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When not in London or travelling across the globe with work, Chris spends his time with his wife Michelle and daughter, Annabelle in the Essex countryside. He enjoys country pursuits and has recently taken up gun dog training/trailing with his own dogs.
Chris set up the Old Blues Automobile Club (OBAC) in 2012 and has run a number of European tours and events. Since fatherhood his days of sports car ownership have been numbered however a return is never far from his mind.
CH offered him so many amazing opportunities but above all access to an amazing network of brother and sisters that he still keeps close contact with today. It’s for this reason he applied for membership on the board and hopes he can facilitate strong and fruitful communication between OB’s and the School as we move forward.
I was in 6’s at Hertford from 1966-71 and recognise that the school today is a very different place. While my time at CH had its ups and downs, it did provide a good educational platform for me to be the first in my family to go on to university, where I read Politics at Leicester, War Studies at Kings College London and then research in international politics at Aberystwyth. My career wasn’t guided by much initial thought or pre-planning and when I started properly working it was in the peace movement at the time of anxieties about UK cruise missile bases. I continued working for a variety of campaigning not-for-profit organisations that were at the interface of new science and technologies and public concerns.
I have been a keen advocate of stakeholder engagement, including patient influence of medical research, the public engagement in science, in particular engaging the public in shaping the regulation of science and technology. Latterly, my career focussed on STEM education and skills, including developing the professional awards of Chartered Scientist, Registered Scientist and Science Technician and working to increase access, trust and confidence in science professions.
I am passionate about supporting social mobility as well as good governance in voluntary organisation. Now that I have completely retired from paid employment, I am enjoying my roles with a variety of voluntary organisations including Christ’s Hospital and King’s College London, where I am President of the alumni association.
My hobbies include sewing, a skill learned at CH. And now that I have the time, I love to travel, particularly in Hetty, my motorhome.
I am a keen advocate of alumni engagement in organisations – I believe they are an important voice and perspective, and amongst the best possible advocates for CH. My CH contemporaries remain some of my longest and closest friends. I am delighted to be appointed the link Governor from CH Council to the CHOBA Board and hope to be able to support and encourage this important partnership.
Having been lucky enough to be taught Russian at Christ’s Hospital, I went on to gain a First in Modern Languages at Oxford, and to use my experience of the Russian language and culture in industries as diverse as museums, yacht broking and property. Since having children, I have been a full-time mother, along with part-time translator, interpreter, public library defender and children’s party planner. I love the theatre, and act, when I can, at the South London Theatre, near our home in Herne Hill.
I am incredibly proud of CH and what it stands for, and consider it a genuine privilege to be in a position, through joining the CHOBA board, to help enable its positive influence on the lives of its pupils to continue throughout their adulthood.
Liaison for The Old Blue magazine, Bridget was one of the last girls to enter CH Hertford. On leaving Horsham, she studied music at the University of Bristol, before a post-graduate diploma in journalism at City University. She was the production editor of trade papers for about ten years, then becoming a primary-school teacher. Now, she works for the Church Times, is Assistant Master of Music at St John’s, Upper Norwood, in south London, and Vice-Chairman of the Croydon Performing Arts Festival.
Research has shown that 95% of us don’t plan our careers strategically unless we have a vocation and that was definitely me as I headed blindly to UCL to study History simply because it was one of my best subjects at CH. I was lucky enough to be brought up all over the world, which included living in the very north of Norway aged 5 and I had the opportunity to learn many different languages: Chinese Malay until I was 4 (born in Kuala Lumpur), broad Cornish from 4-5 and then Norwegian, Swedish and Danish until I went to CH aged 10. Discovering that UCL had a wonderful Scandinavian Studies department, I switched courses at the end of my first term and loved every moment of the next four years, studying intermittently. We had the luxury of choice in those days and a degree more or less guaranteed a job afterwards, regardless of what degree and despite the fact that translating medieval Icelandic sagas was never in great demand in the London workplace.
A career in marketing/advertising/PR in the travel industry followed graduation and qualification as a London tour guide where I was able to use all my languages and travel. I loved everything about tourism but it paid peanuts so I then fell into recruitment and over the years became a director and shareholder of a market leading consultancy before relocating to NZ in 2005 to work for a number of executive search firms. I then set up my own consultancy in 2017 and this focuses on the complete life cycle of a career. I realised it had taken me 25+ years to realise my passion and purpose was to help people set themselves up for success in their careers and I designed an innovative career scoping tool called a Career Blueprint™ which enables that.
I have always been tremendously grateful for my time at CH and I made lifelong friends there. I have been the NZ Secretary for OBs since 2009 as a way to give something back to the school which gave me so much. I have loved seeing how the CH experience creates such a strong bond, regardless of age, for those of us who have had the privilege of that education. I am now looking forward to the opportunity to work with the CHOBA Board to help support OBs young and old and actively contribute to OB wellbeing around the world.
Having arrived at CH with an indolent nature, I was fortunate enough the values and education provided at the school established a foundation that has enabled me to progress in both my professional and personal life – even though it took some years after leaving for this to take effect.
The idea of being in service to others has resulted in me finding myself in the civil service which has given me the opportunity to work on national and sometimes international issues. I’m also pleased to learn that many Old Blues can be found in Whitehall and the opportunity to engage with Old Blues in the private and third sector who are affected by policies and operations that I’m involved in.
My private life has become considerably narrow as I focus on being a father to a young and hopefully growing family but I wouldn’t have it any other way during these early years – an opportunity that I’m grateful that the civil service supports me in. What little time I have to spare, I volunteer as a Governor for a primary school and a further education college and most importantly supporting the annual Founder’s Day Dinner.
I look forward to sharing passions I learned at CH with my child – TMS being a helpful companion during night duties and hopefully, taking her around Europe cheering Harlequins RFC where more OBs can be found on the pitch. Otherwise, I can be found impersonating a sherpa as I hike around British countryside.
I’m delighted that I have been co-opted as a member of the CHOBA board and looking forward to serving OBs and ensuring the relationship with the school continues to thrive.
After completing my A levels at Christ’s Hospital, I took a gap year before I embarked on my undergraduate degree in Modern Foreign Languages at Exeter University. During my gap year, I worked in the education sector, firstly as a Gap Assistant at a prep boarding school and latterly as a Learning Support Assistant at a local infant school. Both were incredibly rewarding and valuable experiences, as I hope to become a teacher after graduating. I also took the opportunity to travel across Europe, with my favourite trip being surfing in the Canary Islands.
At Exeter, I play Basketball, volunteer for Student Action for Refugees and go sea swimming when I can.
It’s a privilege to be on the CHOBA board and I look forward to supporting relations between the School and Old Blues.
Onyinye is especially passionate about education and has worked in that sector for 10 years. She works and lives in London and enjoys the liveliness of the City.
She is an entrepreneur, educator, public speaker, and pioneer of social mobility. After setting up her own tuition business aged 12, in 2018 she founded Enrich Learning, an online education platform and private tuition service. In 2020, she founded The Process, a platform where you can learn how to strengthen and grow your business online.
In 2018, Onyinye was made the inaugural King’s College London Student of the Year; she completed her undergraduate degree in Religion, Politics and Society BA (Hons) in July 2019. She is now completing a master’s program in Education, Policy and Society MA at King’s College London, she will join the London Deloitte Risk Advisory team in February 2021.
She joined the steering committee of Old Blues Entrepreneurship Network (OBEN) and is keen to help people in the start-up world having set up two start-ups herself.
Onyinye is eager to positively contribute to the board and hopes to be a voice for the more recent leavers of CH. In her free time she enjoys travelling, cooking and taking on various fitness challenges.
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A Christ’s Hospital chef has been named Young Chef of the Year in the annual Compass Chef of the Year competition. Representing Chartwells Independent, Euan Moss competed in…
Earlier this term, Dr West delivered an engaging talk to philosophy students titled Thinking as Human Beings – Women and the Story of 20th Century Philosophy.
During October half term, geography students went on an unforgettable five-day trip to Iceland, where they had the most amazing experiences on offer, thanks to a carefully tho…
During half term, the Food and Nutrition Department took students on a hugely enjoyable gastronomic trip to Naples in Italy. …