trust Fund. As these properties are now not required by the school for boarding accommodation and the estimated cost of refurbishment could exceed £500k, the GTF has decided to convert the Terrace back to individual properties, for which they already have planning permission, and to sell the houses individually. If and when appropriate the GTF would consider making funds available to the School Trust, from the property sales, to support the Joint Venture Company.

Despite there having been little to see at school until now, with the exception of 'scaffolding', the Grindal Society Appeal has already raised £95k including Gift Aid. May I thank all those who have given their support to the appeal thus far and I hope that when the school reopens, and the doubters convinced, that there will be an even greater level of interest and support for this initiative.

In connection with the Appeal, one of the great joys of being President is the contacts that you make with your old school friends. Some months ago Jonny Turnbull (FS 62-65) contacted the Society to make a contribution to the Appeal. He had a question to ask about his donation and he was given my phone number. Jonny Turnbull was a contemporary of mine at school, I think he used to assist me with my Latin prep from time to time! Jonny rang me and we had a long conversation which meandered all over the place. He advised me that he had recently discovered that he had cash in a frozen Northern Rock deposit account and that it was doing no good there and would be best put to use in the Grindal Appeal. What a generous gesture! I hope you are in good form Jonny and thank you for helping me with my prep!

The search is now commencing for my successor. It proved very useful for me to have a year's experience alongside my predecessor before taking on the mantel of President in September last year, and to this end the Society is looking for the next President to run alongside me and to take over the reins in September 2019. This would mean liaising with me from September 2018. Please contact myself and/or Pam Rumney if you would like information about what is involved in this position. It is a very rewarding way of helping to contribute to the school and the Society in a variety of ways at this very important time.

Recent attendances at OSB events have been tailing off I feel, yet this is the time when the school needs our support and enthusiasm more than ever. Please engage with the Society; come along to the St Beghian Society weekend in September; see what has been done to regenerate the buildings; and meet the Senior Leadership Team and Trustees. We will be celebrating in a variety ways and I look forward to seeing you at school on that occasion.

St Beghians’ Day 2018

Saturday 29th September