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ALUMNI COMMITTEE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
The Penrhos Alumni Committee has enjoyed an exciting, rewarding, and successful start to the year, keeping our alumni community well-connected through a busy calendar of 2023 events.
Our hugely successful Shakers and Stirrers networking evening with the Old Wesley Collegians was held on Friday, 28 April. We welcomed a record crowd to our new venue at South Perth Bowling Club - over 180 people, including many of our more recent graduates. It’s wonderful to see multi-generational family members come together to celebrate their special legacy at Penrhos and Wesley Colleges. We also welcomed a special group of alum who attended both Colleges, their name tags proudly displaying the Wesley crest alongside the red Penrhos dragon.
Some of our youngest alumni celebrated their 18-month Leavers’ Reunion at the Windsor Hotel on Friday, 10 March. The Class of 2021 enjoyed a fun-filled evening catching up with friends and staff, dancing the night away together.
We are delighted to announce that the Mondo Mentoring System launched in February and is now fully functional. The program allows digital connection among members of our alumni for the purpose of expanding or commencing their careers. The initiative is the result of the Alumni Association’s vision to provide additional benefits and support to our alumni community, beyond social engagement.
We have had 53 mentors volunteer to guide and advise our 53 alumni mentees in their chosen careers.
The breadth of experience and career diversity of volunteers is astoundingthere are some truly amazing women out there in our alumni community.
Mondo advise that the growth market for mentoring services is women around 50 years of age - at a time when we may decide to embark on a new career, engage in further study, increase our work commitments, or feel a need for inspiration. I am particularly passionate about this project and delighted to see it in action. This is an important step forward for our alumni community - it recognises the modern woman and forges our support of our alum to transition within or into the workforce.
We recently invited alumni to join us in giving the gift of a Penrhos education. Donations received go towards our Scholarships fund, to provide girls the opportunity to experience the spirit of the Red Dragon. Scholarships and bursaries are awarded to students who demonstrate all-round good citizenship – who will flourish in Penrhos’ stimulating environment but whose parents may be unable, for financial reasons, to consider Penrhos College for their daughter.
The College production this year is Legally Blonde – The Musical and our Secondary School girls are deep in rehearsals for what promises to be an amazing show. Save the date for the Pre-Show Soiree on opening night, Thursday, 27 July. Gather your alumni friends for a girls’ night out and celebrate with a champagne on arrival before the show. Please see the Penrhos website for more information and to secure your tickets.
September will be a busy month with our decade reunions set to take place as well as our annual Founders’ Day celebrations. We look forward to welcoming many of you back to campus for these exciting events. For event dates and more information, please see page 18.
It only remains for me to thank my fellow Committee members, who volunteer their time and expertise to support our College and its students and families – past and present. New members are welcome so please get in touch at alumni@penrhos.wa.edu.au if you would like more details about how you can be involved.
