Wednesday 6 May 2015 OLs and OGs have celebrated 25 years since leaving school with a joint party at GSAL. Some 85 alumni travelled from all over the world to attend the Class of 1990 reunion which was the brainchild of Suzanne Ridings (née Hudson). She got the idea for the event after looking at her sixth form photo – with the name of each person written carefully on the back – and realised that she had the makings of a guest list for a school get-together. As luck would have it, OL Jon Wood had also kept his end-of-year photo, which he gave to Suzanne so all she had to do was track everyone down! She said: “It was real detective work trying to trace everyone, but it was very satisfying. I found a lot of people through LinkedIn and I also set up a dedicated Facebook page. “When I got in touch with someone I would encourage them to talk to as many people as they knew from our year, and word started to get round.” The majority of people had settled outside of Leeds, so guests travelled from London, the South East, the north of Scotland and Wales, as well as further afield. Richard Naylor flew in from Manila for an LGS Back to School day followed by the reunion party, while Vicky Roberts arrived from New York, Robert Manley and Richard Slater came from Malta, Natalie Brierley from France and Annette Yashpon from Berlin. They were joined on the night by LGHS teachers Chris Bamforth (née Duckworth), current GSAL deputy head; Margaret Smith, music; Elizabeth Wall, history; Catriona Cleverley, maths; and Mrs Griggs, band practice and concerts. LGS teachers were represented by Peter Jolly, retired deputy head; Derek Fry, physics and astronomy; John Davies, former Junior School deputy head and current GSAL archivist; and Neill Hargreaves, retired history teacher and current GSAL archivist. Guests were welcomed with a drink and the sight of a giant screen showing photos from their school days, before a buffet supper and dancing to the sounds of the ’80s. Suzanne said: “Through Facebook we had asked each person to suggest a song which reminded them of school so we had a brilliant playlist of music from the 1980s. “It was a great night and people really enjoyed meeting up with long lost friends and having the chance to reminisce.” Alumni News
