Dear Old Wimbledonian,

Following our celebration last year of the Centenary of the College’s first working party to Lourdes, I’d like to tell you about two important initiatives that the College Hospitalité is undertaking this year.

Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund

This is, I am sorry to say, an appeal for financial help. But, before I ask for your donations, I thought it would be appropriate to give you some background information.

In 1923 Wimbledon College first sent to Lourdes a group of fourteen schoolboys, accompanied by the chaplain, Fr John Manning SJ. Since then, the College has sent a party to Lourdes to help the sick in nearly every subsequent year except for the years of World War 2 and its aftermath.

To celebrate the centenary of the first working party we decided that we would have a special centenary pilgrimage in addition to the usual working party. In the end there were nine members of the working party and nineteen members of the pilgrimage group.

I report at more length on the pilgrimage in the newsletter that we published recently and which can be found in the Lourdes Hospitalité section. Suffice it to say that it was an unqualified success. 

This was attributable to the inspiring leadership of Fr Michael Holman SJ assisted by Fr. Peter Griffiths SJ, also, to the lively interaction between the disparate age groups. These ranged from the effervescent seven-year-old Lourdes Maclou-Calvert to the sprightly octogenarians, Gerry McPartlin and Bob Hessey.

Of course, the real reason why the pilgrimage was such a triumph was the presence of Our Lady and the overwhelming spiritual power of Lourdes. In this connection I was impressed by the impact made by Lourdes on two young men, Jeremy and Kavi. Jeremy left the College in 2023 and Kavi the year before. Their accounts are set out in full in the newsletter, but I will quote a few extracts now from Jeremy’s. 

Jeremy had never previously visited Lourdes. He explained that, initially, he was very apprehensive about his ability to help the sick. However, his anxieties fell away as he became part of a team whose sole purpose was to serve the sick. He writes of Lourdes that “no other place on earth is more focussed on the sick”. Jeremy intends to return and says that “the spirit of Lourdes will continue to spread its ripple of love far beyond the Grotto”.

The principal aim of the Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund is to provide financial help to enable current and former pupils of the College to go to Lourdes. The Fund was established several years ago and is now almost exhausted. So far as I know there has been no previous appeal for funds for several decades, so I would ask you please to be generous in your giving. I have quoted from Jeremy’s reminisces on his first visit to Lourdes in the hope that it might strike a chord in the memory of those who have visited Lourdes, perhaps many years ago!

Gifts can be made by bank transfer to the following account:

Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund

Sort code: 20-96-89

Account number: 10950777

If you would like a receipt, please email wimbledonlourdes100@gmail.com and quote your name as reference on the bank transfer.

Alternatively, you can send a cheque drawn in favour of Wimbledon College Lourdes Fund to the treasurer, John Pedder, at 86 Home Park Road, London SW19 7HR.

Thank you. Your generosity will help enable future students of the College to experience, like Jeremy and Kavi, the transforming action of Lourdes in their lives.

2024 Non-Working Pilgrimage

Last year’s pilgrimage was a memorable occasion, drawing together Old Boys and families of boys currently at the College alongside the working party. The Centenary Newsletter gives a flavour of the happy event it was.

Such was its success, we are planning another non-working pilgrimage this year, which will run from Friday 23 August to Tuesday 27 August, alongside this year’s working party. As last year, it will be led by Fr. Michael Holman SJ, whom a number of you will remember as a former Chaplain and Headmaster of the College. The pilgrimage is open to anyone with a connection to the College, and of course old boys of the College and their families are especially welcome. 

Accommodation will be in a comfortable 3-star hotel in close proximity to the Sanctuary. We will handle hotel bookings, while you will have the flexibility to make your own travel arrangements. We are still firming up on costs, but Indicative figures would be in the region of £500 per adult on a shared room basis, including full board and travel.

We do not require any money at this stage, but if you are interested in coming, or would like to find out more, please email wimbledonlourdes100@gmail.com

It would be very helpful if you could also indicate how many people you anticipate being in your party.

I do hope you can join us for what I’m sure you will find an enjoyable, rewarding and eye-opening experience.

Edmund Hills

President, Wimbledon College Hospitalité