Merchant Taylors’ Schools recently contributed to the efforts of many participants to promote the charity Vision Aid Overseas. The initial aim was to collect in 500 pairs of glasses in the “Every Pair Counts Appeal” during Lent. The appeal was extremely well supported by so many pupils and a staggering 3,510 pairs of glasses were donated.
A number of parishes, including SS Peter and Paul, Crosby, St Edmund and St Thomas of Canterbury, Our Lady of Victories, along with Bishop Eton and St Mary’s Woolton, joined forces to collect the unwanted spectacles.
Helping in the project were many children from primary schools as well as pupils from several secondary schools, including Archbishop Beck in Aintree and St Mary’s College Preparatory School, Crosby. Amongst a good number of other donors who contributed to the scheme were Sainsburys, Morecroft Solicitors, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Walton Centre NHS Trust.
Vision Aid Overseas works in Africa to transform access to eye care services and is part of the Vision 2020 initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020. The old or unwanted specs are recycled by Vision Aid Overseas, a charity which specializes in providing eye care for those in poverty-stricken countries around the world. The money made from recycling the glasses is then used to fund the charity’s work. Since its inception in 1987, the UK-based charity has helped more than one million people in the developing world.
Mr Chris McLoughlin, manager of Specsavers in Crosby, kindly sponsored the forwarding of the numerous boxes of glasses to Vision Aid headquarters.
Thank you to all those who helped make this appeal so successful and to all that contributed to this worthy cause.
A great day at Rossall for the AJIS Biathlon yesterday! Great results for all the teams with Year 5 boys team coming first overall and the year 6 team coming 3rd overall. A special congratulations to Monty Barr for coming 2nd in his age group and congratulations to the following boys who won the team event;
Year 5 – Monty Barr, Joshua Kelly and Christian Syms
Year 6 – Adam Cousins, Max Fittons and Harry Olson
Year 5 spent an exciting day at the Liverpool Museum, handling Roman, Anglo Saxon and Viking artefacts. The boys had an opportunity to explore the museum themselves observing other artefacts, making notes and drawing pictures.
Chris Delaney writes:
Dave was one of those annoying chaps who was good at everything without seeming to try very hard.
Dave attended MTS Crosby from 1956 to 63. He then went to St John’s College, Oxford (1963 to 66) where he obtained an MA in Classics. After graduation, he worked for a number of years at Price Waterhouse Coopers, plus a spell with the Zambian copper mine companies, before eventually settling in Johannesburg, South Africa. He then started his own company which focussed on logistics, supply chain optimisation and the management of inventory control production systems.
Dave was married to Marion who lives in Johannesburg and their son is a sports coach who lives in the USA. Dave’s sister, Mrs. Sue Williamson, lives in Crosby. He owned a holiday cottage at Umdloti near Durban.
The last time I saw Dave was when we met in February 2016 at Wanderers in Jo’burg for lunch, after my wife and I had been to the Centurion cricket ground in Pretoria the previous day to watch England lose their one day match against South Africa. Dave had a very analytical mind and as the beers went down we were able to discuss England’s shortcomings in the greatest detail!
Dave was supremely good at sport – rugby, cricket and football. He is the only Old Boy of MTS, Crosby to have won a Blue at soccer. He was the wicket keeper for the cricket team which uniquely won every single match against other schools during the 1963 season, without even a single drawn game. Dave was a lifelong Everton supporter.
Since Dave passed away in March, after a short illness, there have been many tributes received from his 1963 MTS cricket team mates – starting with Brian Carpenter, captain of the MTS 1963 cricket team:
– Really shocked to hear about Dave. We spent much time together at Uni -mainly in the nets when I could never get him out, apart from the odd LBW. He should have opened to give a bit of solidarity at the top of the order! For all his quiet demeanour he had a steely determination evident when he achieved his soccer blue amid much competition for the fullback position. It was through his soccer links that we went together to the three FA cup finals 1964/65 and most memorable of all in 1966. So many memories now flooding back – a really sad day.
– We were in 2C and Lower Remove for the first two years sitting in adjacent desks until we opted for different O level subjects. I spent many hours at his place kicking a football or practising cricket, particularly when he was starting out as a wicket-keeper. We both were regular members of the large gang of mostly MTS who played soccer incessantly in Victoria Park, and also played tennis there occasionally. He was so good at soccer, despite the embargo at MTS. I never recall getting past him, or ever getting the ball off him, but it was great to hear about his Blue at Oxford. With Dave, Walter Herriot and J B Williams,it was a tough place to be not very good at soccer. (Peter Thomas)
– We can immediately remember Dave’s humour, intelligence and enthusiasm for life. I can still see the image of his wicket-keeping prowess-reliable, sometimes mercurial, and his rugby exploits as well. He will be missed. (John Chellingworth)
– Dave had not changed from my memory of him at school. A very important member of our team, unassuming but always gave his best. You did not notice Dave behind the stumps but that showed his great skill. I know soccer was his first love but he still showed enormous skill on the Rugby field, switching from feet skills to hand skills – no problem. (Richard Norris)
– I am sure he could have turned his hand to any sport and although he would probably have succeeded at it, I could never imagine he would have been a boxing champion! I have had the ‘privilege’ of meeting several exceptional sportsmen, most of them, full of themselves, Dave was still so modest. (Michael Grundy)
– My memories of Dave go back to summers in Victoria Park – cricket and footie with our mates. He was a great sportsman and will be sadly missed. (Ferdie Gardner)
– Dave was a lovely guy, and so very talented in a number of sports. He possessed that lovely calm external presence, making one wish to know the deeper Dave Tootill. We shall miss him. The last few years have emphasised the value of friendship, and the importance of opportunities taken. None of us know what is around the corner. To those who have sadly left us we owe them fond farewells. (Robin Cox)
This week and next sees the culmination of the endeavours of those boys in the Upper and Lower Sixth who have completed a Level Three Extended Project Qualification. These projects, worth, in effect, half an A Level, are intended to anticipate the in-depth and largely autonomously-executed assignments set for undergraduates and they test students’ skills in research, essay-writing and evaluation. The 25 minute presentations have covered a range of topics from the development of Liverpool’s Chinatown to US fiscal policy by way of cystic fibrosis and the rise of graphic novels.
This morning the Head Girl Team, as well as the Sports and Music Captains of 2016, handed over their badges and responsibilities to the Head Girl Team of 2017.
Head Girl Team 2016-17
Head Girl Team 2017-18
From left to right: Music Captain Sophie Orr, Sophie Ellis, Deputy Head Girl Saoirse McGeown, Milly Cadman, Head Girl Rosie Solomon, Catherine Magennis, Deputy Head Girl Kate Abramson, Sarah Tobin, Games Captain Ellen Murgatroyd, Ellie Church, Vice Games Captain Ellie Morris
On Monday 24th April, we held our first ’UK Geography Day’. This linked in with a St. George’s Day themed celebration lunch! Pupils throughout the school spent the day learning about various aspects of the United Kingdom, including capital cities, flags, counties, lakes, rivers, famous landmarks and much more! At home, each child completed a UK quiz too. All classes enjoyed the day very much and learned a lot from it.