St Mary’s College in Crosby welcomed back a well-known former pupil as the VIP guest at its latest reunion event at the weekend.

Journalist, TV presenter and documentary maker Will Hanrahan was the main speaker at the fourth Friends of St Mary’s annual dinner, held at West Lancashire Golf Club in Blundellsands.

Well over 100 people attended the event, including a couple who had travelled from Paris to meet up with old friends at the reunion.

Guests heard Will Hanrahan talk about his upbringing in Netherton and, after leaving St Mary’s in 1977, his early career as a journalist on the Bootle Times and Crosby Herald

He later joined the BBC, working on local and national radio before graduating to national TV in the early 1990s as a presenter and producer on high-profile programmes such as Panorama and the flagship BBC Nine O’Clock News bulletin.

Will set up his own independent production company - Hanrahan Media - in 1994. The firm’s output has included award-winning documentaries on subjects including the Dunblane massacre and Steve Wright, the so-called Suffolk Strangler.

The company has also produced entertainment programmes for the national networks including celebrity profiles of figures as diverse as Tony Blair, Paul McCartney, Rolf Harris and Thora Hird.

At the end of his well-received speech, Will described St Mary’s as a ‘special place’ which had instilled values in him that had helped him throughout his career.

St Mary’s College Principal, Mike Kennedy, commented: “We are delighted that Will Hanrahan accepted the invitation to speak at our reunion event. He is one of many outstandingly successful former pupils in the school’s 90-year history who have made their mark at national level.

“Other examples range from former BBC Director-General, Lord John Birt, to the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales,” added Mr Kennedy.

During the dinner Friends of St Mary’s Chairman, Tony Bradshaw, launched a major new appeal to help replace the school minibuses, kickstarting the fundraising drive with a charity auction which featured rare items of sporting memorabilia.

Mr Bradshaw also revealed that plans for the Friends of St Mary’s over the next 12 months include the organisation’s first-ever London reunion event for southern-based former pupils and staff.

Will Hanrahan (centre) pictured with St Mary’s College Principal Mike Kennedy (right) and Friends of St Mary’s Chairman Tony Bradshaw.

Former pupil Nicholas Cole and his wife Rosemary (right) who travelled from Paris to attend the reunion dinner with his brother Andrew, another St Mary’s old boy.

‘Billy’ Hanrahan as he was then known meets up with a couple of friends from his schooldays in the 1970s - Simon Brennan (left) and his brother Mark Brennan.

Former St Mary’s teacher Clare Mackenzie (second right) chats to current teachers (from left) Julie Thomas, Andrew Byers and Cath Howard.

Welcome back to some of the class of 2005 (from left) Abigail Hiley, Laura Lattimer, Elizabeth O’Donnell, Victoria Turnock, Catherine Ward, Fiona Murphy and Rachel Kelly.

Will Hanrahan pictured with St Mary’s Head Boy Stephen Mallinson and Head Girl Alice Mackay.

St Mary’s Head of History, Niall Rothnie, with a group of current sixth formers at the school (from left) Ben Delamere, Sam Jones, Emily Bruchez, James Moore and Stephen Mallinson.

Pauline Howat, School Secretary of St Mary’s prep school The Mount, and husband Peter (left) chat to Will Hanrahan’s wife Gill.

Chris Parkinson of St Mary’s, who helped to organise the event, is pictured with husband Stewart (left), Head of Sixth Form Daniel Magill and School Chaplain Father Patrick Harnett.

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