OBA Annual Dinner 2017

Guest speaker, Daryl Upsall FInstF

I am pleased to be able to announce details of the 2017 OBA Annual Dinner. It will be held at the Boston & County Club, and the guest speaker this year will be Daryl Upsall FInstF.

You can order your dinner tickets on-line using the form at the bottom of this post.

Soon after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in Social and Political Sciences, Daryl began his career working in the national and international charity sector since when he has spent some 34 years working with over 240 non-profits in some 66 countries.

He has worked with such figures as Neil Kinnock, Harold Pinter, Julie Christie and Elton John. He was kissed by General Manuel Noriega in the midst of the Nicaraguan Revolution; Harold Pinter asked him to read and comment on his latest play; he introduced Graham Greene to Peter Gabriel; he collected an award from George Michael at the MTV Awards. He says he has never had a dull moment professionally.

Since 2001 Daryl has lived in Madrid. He owns a number of consulting and recruitment agencies in Spain and elsewhere that work for the world’s largest international charities, Red Cross and UN agencies.

Daryl Upsall FInstF is one of the few Fellows of the UK Institute of Fundraising and the outgoing Vice-Chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals based in Washington, DC. His proudest moment in fundraising was being personally thanked by Nelson Mandela for raising over US$2.5 million in 6 months for his election campaign...with a zero budget.

Andy Taylor - Obituary

Andrew James Taylor (BGS 1975-80)

Andy Taylor died on 27 October 2016, aged 53.

Andy was born on 2 September 1963. His father, Ralph was a paint sprayer and his mother, Martha was a hospital supervisor. His education started at Tower Road School before he moved on to Boston Grammar School.

He was a keen sportsman and a member of the sea cadets, where his interest in ships and engineering probably started.

After leaving BGS, Andy had a variety of jobs with local garages and other businesses. He even became a Master Butcher at the Co-Op.

Eventually he returned to engineering and travelled around the globe rebuilding and repairing ship engines. Simon Moore remembers him talking about rebuilding an oil tanker's engine in Ecuador - the piston was as large as a dustbin.

He then moved to Manchester and worked as a self-employed engineer on a large generation plant and often travelled to Ireland to repair generators.

The family decided to move to Spain soon after losing his mother to cancer and spent some time travelling before finally settling near Castell de Ferro where Andy raised goats and walked the mountains when he wasn't engineering.

In 2015 a fire broke out and Andy was referred to the local hospital with severe smoke inhalation. Unfortunately the X-Rays showed some dark areas on his lungs. Andy knew he had to return to the UK for treatment. In November 2015 Andy finally arrived back in Boston after a friend collected him and his belongings.

Andy sought work with his nephew, Simon Moore who has a haulage business, as a General Maintenance Engineer.

This helped Andy whilst undergoing investigations as to the cause of the shadows.

In early 2016 Andy was diagnosed with lung cancer. Treatment commenced during the summer. He was responding to Radiotherapy and chemotherapy and the future looked promising. However while the tumour in his chest had shrunk, the cancer had spread to most parts of his body.

The most serious cancer had reached his brain and a tumour had been growing which had already took a hold despite the treatment he had received. Andy bravely fought it over a period of approximately six weeks, finally losing the battle on 27 October 2016 aged 53.

Andy was an inspiration to many who he met. He had a free spirit and was a well educated individual. He had a keen interest in music, motorbikes, cooking, fishing, reading and writing. At the time of his death, he was writing a book, which the family hope to put together and publish. He was fascinated by how things worked and felt the need to research what interested him.

Andy wanted to be remembered by the bright colours he wore and the hats which he always wore. He said all I want to do is ensure I put a smile on people's faces and be remembered by being different.

Andy leaves two children from his first marriage: Adam and Natasha Taylor, and one child from his second: Andrew Austin. His sister, Rosalind Moore is a horse breeder and farmer in Boston.

This obituary was put together based on information provided by Simon Moore, who finished his tribute with the words: "God bless you Andy, we will remember you. X X X X".

Richard Mountain - Obituary

Richard Harry Mountain (ex-BGS, 1945-2016)

Richard Mountain died in September following a short illness. He grew up in Amber Hill and after attending Boston Grammar School all he wanted to was drive trucks. His funeral was at Brothertoft Church with burial at Amber Hill.

This tribute was paid to Richard on Facebook by "GEH Trucking" on 30 September 2016.

Sadly last week GEH lost the services of Uncle Richard after a short illness. Richard Mountain was recommended to us by another sadly departed ex GEH and JMI driver, Christian Underwood. When we needed someone to fly out and take a truck on to Portugal. Richard completed the job and as soon as a job came up he was the man to call. In the 10 years I have worked with Richard I can honestly say hand on heart we have never had a cross word and for me the only way I can describe him is irreplaceable. He worked for many high profile haulage companies in his native Lincolnshire area but most people will remember him for blazing the North African trail for John Mann. His laid-back attitude to any day-to-day situation is a lesson to us all; this is by no means detrimental to the man who worked daily to be the best of the best and to me there is no doubt he proved and achieved this on a daily basis until he was taken ill. Richard will sadly be missed by anyone that ever had the privilege to meet him as he always had a smile and a kind word. If there is life on the other side and God wanted a driver to do a job whose patience and ability will be tested every day he has taken the right man for the job – Richard Harry Mountain 1945-2016 (Uncle Richard).

Richard Laight - Obituary

Richard Laight (ex-BGS)

Richard Laight died on 2 September 2016, at home, in the company of his wife Lindy, and daughters Sami, 30, Vicki, 28, and Georgi, 25. He was 55.

The grandfather to three (with another on the way) had been terminally ill, having been diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2015.

He spent much of the year supporting two causes close to his heart – Macmillan Cancer Support and Blackfriars Theatre and Arts Centre – and his family say in that time about £15,000 was raised for the pair.

Speaking to The Standard, Lindy, 55, said: “I have been with him for 35 years and I can’t have wished for a better 35 years.”

She said the family have been left ‘absolutely devastated’ by their loss.

Vicki said: “He is going to leave a massive hole in a lot of people’s hearts.”

The family spoke of Richard’s courage following his diagnosis.

“He just took it on the chin and got on with it,” Vicki said. “His words were ‘we will fight this’. He did show the utmost courage and that’s why we are so proud of him.”

“He never moaned about anything,” said Sami. “He looked forward, he never looked back.”

Richard Laight (centre) in a BGS production
of Treasure Island c1975 with David Rodwell (right)

Richard was a director at Blackfriars and had been heavily involved in the Spain Lane venue for many years. He had also taken responsibility for Health and Safety in the theatre in the past few years. His knowledge of Blackfriars was extensive – he first performed in Blackfriars as a child, and had been an active member of BOS Musical Theatre Group for twenty years, taking both principal and chorus parts. He directed and produced several successful shows with them, including Annie, Oliver and Miracle on 34th Street. His production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way…” was nominated for a NODA Award. He also trod the boards with Playgoers, and was in the occasional “Blackfriars” production such as Corpus Castle. He made a very good Dame in Panto. In addition he was a skilled set builder, had extensive knowledge of sound and lighting, and was an efficient Stage Manager and backstage hand. In other words he had a passion for all aspects of theatre.

Following his death, Blackfriars chairman Stuart Bull said: “Richard was still a relatively young man who still had a lot to give, and Blackfriars Theatre and Arts Centre has lost a great friend.”

The family thanked the St Barnabas Hospice and Marie Curie charities for their support, as well as the vast number of people who have shared messages of sympathy with them.

They also wanted to send a message to people of Richard’s age to prompt them to consider cancer if they notice changes in their body to help with early diagnosis.

Based on an article in the Boston Standard

Boston Grammar School Head of Science to serve on national committee

Boston Grammar school's Head of Science, Emma Winter, has been awarded Chartered Science Teacher status in recognition of her commitment and contribution to Science education and has landed a key appointment to serve as a member of the Association for Science Education's 11-19 Committee.
Emma says ‘I am delighted to have been awarded CSciTeach, I have been a member of the ASE for a long time and have enjoyed the opportunities it allows to work collaboratively with others to develop as a teacher.’

The Committee advises and supports teachers in secondary schools on a large range of topics and is interested in all aspects of the science curriculum. Emma views being co-opted onto the national board for the subject as ‘an opportunity to give something back to science education and bring cutting edge science education developments to the students at BGS.’

Emma says ‘There is a huge demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. I believe the skills the students develop to read things objectively and to make their own judgements based on the evidence available is important. At BGS we promote transferrable skills across subjects often with the science subjects being pivotal to this. The science community works best when it works together and it starts with science education.’

Article from Boston Grammar School website

Duncan Pitcher - RIP

Duncan Pitcher (BGS 1983-90)

Duncan Pitcher of Swineshead died on 10 July 2016 aged 44. Duncan had been suffering from a brain tumour for a number of years. During his illness he had moved back to live with his parents. He leaves parents David and Juliette, and brother Martin. His funeral took place at South Lincolnshire Crematorium.

Boston Grammar School old boy, Mark Capps said "Known him since we were born. Sad times".

Richard Budge - Obituary

Richard John Budge (BGS 1958-65)

19 April 1947 - 18 July 2016

Richard Budge died on Monday 18 July 2016, at the age of 69 after suffering from prostate cancer for nine years. He was nicknamed “King Coal” after successfully spear-heading the purchase of State-owned British Coal’s mining assets when the industry was privatised over 20 years ago, .

Richard, a generous supporter of the Old Bostonian Association, attended Boston Grammar school and went on to Manchester University to study Fine Arts. He left to join the Retford-based company AF Budge owned by his late brother Tony, which was involved in civil engineering projects, constructing major motorway interchanges and extracting coal from seams lying close to the surface.

Almost half a century later when privatisation of the coal mining industry was completed, Richard’s Doncaster-based RJB Mining company bought 17 of the 19 remaining deep mines.

The three English coalfield packages embracing 17 deep mines, 30 surface mines, over 400 million tonnes of reserves and nearly 50,000 acres of land, cost RJB Mining, of which Budge was Chief Executive, £815 million. £700 million was paid to the government on completion on December 30, 1994, and the remaining bank acquisition debt was paid off within two years.

In 1992, he bought the Opencast Coal and Plant Division from the family business. He bought a small deep mine in Northumberland, contracted for surface mine sites, and rescued three deep mines which British Coal had decided would play no part in the privatisation process. These “lease and licence” mines went on to produce almost 20 million tonnes of coal for power stations and industry before they closed.

RJB Mining was transformed from a relatively small company to the biggest independently owned coal production business in Europe.

Armed with contracts to supply power stations in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the North East at guaranteed prices for three years, Mr Budge launched a campaign, convincing employees that he was in it for the long-term. There was investment in both deep and surface mines, new machinery accessing millions of tonnes of reserves and a determination to maintain and improve health and safety standards.

Following a slump in energy prices in the late 90s as coal supply contracts were being renegotiated , Richard quit as the company’s Chief Executive in the summer of 2001.

He invested his energies and much of his personal wealth in securing a future for Hatfield, a colliery near Doncaster with substantial reserves and the potential to pioneer carbon capture technology seen as an environmental life-line for coal. He secured foreign investment, but little was forthcoming from the EU or the UK government which by then was promoting “renewable” energies as the way forward.

(Photo Brighouse Echo)

Richard served in both regional and national capacities as Chairman and President of the Coal Trade Benevolent Association He provided support and was Chairman of the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation and many organisations and activities popular in traditional mining communities. He was a trustee of the National Coal Mining Museum for England, the former Caphouse colliery at Wakefield, and for many years, was with Nottinghamshire Enterprises, a job creation agency helping regenerate one of the coalfields hit hard by pit closures.

He was the driving force behind the foundation of the Confederation of UK Coal Producers, a campaign group which for the first time gave independent producers a voice in the corridors of power. It had many successes but failed to secure government and EU investment in clean coal carbon capture and storage technology. The decision marked the end of the British coal industry, and the country’s last deep mine, once owned and developed by Richard’s RJB Mining, ceased production at the end of 2015. Richard had been declared bankrupt in 2013.

As a young man Richard's passion for motor racing was put into practice behind the wheel of several high-powered Chevron historic sports cars, winning races and championships and being crowned Thundersports Gold Cup winner at Oulton Park in 1983.

Richard, who treasured his privacy, leave his wife, Ros, their sons Grant and Kurt and their five grandchildren.

Based on an article from the Brighouse Echo