Master’s Blog

Until the last quarter of the 19th century the Lord Mayor hosted an annual banquet for the heads of the Great Twelve Livery Companies.  Today the dinner is for all Livery Companies. It is held to celebrate the partnership with the Livery Companies of the City of London and to…...

The 18th Ezra Memorial Lecture was given by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Professor Michael Mainelli.  The audience included academics and students, members of the Fuellers’ Company and other Livery Companies. Professor Michael Mainelli started by observing that, for a colourless gas, hydrogen generates a lot of…...

An important, not to be missed, fixture on the Master’s calendar is the visit to Treloar’s School at Alton in Hampshire.  About 180 young people, aged from 4 to 25, with physical disabilities and complex clinical needs, live and learn as independently as possible and achieve their ambitions.  With around…...

I was invited by the Master Educator to one of her regular seminars on education-related issues.   The Master and members of the Company hosted Cara (the Council for At-Risk Academics).  It provides urgently needed help to academics in immediate danger – for instance those forced into exile, and many who…...

This webinar followed seamlessly from the dinner with Sir John Armitt on infrastructure.  In order to meet the needs of customers and the environment there will need to be significant investment over the coming decades in the water sector in England and Wales. Helen noted that the sector has various…...

The Venice Bienniale is well-known.  Within the City of London, another artistic bienniale is the famed Basketry Showcase – so good that Masters, Consorts and other members of the Livery braved the very wet weather to visit the Dutch Church at Austin Friars for this unusual exhibition of an ancient…...

This was another in the series of Lord Mayor’s Coffee Colloquies held at Mansion House, promoting connections that help address the leading issues of the day.  This was the first led by the Royal Society and discussed how to align better the needs of the economy with the capabilities of…...

The Water Conservators are active regular members of the Group where we share information and experience about our Companies’ charitable and support work.  At our recent meeting we focused on how we can enhance collaboration across Livery Companies, both in the short term and the longer term.   We started…...

This was a super presentation by the Water Conservators’ Thames Warden, Professor Carolyn Roberts.  She pointed out that many people in London are living in a floodplain and flooding is a matter of probability: it does and will happen. Issues include the length of warning time, and time of day…...

Immediate Past Master Mike Shapiro and his Consort Jill organised an event at Goodenough College to mark International Women’s Day, on the evening beforehand.  The theme was unrecognised and invisible women throughout history. The college, on Mecklenburgh Square in Camden, is a beautiful building, providing accommodation for postgraduate students, some…...