Honoring the past, building our future

As the build of our new Chapel draws closer to completion, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you, our current family, what this will mean for your son and the College.

Our Chapel is your son’s Legacy. Though it will be a new building, it will not be new in sentiment. The Chapel of St Bede is where students have prayed, learned, connected, and shared for more than 90 years. The College has been without a dedicated Chapel since 2011, and we look forward with much anticipation to the opening of the new Chapel in September.

The Chapel is critical in the part it plays in how we help to form boys to be good men, in our Catholic environment. As Christ is the centre of our lives, so the Chapel is the centre of our College.

You may have been aware that the College has been fundraising towards the Chapel project. With half of the funds secured, we are now dedicated to a final push to reach our fundraising target in time for the Chapel’s opening. I wanted to share with you our plan to see this through to completion, and I invite any questions or feedback you may have on the project.

In my pledge to the importance of this campaign, we have built a strong fundraising committee of loyal Bedeans and friends; this includes myself, Hayden Ryan, Lisa Brennan, Patrick Methven and Noel Chambers. Over the coming months we will place strong focus on connecting with Old Boys and friends of St Bede’s College who have indicated their wish to support the project, whether individually or through a family legacy.

St Bede’s Catholic special character leaves an imprint on a boy and has a role in shaping them for the future. For many in our Old Boys community, it is hugely important to them to create opportunities for that same imprint to be left on future students. For many families, St Bede’s has educated, supported and grown their young men across generations, creating a desire to honour that family legacy and to see St Bede’s continue to flourish and remain strong.

Through our committee, we will have conversations with people we have identified as possible supporters, understand their motivations to give and provide vehicles for them to do so in the way that is most meaningful to them. We have identified a number of acknowledgement opportunities within the Chapel to honour donations going forward that we know will resonate with donors and provide recognition of their generosity in perpetuity.

We are confident that with a renewed focus on securing gifts using a committee of individuals committed to success, we will reach our fundraising target, allowing us to celebrate the opening of the new Chapel in September.

I will continue to update you monthly and I look forward to sharing with you how the project is progressing, as we, as a Bedean family, finish this journey.