Concordia 2025

Concordia Winter 2024

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your support for something that has always been at the heart of the school’s ethos. With your help, we will continue to transform lives as Merchant Taylors’ School has done since 1561. This year marked the departure of two people who have played a key role in much of the activity I describe here. Richard Brooman (1967–1974) has been Chairman of the OMT Society for over a decade, as well as having been a Governor for even longer, and a member of our Development and Alumni Relations Committee (a sub-committee of the Governing Body). Deepak Haria, father of Mikhil Haria (2007–2012), has chaired the Development and Alumni Relations Committee for 12 years and has been an invaluable support to me in so many ways. He stepped down from this role in May, but thankfully remains on the Governing Body as vice-chair. I’m quite sure — and hope — that both Richard and Deepak will remain heavily involved with our team, and we are immensely grateful to them both for everything they have done to support our department over the years. This is just a brief snapshot of our year: there is so much more going on and we would love you to be involved if you aren’t already. Do get in touch and visit the school, join us at one of our events here or on the road, or write an article or a Class Notes for Concordia . Thank you for your support and for staying in touch. Nick Latham Development Director

are interested in acting as a host (this does not mean paying the bar tab). By the time this magazine reaches you, we will have enjoyed the OMT Society Annual Dinner at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, hosted former cast members of West Side Story at this year’s production, gathered our supporters at Benefactors’ Day, honoured John Pallant at an OMT celebration of rugby and his 80th birthday, as well as welcomed back the Class of 2024 for Christmas Drinks. You can read a full round-up of our events and see what is coming up on pages 52-53. During the summer holiday, we held our seventh telephone fundraising campaign. These biennial appeals have become a key part of our fundraising programme, but also of our communications. Over a two-week period, our team of young OMT callers spoke to about 600 OMTs and parents. A huge number of those we spoke to made gifts to the school, totalling £130,000. However, the impact of these appeals is much broader than just fundraising. It is rare that we have the chance for two-way conversations with our community — for instance, I have no idea how many have read this far, or how you feel about what you have read — so for those who don’t attend our events, the campaign is an opportunity for just that. Many we contact on the phone have not been back to the school for years and we often find that they register for an event soon afterwards. A large number who don’t

support financially do so in other ways, particularly by volunteering their time for our careers programme, whether face-to-face or by joining our online careers directory. These conversations allow us to hear what our community thinks about the school, and to hear suggestions for how we might augment our alumni relations offering. Our team of callers also takes a huge amount from the two weeks of campaigning, benefiting from words of wisdom — on careers and otherwise — from our OMTs and parents. The Head Master, in his article on pages 4-7, makes very clear some of the challenges that lie ahead for the school. He also reaffirms our commitment to bursaries. This has already been mirrored by the generosity of the Merchant Taylors’ community, with more boys in the school on bursaries as a result of philanthropy now than in recent memory. We are so grateful for

Development