Dear Old Brutonians,

Firstly, a huge welcome to the class of 2024! By the time you read this you will have officially joined the ranks as Old Brutonians. I sincerely wish you all the very best in your new ventures and look forward to hearing about your achievements in the future.  It was wonderful to hear that there was such a strong turn out of OBs at the recent Celebration of Sport – not just those that dusted off their hockey sticks and cricket whites, but also everyone who came to cheer on their peers.  I know the School are keen to build on strong foundations for this day so, hopefully, many of you will be able to attend next year.

The recent drinks in Bruton were a big success, thank you to everyone who made time to attend.  Young and old joined together and found common ground – again, it was great to know that so many of our ‘newer’ recruits attended.  Not only can the OBA offer you support with mentoring and career guidance, but we can also arrange reunion events and ways to catch up with those who you spent your formative years with.  Which brings me onto future events.  The London Lunch is obviously one of the most popular in the OBA calendar and I am thrilled to hear that there are at least 4 reunion groups being arranged for the day (do get in touch with Emilie if you would like to arrange your own get together).  Even if you have never been to the London Lunch, I would strongly recommend it.  Everyone is super friendly, you will be well looked after and it is just wonderful to gather together on mass!  That said, I do appreciate it isn’t for everyone which is why we have smaller regional events, such as the Wessex Lunch.  I am looking to put some more dates in the diary – perhaps around Southampton or Bournemouth to start with.  Please do get in touch if you would like an event in your area and we will try and make it happen!

Finally, a big heartfelt thank you to Chris Biddle, editor of the OBA Magazine.  Chris took on the magazine from Ed Tickner, so had very big shoes to fill and fill them he did.  I was amazed at the range of articles in the magazine, covering all generations of OBs.  Whilst King’s isn’t the biggest of Schools, it certainly packs a punch and I think we should all be very proud to call ourselves Old Brutonians!

Wishing you all the very best of summers and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the near future.

Floreat Brutonia!

Gemma