Tom Lewis Memorial Match 2016
On Friday 21 October, current and former pupils, staff, parents and friends gathered on College Field to watch the 2016 Tom Lewis Memorial Rugby Match. The event was blessed with fine autumn weather and everyone enjoyed a friendly contest between the current Eastbourne College 1st XV and a team of Old Eastbournians that included many of Tom's friends.
The tea and cakes on sale in the Le Brocq Studio were extremely popular and along with programme sales, raised over £1000 for Cancer Research.
A Silent Auction took place during the afternoon for several items of rugby memorabilia kindly donated by England team player, Ben Youngs. This included a shirt from their match against Australia on 11 June 2016 signed by the whole of the England team, and a match ball from the England v Scotland Six Nations Cup match earlier this year. The shirts worn by the OE team which had been specially commissioned for the match were also sold for charity.
The Silent Auction raised a further £1200 for Cancer Research.
Former pupil, Leo Lightfoot, of Lightfoot Media, kindly returned to the College to capture the match and create a short film to honour Tom's memory and his love of rugby. This can be viewed here:
Tom Lewis was an extremely popular young man and keen rugby player who sadly lost his battle with cancer in the spring of 2014 whilst a pupil in the lower sixth at Eastbourne College.
