YOU MIGHT HAVE heard the phrase “29, rise and shine” if you were passing The Cloisters, at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, west London, on April 1.
No, this was not an April Fool’s joke but St Benedict’s Society of St Vincent de Paul entertaining senior citizens from retirement homes in the local area. It was a full house in the Cloisters Hall, eyes down and everyone concentrating. Headmaster Chris Cleugh and Max Walach (lower sixth) were the Masters of Ceremony and did very well to get all the numbers and names right: “Sixty Six – Clicketty Click!” The afternoon’s entertainment had started on a musical note with the audience enjoying some songs performed by the “A Team”, the top Junior School Choir. They sang “A Shepherd Kept Sheep”, a lovely madrigal, followed by “Money, Money, Money!” by Abba.
Then it was the turn of The Pafties, a barber shop group founded by Dicky Thomas, initials PAFT, hence the name. They sang “Barbara Ann” and other works. The sixth-form SVP appreciated this opportunity to be of service to the senior citizens in the community. Paul Whelan (lower sixth), said: “It was fulfilling to know that we had entertained our guests.”