Merchistonian Newsletter
November 2023 Time is ticking fast in the Academic Calendar and with the end of November fast approaching, the School will be shortly coming into the festive period. November has been a busy month across the board with fundraising events, thrilling sporting successes and a host of shortlisting and prize nominations: from STEM competitions to wellbeing & food awards.
Movember Fundraiser Spearheaded by Mr Buchanan, House Parent, Teacher of Geography and Head of PSHE, this year’s Movember fundraiser will aim to support the efforts of the Movember Foundation, which has been supporting and campaigning for men’s health for many years and has funded over 1,320 men’s health projects globally.
This year’s the Middle Years House Parents will be taking part in the It has also been a busy stretch in the classic Movember challenge of Admissions department both with a growing their ‘mo’ (moustache) for the variety of international events to attend entire month. For the pupils’ and our Scholarship Day, which took involvement, there are many activities place earlier in the month with a new and events planned across the School and refreshed approach to our and in House to raise awareness and scholarship awarding process. We were funds for this worthy cause. very impressed with calibre of our applicants, both internal and external The PSHE programme will also take a and across all disciplines. particular focus on Men’s Health and Mental Health for this month, to Another important appointment in the engage our students in the dialogue calendar for November is always our around these topics, which are Remembrance Service, which took particularly important in the context place on Sunday 12th. We were of an all-boys school. delighted to see the Merchiston If you would like to join or support the Community coming together to fundraising efforts for Movember, commemorate our fallen and you will please find out more and donate via find more information on the guest the link below. speakers and the Service further in this https://movember.com/t/merchistonnewsletter. castle-school?mc=1 merchistonians@merchiston.co.uk
EDITION #15
24.11.23
From Mr Gordon Cardigan We have recently received a message from Merchistonian Gordon Cardigan (MCS 1960-66) who has written a 91,000-word international thriller set between Rangoon, London and Edinburgh – the moving on to the insurgency infested jungles of the southern Burma/Thai border. Mr Cardigan would be interested in making contact with any Merchistonians in the publishing industry to discuss potential avenues for publishing. If anyone within the Merchistonian Community is interested in knowing more about the novel or is able to offer any support, Mr Cardigan is happy to be contacted via email at gordon.cardigan@gmail.com
A perfectly observed silence was framed by the Last Post and Reveille played by W02 Brian Alexander (CCF). After the Service the congregation filed outside, on a beautiful, clear, crisp morning, to our Garden of Remembrance. Flanked by the CCF Guard of Honour, formed by six of our V Form students, alongside Lt Col (CCF) Contingent Commander Ewing and WO2 B Alexander, Mr Hamish Forrest planted a poppy cross in memory of his father - the last of that generation symbolically reunited with his classmates. The collection from Sunday’s Service will be donated to the the Royal British Legion, a national network that supports the Armed Forces community. We would like to thank everyone who contributed generously and supports the Service year on year.
Fishing The President of the Merchistonian Club, Mr Andrew McDonald (MCS 1979-85) has recently shared with us a photo of a fishing expedition at Glencorse reservoir (Edinburgh) with Nigel Rickard, previous deputyHeadmaster at Merchiston. Despite it being the tail end of the trout fishing season Mr Rickard managed to get a rainbow trout on the line - before inadvertently pressing the 'release' button! For any Merchistonians interested in fishing, please feel free to make contact with Mr McDonald to find out more about upcoming fishing outings for the 2024 season. Mr McDonald can be reached at andrewmcdonald67@blueyonder.co.u k.
Remembrance On Sunday 12 November, we welcomed the Merchiston community to our Memorial Hall for our annual Service of Remembrance. We were delighted to be joined by guest speaker British Army officer, Lt Col Doug Mackay, former Merchiston parent, accompanied by his sons Jamie (MCS 1965-69) & Xander (MCS 1967-71) and his wife Carolyn.
Lieut. Col Mackay’s address focused on the subject of “courage” and quoted examples from Jack Forrest’s (see more below) career in the RAF, his own time in Afghanistan, as well as examples from civilian life, such as Marcus Rashford’s inspiring Free School meals programme. He finished by urging all of us to have the courage to speak up and seek help in times of difficulty or despair. It was certainly a moving and powerful talk. One of the core points of the service revolved around the life of Sqn Ldr John (Jack) Addie Forrest (MCS 193539) who sadly passed away in Feb 2023, aged 101. He was, to the best of our knowledge the last Merchistonian Veteran from WW2. It was a privilege to have Jack’s son Mr Hamish Forrest (MCS 65-69) and his grandson Iain with us at the Service. As part of the service, wreaths were laid by the Headmaster, Isaac F (Captain of School), Mr Andrew McDonald (MCS 1979-85, President of the Merchistonian Club), and Mr Gareth Baird (Chair of Governors). The Act of Remembrance began with the blowing of the 1914 Officers’ Whistle by CCF Sergt Hugh Lonergan and the wreath laying party was piped out by Pipe Major Harry D. merchistonians@merchiston.co.uk
Manyatta Merchistonian Belts Designed by one of our recently graduated Captain of the School, the Merchiston Castle Manyatta belt replicates the vertical lines of the Merchistonian tie with its alternating red, blue and navy blue. These belts are hand-beaded in Kenya crafted with the highest quality leather. They are available to purchase directly from the Manyatta website here.
Performance will commence at 7:00pm on each day and donations in support of Edinburgh Food Project are welcome at the door. Reserve your tickets via our website https://www.merchiston.co.uk/admissi ons/open-events/merchistonpresents-oliver-twist
Obituaries We were very saddened to hear of the passing of the following Merchistonians:
Upcoming Events at the School With the festive season almost upon us, the School will be holding a wide range of seasonal events. The wider Merchiston Community is of course very welcome to attend and we would love to see many of your over the next few weeks, before the break. You will find more information on each event below.
Christmas Fair Following from last year's success, we are delighted to announce that we will be holding this year's 'A Very Merchiston Christmas Fair' on Saturday 2nd December (10:00-14:00). Held in the beautifully decorated Memorial Hall at Merchiston Castle School, the event is the perfect occasion to get into the festive spirit. You will be able to purchase luxurious gifts, sample delicious treats, enter our fantastic raffle and support the efforts of our charity fundraising students too. Tickets for the event are available via Eventbrite - simply click here to secure your tickets Tickets are free of charge (but help us get an idea of attendees’ numbers). We invite all attendees to make a donation at the door (suggested donation £10).
All donations and proceedings from the raffle will go in support of Edinburgh Food Project.
Winter Wonderland In addition to our Christmas Fair on Saturday 2nd December, we will also be welcoming families with younger children to the Forest Winter Wonderland. Plenty of fun for the entire family and chance to explore our Forest further. The event will run in parallel with the Christmas Fair between 10:00 and 12:00 on Saturday 2nd December. Registration for the event is open via our website https://www.merchiston.co.uk/theforest/the-forest-winter-wonderland .
Oliver Twist Our Drama department is delighted to be opening the doors to our Theatre again on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of December for our Senior School Christmas production. Merchiston and St. George's pupils will star in a fast-paced version of the beloved tale of ‘Oliver Twist' adapted by Anya Reiss and based on the classic by Charles Dickens. merchistonians@merchiston.co.uk
Mr John (Jack) Dun 1925-2023
At Merchiston: 1939-44 Sen. Prefect, VI, xv 2 years, capt, R, Fi, cols., CSM; RA Lieut. KOSB India 194647, att 2nd Border then 1st RSF; John Dun & Co Ltd., (wool, seed, and fertiliser merchants) Galashiels, Chair and Man. Dir., 1963-95; Pres., SSNTA 1979-81; Melrose RFC Ctte. 36 yrs, Pres., 1981-83; Referee 17 yrs, SRU Referees Advisory Panel
Correction Please note the following correction to the Obituary for Sqn Ldr John (Jack) Addie Forrest (MCS 1935-39) in the latest edition of the Merchistonian Magazine: “Jack leaves four children from his marriage to Margaret, who died in December 2017”.
Jeeps for Peace - Mr Evand Merchistonian Mr Alistair Evans (MCS 1991-97) will be traveling to the Ukraine in early December 2023 as part of the “Jeeps For Peace” charity campaign, which has provided over 100 trucks, 5 ambulances and various cars to the Ukraine over the last 18 months and will already be quite familiar to a couple of Merchistonians and current Merchiston staff alike (as per the attached video). The team will also be contributing vital supplies to those most in need, including medical supplies and vital communications kit. As Alistair puts it; “The Jeeps For Peace team was formed by some very good friends of mine and will be completing their 6th trip to the region, which have lead to the team forming life-long bonds with those most directly affected by the ongoing conflict, unfortunately mostly inhabitants of small towns who have not only lost many young men but are tragically also not receiving any of the much-publicised funding to rebuild what is left of their lives. During this process, we have been fortunate enough to get to know another Merchistonian,
Adam Ennis (MCS 2001-2004), who has been assisting the Ukraine special forces in some key military operations since the very onset of the conflict. What Adam has achieved is nothing short of heroic and whilst it has rightly gained the attention of numerous media outlets, we believe he is absolutely deserving of higher honours for what he has achieved." Although this is a Jeeps For Peace trip, Adam has reached out to us separately, as he is now in vital need of vital supplies, most notably supplies of winter clothing, night vision goggles and other essential communications equipment. For those interested in contributing, we have set up a separate sponsorship page at GiveSendGo, which is available on the following link: https://www.givesendgo.com/GBC4W
merchistonians@merchiston.co.uk