Winchester Cathedral's highest honour, the Companionship of St Swithun, has been conferred upon Bruce Parker MBE (4747) during the Evensong service on 28 January.  Bruce, who is the Chairman of the Cathedral Friends, was recognised for his "exceptional and outstanding service to the Cathedral", and said that this was one of the highlights of his life.



Ian Chapman (9031) at the cutting edge of global fusion energy has been knighted in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.  He is the CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the UK’s largest research organisation, with more than 2,000 scientists and engineers.  Ian has held a number of international roles in fusion research, currently chairing the IAEA Fusion Research Committee, as well as sitting on a number or ministerial committees in the UK and advising other governments on clean energy issues, and has been knighted for his efforts in this field.  His parents still live locally and he returns to the island regularly.  He is also a non-executive director at Guernsey Electricity. Sir Ian joined UKAEA after receiving his MSc in Mathematics and Physics from Durham University in 2004, and went on to complete  a PhD in plasma physics from Imperial College London in 2008.  He became UKAEA’s head of tokamak science in 2014 and chief executive in 2016.

Royal Navy ‘wings’ have been awarded to Lieutenant Lucas Harrisson (9881).  ‘When he was at Elizabeth College he joined  the Navy cadets and they had a number of opportunities to get involved with the Fleet Air Arm’ said Lucas’ mother.  Lt Harrisson has been serving most recently on HMS Montrose in the Middle East.  The ship has been involved in a number of high-profile drug busts utilising its Wildcat helicopters which Lt Harrisson pilots.

Oliver Beaton (9318) who is a chartered certified accountant has been promoted to senior manager within the recovery and reorganisation department.  Oliver, who has worked in the department since 2016, has experience in complex cross-border forensic investigations and asset tracing, with a particular interest in audit and trust dispute matters.

Mark Le Page (8083) has been appointed a director for Kroll, an independent provider of global risk and finance advisory solutions.  Mark was previously a deputy director at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission where he was responsible for consolidating and creating the investment product strategy and project managing investment rules, including open and closed-ended funds, private investment funds, rules for stock exchanges and market code of conduct.

Collas Crill senior associate Ben Le Page (10219) has been admitted to the Guernsey Bar.  Ben joined Collas Crill as a paralegal and went on to train with the firm, qualifying as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2017, and was promoted to senior associate in 2017.  He advises on all aspects of commercial law, with a particular focus on banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters across multiple jurisdictions.  A member of the Guernsey International Legal Association and Guernsey Investment Association, he was included on the eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35 UK (2021) and Crown Dependencies (2022) lists.

A former States member and all-rounder in the community, Roy Bisson (4861), has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list.  Roy is the current president of La Society Guernesiaise and has spent the last sixty years moving through various roles and positions that focus on giving back to Guernsey.  Between organising the Round Table Christmas Fayre for twenty years and spending the past forty years  on the Guernsey Swimarathon organising committee, he also served as an energetic States deputy for seven years.  Roy also spent four years as a non-States member of the Environment Committee.  He also acted as an advisor to the Young Enterprise Scheme between 1990 and 2000 and more recently as chairman of the Workers’ Education Association.  To celebrate the writer's15-year exile in the island, Roy co-founded the Victor Hugo in Guernsey Society, which stages conferences and seminars and produces material for schools.

Three childhood friends originally from Guernsey have been travelling across India in a ‘glorified lawnmower’ in an effort to raise money for two Indian charities.  William Allen (10043), his brother Robert-James Allen (10093) and Sam Rawlings started their journey in the city of Jaisalmer in northern India on 2nd January, and are scheduled more than 1,500 miles away.  They are doing it as part of The Rickshaw Run, an event where teams from all over the world drive auto rickshaws along various routes across India.  Calling themselves Cumin Resources, they are one of 65 teams taking part in the event.  The two charities that are being supported are Cool Earth, an organisation that works to protect endangered rainforests, and The Rescue Foundation, which aims to combat human trafficking.  The trio managed to raise over £2,800 which which be split between the two charities.

A retired Tyne class lifeboat is a new addition set to start plying Guernsey’s waters.  She has been brought over to work as part of Guernsey Boat Charter by Buz White (6271).  He started off as a small boy polishing the brass and going on exercises with the RNLI crew.  He joined the crew in 1982 and retired on 2 June last year - 40 years to the day.  Buz’s latest addition will be used for charter hopefully in May, once coding and licensing have been completed, along with the fitting of new safety equipment.

Professor Simon Kay (5617) who performed Britain’s first hand transplant 10 years ago has said he would to next help children who have lost limbs to sepsis and meningitis.  Simon says that from a procedure perspective, it was no more difficult, but the complexities needed to be considered such as consent, ethics and risks.  Simon was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2019.

A football fan’s decision to enter twice in Rovers AC’s World Cup competition has paid off for Pierre Blampied (7288) as he took both first and second prize, netting himself £750.  ‘I’ve been playing fantasy football for over 25 years,’ he said.  There were 315 entrants in the competition.

Sam Culverwell’s (11088) professional cycling journey will continue with what he has hailed the best UCI Continental team in the UK.  The 22-year-old has moved on from his Trinity Racing days, but he has instead signed for WiV SunGod ahead of them rebranding to AT85 Pro Cycling.  ‘I’m really happy to sign for AT85 Pro Cycling…it’s a step along from Trinity, and the teams are at a similar level, but this is my best option…’ Sam said.