News of Old Girls and Former Staff

NEWS OF OLD GIRLS

If you would like to get in touch with any of the Old Girls featured – or any other Alumni – please contact the Development Office.

Class of 1950-1959

Patsy Southwell (née Jenkinson, Class of 1959) Patsy’s book, The Psychosocial Impact of Sight Loss, is to be published by Cambridge Scholars this year. Having counselled people with sight loss, or developing it, for the last 21 years, the book is a culmination of all her work.

Class of 1970-1979

Maggie Wardle (née Watson, Class of 1977) Maggie has been fundraising for Dreamflight, a charity which takes children with serious illnesses or disabilities on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida. She has been a staunch supporter of Dreamflight since her own daughter, Naomi, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, benefited from such a trip back in 2005; she had a fantastic time and returned with more independence and a more positive attitude to her disability. The trip was unable to go ahead in 2020 and 2021 and many fundraising events had to be cancelled. However, a number of volunteers took on the challenge of touring the world ‘virtually’ during February and Maggie committed to walking ten miles every day that month around the local lanes, wearing a tutu and a silly hat. This year she joined the Thames Bridges trek, walking across all the bridges between Putney Bridge and Greenwich, with Naomi. Together they have raised nearly £3,000. Maggie’s just giving page is now closed, but the charity has its own page: www.justgiving.com/ dreamflight. Heather Henry (née Fisher, Class of 1979) Queen’s Nurse Heather has written a new book to help nursing students with their career development. Heather was commissioned by the global publisher Elsevier to write Be a Leader in Nursing: A Practical Guide for Nursing Students. She collaborated with nursing students themselves as well as a national student leadership programme, managed by the Council of Deans of Health, called the #150 Leaders Programme to make the book as useful as possible. The book is the first dedicated to helping undergraduate nurses to practise the sort of leadership skills that they will require once registered. Heather illustrates the book with real-life leadership case studies from current nursing students from different fields of nursing practice and offers a range of practical tips and exercises. University librarians are now stocking the book as leadership is now a required undergraduate competency.

Class of 1980-1989

Amanda Valentine (Class of 1983) Amanda has reached the end of an era, as she and husband Chris no longer have a child in School! Daughter Alex (Class of 2016) is now working as a trainee solicitor in London and son James (Class of 2022) is embarking on university life reading Materials Science at Queen’s College, Oxford. However, Bolton School will continue to feature heavily in Amanda’s life through her role as Vice Chair of Governors with responsibility for the Girls’ Division. When Sheila Fisher (née Platt, 1963-1970) stepped down from this role last December, Amanda was delighted to be invited to take up the position. She was privileged to play a part on the Appointments Committee which saw Lynne Kyle confirmed as the permanent Head of Girls’ Division against a strong field of external candidates and she is enjoying working with Lynne as she establishes the team around her. Amanda was also proud to speak at July’s Celebration Assembly remembering the lives of Margaret Spurr, Margaret Dickinson and Elizabeth Plant. Miss Dickinson in particular had a significant influence throughout her school life and Mrs Spurr helped her through her own Oxford application process back in the early 1980s. With the house to themselves for the first time in 25 years, Amanda and Chris are looking forward to the next chapter, in particular to spending more time in France.

Class of 1990-1999

Naomi Lord (Class of 1998; Boys’ Division Staff) Congratulations to Naomi, Director of Creative Learning and Partnerships in the Boys’ Division, who was Highly Commended in the ‘Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School’ category at this year’s Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Class of 2000-2009

Rashmi Chattopadhyay (Class of 1999) Rashmi studied Dentistry at the University of Leeds. She and her husband, David, own Southport Road Dental Practice in Chorley. Rashmi has a special interest in Amanda and family nervous patients. She has written a book, How to Make Your Fear of the Dentist Disappear, and developed a podcast and a workbook to help such patients to overcome their fear. In recognition of her work with dental phobic patients and her contribution to the postgraduate teaching programme in Aesthetic Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, Rashmi was nominated in the ‘Dentist of the Year’ category at the 2022 Dental Awards. Although disappointed to miss out on the top spot, Rashmi was delighted to reach the final five and will continue to work in this rewarding area. She attributes her success to Bolton School which instilled in her the confidence to pursue her goals and never to give up. Antonia Heap (Class of 2009) Having completed the Half Ironman last year, in July this year Antonia took on the Ironman UK 2022 full distance triathlon in her home town of Bolton. It was a gruelling 140.6mile course which saw her swim 2.4 miles School friends April in Pennington Foster, Liz Davies, Flash, followed Mhairi McLaughlin by a 112-mile and Helena Chadwick hilly bike course (all Class of 2009) and finished cheer on Antonia

with a 26.2-mile run which consisted of four laps from Bolton town centre and along Chorley New Road. Antonia was delighted to complete the course in 16 hours and 11 minutes. The support from spectators throughout the day was phenomenal, as was the encouragement and continued support from her friends and family. Helen Kennair (née Wall, Class of 2001) Congratulations to Helen who has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton. Helen, who led the rollout of the Covid vaccination programme in Bolton during the pandemic, received the degree of Doctor of Health Care for her outstanding contribution to public health. Helen has shown exemplary leadership in implementing Bolton’s clinical response to the pandemic. As well as being the senior responsible officer for the borough’s vaccination programme, she has led the Health Economy Resilience Group (HERG), organising vital PPE and oxygen supplies and bed capacity at the height of the pandemic. Raisa Saley (née Umarji, Class of 2014) Raisa and her family moved from London to the Seychelles in December 2021 after her husband accepted a job Raisa and family in the Attorney General’s Chambers there. Raisa’s parents are originally from the Seychelles and she has been visiting the islands since she was a child, so the transition to island living was easier than expected. Raisa is fortunate to be able to continue doing her job in the UK remotely which means her working day usually starts around 12 noon, although she sometimes has to work late into the evenings because of the time difference! They are all enjoying the warmer climate, being able to spend more time outdoors and being closer to family. Relaxing on the beach, hiking in the mountains and visiting other islands make each weekend feel like a mini vacation! Cherie Cunningham (Class of 2005) Cherie, Channel Director of the comedy entertainment channel Dave, won two Baftas this Summer, for Big Zuu’s Big Eats, a series where chef Zuu and his sidekicks Tubsey and Hyder cook up food for different celebrities. The series won in the Best Features category for Dave, beating Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing and Great British Sewing Bee, and Big Zuu himself won best entertainment performance in Big Zuu’s Big Eats.

Class of 2010-2019

Thorrun Govind (Class of 2010) Earlier this year, in her capacity as a frontline pharmacist and Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England, Thorrun attended a reception at St James’s Palace, hosted by [the then] Prince Charles, to celebrate Community Pharmacists. Thorrun explained that [Prince] Charles had a real insight into pharmacy and they discussed the importance of pharmacists being accessible in their communities and pharmacist prescribers being better utilised. Jaiminee Patel (Class of 2011) This October, Jaiminee will be trekking to Everest Base Camp, in aid of two charities supporting young people in both Nepal and the UK. She will be entering a world only accessible by foot, tackling mega high altitudes and freezing temperatures over three weeks, hoping to make it to Base Camp at 17,500ft/5,380m above sea level. This is not a holiday; Jaiminee is paying all of her own costs for this trip, travel and training. Jaiminee’s fundraising will help build and equip a vocational training centre in Kathmandu for young people furthering their education and skills upon leaving school. Her other cause is OnSide UK, the charity sitting behind Bolton Lads and Girls Club, providing exceptional youth work for disadvantaged young people. Jaiminee is looking for fundraising support, whether that be donations, funding of a specific item for the centre in Nepal, or corporate sponsorship – please visit supportingnepalschildren.enthuse. com/pf/jaiminee-patel or contact her at jaiminee_patel@hotmail.co.uk. Hannah Sutcliffe (Class of 2011) Hannah, current COO and co-founder of MOONHUB, a VR training platform, has been listed, along with her two co-founders, in the technology sector in Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ 2022. This announcement came after the startup raised their Seed investment round of $2.6M, and most recently launched their off-theshelf VR dementia healthcare training. Madeline King (Class of 2014) Maddie has been promoted to a new post at the Department for Transport. She has worked in General Aviation policy (everything other than scheduled commercial flight, ie emergency service aircraft, private jets, pleasure flying, even hot air ballooning!) since April last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The programme has significant ministerial interest so it’s been challenging but rewarding! Maddie is now moving towards more commercial aviation work: her new job will be as an Airspace Modernisation Senior Policy Advisor. Riya Kalhan (Class of 2016) Riya’s singing career continues apace. She was recently interviewed on Eamonn O’Neal’s Sunday sessions show with BBC Manchester, during which she sang a cover of Adele’s Easy on Me. She was also thrilled to have been selected as one of 12 participants across Europe to take part in the LEC co-creation week (Manchester and Groningen) and subsequently performed at the ‘Sound From the Other City’ festival in Salford. This Summer Riya released her debut EP this summer and performed at her debut headline show in London and Manchester in September. Lucy Baxter (Class of 2017) Lucy is organising a charity ball for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust called ‘Black and Life’ on Saturday 4th February 2023 at the Barton Manor Hotel, Preston. As she turns 25 years old next year, she is hoping to raise £25,000 to go into research for the condition from which she and 10,800 other people in the UK suffer. The black tie event will consist of a drinks reception, three-course meal, live music, entertainment and a casino. Tickets are £68 and sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information please contact Lucy on 07754 478667 or olucybaxter@btinternet.com. Abbie Gregson (Class of 2017) Due to the pandemic, it has taken Abbie just over three years to achieve what should have taken 18 months, but after 13 gruelling ground exams, over 250 hours of flight and simulator time, and numerous examination flights, she is now qualified to fly in the UK as a commercial pilot! She is now applying to airlines for the first step into what has been her dream career since she was 12 years old – her ambition is to be seated in the left-hand seat for legacy airlines such as TUI Airways or Delta Airlines.