OC | 4
FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
A year into the job and I was just starting to get to grips with it. Then, the events of recent months were thrown into the mix. Whilst it has provided us all with a certain amount of uncertainty and anxiety, it has also given me absolute clarity about the importance of the Churcher’s community and the force it can be. I already feel very much part of the family. In great part, that is down to you. It has been incredibly helpful to meet and talk to so many Old Churcherians and other friends over the past year, to understand what Churcher’s means to you and what makes the place so special. Thank you for welcoming me so warmly. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Gill Clarke for her incredible service to Churcher’s College and to the Development Office. Gill has been a constant driving force through the myriad of roles, most recently managing the school archives, that she has taken on since she arrived in 1986. We have much to thank her for. I, for one, sincerely hope that Gill continues to pop back in to keep us in check and allow us to borrow her invaluable, encyclopaedic knowledge about Churcher’s. Here in the Development Office, there is a lot we want to do… One current priority is to create a new web-based platform, through which OCs can connect with one another and engage with our Professional Connections initiative. Working closely with the Careers Office, this will enable us to leverage and share the great deal of experience that our wider
community has to offer, facilitating support to current students and OCs alike with their career progression. A major event on the horizon is our 300th anniversary in 2022. Not only is this all very exciting, but it presents a fantastic opportunity for the school. We are busy planning a year of celebration and activity that will hopefully engage our whole community, including current pupils and staff, Old Churcherians, parents and also the people and local businesses in Petersfield and the surrounding area. Churcher’s is your school. We would like to encourage as many of you as possible to stay engaged, to get your feedback and ideas, to tell us what you want from us and how we can help you. We also want you to let us know how you might want to help the Churcher’s family, be that current students or fellow OCs, or if you want to get more involved with school initiatives, in whatever way that might be. Please do not hesitate to get in touch at any time and even better, come and see us. With very best wishes,
Nick Smith Head of Development
