Following a long tenure, Richard Browning has stepped down from the Chair of Trustees role, one which he has fulfilled admirably, overseeing the the fund passing the £100,000 milestone which enables the fund to be self-sustaining (whilst the interests rates remain favourable). Richard remains as a Trustee and I am grateful for his guidance on all matters as I take the reins.
We are very grateful to the OCC for their generous donation of £600 to the bursary – this is much appreciated and it is heartening that the club has made this ongoing commitment to the bursary fund.
The bursary is also benefiting from a donation from the London branch of the OCC. However, it is sad that the donation is due to the branch closing due to lack of interest. As part of the transfer of funds, the Bursary will manage the Tony Coates Fund which provides a £50 book token each prize giving.
The trustees are deeply saddened following the passing of Peter Hobbs. Peter was a great and generous supporter of the bursary fund and will be much missed. Our condolences to his family and friends.
The trustees – Richard Browning, Richard Briggs, Mike Beard and Clive Thomas – meet throughout the year to ensure that our charitable trust duties are discharged as required and to discuss ways that we can increase the fund or provide more benefit to the pupils.
Although the fund is self sustaining, this won’t always be the case and we are always happy to receive additional donations, either as a regular donation or one offs. We are especially grateful to the Old Cryptians who have made provision in their wills to benefit the Bursary Fund.
Please do get in touch – bu*****@**********ns.org – if you would like to receive more information
This being my first year as chair of the Bursary Trustees, I was excited to be involved in the preparation and distribution of the awards. My part in the preparation was to rubber stamp the nominations from the school, everything else was taken care of admirably by Louise Price at school and Clive Thomas as our Treasurer. Suffice to say, everything went smoothly once I realised I didn’t have much to do.
The distribution of the awards happens at school with all the awardees invited to lunch. We had a good showing from the Bursary Trustees; Clive Thomas, Richard Briggs and Richard Browning joining me. It is a really lovely chance to spend time with some of the exceptional pupils from the school across all the years and to hear about their achievements and interests.
It also gave us as Old Cryptians an opportunity to share our career paths and to show how circumstances and choices made through life have opened up unexpected and unplanned opportunities.
The following students have all been recognised by the school and nominated by individual teachers.
Ben is an exceptionally able academic with his teachers describing him a “model student”. He is reflective in his learning enabling him to make continuous improvements, so his grades just keep going upwards. He is also constantly enriching his academic studies by attending the Natural World Society and the Medicine Society. He’s currently studying maths, biology and chemistry and based on his teacher’s predictions he has a bright future ahead.
Connor has been an exemplary drama student this year – committing to his studies and honing his performance skills both in and out of the classroom. Connor has diligently attended and helped to lead the Monday lunchtime drama club for KS3 students and also been part of the new Musical Theatre club since September, which meets every Thursday lunchtime. Connor successfully auditioned a solo for the school’s first Musical Theatre showcase and will be performing on the school stage in front of a large audience. Although this is something that Connor finds daunting, he is challenging himself by committing to this performance, demonstrating his fantastic growth this year as a performer.
Samuel is a dedicated and talented young musician whose contributions to the musical life of The Crypt School have been both significant and inspiring.
Samuel plays an active and central role in a wide range of the school’s musical activities. He is a committed and enthusiastic member of the school choir and A Capella Choir, regularly contributing to high-quality performances at concerts and school events.
Academically, Samuel works with great diligence in GCSE Music, where he is producing creative and well-developed compositions, and consistently developing his performance skills. His commitment to music extends beyond the classroom, and he is always seeking opportunities to grow both as a performer and as a composer.
Samuel has expressed a clear ambition to study Music at A Level and pursue it further in higher education. His aspiration is supported by a strong foundation of musical knowledge, practical experience, and personal drive. He is not only a valued member of the current school music community, but also a promising musician with the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the wider musical world.
In recognition of his dedication, talent, and potential, I strongly support Samuels application for the Old Cryptian Bursary Award. Such support would undoubtedly encourage him to continue his musical journey and enable him to further enrich the cultural life of the school and beyond.
Shivani is a year 7 student who shows exceptional levels of skill and commitment to her art work. Her parents have commented on how she tries to extend her skills and experiences at home and we regularly see Shivani in art during lunchtimes. She has received merits for every piece of art work she has done this year and her efforts are exceptional. This bursary would allow Shivani to explore working with further materials and develop her confidence.
Joshua, your dedication to engineering is truly inspiring. We are thrilled that you’ll be continuing your studies in this field next year. Your contributions to the F1 in Schools team were highlighted brilliantly at the National Final. The racing was streamed live on YouTube, and your incredible sense of teamwork was clear to everyone watching – especially to presenter Radzi Chinyanganya. Radzi himself specifically mentioned that his main takeaway from the entire STEM event was you, Joshua. Your unwavering commitment to F1 in Schools, while simultaneously excelling in your studies, leading assemblies on inclusion, and serving as an Anti-Bullying ambassador, supporting STEM Society, and so much more, has been nothing short of impressive. This is even more remarkable when we consider your daily commute, sometimes involving five buses to get here, on time, every single day. Your priorities are clearly set, and they are absolutely right. We hope this award goes some way to supporting the next steps of what we know will be a very bright future. As Radzi so aptly put it, Joshua, you are a true inspiration.
Jack, your exceptional engineering skills and leadership were instrumental in guiding our F1 in Schools team, Ceres Racing. You led from the top, acting as a true role model who consistently went above and beyond for the team and for the school. Your meticulous work as Team Principal ensured that Ceres Racing won the Project Management Award at the National Finals. This is a truly well-deserved recognition of your efforts. Your keen attention to detail, innovative thinking, and constant drive for improvement ensured our car performed with precision and consistency across the fleet. It was no surprise when Ceres Racing clinched the Best Engineered Car award at the regional final. Furthermore, your performance during the engineering interviews was nothing short of incredible – it was truly impressive to witness. We have no doubt that future job interviews in the world of engineering will be an absolute breeze for you. We sincerely hope you will use this award to support your exciting next steps into motorsport engineering. We are confident you will be a very influential figure in that world, and we eagerly look forward to seeing you trackside in the future!
Max has constantly worked hard during his time at The Crypt and his contribution in Year 10 is no exception. A dedicated and focused student Max has excelled academically. A true gentleman, he is considerate of others, whilst working collaboratively to achieve success. It is the hope that the bursary will enable Max to deepen his academic progress and allow him to purchase items to support his academic studies.
Reuben is an exceptional mathematician, often finding a unique way to solve problems and was a key member in the Team Maths Challenge competition, coming second. In English, Reuben articulates himself in a mature manner, often taking debate to a higher level, and produces thorough written responses and analysis of texts. Across other areas of the curriculum, he has a strong knowledge and understanding of each subject and is extremely inquisitive, conscientious and enthusiastic.
Outside of lessons, Reuben joins in an incredible number of extra curricular activities, including recently starting an Environment Club as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, absolutely making the most of the opportunities available to him.
Reuben is a very likeable, humble, kind and well respected pupil who thoroughly deserves this award.
Liam has had an outstanding year in the 6th form so far, excelling academically in computer science and consistently demonstrating a deep understanding of complex concepts. His confidence and dedication have made him a standout student, and he sets a high standard for himself and his peers, through both his work ethic and positive attitude. Liam is widely respected by his teachers for his maturity, initiative, and leadership, making him a true role model within the school community. Liam has been an ambassador for computer science all through GCSE and this has now progressed into his A level studies. I couldn’t think of a more deserving student.
Sophie started playing Netball in primary school and joined Hucclecote netball club. In Year 8 she joined the satellite U13 and then went on to play for Hucclecote regional decision 1 team in Year 9. Sophie then trialled for the Severn stars U18 Nova academy and was successful at just 14 years old. In Year 10 Sophie then won the Gloucester League Division 1 with Hucclecote and continued to shine in the Nova academy. In Y11 she then got into the Birmingham Panthers ETP U18. Sophie’s netball success at school has also been a huge success. In Y9 they won the netball county competition, in Y10 they won again and reached the semi finals in the national cup and finally in Y11 again won the county competition for a third time and reached the semi finals in the national cup. All whilst showing excellent leadership as school captain and captain of the Birmingham Panthers ETP U18.
James Armino grew up playing team sports but always knew he was quick. It wasn’t until fairly recently he decided to sprint seriously. Since then James has been selected to represent Gloucestershire at the South West Schools Championships in summer 2024, where he made the finals and began training with Justin Smith, at SpeedProjectTraining. After a few months of focused work, he entered his first race as a full-time athlete: the 60 metres at Loughborough. In that debut, he qualified for the England Athletics U20 Indoor Championships in Sheffield. He also competed at the South West Indoor Championships in Cardiff, winning gold in the U20 category at just 16 years old. This strong indoor season set him up for his first outdoor campaign. James opened with a 10.71 personal best in the 100m in London, then lowered it to 10.64 just weeks later, only 0.14 seconds off the U20 European Championships qualifying standard. That time ranked him 10th in the U20s for Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the time of writing. In the 200m, he clocked a wind-assisted 21.31.
The Bursary is always keen to hear from anyone connected with the school who would like to propose a potential recipient of a bursary. The Trustees consider all applications and this year we are very pleased to have heard from Old Cryptian Kevin Bendall who has nominated a member of his chess club – the Wootton Hall Chess Club – for consideration.
Having read Kev’s citation and other communications, it was really a very simple decision to give Zack Norris an award and we wish him great success with his chess endeavours. I am sure you will agree that Zack’s achievements to date (outlined below) are very impressive and make him a very worthy candidate.
Zack began his chess career at local club Wotton Hall in December 2022, and he managed to win on his debut at the age of 9. Wotton Hall is the top club in the Gloucestershire Chess League and also play in the 4NCL where top teams from around the UK compete. Zack’s progress has been staggering and he now plays on the higher boards for the club.
At Junior Age level, Zack was a two-time winner of the Gloucestershire Primary School Championship and also won events at Maidenhead, Wimbledon, Bristol and Swindon. Zack was selected for the South-West England team against Wales, winning all 4 of his games.
These successes attracted national interest and Zack is a member of both the England EPSCA and ECF Junior squads. He made his England debut in March this year in an international tournament in York, winning 5 out of 5 to win an individual award.
In his first year at Crypt, Zack has won the school chess competition.
In May this year Zack won his biggest tournament to date, winning the 55th Cotswold Congress Open Competition, playing in the highest section against adults from around England. This made Zack the youngest ever winner of the event, and also gives him the title ‘Gloucestershire Champion’ for the year, which is a remarkable achievement at the age of 12.
Kevin Bendall
Chairman, Wotton Hall Chess Club
Crypt School 1972-79
The fund has greatly benefitted from rising interest rates but there is potential to further exploit the rising rates. The bulk of the fund is held in a 95 day account, meaning that we are unable to to make instant or short term changes to take advantage of beneficial rates. It is also prudent to ensure only £85,000 is held in any single account to ensure we are fully covered in the event of a financial institution failing.
Clive Thomas is undertaking a review of available and suitable accounts and will make a recommendation to the trustees.
The trustees will continue to explore opportunities to increase the fund, which will in turn allow us to award more and / or bigger bursaries. This is something that the trustees feel strongly about as the cost of living “crisis” impacts so many of our students.
| BANK ACCOUNTS | £ |
| CafBank | £3,362 |
| SAVINGS ACCOUNT | |
| Redwood Bank (95 Day Notice) | £95,178 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | £98,540 |
| INCOME | £ |
| Donations (18) | £2,161 |
| HMRC Gift Aid refund | £567 |
| Interest | £1,907 |
| £4,635 | |
| EXPENDITURE | |
| Awards* | (£2,400) |
| Bank charges | (47) |
| (£2,447) | |
| NET SURPLUS | £2,188 |
A similar policy to previous years has been maintained in providing Bursary awards to deserving students in their respective fields as outlined in the section covering Bursaries for the current year. All donations to the Bursary Fund are appreciated as the main aim is to remain self sufficient by matching the level of expenditure with necessary income.
Bank information is as follows:- OC Bursary Fund; Sort Code 40-52-40 Account No 00010216
A summary of the financial position as at Dec 31st 2021 was as follows.
Assets
Bank Accounts £3020
Savings Accounts (90 days) £91883
Total Balance £94903
As at March 2022 the Total funds stand at £96477 reflecting a net surplus of £1582. From May 2022 the Redwood Savings 90 days account will provide a monthly interest of 1.10%.
Trustees encourage all Old Cryptians to try and commit an annual donation of £50 to maintain the current award scheme. One of our Trustees Richard Briggs in this instance undertook a sponsored bike ride in N Ireland in May which is much appreciated. Also on July 12th a commemoration was held for John Crowe a former Cryptian to mark his loyalty and generosity to both the school and the Bursary fund.
10 Bursaries have been awarded this year and the ceremony was held at school on June 29th. The following students were recommended for Bursaries by Crypt School staff following liaison with Hazel Wasley Head’s PA.
Sixth Form – Travel Ruyana Zayd
Sixth Form – Academic Thomas Usmar, David Peet
Art, Music, Drama Maya Weaver, Aleeksia Atanasova, Matthias Kelay
Technology, Engineering Matyas Nyeki – Varga, Andrew Casewell
Sports Awards Martha Campbell, Oliver Workman
The 1539 Society honours alumni and friends of the Crypt school who since inauguration in 2001 have been benefactors of the Bursary fund.
Membership of donors is acknowledged with the presentation of a special lapel badge and signed certificate.
Full details of the OC Bursary fund can be found on the club website www.oldcryptians.org. Details of how to make regular donations or leave a bequest in your will can be obtained from the treasurer Clive Thomas whose contact details are :-
16 Quat Goose Lane, Cheltenham GL51 9RX
Tel No 01242 216885 E Mail cl***@*************co.uk
Apart from Standing orders and Donations made to the Bursary fund, further valuable support can be provided by means of a gift through a Will by adding a Codicil. The Bursary as a Charity pays no tax on gifts and furthermore an estate will benefit by reducing the amount liable for inheritance tax. This may be carried out with the help of a Solicitor or by drawing up your own codicil by stating the following.
Richard Browning (1952-1959)
Fortunately the COVID pandemic is showing encouraging signs of easing allowing the Government to remove most restrictions as of July 19th. With school open most of the current year a similar policy to previous years has been maintained in providing Bursary awards to deserving students in their respective fields as outlined below. As for 2020, travel has again been excluded. The Bursary has this year supported an initiative from the school to establish a 6th Form fund to help students affected financially by the effects of the pandemic.
All donations to the Bursary fund are appreciated as the main aim remains to be self-sufficient by matching the level of expenditure with the necessary income to maintain current student awards. Banking data are as follows: Account name OC Bursary Fund; Sort Code 40-52-40; Account no 00010216.
Bursary Finances
A summary of the financial position as at 31st December 2020 was as follows:-
Balance held in Bursary funds £95,570
RECEIPTS
income from donations and interest £3,493
Gift Aid recovered from HMRC £2,610
Legacies received £26,000
During 2020 £2,000 was paid out in bursaries and a further £2,500 was committed to the school’s 6th Form fund to support students affected by the pandemic, as mentioned above. This amount was paid over in early 2021 and so will be reflected in our 2021 figures.
At the time of writing this report the total funds stand at £94,383, reflecting a net deficit in the year of £1,187. We urge all Old Cryptians to see if they could commit to an ongoing donation of just £50 to help us get to our target of £100,000 as quickly as possible. The additional help we gave this year to current students in financial difficulties shows what a difference the Bursary can make. Details of where you can set up a standing order is shown below, and also please ensure you provide us with your details so we can reclaim the additional gift aid from the government.
Bursary awards 2021
The Trustees were pleased to award 8 Bursaries this year and held the awards ceremony at school on June 23rd in the new cricket pavilion. The following students were recommended for Bursaries by Crypt school staff.
Academia (6th form) Donu Kolani ; Jack Evans
Art, Music, Drama Bram Allen-Bowdry; Ben Hannaford- Waddington;
Daniel Crowe
Sports Tianne Klaric; Tom Pritchard
Technology/Engineering Matvei Sinden
The 1539 Society
The 1539 Society honours alumni and friends of the Crypt school who since inauguration in 2001 have been benefactors of the Bursary Fund. Membership of donors is acknowledged with the presentation of a special lapel badge and signed certificate. Currently there are 90 active individual donors in the scheme. Present Trustees are Richard Browning (Chairman), Clive Thomas (Treasurer), Mike Beard and Richard Briggs.
Full details of the OC Bursary Fund can be found on the club website www.old cryptians.org . Details of how to make regular donations or leave a bequest in your will can be obtained from the treasurer, Clive Thomas whose contact details are:-
16 Quat Goose Lane, Cheltenham GL51 9RX.
Tel No 01242 216885
Email cl***@*************co.uk
Extended support
Apart from Standing orders and Donations made to the Bursary Fund, further valuable support can be provided by means of a gift through a Will by adding a Codicil. The Bursary as a Charity pays no tax on gifts and furthermore your estate will benefit by reducing the amount liable for Inheritance tax. This may be carried out with the help of a Solicitor or by drawing up your own codicil by stating the following:-
(Registered Charity No 1094627)
Further details can be provided by our treasurer, Clive Thomas.
Richard Browning (1952-1959)
On 16 May the Crypt school annual awards from the Bursary Fund were distributed to students in a lunch time ceremony at Crypt School.
10 awards of £250 each were presented by the Trustees in the following 5 categories: Academic; Sport; Travel; Music, Drama and Art; Engineering and Technology. The latter is new and reflects the expanding scope of activities being undertaken on the school syllabus.
You will be able to read more about the OCC Centennial Bursary Fund in The Cryptian magazine later in the year.
Donations to the Old Cryptians’ Club are most welcome. If you would like to make a donation now to the Old Cryptians, please use this link which will provide details of various methods of donating.
All monies received will be directed to the Bursary Fund, and since this has charitable status, the Fund will benefit from a tax free amount. However it is a requirement that you have made a one time Gift Aid declaration. The form can be downloaded here.
You can also now donate by signing up to Amazon’s Smile which donates 0.5% of all your Amazon purchases to the Bursary.
As mentioned above, signing up to Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price of most items bought on Amazon. We received £5 this year – not much, but not many have signed up! The following email was received from Amazon.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Dear Charity Administrator,
This email is to notify you that Amazon has donated £5.00 to your organisation (The Old Cryptians’ Club Centenary Bursary Fund 2001). The Old Cryptians’ Club Centenary Bursary Fund 2001’s AmazonSmile donation balance as of 31 March, 2019 was under the minimum donation amount of £5.00 and as a courtesy, we have rounded up your donation to £5.00 this quarter. Once per year, AmazonSmile will issue donations to all registered organisations that have earned donations, even if the donation amount is below the £5.00 minimum. The donation has been deposited to your organisation’s bank account around 15 May, 2019.
You can increase The Old Cryptians’ Club Centenary Bursary Fund 2001’s AmazonSmile donations by reminding your supporters to shop at smile.amazon.co.uk. You can use your charity direct link included below in email, social media, and on your website. Also, please don’t forget to check out your Marketing Tools on OrgCentral to further spread the word and increase your donations!
Marketing MessageSupport us by always starting your shopping at https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1094627-0!
Kind regards,
Your team at AmazonSmile
A meeting of Bursary Trustees was held at Crypt School on October 16 2018 to provide an update on recent developments, the results of which are summarised.
To date this year the number of active subscribers to the fund has increased from 92 to 94 together with 6 organisations. Gross assets increased from £63,931 at December 31 2017 to £66,593 at present. Allowing for deductions made for the 2018 student award scheme of £2,500 leaves a net balance of £64,093. Currently capital is held in two accounts: Virgin money £45,000; and CAF Bank £19,093.
To improve interest it has been agreed to close the Virgin account and transfer to a Cambridge and Counties Charity Bank Bond yielding a fixed rate of 1.86% pa. The aim is to finance the annual students award scheme largely from income rather than deplete capital.
The latest 2018 bursary awards distributed at school in June increased to 10 (£250ea) covering the 4 categories Academic; Art, Music, Drama; Travel; and Sport. For the future it was agreed to maintain 8-10 awards.
Following an approach to Mr Rich Brooks current Treasurer of the OCC, we are pleased to announce that Rich has agreed to become Financial Examiner for the OCC Bursary Fund and will examine the 2017 accounts submitted by our Treasurer.
We are anxious to recruit new subscribers to ensure continuation of the Bursary award scheme for the future. Information has been traditionally provided in the pages of the Cryptian. Efforts will be reinforced to publicise the Bursary on the OCC website.
Richard Browning, as Chairman of the Bursary Fund Trustees, presented the latest report at the AGM of the Old Cryptians Club, held at Kingsholm on 12th March 2016.
Here is the full report. OLD CRYPTIANS CENTENARY BURSARY REPORT 2001 (2)
A lunch was organised recently for the recipients in 2013 of the Old Cryptians’ Bursary Scheme. The fortunate pupils are selected jointly by the Headmaster and the Trustees of the Scheme.
The full list of pupils and their attainments are as follows:
6 x Academic Awards – Sixth Form – NCD / MBr / RBs
6 x Arts awards – Music / Drama/ Art – IH/JCL/CM
2 x Sports Awards – AJH
Financial
Total Funds at 31st December, 2011 £49, 176
Total Funds at 31st December, 2011 £49, 494
Annual Commitments From Donors £1, 450
I am delighted to report that we will pass our target of £50k for the Bursary in this year, which is a key milestone in the development of the Fund.
By now I am sure you will be aware of the objectives of the Fund, but to remind you, this is what is laid out in the original Trust Deed, when it was set up in 2001:-
“The objective of the Fund is to improve and widen the educational and life skills of students at the Crypt School, Gloucester.
This objective would be achieved by awarding bursaries to talented or gifted pupils of the school, providing them with funds not normally available to them, to pursue their talents, and improve their performance in their specialist area.”
In the early years a lot of the awards went to non-academic students for activities such as Music, Drama and Sport, however in the past year the trustees have decided to be far more prescriptive on the awards process.
It has been agreed that the variety of the awards should be diverse and inclusive, rather than focusing just on sport and the arts. Future awards will therefore be made in the following categories:-
– Academic Awards
– Arts Awards
– Sports Awards
– Travel Awards for school trips
It is also important that on making these awards, the trustees should apply some form of means testing, to ensure that the funds are particularly targeted at the less fortunate students.
Objectives For The Coming Years
In order to ensure that the capital of the Fund is protected, it is essential that we increase the level of regular donations each year. The trustees are looking at a number of schemes that will incentivise Old Cryptians to commit to making a regular donation each year, which will boost the current level of £1,450 to £3,000 pa.
All that is needed is 31 additional people to make an annual donation by standing order of £50 to achieve this target! So if you are reading this, and feel that you can spare £50 a year towards assisting potential students achieve their ambitions, please download the forms from the website, or email me at cl***@*************co.uk and I will provide you with all the information you need.
Why Make A Donation To The Fund?
Since 1945 we estimate that some 6000 pupils have received the distinctive quality of education that is part of the rich tradition and inheritance of the Crypt School. So many have been successful in a very broad range of careers and the Crypt can pride itself on its effective groundwork in setting so many of those persons on their way in life.
We are convinced that the Bursary Award Scheme is currently our most effective way of supporting the School and this after all is our principal purpose (see the Club’s Constitution). We are all aware of the tremendous upsurge in the School’s performance in recent years and of the first rate opportunities of a high-class style of education that it now affords all its pupils.
The Bursary Awards’ Scheme goes one step further. The scheme provides an opportunity for the current and future generations of young Cryptians of high ability and motivation to obtain the specialist tuition, essential equipment and other assistance that will enable them to raise their standards still higher. And not only these pupils but also the whole School will benefit – for these richly talented pupils become the main thrust in the School orchestra or the School dramatic productions or the School teams, or go on to recognise the school as turning out high academic achievers. Such high levels of achievement are essential if the Crypt School is to continue to attract the most able boys and girls from the widest social background.
So whether it is by making an annual donation, or writing a codicil to your will, making a final bequest to the fund, you can be assured that those funds will help some budding young Cryptian towards achieving their potential and preserving the traditions of such a great school.
Thank you in advance for your continuing support.
Richard Browning – Chairman, Bursary Trustees.
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