Good evening and we hope you had a great summer.
Welcome to our Summer Newsletter, and to the start of the 125th year of the OSA! In The Sandbachian in December 1898 the editor wrote “the formation of an O.S.Club has become almost a certainty – and that in the near future! “ The Old Sandbachian (a magazine of the OS Club published for the first time in April 1904) vol 2 in October 1904 tells us that the club was formed in the summer of 1899 ready for the school year – with 37 founding members, including some familiar local family names; Allcock, Boughey, Lea, Poole, Rigby, to name a few.
And so here we are 125 years later and we are looking forward to some amazing events in our celebratory year. If you have not already read it check out Mark’s president blog for a summary of what’s on his mind and also the 2 articles on the website reflecting on a great day, the report and what it took behind the scenes to make it a success.
Some key takeaways:
Full Membership is now at 114;
The Facebook page has 1,361 members, who are former pupils, staff and family;
We were able to increase our commitment to the Headteachers’ Fund to £1,250 for the next school year; and
We had the most first time former pupil attendees at the lunch in about 10 years!
With membership at a record high (for as far back as we can go) it is fantastic to see that the school heritage is strong and provides a foundation for some great events in this anniversary year.
We start with a special Former Cadet’s Dining In Night (see below), Sandbach RUFC Match Day Lunch, then in spring we will hold a golf event at Sandbach Golf Club, and thirdly a very special 100th Annual Reception on July 5th.
Former Cadets Dining In Night – November 2nd, 2024
The School CCF and the OSA will be hosting a special Dining In Night, honouring the deep relationship between the school Cadet contingent and the Armed Forces, a relationship which goes back more than 100 years. This is open to all former cadets, female and male, whether they attended the school or not.
It is a formal dinner based on an Officer’s mess evening, and we will have representatives and former contingent commanders going back more than 50 years. As well as current CC Dr Ben Crossley, we have Glynn Robinson, Kev Sykes and Richard Ayres. We are also honoured that we will be joined by Geoff Piggott’s daughters. The event is Black Tie and those who have been privileged to attend these in the past will know the quality of the food and service.
This is a once in a lifetime event and we already have almost 50 people booked so please head across to the website and book your place now. The cost is £33 for OSA members and £38 for non-members,(other concessionary prices as detailed on the website) which includes pre-dinner reception and a three course mean including wine and water at the table. You can book here. This should be an incredible evening which starts at 7pm with drinks and with the cash bar closing at 11:30, there is lots of time to catch up with former colleagues.
This promises to be a wonderful event and with places going fast don’t delay booking. And please if you know anyone who was a cadet, even if they did not go to the school, please do let them know.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK: https://www.oldsandachians.co.uk/ccf
Remembrance Sunday
The OSA will be joining the Sandbach remembrance Parade on 10th November and laying a reef at the cenotaph. If you would like to join us please check out our Facebook page for details later in October
Golf Day
After a number of absent years we are going to go back to Sandbach Golf Club for an afternoon of competition. Watch out for details on the website as we try to get enough teams to go for a shot gun start across the 9 holes!
100th Annual Reception July 5, 2025
Our 100th event will be held on 5th July with a special programme to mark the occasion
Chapel Service
Special meal
Mega Reg’s Raffle
School Tour
125th Anniversary Concert
(maybe a post Concert drinks venue)
Please book the date in the diary and booking forms will be available in the New Year
Colin Brown – Alzheimers Society Memory Walk
Former Sandbach School Headteacher Colin Brown is currently spending time as a volunteer with the charity Alzheimer’s Society which supports UK residents who suffer from various forms of dementia, as well as their carers. On October 10th Colin is taking part, in Tatton Park, in one of the Society’s fund-raising Memory Walks where there is always a large turn-out of folk undertaking the walk in memory of a deceased loved one who suffered from dementia.
In Colin’s case his thoughts will be with his late wife Christine who passed away in January 2022.
Colin is doing the memory walk to raise funds for the Alzheimers Society. Many of us have benefited from Colin’s words of wisdom and guidance throughout his years at the school. If you can help by giving any amount, however small, please visit Colin’s ‘Just Giving’ page:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/colin-brown-1720815347056
And Finally…..
Thanks to all our paid up members. A New 5 year membership pack, for existing and new members will be available for 2025. Details will be up on the website in October.
Thanks for taking the time to read. As always, we welcome feedback, suggestions, questions or comments to contact@oldsandbachians.co.uk