How many schools can boast a parent body that was set up one hundred years ago? On 7th March 1922, the Bedford School Mothers’ Guild held their first ever meeting as a service in the Bedford School Chapel. Almost one hundred years to the day, and since renamed the Parents’ Guild, committee members, former committee members, parents and members of the school community celebrated this momentous occasion with a reception in the Memorial Hall on Sunday 6th March. This was followed by a special chapel service, with visiting Preacher the Revd Lucy Davis, where the Chair of the Guild, Bev Hammond, read the Lesson. The Chaplain, Neil McCleery, spoke about the dedication of generations of parents and the great work they had done to support the boys and the school. It was especially poignant as it was the first time that the Chaplain was able to welcome members of the wider community back to the regular Sunday service since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The Guild’s original aim was to “enable mothers to meet to discuss their difficulties and have experts down to lecture on problems that beset Mothers in the upbringing of their children” and “to promote friendship amongst mothers of boys at Bedford School”. Over the years, the work of the Guild has grown to include supporting not only the mothers (and fathers), but also the wider Bedford town community, the boys and the school.
In the early days of the Guild, it supported the annual School Fete and ran school dances. It was heavily involved with the Chapel with members making cassocks and surplices, embroidering the vestments, providing and arranging the flowers and, for a while, they even had their own choir!
For many years, the Guild were also very much involved in the local Bedford community and most of the funds raised by the Guild were donated to outside charities. It was a number of years before they began to offer funds to the school and initially, monies were donated by the Guild to ‘alleviate some particular case of hardship’.
As the Second World War broke out, and the school personnel were busy making protective arrangements for the school, the Mother’s Guild came to the rescue by forming the School’s First Aid Unit, with over 100 mothers undertaking training by the Red Cross. They also ran a working party that found billets for the boys who were evacuated from Victoria College in Jersey.
During the war, school uniforms were in very short supply, so the Guild set up the second-hand clothing shop. Over the years this has gone from strength to strength and has become a lifeline for many parents. Along with offering very reasonably priced articles of uniform and sports kit for parents, the monies raised from the shop have been used to support the boys across the school. Over the years they have supported Rugby, Cricket, Hockey and Chapel Choir tours, purchased sports equipment, bought books and computers for the library, supported the Quarry Theatre, and, more recently, supported the School’s Parent Partnership. The list goes on.
To acknowledge the work of the Guild over the last century, the current committee are planning a wide variety of events throughout the year. From drinks receptions at concerts, theatre events and art exhibitions, to a rugby lunch and a Ball for 400 people in the summer, there is hopefully something to appeal to everyone. You can find out more about the events that are taking place and register your interest here.
