Winter 2018Issue 36

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Kickstarting footwear careers

Making memories: autumn fundraising

Clerk

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‘It is heart-warming to see all the charities in one place and really get an understanding of how they are supported by our marvellous company. The students really enjoyed the event and we thank you all for once again allowing us to shine a light on our students’ work and achievements.’ (Liveryman Sarah Day, LCF Course Leader.)

A hugely beneficial evening What have the Royal Marsden Hospital, Blind Veterans UK, FANY and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama got in common? They are among the 40 or so charities supported by the Cordwainers, in a list which includes the three footwear universities (De Montfort, Northampton and London College of Fashion), C (City of London Fusiliers) Company of the Royal Fusiliers, the Royal Society for Blind Children, and the British Footwear Association (BFA).

Our association with some of these charities extends back generations, but others are more recent beneficiaries and we were delighted to

welcome all of them to Clothworkers’ Hall so that they could explain a little more about their work. Essentially, this was a fabulous opportunity to see what happens to the money that members of the Company have worked so hard to raise. As Past Warden Simon Wilson said, ‘I am sure that this will evolve into a key event for the Cordwainers. It was a great insight into the breadth of charitable giving from the Company.’

New cup for fundraising champsTwo years ago, Past Master David Skinner raised an inordinate sum of money for Master Jeremy Blanford’s campaign for the Royal Marsden Hospital.

David took part in the 15-mile Marsden March (in his brightest and scariest trousers) and raised an eye-popping £8,500, which was a significant contribution to the considerable sums raised in 2016-17. Overwhelmed by David’s efforts, Jeremy wanted to pay tribute to him and has generously endowed a new silver cup, which will be given to the individual who has single-handedly done most for the Cordwainers’ charitable giving in any one year.

This year, the David Skinner Cup has been awarded to Court Assistant Harry Weber-Brown, in recognition of his great achievement in circumnavigating London by bike one wet weekend in May, covering a distance of 300km and raising £10,000 for SSAFA in the process.

Our News

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‘ We were genuinely surprised at the diversity of support you give to a wider audience’.

‘ We really enjoyed talking to members and sharing how the Company has helped us to support our research and improve the lives of our patients.’Nick Irving, Senior Philanthropy Manager, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity

the Master’s Column

Time seems to have marched on at great speed since Oath Day on 4th July and walking has continued to be a theme of the first few months of my mastership.

While August was relatively quiet, things picked up a-pace in September when, together with Senior Warden Nigel Easton, I completed the annual Masters’ Walk. The nine-mile route gave us the opportunity to visit 40 different livery halls situated around the City and to raise money for my charity of the year, the Alzheimer’s Society. A few weeks later, 25 members of the Company joined in the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk around the City on a beautifully warm and sunny day, covering a route from the Honourable Artillery Company ground, around the South Bank and back past the Cordwainer plaque outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

Walking was not the only way to raise sponsorship money: Past Master James Calder took to two wheels to cycle 100 miles around London in the Prudential RideLondon event. In September the aquatic branch of the Company was fortunately unfazed by the dismal weather, when seven intrepid Cordwainers, led by Past Master Mark Shaw, took the plunge into the murky waters of the Serpentine in Hyde Park choosing to swim either a half-mile or one-mile route around the allotted course.

Participation: making memoriesAt the November Court Meeting, we heard from Jeremy Hughes CBE, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, who told us how crucial donations are to Alzheimer’s research. Thanks to the hard work of the walkers, swimmers, cyclists – and their sponsors – we have already raised 60 % of our target.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to participate, the Events Committee have a packed programme of exciting fundraising ideas for the New Year. These will create the opportunity for us ALL to get together – across all the generations of the livery, both young and old – and to participate in events which will include a pub quiz, a guided city walk (on a Saturday), an evening with our music scholars and the chance to sing the Messiah in St Mary’s Enfield, better known as the church of our Hon. Chaplain, Gordon Giles.

Industry links

St Crispin and St Cripianus are the patron saints of shoemakers and their saints’ day on 25 October was traditionally celebrated with merrymaking and a day off from cutting and stitching leather. This year, the Clerk and I undertook a pilgrimage of sorts to Northampton, the spiritual home of the British shoe trade, to visit the impressive new facilities at Northampton University and to attend the opening of a new factory in Northampton, Foster & Sons. This is the first shoe-making factory to start manufacturing again in Northampton in over 40 years and its opening was a cause of great celebration.

Finally, we will be celebrating the considerable achievements of our esteemed Clerk John Miller at the end of the year as we say farewell to him after 11 years at the helm of the Company. His input during his tenure has been instrumental in turning around and stabilising the fortunes of the Company and I would like to take this opportunity personally to thank him for all he has done. We are delighted to welcome our new Clerk, Penny Graham and wish her well as she takes over the reins to continue to drive the company forward.

Master Jonathan Hooper oversees the Cordwainer social

Harry Weber-Brown

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No one is quite sure how many ‘learned clerks’ have served the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers over the centuries, simply because the Company records are incomplete. But by any reckoning John Miller has built on the foundations of his predecessors to launch the Cordwainers into a period of unprecedented financial growth, with a renewed ethos of charitable giving.

It seems fitting as we near the end of the term of the 2020 Vision, that we look back on the Company’s achievements over the past 11 years, so much of which has been due to John’s hard work.

Past Master James Calder, John’s first Master, recalls, ‘That John and I found ourselves together in July 2007 as the two ‘new boys’ at the helm of the Cordwainers, was a matter of great good fortune for me.

John grasped the job with unparalleled zeal and enthusiasm. Establishing the core aims that have been the bedrock on which the Company has built on since 2007 was relatively straightforward. We wanted greater involvement with the Livery and our beneficiaries, a substantial increase in charitable giving, and to have fun in the process.

When I look back at the 2007–2008 year I’m reminded of the saying “if you want something done, ask a busy person” – in this case, John. Whether it was planning dinners, visits to Sheffield, Glasgow or York, or just listening patiently to my speeches, he really came through on all fronts and the stellar results that have flowed from that year are indeed tribute to his hard work and dedication.’

‘I couldn’t possibly have had such a wonderful year without the innate sense of teamwork that was the hallmark of our time working together.’

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Miller’sPast Master Paddy Skinner, provides a Court Assistant’s overview.‘Once, when I was made redundant, I considered applying for the job of Clerk to the Cordwainers. As a senior liveryman, the job seemed to me to be pretty simple and I thought I could do it quite well. Thank goodness I never attempted to follow it up.

The job of Clerk encompasses the wide-ranging skills of a diplomat, accountant, business manager, blue-sky thinker, great communicator, inspiring leader, hard worker, innovator, respecter of tradition – all this along with a good sense of

humour, the ability to remember names and faces and, most importantly, the verbal fluency to recite the Clerk’s Toast at the end of a long livery dinner.

How many of us can say we have all these skills? But the Clerk, our most respected friend, has all of them in abundance and has steered the Company with a balance sheet of total net assets of about £4.6 million in 2007 to £20.8 million in 2018 (General Fund and Charitable Trusts); with total donations moving from £57,000 in 2007, to £300,000 in 2018. With Past Master Sam Salt, he oversaw the introduction of the Events Committee, which has done so much to transform the activities, atmosphere and the charitable giving of the Company, the development of the 2020 Vision, and the launch of the Cordwainers National Footwear Students Award, to name just a few achievements.

John Miller has been a rock around which our Masters have been able to become increasingly influential in the City and he has established the Cordwainers as one of the most progressive and imaginative livery companies in the City. ‘

Past Master Patrick Peal, our most recent Past Master and the person charged with appointing a successor, brings the wheel full circle.

‘During my year as Master John was a super Clerk, guardian, confidant, strategist, PA and companion whether on the Livery Halls Walk (‘do keep up John!’), at the Mansion House or in Davy’s Wine Bar.

He can take a joke – just as well, in the company of the coven of leathery livery clerks – and laugh at himself too.

But he has always managed Company business with the utmost seriousness and he’s implemented the turnaround of the Cordwainers from a livery dining club to a generous charitable body at the heart of the footwear industry, doing good and having fun.’

So as we wish John and his wife Caroline a very happy retirement, we welcome Penny Graham, the new Cordwainer Clerk.

Introducing Penny Graham On graduating from Durham University with an Honours degree in English Language and Literature, our new Clerk, Penny Graham, joined the Royal Navy as a Logistics Officer. In a varied career spanning more than 20 years, she held a wide range of administrative, HR and logistics appointments. On leaving the navy in 2009 Penny was appointed Bursar and Clerk to the Governors at Leweston School in Dorset. She subsequently completed a Masters’ degree in HR Management at Exeter University and has recently been lecturing there in the same discipline. Penny is married to Michael, a housemaster at Sherborne School, and they have two teenage sons.

Penny joined the Cordwainers on 5 November, just in time for the annual opening of the Garden of Remembrance at St Paul’s. Two weeks in, she said: ‘I have had a wonderful introduction to the Company. I am really looking forward to stepping into John’s shoes and getting to know everyone, and huge thanks to all those I have met already for such a warm and generous welcome.’

‘ He can take a joke – just as well, in the company of the coven of leathery livery clerks – and laugh at himself too.’Past Master, Patrick Peal

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Our Charities

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Kickstarting careersCordwainers are very proud to be the largest single donor to footwear education in the UK – and that’s as it should be given the Company’s centuries-old roots in the footwear trade. The Company gives away £100,000 every year to support footwear education and young entrepreneurs and we celebrate their progress every year.

In a change to the regular Cordwainers’ Educational Trust dinner, educational award winners and beneficiaries were invited to an evening of celebration and circulation with members of the industry. It was a chance for Cordwainers to find out what our beneficiaries have been doing and for associates in the footwear trade to meet some of the brightest footwear design talent in the country.

Olivia Morris, Creative Director of Lulu Guinness (and Cordwainers College alumna), remarked that students now need to embrace a portfolio of skills other than just demonstrating innate design talent. Many of them do just that, broadening their knowledge to include marketable business skills or, like beneficiary Stephany Douglas of De Montfort University, undertaking further training. Stephany is studying for an MA which encompasses wider design skills outside the specialised field of footwear.

Winner of the first Cordwainer Footwear Student of the Year Award, Helen Kirkum said, ‘Four years on, I am still so proud of my Cordwainers’ award which really kickstarted my career in the footwear industry. My graduate collection of trainers made from recycled components captured the imagination of lots of brands, landing me a job at the Adidas HQ in Germany. While there I learnt so much about the commercial side of the industry and how things run in a large sports brand. I now have my own studio which allows me the freedom to work on many projects at once, to push myself and to grow in all aspects of business.’

Barbara Fidler, winner in 2018 moved seamlessly from LCF to a job as an assistant designer with Jimmy Choo. ‘Winning the Cordwainer award was a dream come true and being part of such a supportive community is a great honour. The award helped me get into the luxury fashion industry and I now work alongside so many talented designers at Jimmy Choo.’

Past Warden William Church, Chair of the Footwear Awards Committee, said ‘We hope that the awards scholarships and bursaries have helped to make a tangible difference to your careers. I am wholly confident that today’s students will go on to make a significant mark in the world.’

AUTUMN FUNDRAISINGIt’s been an active autumn as Cordwainers threw themselves (almost literally) into raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society, the Master’s chosen charity of the year.

At the end of September Past Wardens Eleanor Stillwell, James Harland Fairweather and Adrian Theed; Freemen Jack Hooper and Victoria Peal and Liveryman Guy West followed Past Master Mark Shaw into the Serpentine in Hyde Park for a spot of wild swimming.

In October 25 Cordwainers of all ages strolled around the City of London as part of an Alzheimer’s Memory Walk event.

We are well on the way to achieving the target for the Master’s Campaign and there is plenty more fun to be had in series of events during the spring – see the back page for details and dates.

Master Saddler Liveryman Line Asser Hansen is the Head of Saddlery at Capel Manor College. She’s an award-winning leather-worker and is passionate about passing on traditional leather working skills to the next generation.

Are you a shoe-maker or shoe-wearer? (in other words, how did you come to be a Cordwainer?)

In the early 1990s I was very lucky to gain a place to study saddlery at Cordwainers College in Hackney. My three years at Cordwainers were some of the best in my life: the place was a creative heaven for saddlery, shoemaking and leather goods. In 1999 I applied for a part-time technician’s post at Cordwainers in the hope that I could recapture the inspiring creativity that the place was known for.

To cut a long story short, I ended up as course leader for the whole saddlery department. I would have been totally lost if it hadn’t been for the support of the Cordwainers’ Company. Past Master Richard Stillwell kindly took me under his wing and when Cordwainers College merged with London College of Fashion six months later, the Clerk Roger Blundell and Past Master Sam Salt helped to negotiate the saddlery provision and I moved over to Capel Manor College, where we are today.

A few years later I had the honour of being invited to become a member of the Company.

Tell us about your favourite shoes

I have many and could probably count 100, inclusive of flip-flops and trainers. My favourite are a pair of boots from Mason Martin Margiela which I was lucky to get in a sale a few years back. I may never be able to get another pair and I want them to last forever, so I don’t wear them very often. I also have a small collection of 1940s Mary Jane shoes which I have collected over the years. These are what I would rescue first if my house was on fire.

I think I may be getting a pair of Georgina Goodman sneakers for Christmas and although I haven’t got them yet, they are favourites already.

Heart and sole – tell us about your life away from the Cordwainers

I try to live a simple life and enjoy the wonders of London with my two cats Umjambo and Simba. I have been trying to learn to play the clarinet for the last couple of years, and I am a keen cyclist at the weekends when I like to explore the beautiful rivers and canals (but no hills).

How would you describe what you do for a living?

Since 2000 I have been in charge of the day-to-day running of the further education saddlery department at Capel Manor College, where I currently manage and teach two City & Guilds full time programs in saddlery – also known as the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Diploma in Saddle, Harness and Bridle-making. In 2017 we launched a full-time shoemaking course, which will enable 16- to 18-year-olds (as well as mature learners) to learn to make shoes before either entering higher education or an apprenticeship.

I also run various short and part-time courses in leather skills such as shoemaking, saddlery, leather box-making and an introduction to working with hand-sewn leather.

Lasting impressions – what do you enjoy most about being a member of the Cordwainers?

First, meeting and getting to know a wonderful charitable group of fantastic people. Second being involved with a Company that supports education and especially training in practical skills. The Cordwainers’ support enables me to pass on these ancient skills and to educate young people who otherwise would not be able to afford to study. With the Cordwainers’ help, we ensure that traditional skills are passed on to the next generation.

If you were Master for one day, from your education perspective, what would you try to introduce?

If I were Master for the day my dream would be to revive Cordwainers College as it was years ago.

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William Church with Barbara Fidler (left) and Helen Kirkum

William Lobb chats to footwear guests

Line, pictured with above with her saddlery awards, and top with Freeman Jane Schafer

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BirthsFreeborn daughter of Liveryman Atalanta Weller – Xanthe Hill on 16 July 2018.

MarriagesCongratulations to Liveryman Hester Williams and Graham Roberts who were married on 11 August.

Congratulations to Freeman Angus Francis Coleman and Mollie Charlesworth who were married on 18 August. (Pictured above).

DeathsWe regret to announce the death of Court Widow Sheila East on 28 August 2018.

Cordwainers: The Movie

Cinematographer Marc Swadel has made a stunning film of the 2018 Cordwainers National Footwear Student Awards, which captures the atmosphere of the occasion and showcases the work of the students really effectively. It can be seen on the news section of our website www.cordwainers.org, or by searching for CordwainerClerk on YouTube, which will take you to the Cordwainer channel.

Forthcoming EventsThe Events Committee is organising a series of events to raise money for the Master’s Charity of the Year, the Alzheimer’s Society. There really is something for everyone and we hope everyone will be able to attend at least one event. Please contact Charity Manager Nancy Treves for more details: charity@cordwainers.org

Carol Singing Paddington Underground Station – Thursday 20 December 2018. 11am-2pm

Quiz night, City of London – Tuesday 12 February 2019 (date provisional)

Music scholars’ concert, St Bartholomew the Great, City of London – Wednesday 3 April 2019 (date provisional)

City of London guided walking tours – Saturday 28 April 2019 and Saturday 18 May 2019 (dates provisional). A two-hour guided walk around the City, with evensong at St Paul’s.

East Coast to West Coast cycle – Saturday 29 June 2019. 150 miles in a day. You know you want to do it!

The Clerk is delighted to hear from all Cordwainers. Please remember to tell the office about changes of address and your family news.

© 2018 The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers. The Cordwainer is published twice a year. Copies are retained at the Cordwainers’ office. Contact the editor via the Cordwainers’ office: office@cordwainers.org or telephone +44 (0) 20 7929 1121. The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, Clothworkers’ Hall, Dunster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7AH.

Notice Board

Events Calendar 2019

08 Jan Tue 12th Night Court Dinner 18.00

15 Jan Tue Wine Committee 11:15

06 Feb Wed

Freedom Committee Finance and Resources CommitteeMaster and Wardens MeetingCourtCourt Supper

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04 Mar Mon Events Committee 18.30

08 Mar Fri Civic Dinner 18.30

29 Mar Fri United Guilds’ Service (St Paul’s Cathedral) 11.15

10 Apr Wed

Freedom CommitteeCharity CommitteeMaster and Wardens MeetingCourtCame’s, Minge’s and Shawe’s Anniversary Sermon - St Olave’sApprentices’ Supper

10.3013.0015.0015.3017.15

18.30

25 Apr Thu Cordwainers Educational Trust (CET) business meeting 14.00

15 May Wed Inter-Livery Clay Shooting Competition

16 May Thu Inter-Livery Golf ‘Prince Arthur Cup’ (Walton Heath)

23 May Thu Livery Dinner 18.30

31 May Fri Inter-Livery Rifle Competition’ (Bisley)

03 Jun Mon Events Committee 18.30

05 Jun Wed Cordwainers/Curriers Golf Day (Piltdown)

06 Jun Thu Cordwainers National Footwear Student Awards (Clothworkers’ Hall)

19 Jun Wed

Freedom CommitteeFinance & Resources CommitteeCourtElection Day Common HallSupper

12.0014.3016.3018.0019.00

03 Jul Wed Oath Day

Events Calendar

750th AnniversaryThe Cordwainers will celebrate their 750th anniversary in 2022 with a year of extraordinary events and charitable fundraising. Senior Warden Nigel Easton is leading a committee who are planning the celebrations and they hope to be able to issue some ‘save the date’ notices within the next few months.

Follow us online! @WorshipfulCordwainers

WorshipfulCordwainers

@Cordwainers

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