On 14 September, Imberhorne School welcomed over 350 former students and staff back through the gates for a fabulous reunion event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Imberhorne Lane site opening. The sun was shining and the atmosphere was electric! A huge party tent on the field was the perfect venue for old school friends to become reunited and catch up on the intervening years. Large displays of old whole-year photographs captured everyone’s interest and guests enjoyed captioning old photographs from boxes of archive material. The contents of the ‘confessions booth’ caused much laughter, while three legendary local DJs played popular tunes from the last six decades.

Around 190 guests enjoyed tours of the school, which proved to be quite an emotional trip down memory lane – though everyone agreed that the ‘old gym’ hasn’t changed at all! At least four of those who attended were students on the day the school opened in September 1959 and hadn’t seen each other since leaving. Many more old friends were reunited and were still catching up as the sun set over the school. As day turned to evening, a special video message from one of Imberhorne’s most famous alumni, Fred Fairbrass of Right Said Fred, was played. This helped to kick off the party and guests filled the dance floor for the remainder of the event!

The atmosphere throughout was incredible and, as an added bonus, the event raised £3,072. Feedback on the day and in the weeks since has been overwhelmingly positive with many asking, ‘When’s the next reunion?’

If you’re a former Imberhorne student or ex-member of staff and want to hear about future school events, including reunions, please complete the alumni joining form online at https://forms.gle/YxCB172PmxFNX3Ef7 or email alumni [at] imberhorne [dot] co [dot] uk.