Charity Concert Beaumont House
17 October 2010

The Chapel Choir of St John's Beaumont will give a charity concert in aid of the Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust and the Dermot Gogarty Memorial Trust at Beaumont House Hotel on Sunday 17 October at 7.00pm (Drinks 6.00pm).

St John's Beaumont has an outstanding choral tradition, with around 30 boys in the Chapel Choir, which headmaster Giles Delaney describes as 'central to the school's religious ethos'.  The choristers performed at a Papal Mass in St Peter's Basilica in 2007 and embarked on a concert tour of Cologne over the summer.  They have also recently worked with the composer Gabriel Jackson on a BBC composition project.  In March of this year the Chapel Choir played a leading role in a Joint Jesuit Schools' Concert at St Ignatius Church, Stamford Hill along with seven other choirs from Jesuit Schools in Britain.

Beaumont Estate dates back to the 17th century; the house is set in 40 acres of landscaped grounds.  In 1854, Beaumont House was sold to the Society of Jesus as a training college, and for seven years it housed Jesuit novices of the (then) English Province.  In 1861 it became a Catholic boarding school for boys, with the title of St Stanislaus College, Beaumont.  It closed in 1967 and the property became a conference centre, and from 2008 an hotel.  Its preparatory school, St John's Beaumont, was opened in 1888.

Dermot Gogarty was for 18 years the highly respected headmaster of St John's, until his tragic death in a car accident in November 2005.  A Trust was established in his memory, a permanent fund to support initiatives suggested and developed by the boys in year 8 (post Common Entrance) which would be of benefit to the community.  The Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT) was formed in 1956 when a young doctor, Michael Strode, took four children with disabilities to Lourdes.  From the outset he insisted that the children should be treated just like other pilgrims, and should be accommodated in hotels rather than hospitals.  Today, HCPT takes around 2,000 children with disabilities, or social or emotional needs, on a pilgrimage holiday to Lourdes each Easter.

Tickets for the concert on 17 October are available from the School Office on 01784 432428 or e-mail tdunham@stjohnsbeaumont.co.uk.  Tickets are £10 per adult or £5 per child when ordered in advance and £12 per adult and £6 per child when purchased on the door.


 St John's Beaumont

 HCPT