As well as hearing from guest speaker Christ Holmes, Non-Executive Director of Carrs Group, the Newton Rigg Society’s fourth Annual Dinner raised £2,200 from its raffle and an auction of promises, the money is being donated to the RABI.
Over 90 guests gathered included a mix of ex-students from as early as the 1950’s as well as members of the current student union and staff from the college. During a pre-dinner reception, everyone took the opportunity to look back at archive material and photos.
Guest speaker for the evening was Chris Holmes, Non-Executive Chairman of Carrs Group. The company was started by Jonathan Dodgson Carr and in 1841 JD Carr was appointed biscuit maker to Queen Victoria.
When Chris took over as Chief Executive in 1994, profits were a modest, this year they are expected to break a new record at £16.5m. Recognised with an award for his Lifetime Contribution, Chris helped transform Carrs into a global business in agriculture, food and engineering. His insights into life at Carrs and in agriculture were enjoyed by past and present students at the dinner.
Master of Ceremonies was committee member John Rigg who also organised a raffle and auction of promises. Auctioneer for the event was David Thomlinson from Harrison and Hetherington in Carlisle. The proceedings raised £420 from the raffle and £1780 in the auction. The grand total of £2,200 is being sent to RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution), which supports farming people of all ages who are struggling.
Chair of Newton Rigg Society Trevor Wilson from Cartmel said “Once again this has been an excellent way for past and present students to reconnect. We want to keep the momentum going and have already outlined a series of visits and events for 2016 that we hope will attract more interest from past students.”
The vote of thanks was given by Rhys Bainbridge a member of the Newton Rigg Student Union.
The Society’s first event of 2016 is set to be a social at Junction 36 auction, to be held at the end of February, with a farm walk and Pie and Pea supper to be held at Low Howgill at Milburn later in the spring.
