St John’s College alumni search for former pupils to claim hundreds of trophies and awards
There are 16 crates of unclaimed awards
St John’s College alumni are hoping to reunite former pupils with trophies and awards they won during their time at the school.
Clare Bellett, who is a member of the Old Johannian Association, is searching for people who attended the boarding and day school over the past few decades, as hundreds of awards bearing their names are waiting to be claimed.
The woman, who attended the sixth form between 1977 and 1979, said the association is in possession of 16 crates consisting of hundreds of personalised medals, trophies, shields and cups.
She said: “I was on the committee for the alumni association for people who went to St John’s in Southsea which closed in 2023, and we accumulated a lot of stuff including trophies and shields which were won by a lot of people over the past few decades and I wanted to try and find the people who had won them so they could keep them.
“I was one of the first girls in the sixth form, there were only four of us and I won a prize for geography and then in the upper sixth I won another prize and had the option to get an award with my name on it, and I’ve still got it on my bookcase so I can appreciate that it is a nice thing to have and have the physical reminder of the achievement so I wanted to try and find the people they belong to.
“There are 16 crates and they go back to before when I was born so it goes back a long time - It was a boarding school but there were a lot of day students there so I’m sure some of them still live in Portsmouth. ”
Clare told The News how some people have already come forward to claim their school award, but a large amount are still waiting to be reunited with their owner.
The association has a list of names of people who have an award to be collected. If you attended St John’s College and received an award during your time, email the Old Johannian Association ([email protected]) to see if you are on the list.
For more information about the Old Johannian Association, click here.