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Retired lawyer Richard ‘Jerry’ Golland has helped hundreds of young people and handled millions of pounds in his long years of charity work.

Jerry (OE 1956–1963) was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to Business and Charity in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.

A solicitor who lives in Welwyn Hatfield, Jerry spent more than a decade with The Prince's Trust and continues to work with The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust, a charity formed with the £5.2m assets of an antique dealer which helps vulnerable children and families affected by illness in the UK and supports development projects in Africa.

He spent more than 40 years as a lawyer with a number of firms, having benefited from a QE connection for the vital first step in that successful career. He was also the Hertfordshire Chairman – and, later, East of England Regional Chairman – for the Institute of Directors.

On the announcement of the Birthday Honours, Jerry told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: "I am surprised, but tickled pink. It is nice to know that people notice, especially as it is local people who have nominated me."

Jerry set out his story in his own words, as follows.

"I was born in Welwyn Garden City on 22nd April 1945. My father, Richard John Golland was an old boy at QE before the war [OE 1928–1935]. He was a civil engineer. Dad was working in Tanganyika in 1949 building the deep-water port at Mtwara for the infamous Ground Nut Scheme [a failed attempt by the British government to cultivate peanuts on areas of land in this country, which is now Tanzania]. My mother took me and my sister Mary (who went to the Girls' School) in 1949 by seaplane to Tanganyika. We stayed there until 1953, when it was decided we should come home as my Swahili was better than my English, and I could not read or write, but could dismantle and clean a Lea Enfield 303 rifle and skin a leopard! I was sent to Franklin House, a prep school in Palmers Green where they beat the Swahili out of me and somehow got me through the eleven plus. EHJ [Ernest Harold Jenkins, Headmaster 1930–1961] interviewed me and I only got in to QE as Dad was an OE.

"I was known as Jerry at school – and often as Golly. My name can doubtless still be found on some silverware at QE: I seem to remember the 220 yards, 440 yards and the long jump cup. I struggled academically as the prep school had not taught me how to learn and no-one realised this when I was at QE. In the end, I ended up with one A-level and quite a few O-levels.

"Fred Jefferies was then a governor and a solicitor practicing in North Finchley. He wanted a couple of articled clerks, so Nigel Emery from my year and I embarked on becoming solicitors through five years of articles. Nigel managed to pass all of his exams, but I took until 1971 to get through mine. Fred made me a partner and I stayed with Merton Jones Lewsey & Jefferies until 1989, when I was enticed away to Join Taylor Walker in St Albans. In 1995 I was headhunted into Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, where I remained until I retired in 2011. Fred was a very good commercial solicitor, and took me under his wing. I found I had a talent for merger & acquisition work, with a particular interest in corporate governance. That interest eventually lead me into advising charities, which in those days were very badly run and needed a good dose of commercial common sense.

"In 1994, Alan 'Happy' Morris, an accountant and an OE, asked me to help him with a client called Sylvia Adams. She had fallen over and broken her hip. She had a fantastic collection of antiques, having been a dealer whose best client was Queen Mary! She wanted to set up a charity, and in 1995 Alan and I formed The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust with £5.2 million pounds generated from the sale of the collection. At that time the Trust supported disabled people, young people, and those in poverty, both within the UK and abroad in third-world countries. Alan was chairman of trustees and I was the other trustee. Alan resigned as trustee in 2000 as he was unwell; I became chairman and we took in two other trustees, one of whom was a certain Eamonn Harris [Headmaster 1984–1999]. SACT continues to this day, although our work is now a little different.” [The charity currently focuses on helping organisations involved in: early years’ work with some of the country’s most disadvantaged children; supporting and informing families and communities affected by genetic conditions, and development work in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.]

"Going back to 1995, I was approached by the manager of the Prince's Youth Business Trust to join their board in Hertfordshire to assess businesses that had applied for support and to make loans to them. I volunteered in this way until 2000 when the then-chairman stood down. I was asked to apply for the role, was appointed, and then told a week later that The Prince of Wales had decided to combine the three trusts he had set up over the years. The work of one of the Trusts was contracted out to the YMCA in Watford by head office, and the other two had their own boards and volunteers. It took a bit of doing, but by the end of 2000, we had one Hertfordshire Board and all went well. As Hertfordshire Chairman, I also sat on the Regional Committee. By 2006 we had undergone another set of changes, including merging with the Bedfordshire Board, and when yet more change was proposed which would mean the end of using volunteers except for fundraising, I decided enough was enough! In my time as chairman we helped over 1,300 young people in Hertfordshire, something I will always be proud of.

"I had been a member of the Institute of Directors since 1990. I used the Hertfordshire Branch as a good networking opportunity. In 2001, I was asked to join the Hertfordshire Committee, and in 2002, when the then-chairman left the role suddenly, I found myself being put forward as Hertfordshire Chairman. I accepted and after four years was appointed Regional Chairman for the East of England. That role was for three years, and I stepped down in 2009.

"My role at The Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust continues, but I am no longer involved in the other roles. I am a member of Brookmans Park Golf Club [In 2017, he was Captain of the Muntjacs, the club’s senior section]. Richard Newton and I started in 1C in September 1956, and when Brooksmans Park played Porters Park Golf Club in 2017, Richard was their Captain. These OEs get everywhere! I was a member of the OE rugby club, the athletics team and the cricket club. My other passion is our narrow boat, Albert Henry, that we keep on the Grand Union Canal near Ivinghoe. Life at four miles an hour is a great stress-reliever.

"Trina and I were married in 1970 and are still together. Mum and Dad died in 2006 and 2003 respectively. We have two daughters. Sarah is married and lives in Cambridge. She and Ed have two daughters, Emily, who is eight, and Martha, five. Laura is not married, but has a partner, Al, and they have been together for 11 years. They have two daughters, Niamh, four, and Grace, one. They live in Wellington, New Zealand, which means a long trip every year, and lots of Skyping!”

Mike Ajayi got his big break when, in quick succession, he started working for a music industry legend and signed chart-toppers alt-J.

That led eventually to Mike (OE 1998–2005) running his own label imprint, AMF (All My Friends) Records, which is part of the global Universal Music Group led by Mike's fellow OE, Sir Lucian Grainge (1971–1978).

Mike signed alt-J – then just a four-piece band from Leeds University but now a platinum-selling indie success story – in 2011 shortly after he joined independent label Infectious Music to work under the pupillage of Korda Marshall.

"My love for music came mainly from School friends growing up," he says. "We'd listen to British bands such as Blur, Arctic Monkeys, The Streets and Bloc Party. At that time, TV channels like MTV Base and Channel U were quite prominent, so we listened to a lot of US hip hop and R&B. Rappers and musicians like Eminem, Dr Dre, Missy Elliot, Talib Kweli or Maxwell definitely sound-tracked our youth, especially on those Saturday away [rugby] games."

For it was, he says, sport not music, that was his main passion in terms of extra-curricular School activities. "I was never the most gifted musically at school as I'd usually be found on the rugby pitch when I had a spare moment." He played the game competitively throughout the age groups and was in the First XV from Year 11, also playing at county level and for Saracens.

"Rugby was definitely a calming influence for me and helped me get rid of some of that surplus energy that would sometimes spill into the classroom. I wouldn't say I was by any means the naughtiest, but I definitely knew how to push my luck at times. I give a lot of credit to former master Mr [Tim] Bennett, who was a great mentor and guide for myself and a lot of the boys during my time at QE. He was both my head of year and rugby coach, and he definitely instilled the belief in me that anything was possible.

"I think, looking back, that's probably what sticks with me most about my time at QE – it wasn't just what we learnt in the classroom, but also the way the School and teachers enabled us to be confident, free-thinking, independent young men. Something I feel has served me well through to today."

It was when he went to the University of East Anglia that he began to find his own taste in music, discovering much more eclectic genres and going along to many live shows. "I eventually got in to writing reviews for a then up-and-coming music blog, Subba-Cultcha, which would involve often jumping on the National Express bus to review shows in London."

In addition to this nascent career as a music journalist, Mike also had the opportunity to try his hand at live promotions: with the help of friends, he put on a local student club night in Norwich called Connected. "It was predominantly an old-school Garage and R&B night, and despite having a very limited budget, we were able to attract a host of UK urban acts, such as Wiley, Kano and Lethal B to name but a few. Although, it was a small venue, I found it great for discovering new urban music and meeting people in the industry. It also helped put a few extra pennies in my pocket whilst I navigated my way through university."

It was around this time that Mike started to take the idea of working in music seriously: "I didn't know where I saw myself fitting, but I just knew I wanted to be part of it."

His first definite steps into a music industry career came in around 2009, when he took up an internship at Sony Music Entertainment. "I would be lying if there wasn't a part of me that thought getting into the industry would instantly mean wild parties, and although that was the case on the odd occasion, it was actually probably the hardest period for me. I initially started out in their catalogue and compilations division in a role that involved me compiling all the required artist and legal information for music compilations.

"I did this for about two months before moving over to the newly reformed Jive records UK, home to English hip-hop artist Chipmunk and L.A. band Funeral Party. I guess that's where I made my first transitions to becoming an A&R. [Artists and repertoire (A&R) is the division of a record company responsible for talent-scouting and the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters.] At the time, my primary role was just being out and about scouting emerging talent and reporting back in to my boss. In order to do this, however, I had to take up various jobs ranging from working as a clerk in an eye hospital to weekend bar work, as the label only covered my expenses. My evenings would be spent travelling up and down the UK, sometimes attending three shows in a single night – and I'd still be expected to be in the office for 9:30am the next day. Although it was tiring and often quite lonely, I loved it!"

All those unpaid hours did eventually bring their reward, as Mike’s career began to take off rapidly when he joined Infectious and started working with Korda Marshall. "During my time there, I was really able to drill down on what is was to be an A&R. Beyond the talent-scouting element, I learnt about the processes that went in to making a record, as well the business side of the industry and actually signing talent. I had a good level of success, signing bands such as Superfood and Drenge, whilst also getting to work quite closely with Korda on 'a&r-ing' albums for The Temper Trap, These New Puritans, The Acid and Local Natives.

"Undoubtedly, my biggest achievement and involvement as an A&R came about when I signed alt-J in November 2011. We would go on to release their debut album An Awesome Wave, which went platinum in the UK (300,000+ album sales) and sold over 1 million copies worldwide. In addition to the sales, the album won the prestigious 2012 British Barclaycard Mercury Prize, and in 2013 it was named Album of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards. The band’s sophomore album, This Is All Yours, led to continued success, reaching number 1 in the UK charts and cementing them as one of the biggest British bands, who sold out multiple O2 Arena shows and Madison Square Garden."

Success breeds success, and, in 2015, Mike's glittering period with Infectious and alt-J, brought him the opportunity, along with a fellow Infectious colleague, to start his own label imprint under Virgin EMI (part of Universal). Virgin EMI is home to artists including Emelie Sande, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kanye West, James Bay and Bastille.

"Through this deal, my label, AMF Records, is tasked with the role of focusing on the long-term development of emerging British artists. One of the first signings was the BBC Sound of 2016 longlisted and critically acclaimed artist, Loyle Carner, whose debut, Yesterday’s Gone, has been lauded as one of 2017's breakthrough albums in the UK and abroad.” Now in its third year, the label boasts a host of new acts, such as Connie Constance, Marika Hackman and Jelani Blackman.

Mike, who is London-based, adds: "The plan going forward is to further cement AMF Records as a home for nurturing and developing acts, which could hopefully lead to me following in the footsteps of Lucian Grainge.

"I feel very fortunate that I've been able to pursue a career in music and in no way has it perturbed my love for it, either. On a personal level, my focus has shifted to 'giving back' as I’ve tried to take a more active role in the industry."

Mike is committed to working with pupils at schools including QE and the well-known academy, ELAM (East London Arts & Music).

"As well as that, I've also spoken on panels in the UK and US in the hope that I can provide greater insight into how younger generations can navigate their way through non-typical career paths."

Now flourishing as a photographer in Austria, Gavin Otter is a prime example of how life and careers can take unexpected turns.

He was neither a linguist nor a sportsman at School, yet Gavin (OE 1984–1989) is now fluent in German and an enthusiastic marathon-runner, skier, climber and snowboarder.

He is also a qualified paramedic with the Austrian Red Cross, having come second in his class in a course that was taught entirely in German. He taught himself the language, simply learning it from those around him and from the media.

Upon leaving School, Gavin had originally planned to go first to university and then into the army, but ended up doing neither. “I don’t regret that at all. I have studied other things, which I believe have benefited me more.”

He worked in marketing & sales and originally came to Austria with a former business partner to set up an events company. “We had that for seven years and my business partner still runs it, but I moved on purely because it was not making me any money. I learnt a lot, though, and it was fun. You have never really learnt anything until you fail: just stand up and do something even better.”

He first started developing an interest in photography in around 2007 and has been a been a professional photographer for some three years. “It evolved into something that is now a business,” he says. He works on a variety of assignments, including weddings, documentaries and commercial projects and says: “I am fortunate to be surrounded by some of Austria’s most stunning scenery, as well as some fascinating people.”

Gavin lives in the beautiful Austrian Tyrol and in a recent project for his blog, A Month of Colour, he photographed subjects ranging from his two small boys at play to summer views of the mountains and, from a visit back to the UK, a picture of the QE main building.

His advice for others considering a move into a similar career is: “Make sure you have another source of income as well; you are not going to be David Bailey overnight and it takes a while to build up a business. It is fun, though, building a business and watching it grow.

“If there’s anything I would like to pass on, especially to the boys at School currently, it’s this: don’t quit – you don’t know what you are going to do tomorrow and anything can happen. You can plan your life ahead…but things develop and you have to look for opportunities and go with what you feel is right.”

Frankie Vu’s burgeoning career combines roles as a live sports host and children’s TV presenter with the world of freestyle football.

Frankie (Francis) appears on the CBBC and Disney XD children’s channels, acts as host at Arsenal’s Champions League home matches and is a professional freestyler.

He attended QE from 2000 to 2008, enjoying some early career breakthroughs while still at School. He once raced from an AS examination straight to Manchester to appear in a music video. In the video, for The Way I Are (sic) by the American rapper, producer and DJ, Timbaland, Frankie is seen performing as a freestyler. (Freestyle football is the art of self-expression with a football, with players performing tricks using various parts of their body.)

“I was still at QE when I won the UK football freestyle championship in 2006,” he says. “This actually stemmed from a serious sports injury that I had sustained the previous year: I found that football freestyle was a good way to work on my rehab during the long period I had to spend away from team sports.

“I fell in love with the process of getting something wrong so many times and of eventually succeeding, but in my own time and on my terms.”

On leaving QE, Frankie studied English Language & Communication at King’s College London.

“I was unsure what I wanted to do after university, so during the holidays I completed two summer internships at Centrica and Barclays. Although I enjoyed both, I wasn't convinced that either was a good ‘fit’.

“However, in my final year I had attended a talk on careers in the media. One thing led to another and eventually I was invited to screen-test for Disney. Then – and this is a very condensed version of the story! – I secured my first TV contract at the end of the summer.”

Since then, he has been a host for the fencing and taekwondo events at London Olympics and for the wheelchair fencing at the 2012 Paralympic Games, as well as for other live sporting events, including rugby and NFL and at the Emirates Stadium, where he interviews stars from the past for Arsenal’s Champions Club.

His TV work includes exploring the world of the future in CBBC’s Technobabble show – an interest he has also demonstrated in videos from the Mobile World Congress and through fronting previews for the Gadget Show Live.

Frankie has his own YouTube channel and is very much at home in the online world, being close to well-known ‘vloggers’ including Zoella (Zoe Elizabeth Sugg), Marcus Butler, Caspar Lee and Jim Chapman.

• Frankie can be contacted through social media on @theFrankieVu

Edmund Watson is now forging a successful career as a doctor after shining both at School and at Oxford.

While at QE, Edmund (OE 1999–2006) was a gold medal-winner in the Biology Olympiad and won distinctions in his Advanced Extension Awards, before going on to Oxford University to read Medicine. As an undergraduate, he won various Collections prizes and earned Exhibitioner status during his first year, following this up with a Scholarship in his second, before graduating with a first-class degree in his third.

“I had a fantastic time at university – Brasenose is a very friendly college and I was very lucky to encounter a great group of friends, as well as the girlfriend who is now my wife,” he says. He took the opportunity to indulge his love of music and enjoyed singing with the Brasenose Choir, becoming a Choral Scholar. He also played clarinet regularly with the university’s Wind Orchestra, performing in locations as varied as Northampton, Glasgow and Israel.

During his post-graduate clinical training at Oxford, he was awarded a distinction in his Finals and a Prize Viva. He particularly relished his elective study placements in Malaysian Borneo and the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, USA. He continued to pursue his interest in singing, forming an a capella choir group, The Ultrasounds, and devoted many hours to his role as treasurer for the Osler House Club, a 450-strong society for medical students.

He began working as a junior doctor in 2013 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, and whilst there he joined the Gloucester Choral Society. In the following year, he moved on to north Bristol’s Southmead Hospital, before taking up his post with North West Thames Foundation School, which includes ‘rotations’ in clinical haematology, cardiology and renal medicine at the Hammersmith and Harefield Hospitals.

Edmund was able to deliver some teaching in his final year of Medical School, as well as designing a two-week course for fourth-year medical students. He has continued to teach as a junior doctor, delivering various ‘bedside teaching’ sessions to Bristol University students.

Having realised early in his medical studies that he enjoyed research, he is keen to be involved in it and in education in the future. A member of the Royal College of Physicians, he hopes to become a consultant haematologist.

Edmund was guest of honour at the School’s 2016 Founder’s Day thanksgiving service.

Characteristically modest, he began the main part of his address to the congregation at Chipping Barnet Parish Church by saying: “I still see myself as a ‘work-in-progress’, and I definitely am not sure that I deserve the honour of being invited to speak to you here today.”

He then told the boys: “As you go through the rest of your careers at QE, use those wonderful brains of yours to think, and to make the most of this remarkable School environment – whose 443rd Birthday we celebrate today – to help you become masters of asking good questions.” Those questions should be about themselves, about others and about the world around them, he said.

The service featured the traditional prayers for the School, as well as Bible readings, hymns and music by Vivaldi, Brahms, Rutter and Hubert Parry. Afterwards, the boys, staff and guests processed to the School, where, in time-honoured fashion, Headmaster Neil Enright gave the roll call in front of the Main Building. The School Chronicle was also read aloud – a tradition started by Ernest H Jenkins, in 1930.

As well as Edmund, the VIP party included: his wife, Emma, and parents; the Chairman of Governors Barrie Martin and his wife, Perin; Rector of Chipping Barnet Reverend Chris Ferris; and the Deputy Mayor of Barnet, Cllr Sury Khatri and his wife and Deputy Mayoress, Tara Khatri.

Having secured his PhD, Benjamin Lichman now works at one of the world’s leading centres for plant product research.

Benjamin (OE 2000–2007), who in the summer of 2016 received his doctorate from University College London, took up a post-doctoral appointment at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. His research interests concern complex organic molecules of value to humankind and, specifically, the mechanism and evolution of biosynthetic enzymes.

Just a few days after the PhD ceremony, he was himself handing out awards when he was Guest of Honour at QE’s Junior Awards Ceremony.

Benjamin followed in the footsteps of two older brothers when he came to the School as a young boy. He was a keen flautist at School, playing in various QE ensembles, while also being involved in debating. After gaining straight As in his A-levels, he went on to gain a first-class degree in Natural Sciences at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he also won the college prize in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and a Davies Scholarship in 2008.

In his address at Junior Awards in the School Hall, he reflected on writing his doctoral thesis, which, he said, comprised 316 pages and 86,729 words. He told the assembled boys: “The whole four years involved working on an enzyme found in plants which helps create some of humanity’s most valuable medicines. You study so many different subjects. I think you are very lucky – I just spent the last four years studying a single molecule!”

The Junior Awards ceremony rewards boys in Years 7, 8 and 9 for their achievements. It features musical interludes which this year included pieces by Mozart, Fauré and Devienne. VIP guests included the Mayor and Mayoress of Barnet, Cllr David Longstaff, and Ms Gillian Griffiths.

Benjamin recalled his own first academic award: a Year 7 prize for public-speaking. Praising the School, which he said had been “central to my journey”, he urged the prize-winners not to be complacent in the future and warned them against excessive competitiveness and viewing their successes in comparison with others.

He urged the importance of asking questions, illustrating this by recalling in some detail the famous story of Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin. Fleming, instead of throwing away agar plates which had accidentally become contaminated, was curious enough to ask what the effects of the fungal growth had been on the bacteria that had previously been spread on the plates. “And experiment followed by question followed by experiment (and on and on) eventually led to…the birth of the golden age of antibacterials, which saw the elimination of many types of infectious disease.”

It was important, too, not to stop asking questions, Benjamin said. The question “Are antibiotics good for human health?” would have been answered with a simple “yes” ten years ago, but, as the use of too many antibiotics has enabled some bacteria to gain resistance and become superbugs, it is now clear that that answer is not entirely true.

In his introduction, Headmaster Neil Enright thanked Benjamin for attending and spoke of the importance of reflection. Alluding to the annual appraisals that are a standard feature in the modern working world, Mr Enright said: “This time to stop and reflect is valued by both employers and employees alike, giving the opportunity to ask the questions that American poet and writer Carl Sandburg felt were so important to reflect on: ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?’”

Artist Stephen Walter has already achieved considerable success with his work both at home and abroad, but he remains ambitious for further recognition.

“I still believe that Art can make the world a better place, and that the best examples of works of art can elevate the human species towards the beauties and wonders of the world that we have inherited,” he says.

Stephen (OE 1987-1994) works in two forms – finely detailed semi-abstract landscapes and, secondly, maps and plans. Prints of his maps have become particularly sought-after.

His most famous work is his 2008 map of London, entitled The Island. This features tiny pencil notes indicating locations’ public and private associations, and is part-oral history, part-folklore and part-personal homage. The capital is shown as being adrift in a Home Counties sea: Stephen grew up in New Barnet, and Barnet is depicted as a coastal town.

The Island gained him some renown in 2010 when it was displayed alongside early hand-drawn maps of London at the acclaimed British Library exhibition, Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art. Then last year, the same map was published in book form, which brought him further public attention, including a major interview in The Guardian.

Both maps and London have long been subjects of fascination to Stephen, who lives and works in the capital. His studio is at Fish Island on the River Lea close to the site of the 2012 Olympic Park. As a child, he enjoyed pondering over Tolkien’s map of Mordor, imagining what the landscape this represented was like.

At QE, Stephen, who is of English and German heritage, was taught by both the current Head of Art, Ashley West, and by Art teacher Stephen Buckeridge. “I have good memories from QE, especially from the Art Department,” he says. He remembers particularly the emphasis on Art History and the opportunities provided, such as the School arranging for his A-level class to set up studio for a week in the Slade School of Art. “QE formed the first segment and the foundations of the world-class education that I was so lucky to receive.”

Mr West – “a fine teacher and an important influence” – later arranged for him to return to the School for a period as an artist-in-residence, during which time he was commissioned to produce collages which remain displayed in the Fern Building to this day.

After School, he went on to study a Foundation course at Middlesex University, before taking a first in Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. He progressed to The Royal College of Art (RCA) for his Master’s degree in 1999–2001 and then later to a fellowship at the Royal Academy of Arts. He has won a number of awards, including the RCA 2001 Drawing Prize. His most recent shows have included one this year at the Shapero Modern gallery in Mayfair.

Stephen’s own website describes his work as “an investigation into obsessive drawing techniques, semiotics, the glory of maps, and where landscape is seen a receptacle for meaning. Each work is an intricate world in itself. The maps are a tangle of words, symbols and drawn elements where cultural residues inhabit certain locations.”

He mainly works in two dimensions on paper through drawing, painting, photography, and reprographics and print.

Sports psychologist Mustafa Sarkar has gained international recognition, winning a major award for his PhD dissertation. Mustafa (OE 1997–2004) travelled to Phoenix, Arizona, to be presented with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)’s 2016 Doctoral Dissertation Award in front of more than 1,000 conference delegates.

He is one of very few British psychologists to have gained such recognition from the AASP, which is dominated by Americans and Canadians. His PhD dissertation focused on resilience, one of his main professional interests, and he had the opportunity to present his findings at the conference at a panel discussion. He received his award from 2015–2016 AASP President Brent Walker.

In a letter congratulating him on the award, current AASP President Angus Mugford wrote: “In my opinion, your study will make a solid contribution to the knowledge base in sport psychology.”

The award was only the latest professional accolade for Mustafa, who is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. He teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates, and leads the postgraduate module, Current Issues in Sport and Exercise Psychology.

At QE, Mustafa took A-levels in Economics, Chemistry and Mathematics and then, after a gap year, went to Loughborough University. He graduated in July 2008 with a first-class honours degree in Sport and Exercise Science.

He then went on to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (with distinction) from Middlesex University. In 2009, he was named Xcel Sports Student of the Year, with the judges praising him for his academic work, for coaching cricket with Loughborough school children, for climbing five UK mountains for charity and for running the London Marathon for charity, raising £2,350.

Other awards he has won include Loughborough University’s Sir Robert Martin Faculty Prize for academic and non-academic achievements and the Head of School’s Postgraduate Prize for Academic Excellence, awarded annually to the student with the highest overall mark in a Master’s Programme. He also received the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Master’s Dissertation of the Year Award in 2011. In 2015, he won the British Psychological Society Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology PhD award.

Mustafa is married to Tasnim, a qualified speech therapist.

Krishan Dave is forging a successful career in finance – and this term he gave current QE pupils some guidance on how they could follow his lead.

Krishan (OE 2002–2009) works at Canary Wharf for Northern Trust Corporation, an international, US-based financial services company. He was recently promoted from his role as an analyst, becoming an investment performance team leader.

His talk at the School’s Careers Convention, which is for Year 11 pupils and their parents, looked at finance, with a focus on investment banking. “The room was very full, so clearly a lot of boys at QE are keen to go into a career in finance,” he said. As well as discussing the different areas of a typical investment bank – front office, middle office and back office – he talked about how the culture varies both between firms and according to the type of job.

Looking at entry routes into finance, he highlighted the importance of work experience, summer internships and ‘spring weeks’ (short programmes run for first-year university students by all the leading investment banks in London during March and April). Krishan’s own CV reflects this: he spent two months with ADM Capital as a summer intern during 2011. There were now ways to get into finance straight from school, he pointed out, and he touched on the “dark world of networking”.

“I was asked about university courses, too. My response was broad: you can do any course, but it needs to be from a good university. If there is a numerical bias to the course, that’s better.” Krishan went to King’s College London to read Mathematics on leaving School in 2009.

“The parents had some interesting questions, especially regarding the impact of Brexit on the financial industry. I replied that it won’t be as bad as most people are saying – London is a huge financial centre – but there may be some gentle impact.”

Having been at Northern Trust since June 2014, Krishan plans to remain with the firm for some time to come and is ambitious to rise further there. “Northern Trust is an excellent place to learn.”

He looks back on his School days with some fondness. “QE gave me a lot and provided a great foundation for my career. I started the same year as Mr Enright did, so it’s great to see him as Headmaster and to see that he has maintained the extremely high standards of the School whilst also overseeing phenomenal redevelopment there.

“The two stand-out things I was involved with were the India Appeal [a charity which raises money for a school in India] and cricket: I was part of the School cricket teams from Year 7 all the way until I left, sacrificing all those Saturdays!”

Krishan still meets up with friends from QE. His spare time is also spent in going to the gym and he is a keen Arsenal fan. Food is a particular interest, and he enjoys visiting food markets as well as eating in restaurants.

Little more than a year after leaving Cambridge and taking up a post as a management consultant with a global company, Kamran Tajbakhsh has a new career.

Kamran (2004–2011) decided in June 2016 to become a performance coach and motivational speaker. It was, he says, a question of pursuing his passion. He is known professionally as Kam Taj.

As a coach, he works primarily with ambitious students and young professionals on performance improvement and goal attainment, with a strong focus on excellence in academic and professional aspects of life. He also speaks and runs training programmes at schools, universities and companies, where he aims to help people take control of their lives, overcome any limiting beliefs and “stride confidently towards attaining their goals”.

His ambition is to take the “empowering resources” of inspiring, globally recognised speakers, such as Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra and Eric Thomas, and apply them to younger generations in a way that resonates with them.

“The growing influence of the internet and social media has shifted the mentality of younger generations significantly,” he says. “Whilst empowering, it can also be a cause of anxiety, low confidence and dissatisfaction if not approached with emotional maturity. My mission is to equip the younger generation with the tools they need to successfully navigate this challenge in order to grow as individuals and strive to create the future that they desire, honouring their potential to make a positive impact on their society.”

After gaining 13 A*s at GCSE and three A*s and an A in his A-levels (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Further Mathematics), he won a place at Churchill College, Cambridge. He graduated with a first in Manufacturing Engineering and a Master’s degree with Merit in the same discipline. He then briefly worked as a management consultant, specialising in strategy and due diligence, with Roland Berger, a global consulting firm.

He gave a well-received talk at this year’s QE Careers Convention for Year 11 boys and their parents. Entitled Making Choices, the talk focused on how careers do not have to be limited by the subjects studied in School or at university. “My key message to those indecisive about their future career was to keep as many doors open for themselves as possible by excelling in the academic system, so that when they have a vision for their career in the future, they’re not limited by their academic foundations.”

Kam has happy memories of his time at QE, where he was an avid basketball and tennis player, captaining the School teams in both sports as a senior pupil. He went on to captain Cambridge University’s Lawn Tennis Club’s second team, as well as his college’s tennis club and basketball team. He is grateful to many teachers, including Assistant Head of Maths Wendy Fung for “tolerating my (persistently) impudent behaviour during those challenging years of Further Maths!” Kam wishes all his fellow alumni the very best for 2017.

Further information about Kam’s work is available at www.kamtaj.com