They walked through the late spring rain to their lawns at North Walls where a grand marquee was waiting with the residents already keen to get the afternoon’s activities underway.

Yesterday’s 'Gathering' was a fundraising event, as St John’s is aiming to raise enough money to buy a defibrillator for each of their four sites and one for the wider community. It was decided to make it a 'Spelling Bee', with spellings including words relevant to the event and location, and the boys were able to learn the spellings in advance. Participants paid a small fee to enter.

It was a closely fought contest with seven groups of boys getting through to the next round. There was then a knockout round as the boys were so good, but it was the word 'anaesthetic' that proved the trickiest and eventually led to Jacob, Benjy and Oscar being crowned champions.  

Year 3 teacher, Anne Erasmus, said; "We had a wonderful time, full of laughter and the odd impromptu sing-along. All the boys were pleased to be back with our friends and to see the generations mingling and having super conversations together was magical."

Meanwhile, Reverend Alison Dobell said of this worthwhile event, "The initiative of having Gatherings with Year 3 Pilgrims' School Boys and residents of St John’s Alms Houses, started about 4 years ago. We gather once a term to do a joint activity; it is not about the boys coming to ‘do’ things for ‘old’ people, but about building intergenerational relationships. Such activities have included the sharing of favourite books, harvest crafts and board games."

St John’s is hosting a Fête on the North Side lawn on Saturday 25 June from 11am to 3pm, with proceeds again going towards the “Defibrillator Fund”.