A Magical Combination

On Saturday 1 July, alumni, pupils, parents and the wider Alleyn’s community came together for a fantastic Founder’s Day – a day of fun, music, sport and a chance to raise invaluable funds for charity.

The day began with a graduation celebration for our Year 13 leavers and a chance to welcome them into the Alleyn’s alumni community. A special service was held at St Barnabas Church bringing together all Year 13s and their parents and teachers. It was a chance to recognise and celebrate their school achievements and wish them the very best of luck as they set off on their next adventure beyond school.

At the service, President of the Edward Alleyn Club, Sue Lane, who many will remember from her time as a member of Alleyn’s teaching staff from 1978-2015, welcomed the class of 2023 into the alumni community. She said:

“Even though you are leaving the School you will always be a member of a special community. Keep in touch as you go on your exciting life journey. I wish you much happiness and success on that journey from here onwards. And remember, you may be leaving Alleyn's but Alleyn’s never leaves you.”

Year 13s and their parents were then welcomed for drinks in the Alleyn’s Memorial Garden before joining the main school, alumni, pupils, parents and the wider community for a brilliant Founder’s Day to enjoy entertainment for everyone – from dog shows, to abseiling down the Science building, fairground rides and the traditional beer mat raffle drop.

In the quad, our brilliant alumni and parents gave the current 1st netball team some great competition in the traditional netball round-robin. Congratulations to the 1sts who claimed a 21-12 victory.

And in the annual alumni cricket match, it was alumni team who took the victory. Captain Abe Wood (Cribb’s 2021) collected the Christian Berglund trophy on behalf of a strong alumni team.

Congratulations to Ben Cook (Brown’s 2021) who was awarded player of the match for the alumni team for the second year running. It was especially touching to welcome alumni there to support their children who were playing, including Reno Antoniades (Tulley's 1984), Simon Banfield (Roper's 1981) and James Marshall (Cribb’s 1987) who had a son playing for the alumni team and another for the school 1sts.

Thank you to members of our alumni community for coming back to be part of the day to enjoy the day and these sporting fixtures – both playing and spectating from the Pimm’s Tent – the proceeds of which went directly to the Alleyn Benevolent Fund, which supports Upper School bursaries at Alleyn’s and assists pupils who require some help with the cost of extra-curricular trips.

Thanking everyone for attending, Head, Jane Lunnon said: “Huge thanks to the marvellous Alleyn’s Parent Assocation (APA) organisers and everyone involved in Founder’s Day. Sunshine, fundraising, dog shows, cricket, netball, tennis, music and lots of laughter… a magical combination!”