This year we returned to Christ Church Purley as it’s been such a popular location in the past. The event was a great success, with plenty of old scholars and friends reuniting to enjoy the meal and chat in a relaxed atmosphere. We appreciate that many of you travel long distances to join us and this year we also had Phil Teuten travelling across the Channel from France.  We hadn’t seen him since he left Reedham so it was a special occasion for many of us who were at Reedham at the same time as Phil.

Many thanks to all of you who either contributed to the raffle or bought tickets. Thanks to all your efforts we raised £265.50 on the day and Lindsey Trotter also sold items at a Car Boot the next day which raised a further £15.00. Our thanks to Lindsey. It’s great to see that people are still interested in purchasing the ROSA merchandising and this year we raised £200.00, much of which was due to sales of Joan McGill’s new book and Dave Connor’s Reedham A-Z, monies from these sales go to the Reedham Children’s Trust.

Joan McGill’s book ‘Reedham and Me’ is an amazing account of her childhood, her life at Reedham and beyond.  Dave Connor also came up with the great idea of his ‘My Reedham A – Z’ which is a lighted hearted collection of his memories of the school.  Both books are a joy to read and so many of you bought copies that they sold out on the day.  If you didn’t get to the Reunion this year, and you’d like a copy of either of these then please let us know; Joan’s book is priced at £5 and for Dave’s A – Z it’s just a contribution of your choosing.  This year, Penny Solomons read us one of her poems which was very well received and it just goes to show that Reedham has produced some very talented old scholars; Penny also had her biography published a few years ago.

Derrick Smith has announced that, sadly, he is stepping down as Reedham Historian after nearly 40 years and we presented him with a card signed by all those attending on the day and a gift to show our appreciation for all his hard work in the past.

Richard Link, Sarah Smart and Claire Palmer attended from the Reedham Children’s Trust. Sarah and Claire gave an update on the Trust’s activities and also informed us about an exciting event being planned. In 2019, Reedham will be celebrating 175 years and the Trust would like to celebrate the occasion. Members of the Trust and some Old Scholars attended the Patrons Lunch last year which put Reedham back on the map and it is planned to ask the Queen if she would help mark the 175 year celebration. The Trust has already secured the services of the Bishop of Croydon and there will be a service at Southwark Cathedral.

We would like for Her Majesty to meet a group of old scholars either at Southwark Cathedral, or at Reedham, and in particular it would be good to meet someone who attended from each decade (hopefully as far back as the 1920’s). So ‘watch this space’. We’ll keep you posted when we hear more…

Those attending the Annual Reunion included:

Eddie & Anne Anderson, Tali & Pauline Atvars, Peter Barnett, Felicienne Blenman, Byron Butler, Keith Bullard & Gwen Duffy, David & Brenda Connor, Celia Gamblen (nee Anderson) & daughter Andrea, Hazel Cox (nee Lestourgeon), Billy Hodges, Barbara Holmes (nee Lambert), John & Maureen Jones (nee Newbolt), George & Denise (nee Ward) Kanetti, Sylvia Khan (nee Coptcoat), Linda Lestourgeon & Paul Cotton, Richard Link (Reedham Trust), Donald Martin, Joan McGill (nee Dutton), Gary McQueen, Mike & Shirley (nee Spooner) Mockford, Mandy Murie (nee Lyons & daughter Louise, Tony Page, Claire Palmer (Reedham Trust), Anne Parry (nee Pilbeam), Derek Pearce, Albert Pollington, Tanya Rocks (nee Solomons), Jane Roper (nee Coptcoat), Sarah Smart (Reedham Trust), Derrick & Janet Smith, Stan Smith, Penny Solomons, Ron Thomas, Louis Thompson, Lindsey (nee Bellinger) & Andrew Trotter, Phil Tueten, Ann Welby (nee Whybrow) & John Parks, Mike Whybrow, Fred, Janet & Gwen Williams and Nora Jeeves (nee Williams).

Apologies were received from: Richard & Brenda Newcombe, Bob & Monica Eastabrook, Roger Curry, David Nightingale, Dr Peter Lee (was Peter David Lester), Julian Lindley and Roger Sanders.

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