2023
Tim Hurst-Brown has kindly compiled and written this year's newsletter.
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2022
pcoca_newsletter_2022.pdf | |
File Size: | 118 kb |
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2021
2020
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Statement from The Hastings Music Endowment Fund
The Hastings Music Endowment Fund provides grants to Chapter to support the Choral Tradition at Peterborough Cathedral.
The fund invests capital money received for the long term with an objective that growth in income and grant making capacity will exceed inflation. The funds which total approximately £2M are professionally managed and safeguarded by an independent board of Trustees whose collective experience encompasses finance, choral excellence, education and business. Since its creation in 2001 over £1M worth of grants have been made making a vital contribution each year to the costs of the music department. A separate fund, The Franklin Bequest, maintained by the Trust makes grants specifically to support the education of the choristers. |
These are testing times for everyone and it is sensible to anticipate that the music department budget will come under pressure during the next few years. The Trustees are anxious therefore to continue to build up the fund by attracting capital investments, but also regular payments can build up and be very valuable.
There is opportunity to endow the music for a day at the Cathedral in perpetuity with a capital donation, so please email [email protected] for further information. The easiest way to make a donation which, if appropriate, can benefit from gift aid is through the Hastings Trust Virgin Money page: |
2019
oca_christmas_newsletter_2019_for_print.pdf | |
File Size: | 221 kb |
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PETER JAMES BOIZOT, MBE, DL, MA, D.LITT, 1929-2018
Memorial Service: Friday 8th February 2019 at 14:00
Our good friend Peter Boizot died suddenly on 5 December 2018, just after the Christmas newsletter was published. He was eighty-nine and had been in failing health for some time. PJB was born in Walton, Peterborough on 16 November 1929, the son of Gaston and Susannah Boizot; the family later moved to All Saints’ Road. Peter attended St. Mark’s Junior School before passing on to The King’s School in 1940. He was a chorister under Dr. Henry Coleman and later Dr. Cooper Francis during the dark days of the Second World War. (In after years Peter delighted in showing people where he had carved his name on the Cathedral choir stalls). He often spoke of his time as a chorister: “Singing in the choir was a wonderful discipline”, he would say, “discipline with beauty”. He was greatly influenced at King’s by the Headmaster, the imperious Reg Hornsby. Peter played in the Rugby 1st XV in 1946 and 1947, was Captain of the 2nd XI Cricket team, and was a member of the 1st XI Hockey team in 1948. He was a prefect and Captain of Tudor House and in his final year was Head of School. On leaving King’s he joined the Army for his National Service, spending a good deal of time in Egypt. In 1950 he went up to St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge to read History, entering the College as a Choral Exhibitioner. During his time at university, Peter played for various teams, including hockey, for which he gained his College colours. He graduated in the summer of 1953. In later years, he was a very loyal supporter of St. Catharine’s and generously funded the College’s all-weather hockey pitch. In recognition of his years of devoted service to the College, he was made a Fellow Commoner of St. Catharine’s in 1996. The day after his death, the College flag flew at half mast in his honour. After graduating, Peter spent ten years working in Paris, in Switzerland and later in Rome. His entrepreneurial skills sprang from that experience. Following his Father’s death in 1964, he returned to this country and the following year opened the first Pizza Express in Soho, after failing to find anywhere in London serving Italian food (he had been a vegetarian from the age of six and had become extremely fond of pizza whilst living in Italy). Peter gradually built the company into a national institution (Pizza Express now has more than 500 restaurants worldwide). |
He soon became deeply involved in various activities in London. He was Chairman of the Save Piccadilly campaign and a founder member of the Soho Society, Chairman of the Soho Restaurateurs Association, a council member of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce, Founder of the Soho Jazz Festival, a member of the advisory board of The Royal Academy of Arts, President of Hampstead Hockey Club, proprietor of Kettner’s and Pizza on the Park restaurants, and publisher of ‘Jazz Express’.
Peter was also a notable philanthropist, raising more than two million pounds for the ‘Venice in Peril’ fund. As a result of this, he became a Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1985. Many further honours came his way: he was appointed MBE in the 1986 Birthday Honours list, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Westminster in 1995, became a Deputy Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire in 1998, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Loughborough in 2000, and was made a Freeman of the City of Peterborough in 2008. Throughout his life, Peter never forgot his roots and was much involved with numerous activities in the Peterborough area. He was the Liberal candidate for the City in two General elections in the 1970s. In 1993, he purchased The Great Northern Hotel, adjacent to the railway station. Four years later, he bought the struggling Peterborough United Football Club (‘The Posh’), and over the next six years invested over seven million pounds to put it on a firmer financial footing. He also acquired the Odeon Cinema, which was later opened as The Broadway Theatre. Despite leading an extremely busy professional life, Peter was deeply committed to helping others. He will always be remembered for his generosity and kindness to so many people in so many different walks of life. He was devoted to the Cathedral and also to The King’s School, both foundations benefitting handsomely from his munificent altruism. After his death, he was fittingly described in the local press as ‘A great Peterborian’ and also as ‘Mr. Peterborough’. With affection and kindly remembrance we bid him farewell. To his sister Wendy and his nephews we extend our sincere sympathy in their great loss. Requiescat in pace. Tim Hurst-Brown, Chairman |
2018
oca_newsletter_2018.pdf | |
File Size: | 151 kb |
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History of a Cathedral Chorister (Michael Gamble) - 2018 Newsletter |
Fatherhood (Robert Ferguson) - 2018 Newsletter |
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