With the bar now raised several notches,
the current year has heralded ambitious new
targets, with the Golf Bursary Fund, the Ralph
and Cathy Townsend Bursary Fund and the
Duncan Louis Stewart Fellowship in Natural
History occupying much of our attention.
Recent conversations with acquaintances often go
like this: ‘Ah, Alex, how’s your part-time retirement
job going? It must be very different from working in
the City; and I suppose it’s all about getting money
out of people?’ My riposte normally starts with what
a previous generation would have called a ‘raspberry’,
followed by observations that, although not having
to commute to London had indeed meant that I had
regained two hours a day of my life, my waking hours
– including a number of weekends and evenings – were
now pretty fully occupied; that being Director of Win
Coll Soc and a private client fund manager were almost
identical occupations – indeed I was dealing with many
of the same people as in my previous existence; and that,
while fundraising was certainly a very important part
of the office’s function, for development to be effective
it was also vital to maintain excellent relations with our
constituent stakeholders – OWs, parents, Quiristers,
dons, the Crown & Manor Club and Friends.
A few deft key strokes on my computer allows me to
extract some statistics – by the way, I have been rather
impressed by our database (which is considerably
better than any Client Relationship Management
system I saw in the City) – and flesh out the activities
of the Events Team. In the 2014-15 academic year,
a total of 70 events, with a total attendance of 3,300
guests, were managed or monitored by us. Fine, there
are some duplications, with a number of extremely
loyal camp followers who turn up on a regular basis,
54 The Wykeham Journal 2015
but, even so, we are touching a lot of people: as well
as the ten Years-on Reunions during that year, we
entertained Wykeham Patrons in Winchester and
India, Goddard Members, Guilds – both here and
abroad, Parents new and old, Quiristers, Friends
in Winchester, America and Hong Kong, Masons,
SOLAW, university pizza eaters… the list goes on.
This is a monumental effort by a small team of ladies:
to us born and bred OWs their efficiency and loyalty
to the School deserve great respect and appreciation.
As for me, the sub-title of this article refers!
Another way of fortifying the bond with the
Wykehamical diaspora is through the twice-yearly
‘mugging crisis’ otherwise known as the production of
The Trusty Servant : at first I was thoroughly daunted
by the prospect of working to a tight deadline; finding
copy by cajoling over-worked dons; and the critical
attention of 7,500 highly-educated readers with red
correcting pens poised. In truth, it is, of course, a team
effort with Tim Giddings, College Tutor and Classics
don, keeping a beady editorial eye on the output,
Christopher Van der Noot compiling 64 obituaries
last year to remind us of our own mortality, Suzanne
Foster the College Archivist burrowing away to provide
historical data and Bernard Fallon skilfully coaxing
a highly polished finished object out of a ragged pile
of Word documents and photographs. Above all, a
regular bounty of outside contributions ensures that
The Trusty Servant almost writes itself: so, easy, really!