The Milton Abbey Association

T H E M I LTO N A B B E Y A S S O C I AT I O N

A Message from the Chairman Welcome to the Milton Abbey Association

extremely talented, creative, entrepreneurial

(MAA), which exists to maintain strong

and business-minded individuals.

existing and future members (pupils, alumni

We are delighted to share here stories of a

contact with and provide support for

and former staff). Having taken over as

number of our alumni who have chosen

I am delighted to be leading the Association

achieved great success in their chosen fields.

Chairman of the MAA in December 2014,

at such an exciting and pivotal time in its evolution.

With a current membership of nearly 4,000

MA alumni worldwide in more than 58

very different paths to follow and have

All those featured here have kindly agreed to

provide advice and support to other

members who may wish to follow similar

career paths. We aim to inspire future such

generations and believe that an education at

countries, the Association runs an engaging

Milton Abbey School is a passport to an

entertaining activities that aim to appeal to

life through the Milton Abbey Association.

programme of well-organised and

the widest spectrum of members. These

array of opportunities for the rest of your

include sporting and social events, career

advice and networking opportunities, and the MAA leadership works closely with

Milton Abbey School to assist with the

progress and development of current pupils.

In becoming part of the MAA family,

members are joining a large group of

Charles Moyle

The Milton Abbey Association

The MAA offers a range of opportunities to connect with and support its members. These include Career Development/Networking; The MAA Hub; Business Start-up Bursaries; Gap Year Grants; Sport and Social Events. Further details can be found below.

For further information and how to get involved please contact Paul Wood, MAA Manager email: paul.wood@miltonabbey.co.uk Tel: 01258 882 232.

Career Development/ Networking

The MAA can provide support via its members who are willing to act as mentors, individuals who are prepared to assist aspiring pupils who may want to go straight into the world of work after leaving school. Throughout their time in the Sixth Form, pupils will be helped in finding work experience and be introduced to the vast opportunities open to them after leaving school through careers talks. There are a number of opportunities organised in the years after leaving school for alumni to meet up and share their working knowledge and expertise. As an international community, we have links all over the world to similarly share experiences and contacts.

The MAA Hub

Members are encouraged to join The MAA Hub, a secure online global community that offers networking opportunities, resources and events for MAA members. Here members can find fellow alumni, contact their year group, join the MAA Business Directory and much more. Find The MAA Hub at www.miltonabbey.co.uk

Business Start-up Bursaries

As part of the MAA Careers Pathway Programme pupils in the Sixth Form, and within four years of leaving Milton Abbey, can apply for a bursary to help with their business start-up costs. In addition, they can get help from a mentor and link into the advice of many hundreds of alumni who are happy to help through the Association’s online community, The MAA Hub.

Gap Year Grants

Each year the MAA offers two ÂŁ1,000 grants to pupils in their last year in the Sixth Form to help towards the costs of a Gap Year experience working with a registered charity. The grants help pupils to develop skills in planning, presentation, budgeting and project management, as well as helping to support a good cause.

Sport

Many pupils stop sport after leaving school, however, the MAA actively encourages alumni to continue to participate in a range of sports (including football, hockey and cricket), which are not only enjoyable in themselves but are also a great way to meet other former pupils and to develop contacts in a wide range of fields.

Social Events

During the year there are a number of opportunities for alumni to get together either at Milton Abbey or at alternative venues. These include reunion lunches for year groups held at the School, lectures, recitals and drama productions held at MA and elsewhere, and the annual Remembrance Day Service in the Abbey itself. The A.G.M. is held at Milton Abbey and offers the perfect opportunity for former pupils to come back, reminisce and meet old friends. Many alumni meet regularly on a regional basis and interest is maintained both at home and abroad through vibrant social media sites and regular e-bulletins.

Barnaby Gray Teacher/Athlete

MA 1983-1987, Hambro

Founder of the Milton Abbey Hornets Sports Club.

The Business

Barnaby is currently Director of Sport & PE at Highfield School in Hampshire. He is also fully involved in multi-

As well as being a GB Age Group Athlete and Team Manager,

Barnaby has also developed his career in associated areas and holds

sport competition at the highest levels, including

the following positions:

Championships. Barnaby is also the founder of the MA

• The Tri-Life & Petersfield Triathlon Club – Associate Coach

competing for GB in a number of World and European

Hornets Sports Club, which arranges fixtures for former

pupils and staff in a variety of sports.

A Career in Sport

Alongside his career in teaching and education, Barnaby

• Tri-High Multisports Club – Founder, Chairman & Head Coach • Triathlon England South Central – Young Persons Co-Ordinator • Triathlon England Race Official – L.T.O • Triathlon Federation Level 2 Coach

• NOWCA Open Water Swimming Coach

has achieved considerable success in multi-sport

What advice would Barnaby give?

level events: Ironman Triathlon in the USA 2008 and

might like to know more about any aspect of Multi-Sport, whether it

competitions, including participation in the following top

Barnaby would be happy to hear from any Association members who

UK 2009; Triathlon England Age Group National

be about getting into Triathlon personally or for their children, race

European Championships, Hungary 2009 and France

officiating or event volunteering/managing.

Championships 2014 (came 3rd); GB Duathlon Squad –

2010; and the GB Duathlon Squad – World

Championships, Edinburgh 2010 and Spain 2014.

opportunities for novice or more experienced individuals, coaching,

Harry Dunlop Horse Trainer

MA 1989-1994, Hambro The Business

Harry has racing in his blood. He is the son of Champion Trainer

John Dunlop and completed his apprenticeship under three of

Britain's leading trainers, Nicky Henderson, Henry Cecil and his

father, John. Harry spent some of this time learning his trade abroad

in the USA, Australia and New Zealand and made his training debut

in October 2006. In the last two years he has also focused on running

horses in France as well as England.

A Career in Racing

What advice would Harry give?

that training racehorses is not the most profitable business – it takes a

company rather than a partnership as he did, as this can provide more

Harry has been a great success in his career but is keen to point out lot of people to ride and look after the horses, which means

considerable overheads. Success in this business comes from winning

good races with big prize money, along with the commission made on

When starting a business, Harry would advise forming a limited

protection. He also puts a great deal of store in the importance of PR

when starting out as this will get a new name out there, which can

attract owners who are generally keen on new trainers and new ideas.

the sale of horses in training. To get a racing license requires

For anyone who wants to get into training, Harry would advise gaining

followed by an interview with the ruling body, the British Horseracing

business being run on limited funds, not just a large business which is

attendance at a number of courses run by the British Racing School

Association (BHA). The BHA will assess any applicant’s future strategy

and require a business plan before they grant a licence.

as much experience in the industry as possible, including seeing a small

pretty secure.

Rupert Evans Actor

MA 1989-1994, Hambro The Business

A Career in Acting

theatre productions, with projects including

involved in drama. The New Barn Theatre

Rupert has appeared in numerous TV, film and ‘The Village’ on BBC One and ‘The Man In

The High Castle’, which he has been filming for

TV in the US. He has worked with film

directors Guillermo Del Toro, Alejandro

Amenandbar, Dominic Savage and Adrian

Shergold amongst others, and has appeared in films including ‘Hellboy’ and ‘Agora’. In the

theatre, Rupert has performed with the Royal

Shakespeare Company in the title role of

Romeo, as well as in London’s West End, The

Donmar Warehouse and The Royal Court. He

has also performed in numerous radio plays for

BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

During his time at MA, Rupert became heavily

What advice would Rupert give?

caught his imagination and he spent many

actor isn’t easy and requires motivation and self-

improving scenes. Rupert remembers these days

theatre. He believes that Milton Abbey helped

hours there alone, practicing monologues and

as some of his happiest, where he had the time

and space to experiment and to nurture his

imagination. He was inspired by three of his

school masters, who all encouraged him to

explore his passion for the theatre, and it was

Rupert acknowledges that being a self-employed belief, in particular when working in live

to develop these qualities as well as an ability to work alongside others. The key lesson that he would pass on is that having a passion for an idea or business and following it through is a

great challenge and one that should be enjoyed.

one of these teachers who encouraged Rupert

In his experience the journey is as important as

his acting career took off.

and your ideas and others will too.’

to apply to the National Youth Theatre, where

the destination and he says: ‘Believe in yourself

Jonathan Longhurst Company Director

MA 1994-1998, Bancks

The Business

A Career in Business

1998 and describes it as doing ‘exactly what it says on the

was noticeable and thrived on being given more responsibility for his own

Jonathan set up Jon Longhurst Heating and Plumbing in

tin’. He founded the company on three fundamental

principles: only selecting the highest quality materials; always

working to the highest of standards; and always keeping good

communication with the customer. The company was started in Bournemouth and now has additional offices in Dorchester and London.

When he joined Milton Abbey, Jonathan found the step up from prep school

wellbeing. He remembers his time at MA as a unique experience that was

often difficult but where there was a great sense of being ‘all in it together’.

The friends he made at MA have stood the test of time and are still with

him today, and Jonathan found his experiences from school gave him the foundations to make his own career. He learned a number of lessons the

hard way in starting up his own business and says he still often jumps into

things head first. However, he says this is not always bad, as things usually

turn out all right in the end, and that innovation is the key!

What advice would Jonathan give?

Jonathan believes the single most important thing needed to run a successful business is to ask on a daily basis ‘am I actually making a profit?’. He says

what most people do, as he did initially, is to work hard all year with money

going in and out, not realising until going through the books a year later

that the business has made a fraction of what had been expected. So

keeping a check on things is crucial and, although he feels a massively

detailed business plan is not essential, Jonathan would stress the importance

of working out realistic figures to keep things on track.

Oliver Gladwin Restaurateur

MA 2003-2005, Hambro The Business

Oliver and his two brothers run a number of

restaurants and catering enterprises in London.

He describes his business as sustainable, British,

seasonal, farm to table, family run, ‘foody’, party led restaurants and event catering.

A Career in Food

Oliver’s interests have always been in tastes and flavours and he spent many school holidays working in

restaurant kitchens. Following Milton Abbey, his energy became focused and formed by working 90

hour weeks in London kitchens, which quickly made him, ‘a confident thick skinned young man’.

Having worked for a number of years in the city, he decided to go back to the countryside and enrolled

at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s cookery school at River Cottage. He left two years later as the lead master class teacher in all categories and in September 2012, in partnership with his two brothers,

Oliver opened The Shed, in London. Within a month they were full and by 2014 The Shed cookbook

was on sale. The same year the brothers opened a second restaurant, Rabbit, on the King’s Road,

which promotes the wild food of Britain.

What advice would Oliver give?

Food is a challenging business. Oliver found the cooking was easy, but things such as attending to the

legal side of the business were hard. He recalls that it took a year after The Shed opened for him to stop

being too protective and to start relying on the systems and staff put in place. He describes it as ‘the

most clouded year of my life’ but at the end of it he had something that he wanted more than anything

– a successful, cool restaurant that showed his family’s ‘Gladwin British pride’. He jokes that life would

have been easier if he had gone into banking but his passion is in his work and that nothing excites him

more than food. Oliver believes that to succeed, the product should be unique and robust. He feels if it is not completely ‘true to you’ it won’t survive.

Connie Wookey Actor

MA 2007-2009, Middleton

The Business

Connie is training under scholarship on a two-year conservatory program at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where the likes of Grace Kelly, Kim Cattrall and Anne Hathaway trained before her. Alongside her fulltime training, she has successfully auditioned for independent films, such as ABYSM, with Charles Baker (Skinny Pete in Breaking Bad), as well as performing in play readings with Broadway regulars, including Richard Easton and Lisa Bostnar. In 2014, Connie successfully auditioned for Alto 1 in the New York Choral Society, a 175 symphonic chorus, and performed in their filmed Christmas Around New York Series.

A Career in Acting

Connie took a keen interest in Drama and Music during both her state sector education and whilst at MA. Her awarded music scholarship allowed her to attend MA's Sixth Form, where she performed lead roles in school productions, and gained Grade 8 on both Trumpet and Saxophone.

Connie loved the flexibility offered at MA, and whilst at school successfully auditioned for the Rose Bruford Drama School's Part-Time Theatre Arts Course. From here, she went on to study at Hull University, gaining a BA (Hons) Degree in

Drama and Theatre Practice, as well as achieving the UK Regional Theatre Credits for a number of productions and producing shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a member of National Youth Theatre, Connie also trained with Natasha Nixon, a staff director at the National Theatre, and Alison Bomber, former Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In September 2013, Connie joined the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, choosing to go to New York so she could gain experience of acting in the US, which she has found is a very different business to that in the UK.

What advice would Connie give?

Connie knows it has been a huge task to get where she is – and it is not even close to where she wants to be! It has taken many auditions and getting used to rejection, and Connie believes that having realistic goals and taking things one step at a time are key to success. Acting is a tough business and Connie’s advice is to follow your guts and trust your instincts. She admits there are sharks out there but from her experience she has found the majority of people are genuine and want to help.

MAA Committee President:

Paul Harrison

Chairman:

Charles Moyle

Honorary Secretary:

Marcus Williams

Honorary Treasurer:

Malcolm Gibbs

Trustees:

Aubrey Malcolm-Green

Paul Nicholson

School Representative:

Josh Bradbury

Committee Members:

Reginald Arkhurst

Olivia Bloom-Davis

Felix Carter

Richard Dunn

Toby Edwards-Lunn

Jeremy Harrison Porter James Hook

David Mounde Alex Wakeley

Izzy Wintour Honorary Life Vice-Presidents:

John Burder

Paul Nicholson

Mike Sale

Simon Smail

Peter Traskey MAA Manager:

Paul Wood

Milton Abbey Association | Milton Abbey School | Blandford Forum | Dorset DT11 0BZ t: 01258 882232 | e: maa@miltonabbey.co.uk | www.miltonabbeyassociation.org.uk