Wykeham Journal 2015 | Page 58

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!