Cornelian
Association
What do YOU think?
The Cornelian Association, founded in May 1913 with a meeting of former pupils from Mayfield finds itself, 103 years later, at a crossroads. Should it continue as it has been doing for the last decade, funding individual pupils in need, supporting the School's new Sixth Form Centre, contributing to the charitable work of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in Africa and Central America, or has the time come for the Association, recognising that the School now plays the key role in organising events for Old Cornelians and facilitating people keeping in touch with one another, to work towards disposing of its assets and wrapping up?
The Association is currently run by a nine-person committee of former pupils, straddling several decades of 'leavers'. Our 'rules' (see extract below) link the association firmly to the SHCJ order, but the SHCJ link to the School inevitably weakens as no member of the community teaches in the School. It must be challenging for current students to understand the impact that being taught by 'the nuns' had on previous generations. So, as time passes, will current pupils, once they become 'old girls' be likely to find the time and energy to keep the Association going?
The Society is dwindling in Europe and the USA but is growing from strength to strength in Africa, so it would seem inevitable that that is where the future of the SHCJ lies. Is there an argument for the association using its financial resources to fund a legacy project somewhere in Africa, and cease to provide occasional bursaries or charitable donations both overseas and in the UK?
The Association was funded on a subscription basis, with a mix of annual subscriptions and long-term 'life' payments. However we now have no income stream – apart from the interest accruing from our investments.
The last issue of the "Old Cornelian Magazine" detailed how our donation to the SHCJ in Africa to support their charitable work had been used, and the committee were heartened to see how far a small pot of money could be stretched and used to great benefit. Is this what the Association should keep doing?
We must not forget that the Cornelian Association does not solely represent former pupils of Mayfield (and St Leonards) but also the Society's schools at Combe Bank and Harrogate, so we need to find a way of getting feedback from those old girls too.
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The Cornelian Association wants your views...
A reunion of old girls to be held at the School on Sunday 25th September 2016 is being planned, and we hope to hold an open forum for discussing the Association's next step. You may not be able to attend, but still want your voice heard, so please channel your thoughts through the School's Development Office and Claire Ball, the Alumnae Coordinator, or email the committee on
CornelianAssociation150@gmail.com.
OC We look forward to hearing from you – we really do!
Monica M Hicks Cornelian Association committee chair (1963), on behalf of the committee: Poppy (Rosanna) Busuttil (2007); Emma Dixon (née Manning) (1992); Thea Domanski (née Houghton) (2000); Carmen Gunther (née Golding) (treasurer) (2003); Catherine O'Neill (née Layden) (2000); Hannah Scott (née MacWilliam) (2000); Julianne Barnard (née Walshe) (secretary) (1988); Kitty Bannen (née Walshe) (1992).
The objects of the Association are:
a) to maintain a lifelong link between Old Girls and the School b) to help in the work of the Holy Child Missions and any other charitable activity in which the School may be or become interested
c) to assist in the publication each year of a magazine concerning the School, its pupils and Old Girls
d) to present prizes for the School, to make presentations to the School and to organise collections for such presentations from Old Girls
e) to organise and join with other bodies in organising, social or other activities for Members
f) to procure the holding of a monthly Mass to be celebrated at the School for deceased Old Girls, and
g) generally to further the interests of the School and the Old Girls in every other way.
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2016
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