Newsletter - February 2024
Dear Fellow Loriners,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the first newsletter since I was installed as Master in January this year.
I had to hit the ground running as I was a guest, along with our Gallant Clerk, of the Founder's Company only four days after the Installation Dinner. This was a very convivial dinner in one of the smallest Livery Halls in the City, seating only 60 people. I remember it as a bomb site from the time when I was a student at Bart's Medical School in Charterhouse Square! It was bombed in the Second World War and the hall was only completed in the 1980s.
The big event of the month was the visit to Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre in February, which you can read about further down. WSPC are always very grateful for our financial help and tell everyone about us. Great publicity!
My thanks the hard-working (and unpaid) members of the Communications and Website team for their work in bringing you this news of the Loriners' activities and events.
Finally I look forward to seeing many of you at our Spring Court Lunch at Tallow Chandlers Hall on 25th April or, even more grandly, at our Mansion House Banquet on 15th May.
With regards to everyone,
George Anderson
Master 2024/25
HRH The Princess Royal visits Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre
On Thursday 8th February, HRH The Princess Royal visited the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre (WSPC) to mark its 35th Anniversary celebrations.
During her visit, the Princess mentioned, in her address, the support given to the Centre over the years by the British Horse Society, Riding for the Disabled, the Changing Lives through Horses programme and the Worshipful Company of Loriners. She also paid tribute to the steadfast work and commitment of its founder and CEO, Sister Mary Joy Langdon, who is also an Honorary Freeman of our Company.
The Master was accompanied by the Mistress, the Immediate Past Master and Past Mistress and Dr. Ian Wingfield, Senior Court Assistant and Loriner Steward to the WSPC.
The Loriners’ party had the honour of being presented to HRH in the Tack Room of the Loriners’ Stable Yard, where they spoke of the longstanding support that the Company has given to WSPC over the years. The Princess also heard that our Worshipful Company had sponsored the ‘35 Steps’, a collection of 35 photographs commemorating the Centre’s development since its foundation. A special plaque marks our contribution to this year’s celebrations.
The event was arranged by the British Horse Society and the Master thanked its CEO, James Hicks, for his kind invitation. Also in attendance was Martin Clunes, sporting his Loriners’ tie. Martin is also an Honorary Freeman of our Company and a major supporter of the WSPC.
Speaking to Sister Mary Joy, the Master passed on our Company’s good wishes for a truly memorable anniversary year and reinforced the importance of our special relationship with the Centre over the past 35 years.
Immediate Past Master, Colin Gurley
Communications Committee
March 2024