Old Princethorpians

Old Princethorpian Lucy Coulson, who left Princethorpe in 2009 to read Law at the University of Nottingham, recently revisited the College to give Sixth Formers an insight into charity fundraising and the importance of seizing opportunities.

Lucy takes up her story...

Little was I to know upon arriving in September at the University of Nottingham, ready to read law and pursue my dream of becoming a Barrister that it would be more than just a new life in a new city that I was about to embark upon. Within the first few hours at University I found my best friends, all of whom however made me feel incredibly average – their countries of origin being Bangladesh, USA and Bahrain. This meant the moment it was advertised I felt compelled to get involved with Hitch –combining my love of travel and charity work.

This Easter I hitch hiked over 1600 miles across Europe to Morocco in order to raise money for a charity called Link Community Development (LCD). Of all the experiences I’ve had it is definitely up there as one of the more crazy ideas! LCD has been running this scheme for the last 18 years and this year over 1000 students participated, with each of us raising a minimum of £350 in sponsorship for the charity in order to take part. LCD works in sub Saharan Africa providing and improving education so that the quality is of an excellent standard and sustainable, so that the community can support teaching without the need to be reliant upon the charity in the long term. I’d like to thank Princethorpe College Sixth Form for their kind contribution to Link Community Development, taking my total to just under £700.

Hitch hiking is one of the toughest modes of travel, unlike on an expedition you cannot be self reliant and keep belief in yourself in order to get to your destination; you have to develop a whole new faith in the goodness of humanity. Sometimes we were stood at the roadside for three or four hours waiting for a lift, it can be so frustrating and so disheartening knowing that every single car passing you is going the direction that you want to go. It’s exhausting always being on the road, living at motorway service stations is just about as attractive as it sounds. The key is to keep enduring and keep believing that someone will stop for you – they always do if you can keep faith in that.

It took 32 lifts to get us to the bottom of Spain, driving in everything from Beatles to trucks carrying racing cars and we are eternally grateful to every single driver who took us part of the way. There really are some amazing people in this world, the stories we heard and the lives that we glimpsed are a beautiful memory to have. These legends are a credit to humanity, often they would go out of their way to keep us on the right road, we had offers of food and drink, accommodation and most importantly friendship – we’ve managed to keep in contact with quite  a few of our lifts. Good people come from nowhere; it is a humbling thought to think that we could get to another continent on kindness of strangers and coincidence alone.

My advice to those about to leave Princethorpe is to go out there and see the world, Morocco was stunning in itself but the more interesting part is travelling through ordinary lives. I will say quickly – make sure you stay safe! We had to report in to the charity every day with our location, stay in pairs and keep in contact with our parents! (Note to parents – yes you are allowed to worry for your children, but also believe in them – they are intelligent and independent so let them fly but they will appreciate your support even when they pretend not to!) Take every opportunity offered to you at University and in life.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 
Mark Twain

To find out more and the charity and to support Lucy's fundraising efforts click on the link's below:

http://www.lcdinternational.org/

http://www.justgiving.com/Lucy-Coulson/

Old Princethorpian Ian Bell top scored for England in their match against Bangladesh in Dhaka in March. 

Ian’s innings of 138 was his tenth test hundred for England but its real significance was that it was the first test match where he dominated the scoreboard with no other batsman scoring a century. His gritty performance ensured that there was no embarrassing defeat for England’s last match in their winter tour on what could have been a difficult final day.

We wish Ian and the team well for the NPower Test Match Series against Bangladesh starting at Lords this weekend.

After more than 30 years with little or no contact a group of Old Princethorpians, who graduated from the Sixth Form at Princethorpe in 1975 made contact and had their first get together in July 2009. As you can imagine we were all slightly nervous before the event, not least because we were uncertain whether we would even recognise each other! Anyway no need for nerves and the evening was a great success and we all agreed to do it again when the opportunity arose.

A little less than 12 months later at the end of April 2010 and one of our group (Clem) was back in the UK, which was the catalyst for another meeting. Whilst Chris Evans (normally resident in Barbados) and Lorenzo Argentieri were unable to make this meeting we were joined by Rabi DeMelo and also had contact with Pete Hurst,  Andy Kirwan and Alex Darkes we hope will be able to join us at a future gathering.

Our first two get togethers have been in London, which is reasonably central for our disparate group. We have no firm plans (date or place) for our next gathering, but if any of our old classmates would like to join us they would be more than welcome. Contact either martin.holland@ubs.com  or  dominic.flynn@portraitsolicitors.com.

Pictured from left to right at The Porterhouse in Covent Garden are: Rabi DeMelo, Dominic Flynn, Greg Morse, Martin Holland, "Clem" Clements, PJ McCormack and Mark Neal.

Glorious spring sunshine welcomed a host of OPs, their partners and families plus former members of staff back to the College on Sunday 18 April.

The day, which started with Mass in the Chapel, followed by a buffet lunch, was deemed a resounding success. Visitors, young and somewhat older, enjoyed tours of the College, including the rare opportuntity of venturing up the 180 odd steps to the top of the Tower for some fantastic views.

Archery and games on the Sixth Form Centre lawn kept everyone amused. Reminiscences abounded and OPs enthusiastically enjoyed spotting themselves and old pals in the College photos and names on the Dining Room boards.

Comments Peter Rollason, OPs Chairman, "It really was a splendid occasion, we saw quite a few faces who hadn't been back to the school for many years. And it was particularly lovely to see all the children enjoying their visit to Princethorpe!"

More pictures from the day can be seen by logging on to the OPs only part of the website.

The Old Princethorpian tie is now available. The classic 100% silk tie, produced by Smart Turnout of London, sports a repetitive gold Tower design and thin red diagonal stripes on a dark blue background.

The limited edition tie is priced at £17 + postage and packing.

Comments Melanie Butler, OPs Secretary, "Sales are going well of the tie and we are now considering designing other items, such as cufflinks and a unisex college style scarf, feedback from male and female OPs would be really helpful."

To download a tie order form please click here.

Old Princethorpians travelled from far and wide to the Leamington Pub Meet on Friday 5 March.

Over 20 OPs including staff gathered at The Star and Garter on Warwick Street for a very convivial evening.

The prize for travelling the furthest went to Ernest Springley who now lives in the Black Forest in Germany, with Alex Rogers from Newcastle clinching second place. Alex came down on his motorbike after seeing the event posted on Facebook. Simon Venus and Mike Smith came up from Bristol and the London contingent included Charles Lawton and Mike Nagaur.

Making it a family occasion were brothers, Paul and Martin Gallagher and cousins Nick and Kevin Cahill.

The evening also attracted some younger and far prettier faces than normal in the shape of Lucy Inman and Mel Clynick.

New Headmaster, Ed Hester joined the throng, along with fellow staff and OPs, Steve White, Sean Philpott, Alex Darkes and Eddie Tolcher. Former Head of Maths, Colin Morgan also graced the occasion.

Commented OP Chairman, Peter Rollason, “This has to be our best turnout ever and is a real indication of how OPs is growing in popularity.”

Old Princethorpian, Richard Sibbick, hosted the inaugural OPs Skills Bank session when he returned to Princethorpe at the end of April to talk to current pupils about careers in engineering. 

The new Skills Bank initiative aims to encourage former pupils to share their experience and knowledge with current pupils.

The 33 year old, who attended Princethorpe  from 1987 to 1994 and is originally from Kenilworth, is now based in Cardiff for Dow Corning, the global leader in silicone-based technology and innovation.  Richard has a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was the youngest fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at just 31 years old. He now travels the world managing projects and dealing with customers.

Some 200 Princethorpe pupils from Years 9 and 11 heard from Richard about the wide variety of sectors engineers work in, from textiles, to transport and his particular specialism solar energy. Students also got to handle some of the many and new products that use silicones including airbags, beauty products, sports shoes and motorcycle wear.

Sixth Formers with a particular intest in Engineering also came along to an informal  chat with Richard over lunch to discuss university courses and best routes into engineering.

OP Chairman, Peter Rollason, commented, "We are indebted to Richard for kick starting this important initiative. Our aim is to establish a network of OPs who are prepared to mentor, advise or offer work experience to current pupils. It really is a most rewarding way of giving something back to the College."

If anyone would like to offer their services to the Skills Bank please email Melanie Butler or call her on 01926 634284. Involvement can be as small or extensive as volunteers feel comfortable with, from offering one to one advice or work experience, to workshops and presentations.

Images show Richard, centre, with Year 9 pupils Sean and Reena getting to grips with silicone-based products and later chatting to Sixth Formers.

The College 1st XV will take on the OPs (6th Form Leavers of 2009 and 2010) on
Monday 6 September 2010 in an effort to win the Shinkwin Trophy.

This is the second year the match has been played, kick off will be at 7.00pm. After match meal and presentation in Sixth Form Centre. Former Headmaster, John Shinkwin will attend to present the trophy to the winning team.

Spectators are most welcome to cheer on the sides and to participate in the post match fun.

For more information please email Melanie Butler, OPs Secretary or call 01926 634284.

Princethorpe artists are set to platform their work for the first time in Warwickshire Artsweek.

Warwickshire Artsweek is a biennial celebration of the visual arts & crafts, open to all artists and makers in Warwickshire. The event, is now in its 10th year, and involves well over 200 individual and groups of artists who open their studio and gallery doors to the public. Other venues include schools, cafes, churches, village halls and garden and parks.

The timing of the event (Saturday 3 July to Sunday 18 July) coincides with the College's popular Summer Art Show in the Sixth Form Centre. This year the exhibition will be open to the public on the following dates:

• Thursday 1 July 6.30pm - 8.30pm (Preview Evening)
• Sunday 4 July 2.00pm - 5.00pm
• Monday 5 July 6.00pm - 8.00pm
• Tuesday 6 July 6.30pm to 8.30pm
• Wednesday 7 July 6.00pm - 8.00pm

Comments, Paul Hubball, OP (1985 - 1991) and Head of Art, "This is a great opportunity to share our students' fantastic artwork with a wider audience and to welcome more art lovers to Princethorpe, including hopefully a few Old Princethorpians."

Image - Becki by Ruth Guntrip, AS Level

Sunday 27 June from noon

The OPs Picnic takes place on Sunday 27 June 2010 from 12.00pm on the College's North Lawn by the big cedar tree.

This is an informal opportunity for OPs to picnic together before the College's annual Summer Fete and Motoring Festival from 2.00pm to 4.30pm.

Motoring Festival

A number of OPs have already expressed an interest in bringing vehicles to the Motoring Festival this year and participating in the earlier road run. If you fancy showing your jalopy off to an appreciative audience click here for this year's Motoring Festival Newsletter and Entry Form.

For more information email Alex Darkes.

Friday 18 June from 6.30pm

The next Old Princethorpians event is the London Pub Meet at a new venue, The Coach and Horses, 42 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 7BD (nearest tube Covent Garden) on Friday 18 June 2010 from 6.30pm.

So if you have swapped the Mile Walk for the Square Mile we hope you can make it! All are welcome to come along and reminisce.

Wednesday 9 June 6.30pm to 8.30pm

The College's Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 9 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

This is an informal opportunity to look around the school and to meet pupils and staff. Children can particpate in fun activities in the different departments and the Headmaster will make presentations during the evening.

Year 5 Taster Days

Taster Days aimed at current Year 5 pupils (children born between 1/9/99 and 31/8/00) will take place after Open Evening, aimed at giving prospective pupils for entry in September 2011 a taste of senior school life.

The following dates are available:
Monday 14 June and  Thursday 8 July

These days will involve a number of classroom sessions, a tour of the school, lunch and other activities, and will run from 9.30 to 3.30pm.

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. To book a place or for more information on admissions please email our Registrar, Loretta Curtis , telephone 01926 634201 or visit our website www.wcisf.co.uk.

Age: 51

When were you at Princethorpe - years from and to?

I was amongst the last five students at St Bede's College in Leamington Spa.  St Bede's was the prep school feeding Princethorpe.   They closed down the boarding at St Bede's when I was about nine years old, so five of us boarded at Princethorpe and were bussed to and fro everyday. I started boarding at St Bede's aged six and left Princethorpe aged 18 in 1978.

What are you doing now?

After 25 years of living in London, I've returned to Oxfordshire to live with my family. Ironically, I am now about 15 miles from Princethorpe. 

I am the CEO and partner in the entertainment division of SEG International, which is a multi disciplined management  company covering both the sports industry and the music and film industries.

We manage over 250 athletes, including such luminaries as Arsenal's Robin Van Persie amongst many others. My division manages artists, composers and producers in the music world. We also have a music supervision department that puts together all of the music solutions for up to five movies per year.

This month sees the release of our latest project 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed', next month we have two films released, 'Heartless' and 'Wild Target'. We manage about 30 artists include the Noisettes, William Orbit, Leftfield, ShyFX, Breakage, Lemon Jelly, Billy Ocean and emerging artist Kirsty Almeida.

Producer William Orbit is most famous for his production of Madonna's 'Ray of Light' album, and Blur’s '13'. He's currently producing a solo album from Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle. 

What was the school like in your day?

As a boarder, the early days were pretty spartan. There was only one female member of staff: the matron.  However I remember Princethorpe in a very fond and positive light, partially because I've always been a self-starter, and the lack of close supervision was just my cup of tea!

From 14 years old I was obsessed about music. Naturally my dream was to become a rock star, however I've had a pretty close approximation to that lifestyle over the years. The early days at Princethorpe were so loosely supervised that I managed to spend a significant proportion of my life indulging in my passion of music. The roots of a 30 year career was set down at Princethorpe, and I wouldn't change a thing!

How did Princethorpe affect the person you are today?

Princethorpe helped shape the person I am today. I had to learn to stand out; to sink or swim; to stand on my own two feet.  And I learned that willpower and sheer force of personality plays an enormous part in any successful person’s formation.  I learned that being different simply isn't a problem: in fact it's an advantage.

In my career I have always taken advantage of alternative and strange artists artists, and my signings have reflected that including Massive Attack, De La Soul, Nine Inch Nails, Pulp, Talvin Singh, The Stereo Mc's, PJ Harvey, Tricky, The Cranberries to more recent management clients Richard Ashcroft, Yusuf Islam, The Audio Bullys or Lemon Jelly.

Like any father I am super keen that my three wonderful children gain as many meaningful qualifications as possible, however it's often the things that don't appear in your list of qualifications that makes you into a more interesting person.  My other great passion is photography and for instance last week I shared the photographer’s credit on the official photo shoot for our band Leftfield with my sons Luc and Christian.  At 14 years old Christian has already had photographs reproduced on album covers and in books and magazines and has been highly commended by the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens. Like me he's unlikely to get his maths GCSE however I will help him develop alternative skills that will set  him apart from his contemporaries and shape his future.

My time at Princethorpe did this for me.

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

Get your maths GCSE, don't play rugby in bare feet....... but don't change a thing otherwise!

Who or what has been the greatest influence on your life?

It's hard to name the person that had the greatest influence on your life, because my friends, my family and my educators all shaped me into the person that I was when I met Chris Blackwell, the greatest mentor in my career. So partially I have to thank everyone from my past for helping  me get noticed by Chris Blackwell!

Chris founded Island Records in 1959, the year I was born. I joined Island Records  in 1984 as a junior scout within music publishing company Blue Mountain Music.  By the end of that year, aged 25, I was appointed managing director, and found myself in charge of U2 and Bob Marley! By the age of 29 I had being promoted to the position of managing director of Island records UK.  Aged 40 I was running Island, Universal, MCA, and Motown Records combining them (In the UK) into Universal Island which is now one of the biggest labels in the world.

 What keeps you awake at night? 

My industry. I'm pretty certain that 90% of the people who read this article will have illegally downloaded music created by up-and-coming artists. To say that it is killing the industry is an understatement. Illegal downloading and file sharing is a very rare kind of parasite, as most parasites don't kill their host.  I'm sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but it's affecting consumers too as record labels these days are far too scared and conservative to invest in unusual talent. So you are being fed  a diet of formulaic and tried and tested artists instead of truly original ones.

What has been your proudest moment/greatest achievement so far?

Introducing Bono to the concept of Third World debt cancellation via the Jubilee 2000 campaign. He changed the world, but I led him to it in my own small way.

What’s your biggest indulgence?

It's in the past, however I owned the fourth Porsche Carrera C4S convertible in the country, when the new shape was unveiled in the late 1990s.

If you had to have one last meal, what would it be? 

It would have to be a curry! I am a second generation Mauritian on my father's side, and curry was Sunday lunch.

What is your favourite TV Show and why? 

I'm afraid I'm a sad science fiction fan and I'm addicted to Stargate Universe at the moment!

If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?

Carboui, our home near Toulouse set in 100 acres of sunflowers.

Lasting memories of Princethorpe:

Hijacking the photographic darkroom behind Princethorpe's chapel, and playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon very loudly with the lights out in the week it was released!

Are you in touch with any other Old Princethorpians, if so whom?

My school year are pretty unique I believe. I'm in regular touch with a number of my old friends: Andy Frain, Mike Halloran, Peter Rollason and Mike Nagaur to name four, However I'm in irregular, but very welcome touch with a number of others including Steve Evans, Simon Venus, Mike Smith, Paul St Aubyn, Bill Franklin, Mike Laughnan and Peter Kafno. Sorry if I've forgotten anyone!

Is there anyone you would like to track down?

I'd like to track down Pat and Moira Wier and Lou Skiffington as I believe they live relatively close to our place in France.

I think I been tracked down by anyone that wants to find me as I'm on MySpace, Facebook and Linkdin already!

Images show Marc today and 35 years earlier, around 1976 jamming in what was Princethorpe's study hall.  Pictured from left Andy Frain on drums, Mike Smith guitar, Marc on bass and Simon Venus on guitar.

We are getting more and more approaches from OPs who would like to tie the knot at Princethorpe.

We have had some very successful events over the last few months, taking advantage of the striking new Sixth Form Centre as a venue for receptions. We are also able to accommodate a marquee in the grounds and to offer catering.

If you are interested in finding out more please email the College Bursar, Anne Davey or call 01926 634282.

It was with great sadness that Old Princethorpians learnt of the death of Fred Sit from Hong Kong, who attended Princethorpe around 1990-1993.

Fred passed away in February after a battle with lung cancer. He was 33 years old and leaves a wife and three young children.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

The last issue of the OP e-newsletter brough memories flooding back for Richard Dawtrey, a contemporary of Jean Pierre Parsons and Charles Lawton from the early 70s.

Richard remembers, "I was at the school at the same time with my brother Phil and used to travel every term from Zambia on some fairly strange planes, including the old Dekota DC3 which landed on a mud runway and was like a ride on one of these things at Fun Parks which, I must add people pay for now.

I was quite lucky, I would say, I had a single room on the top corridor next to a french guy called (Comte) Stanislaus D'anville, and at the time Richard Walsh was head boy. (I am still in contact with him now and again.)

I came back to the UK in the 70s and have been here since, these days I am employed as a senior manager in the NHS and live in Yorkshire.

I used to play in the Tower common room with a couple of lads with a view to starting a band. These days I still do the music and have an act called Tricky@Trick and have a web page offering downloads which goes quite well.  Never did music at school, maybe I should have.

Any of the old guys want to see what became of this old rocker, check it out  on www.sellaband.com/tricky-at-trick/ any comments would be great.

Would be great to hear from any OP's who see this note to have a catch-up.

Steve Watkins is now based in the States, in the Washington DC area.

He is working for an international environmental conservation & social development NGO and would like to connect with any Old Princethorpians if they are nearby.

If you would like to contact Steve, email Old Princethorpians who will put you in touch.

In the last issue of the OP e-newsletter Chris Chan was trying to track down the Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy from 1986. Mike Cleary stepped forward, who was Deputy Head Boy 'in office' in 1985, leaving in 1986.

Coincidentally Mike got married in June last year and had a Catholic blessing at Princethorpe on Saturday 3 April.  

We've put Chris and Mike back in touch.

The OP e-newsletter has managed to track down Guy Gnudi, a contemporary of Tom Hilditch (our OP profile in the last edition). Tom has been searching for Guy for years.

Guy is currently living and working in Mauritius and owns a clothing brand called 'Peace Angels'. The company, which designs and sells fashionable clothing for men and women, currently has eleven shops on the island and wants to have hundreds of shops around the world! See www.peaceangel.com.

Guy is looking for any clever business people wanting to join him on his quest. Guy says, "Just add me on your msn and we can talk about it...gaetano@peaceangel.com....wants to make you a millionaire too!!"

Tom and Guy have now got back in touch and have already fixed up a plan to meet in Guangzhou, South China in June, when Guy travels there to visit his t-shirt supplier!

Robert Eidschun attended Princethorpe as a second, third and fourth form pupil from the fall of '74 until the summer of '77.  Surrounded by students from Hong Kong, he apparently caught the bug, as he is now married to his former piano teacher, Bonnie Choi, who is Hong Kong Chinese.  Since 1990, they have made 20 trips from the States to Hong Kong and regard it as their second home.

Robert attended the University of Michigan, where he studied electrical engineering.  After seven years of working in that field, he enrolled full-time at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) to study music composition.  Although he returned to engineering, he continues with his artistic endeavors too, having just completed a short film largely set to music.

Robert and Bonnie have one child, Erin.  At the time of Erin's birth, one of the attending physicians was so impressed with Robert's knowledge of biology, which was no more than what he had learned from Mr. Moroney, that she asked Robert, 'are you a medical doctor?'  'Mr. Moroney could have easily been a clinical medical doctor himself, or a professor of medicine', says Robert.  'He is extremely knowledgeable and a great teacher'.

Robert's only regret is not living closer to Princethorpe so that he can visit more often.

Currently, Robert and his family reside in western New York State.

Simon Kilby, Princethorpe 1986 - 1991 sent us this update.

I arrived at Princethorpe in 1986 and left 5 years later on.  I tried a few courses which did not suit me and by accident I fell into the profession of Hospitality.  I have never looked back since. Working all over the United Kingdom, Bath, Blackpool, Southampton and Jersey to name a few.

I am currently living in Austria, where I am now a citizen and loving every day. I work as a chef in a 4* hotel just 50 miles south of Vienna.

I met the love of my life, Evelyn, who I shall be marrying later this year after we have bought a house together.

Nigel Denton, Princethorpe 1977 - 1982, is now a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Computing at Coventry University.

A stalwart of the OP Committee, he has an MBA from Warwick University and a degree in Manufacturing and Business Studies from Coventry University.

Nigel has another passion however, buying and renovating property, which he has done with a business partner for 12 years. He now has a portfolio of 11 properties in the UK and has recently branched out overseas with a new venture in Cyprus.

He has been out to the sunshine island recently putting the finishing touches to his new project, Villa Calypso. The spacious three bedroom villa, in the popular town of Peyia just outside Paphos, sleeps up to eight people and has its own pool. It is close to beaches, archeological sights and good restaurants.

Prices start from £530 a week.

If any OPs are interested please click on this link to download a brochure or visit Nigel's website www.bestcyprusholiday.com.

.

I was at Princethorpe from 1975 to 1980 and generally (& genuinely) have
fond memories.  Father Clarkson was headmaster but there were numerous
priests I remember well, including Father McManus, Father O'Brien, Father
Kennedy (& his sister who we all used to think highly of!!) and Father O'Connor to name a few. 

I had two favourite teachers - Mrs Carpenter(English) and Mr O'Grady (Maths).

I am now working for Zurich, the insurance company, based in New York.  I originally moved to the US in March 1994, when I was working for AIG, which I had joined in 1990 in Birmingham. 

I married my wife Lynn in May 1996 and in September we moved to Dubai for 3 years, still with AIG and worked there for their life company subsidiary, Alico (American Life Insurance Company).

At the end of 1999 we moved back to New York and I was with AIG through to December 2008
when I was made redundant following their financial issues. 

My work now centres around the employee benefit insurances that major multinationals
have around the world and the funding of them - either through 'regular' insurance or other funding mechanisms, such as using a captive insurance company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational.

Since 2008 I have been using LinkedIn, the professional networking site, to keep in contact with numerous old friends, clients and contacts and I have tried to ensure I have linked with all OP's - it's amazing what an international bunch we OP's are!

If you are interested in checking Guy out on LinkedIn click here.

Dan Fivey (88 - 94) is now working as a personal trainer in Cheltenham. Dan, 32, is following in the footsteps of his dad, Leo, who helped the Princethorpe PE Dept with cross country and athletics and dedicated his life to sport. Leo sadly died of a heart attack in Northern Ireland in 2009, aged 61.

Dan, comments, "My dad is the reason I became a fitness trainer. He was always encouraging me and I miss him so much."

Dan is married to Helen, a physiotherapist. He has always enjoyed health and fitness. He started working out at a young age competing at high levels in football, rugby, X-Country and athletics.

Dan wanted to help people realize their full potential by developing self-esteem through a fitness lifestyle, so he completed a Degree in Sports Science and became a Personal Trainer in 2000.

He has trained celebrities, athletes, elderly and disabled and achieved some fantastic results. He has travelled extensively and worked in the USA, Australia, New Zealand as well as the UK.

Dan's brother, Carl, who was in the year below at Princethorpe, is now a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF.

If you would like to get back in touch with Dan visit his website http://www.danfiveypersonaltraining.co.uk/

I was at the college from 1988 - 1995 and the headmasters at the time were Fr Sweeney and Fr Whelan. My daughter, Eleanor, is currently in Year 10 at the college so I still come and visit quite a lot. Parents' Evening is always quite interesting as many of the teachers who once taught me are now teaching my daughter, it's still very odd being called Mr Murtagh by a teacher that you used to have yourself! Princethorpe has been very good to me and my daughter.

I left Princethorpe with a brace of qualifications and a little girl and went to work for IBM in Warwick for a year to figure out what to do next. After spending a year breaking computers I went to Warwick University to study English and Theatre Studies before ending up at The Central School of Speech and Drama doing an MA in Performance.

I've always enjoyed creative writing, and thanks to teachers such as Mr Hunt, Mrs O'Neill and the Weirs I was given lots of chances to practice and encouragement to continue. While at the college I was runner up in The Rupert Brooke Literary Award, which I'm pretty sure Mrs Weir entered me in without me knowing about. I also got the chance to indulge my love of acting with roles in The Winters Tale and Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves.

After drama school I managed to combine acting and writing and formed my own theatre company (The Black Sheep) and toured the country with my own shows. We play all over the country and Rosie O'Neill came to watch me at Warwick Arts Centre when one of my shows came through. In a bizarre twist of fate and by complete coincidence I also worked with one of my peripatetic drama teachers from Princethorpe in a staging of The Beauty Queen of Lennane down in Brentwood. It's a small world and all that.

I still continue to act and my current show The Joy of Politics is in the middle of a 40 date UK tour as we speak. Acting has taken me all over Europe and I've performed my shows in the West End, Warsaw, Bruges, Ireland, Denmark, The Edinburgh Festival and everywhere else in between including a remote Scottish island with a population of 60. Away from theatre I have appeared in a number of bad horror films (Minotaur with Tom Hardy and Luminal with Rutger Hauer) and a film which I am sure would play well at Princethorpe, Conspiracy of Silence starring Brenda Fricker all about corruption in the Catholic church! I also managed to pop up in Da Ali-G Show and Trigger Happy.

I started writing for TV and that lead me into writing books. If you have children of a certain age you will have seen some of my work. I write predominantly for CBBC. I write The Legend of Dick and Dom, The Slammer, Planet Ajay, Hotel Trubble and Scoop  and manage to make a lot of people fall over into a wide variety of disgusting things on a regular basis. Thanks to this I have been able to write my books. The first of these was Dinopants which I was lucky enough to find a publisher for pretty quickly, Piccadilly Press.

The books are all about a caveboy called Charlie Flint who invents things to make the stoneage a better place. They're all - I hope! - funny with a lot of thrilling adventure thrown into the mix. Dinopants came out in November 2009 and proved to be so popular they ordered three sequals which are all coming out over the next few months. Dinopoo is out in April, Dinoburps in June and Dinoball in October. They make the children laugh and I enjoy writing them so I hope they'll be a few more in the series.

My next book is called Frankenstein Stole My X-Box and will hopefully be out in 2011 - you can never be sure in this game! After that I have another series of books currently working away in the back of my mind which will hopefully find a publisher at some point soon too.

The OPs Committee hopes that Ciaran will come into school soon to do a writing workshop with some of the pupils, as part of our new Skills Bank Initiative.