Gordon's OM Presidential Year

Saturday 21 st December = YOMs Christmas Drinks The Young Old Millhillians (YOMs) held their Christmas drinks at the Adam & Eve pub in Mill Hill.  I went along for a while and was delighted to see such a great turnout. I hadn’t visited this pub for many decades – in fact not since I had been at the school (if I remember rightly it was one of 3 within walking distance of school! Although one had to be careful not to bump into masters who frequented it as well).  For those of you who cant remember which one, it’s directly opposite where the cancer research facility used to be; that’s now been replaced by a massive residential development. Anyhow, back to the event. I was pleased to talk to many of the YOMs present and to hear what they are doing. Many of them are still at university and are studying a wide range of subjects; engineering, music, law, natural sciences, medicine and so on. I was mightily impressed by how positive they were about their Mill Hill expe

Monday 9 th December: OM Oakers Christmas lunch. The Oakers is an informal gathering of OMs at lunch at the Boot in Sarrat each month; I attend fairly regularly and it is always most enjoyable. The Christmas lunch however is special. Up to 50 places are available and as usual in recent years we were almost full. Gerry Westoby who organises the Oakers did a marvellous job once again with everything appearing to run smoothly.  Apart from the regular faces of the monthly Oakers, many other OMs make a special effort to attend from far and wide and it is an opportunity to see and meet OMs whom one hasn’t seen for many years. I usually have the traditional turkey at these occasions, but decided on a change and had Game Pie which was an excellent choice. However, tradition won over for dessert with Christmas pudding. All accompanied by some wine tempered by the need to drive back. Whilst this is an informal OM event, there cant be many alumni clubs that can muster such a tu

  F riday 29th November: Creative Arts Drinks The following day, another cold evening, saw the Creative Arts drinks and networking professional event held at the Royal Court Theatre Bar. This bar seems to have an existence of its own – ie not just to serve the theatre – and was once again buzzing. Fortunately Tom had booked a separate area for our drinks. Tom Lincoln was our host and I was delighted to finally meet him. Tom has done a great job in getting this event going and I think it can be a significant part of the OM professional network. Once again we were joined by  several pupils from MHS lower sixth form. I was particularly impressed that there were so many younger OMs which is very encouraging from my perspective – it is precisely what we are trying to achieve. Further, it was a pleasure to hear the enthusiasm, talent and determination of those present. This was a great advert for the school but also for the creative future of the UK as well as several examples

Thursday 28 th November: Accountancy Drinks and Networking. A most enjoyable event on a cold and wet Thursday evening was held at Balls Brothers in the City just off Fenchurch Street. Mike Solomons and Andrew Millet were hosts. This represents one of the professional networking events that we seek to grow and John Helinikakis was also present. John has joined the OMs Careers committee with the role to coordinate and grow these events. We were joined by some lower sixth pupils from the school who were interested in meeting OMs and in this case hearing about accountancy, but they had wide interests.   Anywhere one goes in London it is busy and heaving with people, and this is true at most times of year but even more so with Christmas approaching. We had a steady flow of OMs attending throughout the evening and I want to thank Mike and Andrew for putting this on. OMs attending included: Mike Solomons, Andrew Millet, Andrew Bloom, Myles Jacobson, Peter Wakeham, Lucas Br