Chairman attends Old Collyerians Association Reunion Dinner
29 Nov 2021
Horsham District Council Chairman Cllr David Skipp attended the Winter Reunion Dinner of the Old Collyerians Association (OCA), held at the College of Richard Collyer in Hurst Road, Horsham on Saturday 20 November. Cllr Skipp is also the Chair of the Governing Body for Collyer’s and was accompanied by his wife Helen.
The OCA installed their new President, Dr Roger Dalrymple at the event.
Founded in 1922, the OCA is the ‘Alumni’ Association for Collyer’s and Roger will preside over the arrangements for celebrating the Association’s centenary year in 2022.
During the dinner the Presidential chain of office was passed from outgoing President Ian Aird to the new President, Dr Roger Dalrymple.
The other principal guests were Dan Lodge and his wife, Misako; two current students, Aaishah Azoor and Hari Gunturu, representing the RCU (the Richard Collyer Union student body); and John Weeds, Master of the Guild of Mercers’ Scholars and his wife, Sarah. Collyer’s was founded in 1532 from a legacy left in the will of Richard Collyer, a Horsham resident who made his fortune in the City of London and became a member of The Mercers’ Company, the premier Livery Company in the City. The Mercers’ Company continues to support Collyer’s and many other educational establishments, and the Guild of Mercers’ Scholars is an organisation open to all those who attended these schools and colleges.
During his speech Dan Lodge described the OCA dinner as the beginning of a 10 year period of significant milestones for Collyer’s.
To tie in with the 100th Anniversary of the OCA next year, 2022 will see the launch of a new OCA website hosted as part of Collyer’s own online site, and the OCA will be supporting the Collyer’s Heritage Project which is establishing a permanent online archive celebrating Collyer’s long and rich history. This can be viewed on the Collyer's website.
In 2026 the 50th anniversary of conversion to a sixth form college will be celebrated and, looking further ahead, 2032 will mark the 500th anniversary of the foundation of Collyer’s itself.