Author: Matt Lownds

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Memorial Charity Concert

The Beldam Hall of Repton’s Music School was packed out on Saturday 7 March for a charity concert in memory of Harry.  The evening brought together many of his contemporaries at Repton and Foremarke Hall (Repton’s prep school) along with music teachers from both schools and family friends to raise money for the child bereavement counselling services of The Laura Centre in Derby.

The audience was treated to a fabulous programme from a very accomplished group of performers, who could easily have filled the time available ten times over.  The evening was bookended by Harry’s fellow old boys from Latham House joining his younger sister Evie and other current members of Repton’s close-harmony group the Reptiles for a rendition of Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’, and former members of Foremarke Winds reuniting to play ‘‘Tequila’ and the theme from Wallace & Gromit.

Other highlights included Harry’s cousin, Louis Allen, performing Debussy’s Clair de Lune and the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean, the Latham old boys’ revival of their 2017 House Harmonies adaptation of the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back/ABC, and Wirksworth’s Raise Your Voices community choir’s rousing rendition of Bring Me Sunshine.

In all the evening raised £2,600 to support the work of The Laura Centre in Derby with bereaved children and those who have lost children at any point in their lives.

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Challenges for Harry

Dear friends,

We have looked for various ways to celebrate Harry’s life over the last year and sustain his memory.   Probably closest to our hearts is the idea of us each embracing a ‘Challenge for Harry’ as a legacy to him.  We would like you all, young and young at heart to organise your own personal Challenge.

This can be done collectively or individually with the idea of taking the time to challenge ourselves in any manner of ways.  All we ask is that you think of Harry whilst you doing your challenge.  We will then add your achievements to Harry’s blog.

In July Becky, along with a team of friends and colleagues, plans to participate in the Peak District 100km UltraChallenge.  Evie and Harry’s Grandma, Margaret Allen, will be joining them for the first 25km.  They will be raising funds for the charity ‘Sepsis Research (FEAT)’ with the hope of collecting enough money to purchase a small piece of scientific apparatus that can have Harry’s name on it.

If you would like to raise money for Harry’s scholarship fund, or any of the other charities our family has been raising money for in his memory (The Laura Centre in Derby, Cruse Bereavement and Sepsis Research (FEAT)), whilst doing your challenge, this would be very much appreciated.   But we would appreciate just as much you simply committing time and energy to your own personal challenge in Harry’s memory.  We are more than happy to join in too, if you’d welcome some company.

Our warmest wishes,

Becky, Matthew, Rosie and Evie

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Memorial Plaque

We are very pleased to learn that Latham House, where Harry boarded during his five years at Repton School, have had a plaque made in his honour.  It contains a proverb which James Dahl, Harry’s former Housemaster, used in his eulogy.  It is in the main entrance to the house, so all the boys will see it every time they walk into the house.  Latham’s current Housemaster, Martin Hunt, felt it was a quote which really resonated with Harry, and the spirit of the house – so a fitting reminder for all the boys whether they knew Harry or not.