The Record 2014 - 2015

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OSE and Development
Rebecca Ting, Director of Development and Alumni Relations
The Development and OSE office runs
Foundation (fundraising) and OSE (alumni
relations) activities for the School, and
provides administrative support to the
St Edward’s School Society and the Friends
of St Edward’s. During the year there were
a number of personnel changes. Following
the departure of Simon Palferman in August
2014, Viola Kerr was recruited as
Development Manager. In January 2015,
the Development and OSE team returned
to full strength with the appointment of
Laura Hill to replace Pamela Keeley-Butler
as Alumni Relations Officer, and Emma
Grounds to the role of Development
Administrator. The office remains as busy as
ever, with a full programme of OSE events
in venues ranging from St Edward’s to
Sydney Yacht Club! We are promoting
further expansion of the regional networks,
more informal ‘pub night’ style events for
younger OSE, and smaller, more specific
events for networking and interest groups.
If any OSE are interested in helping us take
this programme forward, we would be
delighted to hear from you: ose@
or 01865 319438.
A second OSE Communications and
Events Survey was carried out in the
summer. 1105 responses were received,
representing a quarter of those contacted.
The outcomes of the survey can be
summarised as follows:
• Significant and helpful feedback on
events and publications
• Increased population of career and
contact details on the OSE database
• 915 OSE agreed for their contact details
to be shared with other OSE
• 413 offers of careers support via talks,
mentoring or work experience
• 684 OSE opted to receive Rhubarb in
digital form only, saving the printing and
postage costs. This represents 10% of the
Rhubarb print run.
The Foundation
Since its launch in 2013, the St Edward’s
Foundation has continued to fundraise for
music and the provision of bursaries for
deserving pupils who could not otherwise
afford a St Edward’s education.
We recruited several new members to the
Foundation Board, and the group is keen to
take the Foundation forward proactively in
the next academic year, when the main
focus for fundraising will be equipping the
new Music School. We are also preparing
the Foundation’s first Impact Report, due
for publication in early 2016. This will give
a snapshot of the School’s finances, and
detail the Foundation’s fundraising and
impact to date.
As part of the Foundation’s activities this
year, the second Teddies 2-Wheeler,
sponsored by Tinkoff Saxo, took place on
26th April. In a 50% increase from 2014,
300 cyclists took part on routes of 100, 50,
25 and five miles through the Oxfordshire
countryside in aid of SeeSaw and the St
Edward’s Bursary Fund. It was wonderful to
see so many St Edward’s parents, pupils,
staff and OSE cycling as well as those from
cycling clubs and the local community. This