Our friend and fellow Past Master, Past Master Hackney Carriage Driver Phil Davis was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List for his work with the Magical Taxi Tour.  The Tour gives sick children a break from therapy and treatment, giving them a three-day trip to Disney® Paris.  They are transported in a convoy of London Taxis and support staff.    Phil has been managing the Tour for over 25 years and the MBE recognises all his hard work!

Phil was joined by Adele and their two children for the ceremony at Windsor Castle, where he was presented with his MBE by His Majesty the King.

Our congratulations go to Phil and his colleagues who arrange this fantastic trip.  Please click anywhere in this article to find out more and donate to this wonderful cause.

A Livery Thanksgiving Service takes place at Chichester Cathedral on Saturday, 10th May 2025, at 5.30pm

We are delighted to announce the return of the Livery Thanksgiving Service at Chichester Cathedral. Following the success of the 2023 service, which welcomed nearly 250 members and guests from over 60 City Livery Companies. 

TheThanksgiving Evensong will honour the Livery movement, celebrating the varied good works supported within the Diocese of Chichester, which spans both East and West Sussex.

The service will be led by the Dean of Chichester, the Very Reverend Edward Dowler, with a sermon delivered by the Rt Revd Graeme Knowles CVO, Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and former Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Following the service there will be a drinks reception in the Cathedral. 

We hope you will join us and / or be able to share information for what promises to be a truly uplifting and joyous event. Please mark the date in your diaries; a formal invitation with RSVP details will be sent in the new year.

On behalf of the Chichester Cathedral Restoration and Development Trust

The Festival is a unique and extraordinary event. It celebrates the work of the Trust and the clergy households we serve, with our generous supporters.

The Service at St Paul's Cathedral is one of the oldest choral music events in the world, and brings together three of the UK’s finest cathedral choirs. 

The 2nd Inter-Livery Padel Competition takes place on Friday, 16 May, From 9:45am takes place at the The National Tennis Centre, Roehampton SW15 5JQ, organised by the Worshipful Company of Saddlers 

The day will commence with registration and morning coffee at 9.45 a.m. with play commencing promptly at 10.30 a.m. There will be a chance to warm up before start of play. The Courts are covered so we will not be affected by rain. There is a running buffet provided for lunch whilst there are breaks during play. Each pair will play a minimum of three matches.

Drinks will be available from 4.00 p.m. by the courts.  There will be a reception at 6.00 p.m. Dinner is a three-course meal with a half bottle of wine per person. Masters, Liverymen and friends are encouraged to join their teams at dinner.

After dinner, the Prime Warden of the Saddlers’ Company presents the prizes to the winners and the runners-up. The evening will end around 9.00pm. The dress code for players on court sports kit and trainers and for the reception and dinner, jacket and ties are requested with appropriate equivalent dress for ladies.

The charge for the day will be £425 (inclusive of VAT) for each pair entered and includes padel rackets, match balls, welcome teas/coffees, lunch and dinner. Extra diners are £121 per person including wine. 

Closing date for entries is 28th February 2025.  

The day is intended to be an enjoyable day for Liverymen & Freemen and their friends/supporters where they can meet at an Inter-Livery sporting occasion.

If you are interested, contact the Saddlers Livery Company

I would also like to draw your attention to the existence of the Square Mile Golf Society (SMiGS) which launched last year with the aim of connecting golfers from across the livery movement. We are in the process of building an online community of golf organisers with a view to sharing information on golf events across the movement and also to support each other in the running of golf fixtures.

The community is based around the Spond platform and you can request access via this link- https://group.spond.com/VEHWN.

Further details on SMiGS can be found at https://squaremilegolf.co.uk/.

Inter-Livery Golf Croquet Day takes place on Saturday, 14 June, starting at 9:30am. Final Booking date: 30 April. 

At the Sussex County Croquet Club, Kingston Lane, Southwick, West Sussex, BN43 6YW  

Organised by The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London

As in previous years, this event is an opportunity for Liverymen to enjoy a day of friendly competition playing Golf Croquet in the company of fellow Liverymen from various companies.

Costs & Refreshments: The entry fee of £80 per head includes all playing costs, coffee or tea on arrival, lunch & afternoon tea. There are a limited number of spaces for non-players at a cost of £56 per person to include the lunch and refreshments. 

Competitions: As this competition has developed so has the level of croquet expertise of those playing in the “A” competition – the “Glovers Cup”, but the “B” competition, the “Inter-Livery Challenge” remains determinedly a fun competition for those with little, or no, croquet skills.

Equipment: Mallets will be available.

Coaching: For those who require it, an introduction to Golf Croquet will be given from 09:45 to 10:00.

Contact the Glovers Company for more information.

For those new to this occasion, the Gala Evening is a distinguished event which, in 2025, celebrates the Reflections of Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, the 695th Lord Mayor of London, as he shares his insights from his year in office.

This year is particularly special, as it marks the 10th occasion of such a gathering—making this a milestone celebration. Over the past decade, the Reflections of The Lord Mayor Gala Evening has brought together Liverymen, Freemen, and esteemed guests in an atmosphere of camaraderie, tradition, and thought leadership.

 This year, the evening will be centred around the theme:

“Connect to Prosper: Bridging Traditions, Innovation, and Sustainability.”

🍷 Drinks reception in The Old Library

🍽️ Three-course dinner in The Great Hall

🎤 Live Q&A with Alderman Mainelli

The Gala Evening provides an opportunity to rekindle old connections and build new ones, celebrating a decade of bringing together distinguished guests to reflect on the Lord Mayor’s year in office.

The Sea View Yacht Club in association with the City Livery Yacht Club are hosting the regatta which is open to all livery companies who are invited to send a team of four to compete in one of the Sea View Yacht Club’s famous Mermaids which have been a feature of Seaview and Solent waters for over 100 years. For those that have sailed in them know what an exhilarating experience this is.  Each boat is a great classic, a modern racing 26-foot keelboat displacing 1.5 tonnes with built in buoyancy making them inherently safe but safe and exciting to sail.

 Entries will be taken on a first come served basis. So please click in this article to register an interest to avoid disappointment.

Costs - charter costs £400 per boat for a team of 4

Supper on Friday and dinner on Saturday £100 pp

Raising funds for the Red Cross, they will be welcoming participants and guests to Bow Street Museum, former home to the iconic Magistrates’ Court.

Bow Street’s 285-year history has seen some of the country’s most significant developments in criminal justice.

Starting at Bow Street Museum, with drinks on arrival and a chance to peek into seven original holding cells, followed by a talk about Bow Street’s history. Participants will then be escorted on a vintage red bus to the Tower for a three-course dinner at the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers headquarters and an exclusive escort to the Ceremony of the Keys, the Tower’s atmospheric nightly 750-year-old locking up ceremony. 

The ceremony will finish promptly at 10pm, when escape will be granted at the Yeoman Warder’s discretion to anyone who has managed to raise their £1,500 ‘release fee’.

If you would like to take part please fill out this short form, by clicking anywhere in this article, to complete registration at your earliest convenience, and by 1 August at the latest.

Guests indicated on the form are very welcome to join us at Bow Street. Tickets for guests who would like to join dinner at the Tower are £150 and subject to availability.

The fundraising requirement to be released from the Tower is £1,500, which can be raised via a JustGiving page and/or paid via cheque or BACS transfer. Please don't hesitate to be in touch if you need any fundraising tips and tricks!

City Giving Day City Walk

Tuesday, 23 September 2025

Venue        :     Guildhall Yard

Time          :     Midday, 12:30pm, 1:00pm, 1:30pm

The registration fee is £10 per person). All proceeds from the event will be used to support the work of our two partner charities: Homewards, a Royal Foundation programme and MQ Mental Health Research. For more information about our charity partners, click anywhere in this article.

A long-established charity event, celebrating a Freeman’s ancient “right” to bring sheep to market over the Thames, toll free; all in aid of raising funds for The Woolmen Charity and The Lord Mayor’s Appeal. This year’s Sheep Drive takes place on Southwark Bridge. 

Access is restricted to registered and pre-booked Freemen of the City of London and their guests, to enable the remainder of the bridge to be open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Cost per person £70

Book your place via your Company's website

Save the date for the 2025 Christmas Market raising funds for the Red Cross.

It will take place on 8 and 9 December 2025 at Guildhall

The Apollo 19 Past Masters Tie will be available to purchase at the next event of the Association.

Ties will cost £20 each.  Payment in cash or a cheque payable to Apollo 19 Past Masters Association.  

In April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters began ‘Knit for Community’. Our initial aim was to produce 20-30 blankets to support charities in Leicestershire. 

Thanks to fantastic support from over 700 volunteers across the UK, over 2,000 unique and warm blankets/lap blankets have been created. One of our volunteers heard first hand the difference this made to an individual who, with the cost-of-living crisis, had to choose between heating their home or putting food on the table. 

The project continues to gain new volunteers who knit/crochet/sew up the squares, and a quote from one of our volunteers during lockdown was particularly poignant ‘It just reminds me that each of us apart can’t do much, but TOGETHER we can’. 

Members and friends of over 40 Livery companies have supported this initiative to date, and we welcome help from new volunteers, or anyone who would like to donate towards purchasing wool or the cost of sending the blankets to charities.  For further information please contact Liz Green by clicking anywhere in this article.

 The Innholders' Friday Dining Club takes place at The Innholders' Hall

 30 College Street, City of London EC4R 2RH

Arrival 12.30-1.00 PM

For bookings Party of Maximum of 8 Guests

Five Course Taster Menu with

Exciting Matching Wines

£88.00 per Guest inclusive of  Vat 

Dates 2025

Friday 28th March,  Friday 25th April, Friday 23th May, Friday 27th June, Friday 25th July, Friday 26th September, Friday 24th October, Friday 28th November. December no Luncheon

With the exception of bank holidays Ironmongers Hall hold weekly luncheons on a Monday.

The cost per person is from £64.  Click anywhere in this item to contact the Hall to book your table.

Nigel Pullman reports that the Archive of past masters of the 110 livery companies is now "complete".  lt provides information to historians, genealogists and archivists, and those with a more contemporary interest. The Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded by following the link below.

www.liverycompanies.info/a-z-list-of-companies/past-masters-archive.html

INformation about the City of London Livery Companies, including the diary of events, can be found at The City Livery Committee website.

Click anywhere in this article to reach the CLC website.