We had to entertain,
and we had to give
something back.
The time had come for a radical change in
approach. Patrick realised that OWs and others who
might be interested in the school’s development
were now spread further around the world than
they had ever been. Previous efforts to maintain
contact had been one-off efforts, but with his patient
and enthusiastic input, these started to smarten up
and become more suited to an increasingly
inter-connected world.
His first major project was the Friends of
Winchester College, an initiative he helped to set
up to encourage OWs and local residents to become
more involved in the College’s activities and rupture
the ‘town versus gown’ mentality. It was time to get
away from the school being seen as ‘a monastery’,
he says, and open it up to the public. Still going
strong today, the Friends arranges lectures, social
The Wykeham Journal 2018 41