Doors opened to East End pupils

The special links between Oxford colleges and East End schools were reinforced when a group of 30 pupils from Harbinger's School, East London, made a visit to Brasenose College under the auspices of the Stepney Children's Fund school `twinning' scheme during Trinity Term. Oxford's links with Toynbee Hall, where the Fund is based, date back to 1884, when subscriptions from Oxford and Cambridge colleges founded `the Universities Settlement in East London'. The Stepney Children's Fund, founded in 1982, has attracted a steady stream of volunteers from Oxbridge colleges, who participate in residential summer camps and activities for children from inner London. The scheme offers an opportunity for children to make day trips to Oxford to visit their `twinned' college and other University attractions, such as the University Museum. Five schools have made a trip this term to various colleges, including Balliol, Brasenose, and Pembroke, and return visits by JCR members to the schools are planned. The day at Brasenose included games in the college quad and a `college-knowledge' tour taking in the dining room and famous brass door knocker. Mrs Mandy Boutwood, head of Harbinger's School, said: `All the children had a fantastic time and found the students and staff very welcoming. They were very interested in the University and a number of them have said that they would like to become students here some day.' The Principal of Brasenose, Lord Windlesham, said: `Undergraduates took the lead in welcoming the party from Harbinger School. Fellows and staff went out of their way to meet the pupils and demonstrate that Oxford colleges are not remote and inaccessible, but open to all with promise.'