Worshipful Company of Actuaries

In company with a number of other Masters I went from the Lord Mayor’s Address to the Livery at Mansion House to the Worshipful Company of Actuaries lecture and dinner at Staple Inn Hall on November 16.

This segued quite nicely from the Lord Mayor’s theme of “Fit for the Future” as the speaker was Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association and was entitled “2012 An Olympic Dream – can the games delivery a sporting legacy for the United Kingdom”

I am an Olympic grump. I didn’t want the Games and object, as a Londoner, to paying for it forever. However, I will admit that I visited the site a few months ago and was hugely impressed with the clean-up work that has been done, which would not have been done otherwise, and the facilities are more complete at this stage than we might have thought possible.

I was further convinced by Lord Moynihan: for the first time I understood the structure of how the planning was done, why the site was chosen and what the legacy is already. Not only the clean-up of the site, the complete redesign of the waterways which were heavily polluted, transport infrastructure – all this in place.

His challenge is to deliver for the athletes – and the athletes to deliver for the public who expect much from them. I have reams of notes with many fascinating insights into what has happened and is happening.

He had been in the news during the day regarding the UK’s stand on doping. The UK is under pressure from the World Anti-Doping Agency to relax its stand on disqualification for life for athletes who knowingly take drugs. This is not the athlete who unknowingly takes something that proves to contain a banned substance but one who knows what they are doing. We will see how this plays out in the courts.

Staple Inn Hall is a beautiful gem of a Hall a moment’s walk from the din and traffic of High Holborn close to Chancery Lane underground station. It has some beautiful stained glass windows and was substantially restored after WWII.

I had a delicious buffet dinner and the opportunity to meet some of my fellow Masters and some of the Liverymen of the Actuaries. The Master Actuary said that we all had to do some mental arithmetic (they are actuaries after all) and you might want to try this one. Add the last two digits of the year of your birth and your age – the answer should come to 111.

PS Tried this with the grandchildren, – where the answer is 11 not 111. This includes the newest one who is a few months old i.e. 0 + 11 = 11.

Lord Mayor’s Address to the Livery

Alderman David Wootton, our new Lord Mayor addressed a gathering of most of the Masters and Clerks of the Livery Companies at Mansion House on November 16. This is a challenging time to be coming into the Mayoralty with the volatile and challenging economic situation, the difficult situation at St Paul’s, but offset by the positive excitement of the Queen’s Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.

He said “I look forward to participating in the wider public debate, of which the City is part: about the structure of our economy, and about the role of the City within it. I look forward to shining a light on these issues.”

The civic City does good work quietly – perhaps too quietly. He urged all of us present to shout a bit louder about the good work we do, particularly where work is done outside the City and mentioned the Mercers’ support for the new Academy in Hammersmith and the Carpenters’ support for a building crafts centre in Newham.

The Needlemakers awards a number of prizes to a diverse range of organisations connected with the City or the users of needles. These range from both the City of London schools, the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal College of Surgeons, Fine Cell Work, Royal School of Needlework, to mention but a few.

The Lord Mayor's Appeal for his year fits well with an Olympic year - “Fit for the Future”. The Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2012 will help five charities – the primary being Barts and The London Charity on behalf of the Trauma Unit at The Royal London Hospital. The Rowing Foundation, London Youth Rowing, Fields in Trust and Futures for Kids will also benefit, creating a healthier future for all.

Ladies Banquet

John and I were delighted to be guests at the Ladies Banquet of the Needlemakers Lodge on Saturday November 12. About twenty of the Livery Companies have their own Lodges and the current President, Stuart Selwyn, has visited them all during his year.

It was a very enjoyable and friendly evening – after all we knew most of the people there, as they were Liverymen and their guests. We were not only treated to dinner but also excellent musical entertainment.

Both John’s and my families have Masonic connections – my maternal grandfather and his father were both Masons, and indeed Masters of their respective Lodges although this is something that we never discussed – the work of the Freemasons is much more open these days which is a good thing.

Stuart spoke about the similarities between the aims of the Livery Company and of the Lodge – in our ethos and our actions, particularly in charitable support.

On a less serious note, I commented that it has always surprised me that Freemasonry is restricted to men. Women and freemasons have so much in common. We are a mystery to anyone that isn’t one of us; we are frequently misunderstood and much of our good work is done behind the scenes.

As it was a Ladies Night I ended with one of my favourite quotes – from Eleanor Roosevelt

“A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”

The Silent Ceremony

The Silent Ceremony takes place the day before the Lord Mayor’s Show when the Lord Mayor is formally admitted to office and this was Friday November 11. The ceremony is known as the Silent Ceremony because, apart from a short declaration of office by the incoming Lord Mayor, no words are spoken. The outgoing Lord Mayor ceremonially hands the City insignia to his successor.

What I had not realized is that this takes place “on the flat” not on the stage in Guildhall so unless you are seated close to the action or are tall, once the procession has passed you have no idea what is going on (it's silent!). Note for next time – bring large cushion!

I did not go to the Lord Mayor’s Show this year as we had grandchildren responsibilities in the morning and an engagement in the evening (yes it does take me that long to get ready). I regretted it as it was a beautiful day and the parade, watched on television, looked amazing. I wish Alderman David Wootton a very successful year.

Garden of Remembrance, St Paul’s Cathedral

I was honoured to represent The Worshipful Company of Needlemakers at the opening of the Garden of Remembrance Service at St Paul’s on Monday, November 7.

The encampment outside St Paul’s had already had an impact on this event – both with the resignation of Rt Rev Graeme Knowles who was to lead the service and the absence of the marching band which had no place to muster. However the Royal British Legion overcame and everything ran smoothly and movingly.

The National President addressed us in the Crypt of St Paul’s and we were delighted to hear that their annual street collection at stations around the City (for which many present had volunteered) raised substantially more than last year, even in these difficult times, which is a tribute to the work of the Legion. He had visited the “encampment” outside before coming in – many tents but not as many campers. Perhaps this was all too early for them. I am happy to say that nothing intruded on the day.

It was a short but moving service and a fitting start for this week of Remembrance. I planted a cross with a poppy with the other Masters.

Although I was born after the war, World War II was very much part of my growing up. My father volunteered, as did many other members of both John’s and my families. There was no conscription in South Africa and it was touch and go at one point whether the government would support the Allies or the Axis powers. If it were not for the Allies we would certainly not be here: when we visit Wannsee during the Berlin trip you will see that the plan was to rid Europe of all Jews. It is also unlikely that the happy campers outside St Paul’s would be there either – freedom of speech was not available.

I know that these words are familiar to all of us but I think in this week it is worth repeating them.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning


We will remember them.

The service concluded with the The Kohima Epitaph

When you go home, tell them of us and say,

For your tomorrow, we gave our today.

City of London School Prize day

I was trying to think back to my own school days – there were a few prizes and they were generally given out at the last assembly of the year in front of the school, no parents to glow with satisfaction. Yesterday’s prize-giving was an altogether different matter.I was delighted to represent the Needlemakers Company at this annual distribution of prizes which takes place in the Guildhall and the prizes are given out by the Lord Mayor. Unfortunately I couldn’t meet our prize-winner as he was not able to attend. (A number of boys who left the school at the end of the academic year were not there to receive their prizes.)

One would expect this to be a very impressive ceremony held in the Guildhall with the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and all accompanying officers in full regalia – and it was. But more impressive was the composure of the boys and the record of success that the school has. The boys come from a wide range of backgrounds – I believe that over forty countries of origin are represented – but all striving for excellence. Clearly this is an independent fee-paying school but there are also a number of full scholarships awarded each year to draw in bright boys from less privileged backgrounds.

The Head of School, Nicholas Hulbert, made an excellent speech in praise of the founder, John Carpenter. The Lord Mayor commented that of the many hundred speeches he has heard this year this was one of the best. Oh, to have that confidence and poise at such a young age! I suspect that young man is destined for great things.

I think that our Lord Mayor will have set some kind of new record for the number of speeches he will have made this year – well over 900 and he is as enthusiastic as ever.

The afternoon concluded with a beautiful series of Hebrew love songs sung by the school choir. An unexpected and unusual choice skilfully rendered.