In pursuit of one of its objectives, 'the promotion of good fellowship among the Members', the Old Nottinghamians' Society supports the following good causes:

The Dame Agnes Mellers Charity

The Dame Agnes Mellers Charity celebrated its centenary in 2017.  Its aims are to advance education, provide recreation and relieve poverty for boys and girls under the age of 18 in the City of Nottingham. ​

Its original name was the Dame Agnes Mellers Lads' Club Charity.  ONs and others had contributed money to buy premises in Norton Street, Radford to run a club for boys.  There they offered classes in woodwork, metalwork, radio, drama and PE.  The club operated until the 1960s, when the property was subject to a compulsory purchase order.  The proceeds were then invested to provide grants for activities carried out by youth organisations. ​

The Charity now supports, for example, breakfast clubs and residential visits for both boys and girls.  Trips to London or the seaside are paid for when they might not otherwise happen. ​ The present chair of the Charity is Society past president Chris Adams, who would be pleased to hear from ONs either wishing to alert the trustees to a worthy cause or to provide some additional support. ​

In 2017 the Society commissioned a watercolour painting of the School by artist Paul Bramble.  The original was auctioned at our Annual Dinner in March and prints are available for purchase from the Society shop.  The proceeds of sale are donated to the Dame Agnes Mellers Charity.

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Society Causes... The Quincentenary Fund

The most recent of the Society causes, Society's Quincentenary Fund offers means-tested grants to Society Members living in the UK to assist with further education, training or retraining.  This initiative was proposed in 2011 by past president Tony Palfreman, who had served as Clerk to the Governors of the School for 36 years and on the Society Committee for 39 years.

The Fund represented the first ever example of Old Nottinghamians offering financial assistance to other Old Nottinghamians. ​ If you wish to apply for assistance from the Quincentenary Fund, please contact the President or Secretary.

The Old Nottinghamians' War Memorial Trust

The Old Nottinghamians' War Memorial Trust provides grants to buy uniforms and equipment for pupils at the School whose families are in financial difficulties.  The Society was the founding body of this Trust and remains the sole funding body. ​

The original name of the Trust gives a clue to its raison d'etre: the 'Nottingham High School Old Boys Thanksgiving Memorial Scholarship Fund'.  It was founded in 1948 when Society Members responded to the plight of pupils whose parents had been killed or seriously injured in the Second World War.  Old Nottinghamians' Society past presidents Colin Sedgewick and Charles Powell are the Chair and Secretary respectively of the Trust.

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