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The annual Benefactors’ Dinner is held to recognise and thank those Old Members and Friends who have made significant contributions to the welfare of Queen’s in recent years.

Our 2024 Benefactors’ Dinner event will be held on Saturday 15 June 2024.

Invitations will be sent out in the spring.

Plans are underway to celebrate the life of Dr C Martin Edwards in summer 2024 with a Memorial Cricket Match at the Queen’s College Sports Ground on Saturday 29 June.

Dr C Martin Edwards (1941–2021) was a mathematician and Emeritus Fellow of Queen’s and gave great service to the College. Decades of Old Members have fond memories of him, most notably as Dean (1971–2009) and through his involvement in the Amalgamated Sports Clubs.

Details are still being confirmed for the match and afternoon programme but we have started making the call out for any Old Members who would like to play at this match. If you are interested, please fill out this form.

Spectators will of course be welcome too. Further information to follow.

We are delighted to invite Old Members to our 2024 London Reception on Tuesday 14 May from 6 till 9pm.

This year we will welcome you at the Arboretum, an independent members’ club and quirky event space just off Charing Cross, which will provide the perfect setting for an expert panel discussion on sustainability, chaired by the Provost, as well as a relaxed get-together with drinks and canapés afterwards.

Booking will open shortly.

Practice, policy, art and science: four ways to tackle the sustainability transition

One big challenge, seen from four very different perspectives. Two current and two former members of Queen’s discuss what excites them about their work and compare ideas about how to help change the future. Setting electricity prices through the National Grid, designing policies to meet Net Zero, capturing ecological grief in works of art, and using biology to design plants to reduce carbon emissions,: all have a part to play in meeting the collective challenges of sustainability in the 21st century. This evening brings together Sara Habib (Mathematics and Philosophy, 1997, Head of Future Price Controls at National Grid), Matthew Bilson (MSc Energy Systems, 2020, Director – Policy & Market Strategy at Piclo, previously worked 20 years on UK energy policy), Xinyue Liu (DPhil Fine Arts, 2022) and Professor Steve Kelly (Queen’s Fellow in Biology)

Sara Habib (Mathematics and Philosophy, 1997) has over 20 years’ experience at National Grid in a variety of roles across the group. Most recently she has worked in Regulation and is now Head of Future Price Controls for the 2026-2031 investment period.

Sara Habib

Matthew Billson (MSc Energy Systems, 2020) is Policy & Market Strategy Director at Piclo, responsible for analysing global electricity policy and entry into new markets. Piclo is climate tech company, helping to decarbonise the electricity grid through flexibility.

Matthew Bilson

Xinyue Liu (DPhil Fine Art, 2022) is reading for a DPhil in fine art at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford. She is a practice-led Clarendon scholar aiming to posit the ‘Cinema of Ecological Grief’ as a distinct visual genre using film, text, and installation.

Xinyue Liu

Steve’s lab studies the biology of photosynthesis in plants, answering key questions about how it evolved, how it works, and how it is controlled. The goal of his research is to engineer the crop plants of the future, and enable food production to keep pace with global population increase.

Professor Steve Kelly

We will celebrate our traditional Needle and Thread Gaudy on Saturday 11 January 2024 for Old Members who matriculated in the years 1978 or 1979.

Invitations will be sent out in September.

Traditionally held at the beginning of the New Year, this dinner involves the College’s Bursar threading a needle into each guest’s jacket and advising them to be thrifty in the coming year. Needles were historically popular as Christmas gifts but it is thought that this Gaudy’s customs are a pun on the College founder’s name, Eglesfield – the French words ‘aiguilles et fils’ meaning needles and threads.

The Gaudy dinner is free of charge. B&B is available for Saturday 11 January at £50pppn.

Please note that due to space restrictions in Hall, this is an Old Member only event (for matriculation years 1978 and 1979).

SATURDAY 11 JANUARY

  4.00pm   Tea & cake in the Shulman Auditorium
  4.30pm   Welcome
  6.30pm   Drinks in the Upper Library
  7.00pm   Dinner (Black Tie)

SUNDAY 12 JANUARY

  8.15–9.45am   Breakfast in Hall
  8.45am    Holy Communion

We will celebrate our traditional Boar’s Head Gaudy on Saturday 16 December 2023 for Old Members who matriculated in the years 1988 or 1989.

Invitations to join the ballot for places will be sent out in September.

The programme will begin with tea and Christmas cake in the Shulman Auditorium, followed by a recital of seasonal music in Chapel with the College Choir.

The Gaudy is combined with the Boar’s Head Ceremony, which takes place before dinner. Guests are asked to assemble in Hall by 6.25pm when the Boar’s Head will make its ceremonial entrance.

After the Ceremony, champagne will be served in the Upper Library, followed by dinner at 7.15pm. Holy Communion will be celebrated in Chapel on Sunday morning.

The Gaudy dinner is free of charge. B&B is available for Saturday 14 December at £50pppn.

Please note that due to space restrictions in Hall, this is an Old Member only event (for matriculation years 1988 and 1989).

SATURDAY 14 DECEMBER

  3.30pm   Tea & cake in the Shulman Auditorium
  4.00pm   Welcome
  5.45pm   Recital of Seasonal Music in Chapel
  6.30pm   Boar’s Head Ceremony
  6.45pm   Drinks in the Upper Library
  7.15pm   Dinner (Black Tie)

SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER

  8.15 – 9.45am   Breakfast in the Hall
  8.45am    Holy Communion

We will celebrate the Jubilee Matriculation Lunch on Saturday 19 October 2024 for Old Members who matriculated in the years 1954, 1964, 1974.

Invitations will be sent in mid-August.

SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER

The event commences at 12.15pm for the commemorative photograph, but refreshments will be available from 11.30am for guests arriving early.

12.15pm Commemorative photograph
12.30pm  Drinks in the Upper Library
1.00pm   Lunch (Dress code: Lounge suits)
2.30pm Afternoon programme TBC
4.00pm Close

Lunch is free of charge for Old Members. If you would like to bring a guest, please register their details when booking. Tickets for guests are £20.

Revisit College, meet up with friends and enjoy listening to our fantastic Choir at Evensong – book now for the annual Old Members’ Dinner. It’s always a popular event and we expect to sell out!

Tickets cost £60 per person for a 5-course dinner, including wine. If you matriculated in or after 2011 a discounted dinner ticket is available again this year.

Old Members can bring a guest.

B&B rooms are available in College, for the Saturday night only, at an extra charge of £50 per person. Twin (not double) rooms are available. Book at the same time as your dinner ticket. Breakfast in Hall is included. Check-in from 2pm, check out by 10am prompt.

Booking will open in July.
Dress code: Black-tie preferred

PROGRAMME
SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
6.15pm Evensong in Chapel
7.00pm Pre-dinner drinks in the Upper Library
7.30pm 5-course dinner in Hall
9.30pm Post-dinner drinks in the SCR
11pm Carriages

SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
8.15am – 9.45am Breakfast in the Hall
8.45am Holy Communion in Chapel

Please note that this event coincides with Meeting Minds, the University-wide alumni weekend, this year. Do look out for interesting sessions at the Maths Institute and at colleges and departments across Oxford from 20-22 September. Registration for Meeting Minds will open in late June.

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OX1 4AW

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