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Christmas Carol Service (Reid Memorial, West Savile Terrace) – Sunday Dec. 15, 2024 at 6.30pm

It was a delight to see so many former pupils, staff and friends of St. Margaret’s School at the St. Margaret’s Singers Christmas Carol Service on Dec. 15, 2024 at 6.30pm, which this year, was held at Reid Memorial Church, West Savile Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 3HY. Thanks to the enormous generiosity of those who attended, we are delighted to confirm that a total of £800 was raised for charity! This amount will be equally divided between the two nominated charities of Fresh Start (Edinburgh) and Let Your Light Shine (Malawi). Much joyful chatter and catch up took place afterwards, with many friends of our former St. Margaret’s School, over tea/coffee. Our sincere thanks go to everyone from Reid Memorial and St. Margaret’s School who combined to make the event so successful. If you missed it, you can listen to a recording here.

   

St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild – ‘Meet the Margarets’ Edinburgh 900 Service

A service to celebrate St. Margaret was hosted by members of the St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild at the Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8BN, on St. Margaret’s Day, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024 at 11.30am. The Guild look after the fixtures and fittings at the St Margaret’s Chapel at the Castle, and have been placing fresh flowers there every week since 1942. The St. Margaret’s Chapel was commissioned by King David I to commemorate his mother, Queen Margaret (later St. Margaret).

This year marks the 900th anniversary of King David I, granting royal burgh status to the city of Edinburgh, and a series of events and celebrations are planned to mark the occasion. The service after the Guild’s AGM on the morning of Saturday Nov. 16, took at the Canongate Kirk, and the Executive Committee very kindly invited the St Margaret’s Singers to take part in it. A recording is now available for anyone who was unable to be there in person.

More information about the event is available here.

1984 leavers – June 15, 2024 reunion!

At the Carol Service in Craigmillar Park Church in December 2023, six of the 1984 leavers met and started to hatch a cunning plan! They realised that in 2024, it was 40 years since they left St. Margaret’s!

(from left: Emma Dunlop, Deirdre Moir, Karen Gillies, Christine Evans, Claire Simpson, Jo Cameron)

The Class of 1984 had an incredible reunion on Saturday June 15, 2024. It was quite a shock to realise it’s been 40 years (even longer for those who left before the end of sixth year) since many of us last saw each other. Name badges with maiden names were a must for some, but honestly, most people hadn’t changed a bit! We even had photos to prove it! A panama hat, beret and tie from those days have stood the test of time, but what truly endured were the friendships and memories. We reminisced about our antics, teachers, and some things that might be best forgotten. We even sang the school song (although it was high for some)! Huge thanks to Rhona (McNicol) and Christine (Evans) for organizing the evening. Let’s make sure we don’t wait so long to do this again!

Class of 1959/1960 reunion

It is always delightful to hear from former pupils of their reunions and life long friendships from school days! Vivienne Dickson (nee Richards) shared the news that on September 1, eight pupils who left school in 1959/60 met for lunch. They have met regularly over the past 40+ years and are very grateful for the strong friendship bonds of their school days. Many of their class have kept in touch and have met regularly for the past 40 years. We look forward to seeing many more of these happy stories! Please continue to share with us 

Class of 1983 Reunion

What a lovely time was had when the leavers of 1983 gathered at Craigmillar Park on June 3, 2023, in the church hall where they sat their exams all those years ago, to celebrate long friendships and memories of great times at St. Margaret’s School, Newington. Former pupils travelled from as far as USA, London and the Western Isles to be together. And of course, none of it could have happened without the great co-ordination and catering provided via Diane Laing, and special “Fortiter Vivamus” cup cakes, courtesy of Pamela Jefferson (née Miller). Hope you enjoy the photos and the challenge of trying to remember who is who!

St Margaret’s Singers Concert – June 18th 2022, 3pm, Edinburgh

We are delighted to invite you to join the St Margaret’s Singers, conducted by John Cranston, accompanied by Louise Hutchon, and organist Martyn Strachan, to a concert on June 18 in Reid Memorial Church, Newington (West Saville Terrace, EH9 3HY) from 3-5pm. The music will be a mixture of romantic, sacred, scots, fun and much more! Proceeds of ticket sales will be gifted to Cancer Research UK and Motor Neurone Disease Association. Coffee/tea will be served afterwards, giving you an opportunity to catch up with former pupils, staff and friends. Contact choir members or email us here for tickets. Please spread the word and bring your friends and family, especially if they have a connection with St Margaret. We very much look forward to seeing you there!

CANCELLED – Carol Service Dec. 19, 2021 – Craigmillar Park Church

We are very sad to let you know that we are obliged to cancel the carol service on Sunday in order to comply with the latest government guidelines. We know that you will understand that it is the right thing to do to ensure everyone’s health and safety, despite how much we were all looking forward to it – particularly after all the hard work and practice put in by the choirs! Please help us to spread the word to anyone who had planned to join us on Sunday.
All being well, we will have a chance to be together before long, in 2022. We send you all our very best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy Christmas!
Best wishes to you all

For the Class of 1960 – a poem from Olive Bell (née Drysdale)

We have received a beautiful poem, written by former pupil Olive Bell (nee Drysdale) for her St Margaret’s class. They all left school in 1960 and have continued to meet regularly over the years and are very disappointed that their plans for their 60 year reunion in 2020 won’t now be happening. It is inspiring that they are finding new ways to connect, hence the poem, written on a wet day recently in Dunbar. Thank you for sharing Olive, and we sincerely hope that you will all be able to be together again at some point soon. Fortiter vivamus until then!

 

Special Easter wishes to everyone!

To all of our St. Margaret’s former pupils, staff and their families, we send you all of our special wishes for this Easter weekend. In these very different and challenging times for everyone, we wanted to bring a little normality for you, with a memory from happier, easier times. One of our Easter choral favourites is always “All in the April Evening” which we wish we could be singing with you all in Craigmillar Park Church on Easter Sunday. Hopefully this recording from 2017 brings some happy memories to you all. Thinking of all of you and wishing you all stay safe and well. Best wishes everyone!