PERSONALIA NEWS
PERSONALIA
PRE - 1980
Professor Peter Clarkson ( 68-76 ) of the University of Kent was awarded the Senior Anne Bennett Prize at the annual London Mathematical Society awards in June . The prize was awarded in recognition of Peter ’ s work to support gender equality in UK mathematics , and in particular , for his leadership in developing good practice among departments of mathematical sciences .
David Dean ( 71-78 ) and his team of 70 volunteers at The Brooklands Centre in Newport Pagnell has been awarded the Queen ’ s Award for Voluntary Service - the equivalent of the MBE for voluntary groups . David is the volunteer Marketing Trustee at the centre which provides services and support to older people in his local area .
David Derbyshire ( 46-57 ) and his wife , Sandy , have returned to live in Pocklington after 43 years working in Abu Dhabi . He would be pleased to hear from any of his contemporaries who remember him . Please make contact via the OP office .
David Hoggard ( 64-71 ) has published his second novel . Suddenly , Katya is a contemporary novel , mostly set in London and Yorkshire , and tells of a young Ukrainian woman , Katya , who flees the conflict in eastern Ukraine in pursuit of a local gangster who has brutally murdered her family . The narrator is a businessman who happens to give her a lift , and the novel describes their mutual entanglement and burgeoning relationship . This book and his first novel Lucky for Some are available on Kindle as an e-book download or a print-on-demand paperback via Amazon . As David approaches retirement , he is keen to make writing his main occupation and plans to publish more novels in the future . Watch this space !
Stewart Mumby ( 63-71 ) has been awarded a BA Upper Second Class Honours ( 2.1 ) in International Studies at the Open University .
Peter Shaw ( 52-62 ) was a member of the school party who completed the Lyke Wake Walk in September 1961 as mentioned in last year ’ s magazine ( p14 ). He remembers his father collecting him and his fellow walkers Tom Moody ( 58-62 , RIP ), George Foxcroft ( 53-63 ) and Peter Haynes ( 59-63 ) at the end of the walk and taking them back to his home in Beverley , where they all spent the night . Peter recalls that late the following morning , they all rolled out of bed , stiff as boards , and were fed bacon sandwiches by his mother as they sprawled on the lawn in warm sunshine savouring their feat of the day before !
1980 - 1989
Ralph Inseon ( 83-88 ) was one of several actors to take part in a live online book reading in April 2020 to raise funds for Covid-19 NHS charities . Ralph was joined by Clive Mantle , Charlie Hardwick , Kate Magowan and Hannah Wood amongst others to read the hilarious novel The Accidental Medium by author and actress Tracy Whitwell .
Christopher Parker ( 76-80 ) joined HMG LAW LLP in 2012 and became an equity partner in 2014 , heading the largest department in the firm , Private Client ( formerly Trusts and Estates ). The department , which is the oldest established in Oxford , was awarded the prestigious Solicitor Firm of the year award ( Midlands Region ) at the British Wills and Probate Wards ceremony at the Belfry , Birmingham in October 2019 .
John Skinner ( 75-82 ) has joined the board of directors at North Yorkshire-based independent fuel oil supplier , Kettlewell Fuels . The company recently underwent a management buyout by its senior leadership team and John found himself working alongside fellow OPs David Strachan ( 67-77 ) and Lucy Holroyd ( 99-05 ) of law firm Schofield Sweeney who were advising on the transaction . John has also been made chairman of the Yorkshire Gentlemen ’ s Cricket Club , possibly the first OP to hold the position ? It was thanks to Rob Smith ( former staff 77-12 ) and the late Malcolm Milne ( 55-62 , former staff 71-03 ) for their encouragement during an innings against the Pixies in the mid-80s that John was first made a member of the club .
Simon Spence QC ( 74-81 ) has been top ranked in the Legal 500 for criminal silks in the South East . He is described as “ a very strong advocate with great attention to detail .”
James Sweeting ( 81-88 ), MD of Lincoln and York Ltd ( coffee manufacturers ) has been awarded the Business Leadership Award at the Insider ( Yorkshire ) Media Growth 100 Awards 2019 .
Richard Verow ( 78-85 ) moved to beIN Media Group in February 2020 to take up the role of Chief Sports Officer . Richard was previously Director of Rights & Acquisitions at Sky Sports .
Andrew Work ( 69-80 ) is still working in the Netherlands as a telecommunications engineer . He has been in the Netherlands since 1988 . He married his second wife , Kate , in April 2016 in the Netherlands followed by a church blessing at St Mary ’ s in Beverley in September 2016 . In April 2019 their daughter Sophie Eléanor was born and was baptised at St Mary ’ s in Beverley . They are raising Sophie bilingually with Dutch and English as mother languages but are hoping she will also be fluent in Russian and French ! During 2019 , Andrew had the chance to meet up with Simon Hodgson ( 70-75 ) whilst he was visiting the Netherlands . He also had a brief catch up with David Agar ( 73-80 ) in London in June 2019 .
1990 - 1999
Rachel Clark ( 91-96 ) has launched a new shampoo bar brand named ‘ Nut and Noggin ’, aimed at reducing waste from plastic shampoo bottles and packaging . The new brand uses vegan ingredients and gives back £ 1 to charities helping young people facing mental health challenges , with every sale . Visit the website for more details and to keep an eye out for new product news : nutandnoggin . com .
Chris Hoskin ( 89-96 ) works at IPEX , the specialist consultancy firm offering advice and support to the rail sector . He was promoted in March 2020 to Technical Director and made a Company Director .
Sarah Peterman ( née Spencer , 88-98 ) is now an Associate Product Manager for HealthcareSource , designing new features for their Talent Management suite . This is a SaaS organisation based in Boston USA providing healthcare specific talent management and learning tools to over 3,500 hospitals across the US . In January 2020 , she was awarded with Employee of the Year for her contributions in 2019 . She works from home so had been working remotely long before the COVID-19 pandemic . She used her downtime to sew homemade masks for distribution in the community making well over five hundred . Sadly , her planned trip to England this year was cancelled so she and her family continued their camping adventures across upstate New York instead .
Fenton Swanborough ( 88-92 ) is a construction management specialist and MD of the family business Home Fit UK Ltd . In June 2019 , the firm which is celebrating 15 years in business , moved from its original premises in Market Weighton and opened a state-of-the-art flagship store in Pocklington . This offers a one stop shop for all construction and home improvement products and services – from replacing the kitchen sink to servicing the boiler to full kitchen , bathroom , bedroom and home office renovations . In partnership with the sister company , Swanhome Developments ( a house building and development business ), established over 40 years ago by Fenton ’ s father , Home Fit UK Ltd also offers full plumbing and electrical services , through to complete new build extensions and construction services .
2000 - 2009
Lucy Bennett-Baggs ( 03-07 ), CEO and Founder of Just Challenge , has been nominated as ‘ one to watch ’ in The Marketing Society Bravery Awards held in February 2020 .
Harry Coates ( 97-08 ) is a director within the family business Just Paper Tubes Ltd , a leading cardboard cores , cardboard tubes and paper tubes manufacturer . Harry came back to Pocklington School in September 2019 to share his business acumen with Lower Sixth Business students as part of a Young Enterprise day and joined a judging panel of a Dragons ’ Den-style contest as the students pitched their business plans to the panel .
Concert Pianist , Alexandra Dariescu ( 02-03 ), teamed up with her husband to perform a rendition of Hallelujah from the balcony of their flat as part of the # ClapForCarers weekly Thursday evening tribute to keyworkers for their contribution during the coronavirus pandemic .
Kyle Edmund ( 02-06 ), the British tennis number three won the New York Open , his first ATP event since October 2018 . He beat Andreas Seppi 7-5 , 6-1 .
George Jibson ( 09-16 ), Production Manager at company Five Fifty Five Productions Ltd , brought
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