The May 2026 Court Dinner was a truly special occasion as we welcomed staff and students from  our two affiliated schools, New College Worcester for blind and visually impaired students and the Mary Hare School for deaf and hearing impaired children and other Award winners to the evening.

The Dinner was held in the unique setting of Tallow Chandlers Hall and was well attended with lots of lively conversations as the participants enjoyed an excellent meal. During the Dinner the Master proposed a toast to the 8 new Freemen and 3 new Liverymen who had been installed at the Court meeting held prior to the dinner, wishing them much enjoyment and satisfaction of their membership and participation in the Company activities.

In his after dinner speech the Master welcomed all the guests, thanking them supporting the event and had the privilege of presiding over the following presentations:

 

Legrand was recognised as one of the Founder Corporate Patrons of the Lightmongers Company and thanked for their support, particularly to the work of the Lightmongers Charitable Trust. Neil Baldwin, Senior Business Development Manager of Legrand UK & Ireland, was presented with a commemorative plaque by the Master, Graham Smith and Past Master Rodney Bennion, who is spearheading our Corporate Patrons Scheme.

The Master and Liveryman Bob Kronman, Chair of the Lightmongers Charitable Trust, were delighted to be able to present the Lightmongers UCL Award 2026, for outstanding achievement on the Bartlett School of Architecture MSc in Light & Lighting course, to Sebestian Guillen. Huge congratulations to Sebestian. This prestigious award is generously sponsored by Canary Wharf Group and the Master expressed his appreciation for that support.

The Hugh Ogus Awards 2026 to the Head Students of our two affiliated schools for academic success and leadership attributes were presented to Faith Dodds and Zac Hollinshead of NCW and Jasper Loten of Mary Hare School.

The Master, Graham Smith and Liveryman Bob Kronman on behalf of the Lightmongers Charitable Trust were then privileged to present to each of our two affiliated schools our annual donation to support the outstanding work they do. This year the Trustees of the Charitable Trust have been able to significantly increase the donations, along with the donations to some of the other sensory impairment charities we support, due to the generous support of the founder Corporate Patrons, ANEW, Cembre Group, F.W. Thorpe Plc, Legrand and Status International and the sincere thanks were expressed to the Corporate Patrons for that support:

Robin Askew, Principal of Mary Hare School, responded on behalf of both Schools in thanking the Lightmongers for their very generous donations, which are hugely appreciated and make a difference each year. In the case of Mary Hare, it would, for example, enable the refurbishment of a science lab to proceed – a project he had feared was going to have to be delayed. Robin invited Jasper Loten, the Head Student of Mary Hare School to say a few words about the impact of the School on his life and his eloquent and moving speech about that impact brought the guests to their feet for a standing ovation. This talented young man has a great future ahead of him as have Faith and Zac and we wish them all the best in their future careers.

To bring the formal part of the evening to a close the Master highlighted two forthcoming events and encouraged all members to participate and support them:

  • Lightmongers Summer Banquet – Thursday 2nd July 2026 – a wonderful evening at the elegant Barber Surgeons Hall.
  • Lightmongers Charity Golf Day – Tuesday 8th September 2026. All funds raised by this event will be in support of our two affiliated schools, Mary Hare School and New College Worcester. Please do support this fund-raising event, either through participating in the golf tournament, or the various sponsorship and other activities available.

He then invited everyone to join him in a stirrup cup after the dinner, to continue their conversations and network with other guests, which was a wonderful way to round off a superb event.

If you are involved in the Lighting or Electrical industry and would like to get involved in our growing, vibrant Livery Company, or support our Education and Charity activities, please contact the Clerk, Mark Houghton at clerk@lightmongers.co.uk