Decades of adventures through the Cadbury Travel Grant Award

For almost 50 years, OUs have undertaken cultural travel experiences as recipients of Cadbury Travel Grants. These financial awards are given out on Speech Day every year to pupils, with the aim of helping them to develop their independence and confidence.

The scheme was initiated in 1968 by the Cadbury family, and administered by Anne, in memory of her eldest son Ian (B 61) who was killed in a motor accident. The first grant was made in 1969 and the scheme has supported over 140 Uppinghamians since. Anne Cadbury sadly passed away on New Year’s Day and, in tribute to her and the incredible support offered to OUs, we are pleased to share some stories from those who travelled the world through the award. A plaque will also be installed in Brooklands in Ian’s memory and to mark the significant impact the scheme has had through the decades. William Daniel (C 67)

As far as I know, Jonathon Unna (C 68) and I were among the first recipients of the Cadbury Travel Award. We enjoyed an eventful trip cycling up the Rhine, looking at Romanesque churches.

Saska Macnab (J 10)

The Cadbury Travel Grant allowed me to travel to Swaziland, where I sponsored a child named Phindile – a very beautiful and brave young girl. Whilst there, I witnessed work taking place in her town to support children suffering from the consequences of HIV, including the loss of parents. I also Saska Macnab and Phindile spent a number of days working in the World Vision charity office assisting with correspondence between sponsors and children. It was an incredible experience and truly enlightening.

David Bond (LH 67)

The Award funded a groundbreaking trip to study panMediterranean bird migration in Malta as part of a wider BTO study. I think we were the first to raise the alarm about the slaughter of birds of prey in Malta as well as turtle doves and songbirds.

Jim Crookes (LH 75)

In 1979 I went on an Austrian canoe expedition with staff and fellow pupils, supported by the Cadbury Award. We had a fantastic trip, including some spectacular paddling in Augsburg’s Olympic whitewater course and the impressive Austrian alpine rivers. The experience, together with the enthusiasm and support of Jerry Rudman, inspired me to keep on paddling and, as I approach retirement, I still venture out on solo sea adventures to this day.

The Cadbury family, c1967. Bruce (B 63), Bryony, Anne, Jane and Ian (B 61)

Giles Harrison (WD 87)

The Cadbury Travel Grant was instrumental in enabling a charity fundraising trip I organised with two friends, Graeme Biggar and James French (both also WD 87) in 1990. We cycled from the tip of Denmark to the toe of Italy – a distance of 2,038 miles. The grant gave us the confidence and impetus to keep fundraising for the trip and make sure it happened. We raised nearly £25,000 for Multiple Sclerosis and Children in Need. Aged only 16 at the time, it was a massive undertaking and unique travel experience that gave us three young boys valuable confidence, lifelong friendships and cherished memories.

L-R: James French, Graeme Biggar and Giles Harrison

Richard Haigh (SH 66)

In 1969 I travelled to Greece by train with three friends, and we spent a fabulous month travelling around the country. We visited all the usual places, Parthenon, Delphi, Epidavros Marathon and even Hydra to try (unsuccessfully) to meet Leonard Cohen. Most nights we slept under the stars, which, growing up in Huddersfield, I don’t remember ever seeing, and enjoyed many generous meals from Greek hosts. The trip had a profound influence on my life; two years later I took a gap year and travelled to Libya, when Gaddafi had taken over. I’d learnt in Greece to travel without fear and trust in the innate goodness of strangers.

Ed Starkie (C 88)

In 1992, myself, Anthony Gent (C 88), Chris Nicholson (H 88) and Will Payne (C 88) completed the Tour du Mont Blanc in aid of Stoke Mandeville Hospital and raised over £3,000. Our trip, kindly funded through the grant, gave me the confidence to plan and undertake many subsequent trips to the Alps with family and friends where previously I would have considered such trips a very daunting prospect! Peter Horsfall (Hf 66)

During Easter 1970, Nicholas Lumley (Hf 68) and I visited East and West Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow and Leningrad behind the Iron Curtain. Sailing from Wallsend to Bergen on the 1st August 1970 and returning on the 25th August, we had a return ticket, a youth hostel pass and about £30. After hitchhiking to a campsite near Kristiansand, we befriended some Norwegian students who invited us to stay with them in Oslo, where I had my first experience of water-skiing. After that, we hitchhiked back to Bergen via Geilo and spent a few days in a youth hostel at the top of a funicular railway. Having very little money left, we bought a small cooked chicken and trekked up the mountain to the hostel! Fortunately, we had a meal prepaid on the boat home, but I still remember being fed a feast by Mrs Lumley on our return! It was my first unaccompanied holiday and an amazing experience that I still treasure and will never forget. It would not have happened without the generosity of Mrs Cadbury and the travel grant and I will always be grateful.

L-R: Chris, Will, Anthony and Ed before they set off

L-R: Chris, Will and Anthony above Les Contamines Sam Abbott (SH 14)

The Cadbury Travel Grant helped to fund my first solo travel experience which ultimately fuelled my current passion for travel. I’ll always be grateful to Anne and for being a recipient of the grant.

Sam Brearley (M 99)

In 2003 my housemate Harry Lund (M 99) and I went on a memorable round trip from London to Crete via Italy. It was our first taste of independent travel, and one which we still talk of when our families meet. At the time of applying for the Cadbury Travel Grant I was hoping to study Art History at university, so our visits to the many museums of Paris, Rome, and Athens, and the ruins of Knossos Sam Brearley by The Seine in Crete, stood me in good stead for my interview at UCL the following year. I am pleased to say that it did the trick, and I happily went on to complete a BA and MA there. On a personal level, my older brother Joshua (LH 95) sadly died in December 2002, aged just 20. Receiving the Cadbury Travel Grant in the following year felt highly poignant; as a memorial to the Cadbury family’s lost son, as well as helping me mark the loss of my brother, while encouraging me to continue exploring the world and growing as a person.

Harry Lund at The Louvre

Jack Jackson (B 03)

The Cadbury Travel Grant enabled me and a friend, Max Tilley (WD 03), to visit Eastern Europe, one of the most memorable and educational experiences of my school life. I am forever grateful for the opportunity. Basil Vincent, Will O’Connell and Sam Martin in Geneva

Duncan Wallace (WB 75)

My close friend Phil Dixon (WB 73) and I were the recipients of the 1978 award, which enabled us to attend a number of European Festivals including Salzberg, Edinburgh, the Proms and Bayreuth, while also visiting museums and places of musical interest including Beethoven’s home in Bonn. The highlight of our tour was undoubtedly Bayreuth. Wagner’s spirit literally drips off the walls – whether the Festpielhaus itself or local bars such as ‘The Owl’, where patrons and performers alike congregate after each performance which, in my case, was a truly titanic production of Der Fliegende Holländer or The Flying Dutchman. The hairs on my neck still stand up recalling the rush of sound in that unique, customised opera house. Guy Rowlands (L 82)

Another memorable moment in Bayreuth was meeting our host, Frau Oetter, who had a photo album showing the time Adolf Hitler came to stay with her and her husband – they had been Herr Oetter’s high ranking position in the German Army!

Duncan Wallace outside Beethoven’s home in Bonn

Basil Vincent (WB 05)

In 2009 Will O’Connell (B 05), Sam Martin (WD 05) and I traced part of Lord Byron’s route through Europe, travelling to Geneva, Florence and Venice. As my first independent trip on the continent, it sparked an appreciation of travel that has developed well beyond Uppingham. I will always remember the thrill of boarding the overnight train from Geneva to Florence, and the welcome morning call from an Italian train guard bearing mini panettone. Swimming the beautiful waters of Lake Geneva and getting temporarily lost on a mountain overlooking the city are other happy highlights.

close friends given

In 1986 Adrian Johnston (L 82) and I received a Cadbury Travel Award to undertake a two-week interrailing trip to Northern Italy. It was a mind-opening adventure, not only giving us experience in navigating foreign travel in an age before the internet and mobile phones, but bringing us into close contact with the rich architectural and artistic culture of Northern Italy from the 15th and 18th centuries. We spent a number of days in Verona, Venice and Milan, and had further day-trips to Bologna and Vicenza. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, it was a life-changing trip; in 1988 I went to Oxford, and I am now a Professor of Early Modern History at St Andrews, specialising in the history of France and Northern Italy in the 17th to 18th centuries.