Published: 09 December 2022
We are always pleased to hear from alumni who have continued to keep in touch many years after graduating from St George’s.
Over 100 alumni from the “Guinea Pig Year” – the first cohort of pre-clinical students to study on the new St George’s site when it first moved down to Tooting from Hyde Park Corner – met for a reunion weekend last month at The Castle Hotel in Windsor. The group consists of alumni from the 1976, 1977 and 1978 pre-clinical intakes who graduated in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
Below, Guinea Pig Year alumna, Meryl Deane, shares her reflections on the weekend.
‘Our reunion weekend was a great success. It was enjoyed by everyone, with lovely food and wine, and a wonderful atmosphere in the hotel.
‘The reunion began on a Friday with drinks, followed by a Guinea Pig AGM, and a steady stream of people arrived at the hotel over the course of the weekend. The highlight of the weekend was a black-tie dinner dance on the Saturday night.
This included a retro disco, which was enormous fun. We were able to have old photos from our time at St George’s projected onto a screen, and the DJ showed some original music videos from our student days.
‘It was lovely to see so many friends and share a weekend together. Thank you to Tim Garrett Moore for taking the group photo, which shows the Guinea Pigs in their finery.
‘Of course, the event couldn’t end without a pyramid, captured here on camera… even if it wasn’t quite as high as when we were all in our 20s!’
The Guinea Pigs have kindly chosen to donate £800 raised from the event to the St George’s Hardship Fund. The Fund helps ensure that financial need is not a barrier to our students’ learning, by offering financial support to those who find themselves in need of emergency funding. We would like to thank the Guinea Pigs for this very generous donation.
The organising team of Meryl Deane, David Ward, Janet Ward, Martin Nicholas & Steve Pratt are currently planning another full reunion in 2027. The group also plans to hold more informal lunch event in two and a half years.
If you would like to share photos from the weekend, please get in touch as the group would be keen to share these on their website. You can also email us to request a copy of the photographs shown in this newsletter, which will be available on the group’s website soon.
Are you Guinea Pig Year alum who would like to reconnect with the group? Get in touch to let us know.