Welcome
A Welcome from our President, Diana Smith
It is with great pleasure and pride that I welcome you to the Rydal Penrhos Society as your eleventh President. My great- grandmother was one of the first twelve girls to attend Penrhos College in 1880 and 3 generations of my family have attended since then. So, naturally, it is a delight to see that former pupils of both Penrhos, Rydal and Rydal Penrhos are still meeting up together, attending Society events around the country and abroad, organising reunions and raising money for their alma mater after 130 years.
The Rydal Penrhos Society has undergone radical changes during the past year. Firstly, thanks must be expressed to Guy Watson and Heidi York, the Society Secretaries for the past three years, for all their hard work in keeping the Society going under successive Presidents. In August the School appointed Sarah Ritchie, herself an Old Penrhosian, as the full- time Alumni and Development Director, who will incorporate acting as the new Secretary, and will bring a fresh and dynamic look to the Society. On behalf of the Society I welcome Sarah to her new role, look forward to working with her and wish her well for the future. She is your point of contact and will be delighted to hear from you with news, views and suggestions.
Secondly, we mark the retirement of both Dorothy Marriott in the Society office, together with Frank Richards in producing the issues of the Society Newsletter. We thank them for their service and in particular are delighted to mark Frank’s long commitment to the Society by electing him to become a Life Vice-President. Their roles will be taken over by Sarah Ritchie, who is planning to produce two Newsletters each year – one in January and one in July.
I am delighted to report that we are planning several events and dinners over the next year to include Manchester, Cambridge, Germany, Dubai, London and North Wales. Further details will be given in the January Newsletter and also be posted on the School’s website; so if you have access to it, please check regularly under the Alumni section. I look forward to meeting many of you during the year at some of these occasions.
Finally, I would like to thank Philip Reid for his hard work as President and in overseeing the changes during the last year; also all the Officers and Committee members of the Society for their dedication. We are here to serve you. Please do your best to support us by attending some of the events and make sure that we have your email address so that we can keep you informed about your old school society.
Diana (Wildblood) Smith, Society President 2011-2012
(PC 1961-67)