The Association was formed in 1886 as an informal dining club. It took on its present form in the 1920’s and has been a staunch supporter of the School ever since.
The Aims of the Association are to further the interests of the School and of its past and present members, and to promote social and sporting activities among those members.
To this end, members are kept in touch with activities, events and developments by means of a bi-annual Newsletter, The Elizabethan. The Association also has its own web-site where full information about its activities is published. Social activities have always remained a prominent part of the portfolio of member benefits … an Annual Dinner, a Dinner Debate, Founders’ Day are regular features in the calendar. There is a Masonic Lodge and an extremely popular Forty Society Luncheon Club for those who left the school forty or more years ago. The Association helps members organise informal group meetings and dinners.
Sections focused on sport, in the broadest sense, are equally alive and, in some cases, kicking. The Association currently supports cricket and golf clubs; and is affiliated with the Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Club. It still has a long-term lease on the War Memorial Sports ground at Gypsy Corner in Mays Lane, Barnet, which was purchased by the Association in the late 1940s from its own resources, from donations from members and from monies remaining in its War Memorial Fund. The ground is administered by a limited company which is wholly owned by the Association.
More recently, however, recognizing the changing patterns in society, particularly that many members no longer live within easy traveling distance of Barnet, the Association has re-emphasized the opportunity it provides for former pupils to keep in touch with developments at the School and with one another.
The logo and house style, and its online facilities, are tangible examples of its determination to be relevant to all Elizabethans, whether current or former pupils, whether still living in the locality or far away in the UK or the global village, whether starting on a career or long since retired.
It is building closer relations with the Friends of QE, offering practical advice on careers, and asking former pupils to provide tax-efficient financial support through Gift Aid donations and legacies. The Headmaster and the School Captain are members ex-officio of both the Association and the Committee: sixth former students are offered to take up membership so that they can benefit from the portfolio while in tertiary education and starting on a career. An Old Elizabethan Memorial Room has been set up within the Library at the School, with the help of the Friends of QE. Its purpose is to provide a meeting place for, and to collate memorabilia of, all Old Elizabethans.
Fellowship is available for a modest annual subscription, currently £22.00 (or £20.00 if paid by Direct Debit). The social events and Sections are self-financing. Participation may attract an additional charge: there is no subsidy from the subscription income so as not to disadvantage members who are unable to easily get to Barnet.
The Association is administered by a Committee, elected annually. Suggestions are always welcomed about ways and means whereby the benefits to members can be enhanced.
