Sir John Gresham, a Lord Mayor of London, established a school at Holt in Norfolk in 1555 and, on his death, entrusted it to the care of the Fishmongers’ Company. In the 460 years since, the Company’s relationship with Gresham’s School has evolved but remains close. The School is a significant beneficiary of the Fishmongers’ Company’s Charitable Trust and the Company nominates several Governors.
Rated ‘excellent’ in every category in the 2023 Independent Schools Inspectorate report, the School has produced a number of past and present Fishmongers, as well as notable Old Greshamians such as the composer Sir Benjamin Britten and inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson. The School’s facilities and curriculum continue to benefit from its links with these illustrious alumni.
Two years after the opening of the Britten Building, housing the School’s state-of-the-art music centre, the School will shortly embark on a major capital project: a new centre for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics education (STEAM), made possible thanks to an unprecedented donation from Sir James Dyson.
Sir John Gresham’s original vision for the School was that it was to be a place of progressive education for all and the Company has long supported this objective through the provision of scholarships and bursaries. Gresham’s burgeoning partnerships with maintained schools in the area incorporate link work across the curriculum and on the sports field, as well as a number of Gresham’s scholarship places for able local students.
“I fully believe in ‘life changing bursaries’ and wish to continue to support them. This is only possible with the continued support of the Fishmongers’ Company and I wish to thank you all for this commitment. I feel it is particularly appropriate that this support has been targeted to Great Yarmouth which is an area of significant deprivation, having previously been a thriving fishing port.”
Douglas Robb, Headmaster
For more information about Gresham’s School, click here to visit their website.
© The Fishmongers’ Company 2024
