ORIGINAL : It is with great sadness that we announce the death of David Mason (S55-59).  He passed away on the morning of 13th May 2016 at home in Wallington, Surrey. As many of you will know, David had been ill for some time, and had been in hospital, as well as receiving ongoing treatment. He was a Trustee of the Society for many years, many of those years as conscientious Chairman and custodian of the Society's funds. He was also a recent Past President. Being elected to this position meant a great deal to him - as did the recent award of the BEM for services to Charity. The Society and the College owe him a great deal and we salute his memory, while offering our most sincere condolences to his wife Anne, and family.

The funeral will take place at Croydon Crematorium on Monday 6 June at 2.15pm

Annie’s Challenge (www.annieschallenge.org - registered charity number 1166362) as many of you will know, is run by Nick and Madeleine Dunham and their family, and is designed to help raise funds for brain tumour research as well as various organisations responsible for looking after those diagnosed with terminal illnesses. The Kathmandu-it project (www.kathmandu-it.uk) is devoted to raising funds for the same charity, primarily through the sponsorship of two OFs, Henry Dunham and Sam Crimp, walking the 6,500 miles from sunny Suffolk to Kathmandu. They were guests of the SOF at the London dinner in January and you can read more about them in an earlier news item here.

Should you wish to contribute to either of these hugely worthwhile charities independently of the Silent Auction, you will find a link on both websites to a Just Giving donation page. If you prefer to sponsor Henry and Sam on their highly ambitious undertaking, please contact Nick Dunham at ndunham@clarkeandsimpson.co.uk.

Background atmosphere will be created by a selection of talented College musicians and games of badminton, boules, croquet and football will be provided for children of all ages - and adults too, of course. Absolutely amazing prizes will be awarded to sporting champions at the end of the evening.

With the whole of the College front to race around, young children tend to fall asleep very quickly once they get home - potentially a bonus!

I am afraid to say that FramSoc's Summer Picnic Worksop on the previous evening is now fully booked.  It will be interesting to see if we can spot who attended that event.

The weather looks like being on our side so we do hope you will be able to join in with the evening, which can be as lazy or as active as you wish.  We look forward to seeing you there.

We thought OFs would be interested to know that from September 2016 Brandeston Hall will be known formally as Framlingham College Prep School. 

Paul Taylor, Headmaster of Framlingham College, tells us that “this name change is an obvious step in light of the increasing number of pupils who are choosing to come to Framlingham from outside the local area. The proposition of ‘Framlingham College 2–18’ is a much more coherent message to present, making it clear that pupils can join the College in Year 7 (with the first two years on our Brandeston site). As so many of our parents tell us, there is a unique synergy between our Prep and Senior Schools and we want to ensure that our message is not lost in translation and is spread as widely as is possible”. This is in many ways a case of ‘back to the future’ as the school was originally founded as ‘Framlingham College Junior School’ and only assumed the name Brandeston Hall relatively recently. 

No real change is envisaged to the pupil or parent experience at the Brandeston site. The College and the Prep School have always worked closely together and will continue to do so. The prep school  will remain very much its own entity in terms of day-to-day operations, and Mr King’s role as its Headmaster will not change.

Matthew King, Headmaster of the prep school added, "Brandeston’s close association with the College was one of the key things that attracted me to Framlingham and we really do get the best of both worlds. The Prep School benefits greatly through use of facilities and the sharing of some outstanding coaching staff but the short distance between both schools means that we keep the feeling of being a warm, family run, independent 13+ Prep school. Our children move on to senior school only when they are truly ready and we can extend their childhood for as long as possible here. The change of name simply reemphasises our strengths. We will always enjoy our beautiful home at Brandeston Hall  but have never stopped feeling a part of Fram.”

ORIGINAL : Chris Essex (K69-75) writes : I'm organising another West of England Supper on Friday 27 May 2016. For many years we have held this at the Angel Inn at Hindon, but sadly our affable host/owner has retired and therefore it seems an appropriate time for us to move on also. After trying a number of alternative locations, Peter and Liz Gasgoyne-Lockwood checked out the Grosvenor Arms in Shaftesbury and reported back favourably.  I'm therefore delighted to announce that the next supper will be here on Friday 27 May 2016.

You can download an invitation and return-form (complete with the great menu available on the evening) by clicking here.

Please contact Chris Essex for details or if you would like to be invited in future.

You can read a distinguished piece on Rob here. 

There are already plans for an event in Munich in 2017 so watch this space!