upcoming dates for Young Stationers jollities

[Pádraig Belton]

Dear Young Stationers and friends,

 Hullo - I hope all of you have been very well indeed!  I've a few dates for you to pencil in your diaries, if you'd not mind:

• Visit (with backstage tour) to the Royal Opera House, L'elisir d'amore, 4th December.

• Oxford dinner (jointly with the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles): 'Spellbound: Bookbinding in the 21st Century' with Alison Strachan, director of bookbinding, Shepherds Bookbinding Ltd. 5th February, in an Oxford college.

• House of Lords dinner (by kind courtesy of the Lord Balfe): the UK, EU, and the coming General Election, with Lord Balfe (former Member of the European Parliament). 23d February, in the House of Lords.

• Dublin visit, March 2015 (tentatively scheduled for the weekend preceding St Patrick's Day - this will include behind-the-scenes visits to the Irish Times, National Library of Ireland, Archbishop Marsh's Library, the Chester Beatty Museum, and the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin).

• Finally, all Young Stationers are very warmly welcome to charity guest dinners for my Channel crossing appeal for the Alzheimer's Society: 19th December (Christmas dinner) at Boodle's, and 17th March (St Patrick's Day dinner) at the Garrick.

We're very grateful for all the support for last weekend's cycle ride to Ypres by eleven young ruffians, for the Wiltshire Barn Project and Royal British Legion; there was a great deal of enthusiasm about all of us going off to Belgium, though mild consternation about us coming back after.  We've so far received over £1,000, and there are a few photographs of our journey below, which ended by presenting a wreath on behalf of the Stationers, with our Master and his wife, at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.  (Our two fundraising links, if anyone might like them, are http://www.bmycharity.com/CycleYpres and https://www.justgiving.com/OperationYpres.)

There's also a photograph of a few of us going yesterday to the Company's new school, the Stationers' Crown Woods Academy, as its first batch of mentors.  Please don't forget our prospective members' drinks for the Company at Stationers' Hall, on 27th October - to which you're all very extremely warmly welcome!

with all very best wishes,
Paddy

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www.justgiving.com/RunPaddy

Running the length of Ireland for Macmillan Cancer Support, 1st-12th October, 2013