Lifetime Achievement Award 2021

Fabian was born in 1950 in Rio Tinto, Huelva, Spain to an English father and Gibraltarian English mother. He grew up in Spain and is bilingual in Spanish/English. In 1959 he started at Cricklade, moving on to “Big Prior” in 1961 and leaving in 1967. He excelled at tennis, being Captain of the school team, and was active in the swimming team. Fabian was very popular among his peers due to his keen, sometimes ribald sense of humour. His loyalty to his friends also characterized his time at Prior.

After Prior, Fabian was an export sales trainee and representative for British and Spanish companies, including British Leyland. After this he became a locally employed commercial officer at the British Embassy in Madrid. Eventually he decided to seek new challenges, and established a marketing consultancy. Clients included a large French distributor of wholesale costume jewellery for whom Fabian was responsible for sales in Spain and Portugal.

Later, Fabian assisted his wife Elisabeth with her classical and cultural music agency, and it was this that led them to become involved
with Uganda. Having taken a choir from a children´s home in Uganda to Europe on tour in 2005, upon returning they discovered that the children’s home had been abandoned.

Fabian and Elisabeth didn´t hesitate and took the decision to create their own home in Kampala for the children. Music and dance were the focus, hence the name chosen for the project: Music to Save Lives. Since then, some 500 children have been looked after at the home. All are orphans or disadvantaged, and they receive health treatment when needed and a full education. Some continue to receive assistance after leaving. Among these, there are many success stories of children who have gone on to successful careers.

A few years ago, a group from the UK, including Prior Park alumni Tim Heining and Peter Coates (both PPA 1968), visited the home and were very impressed with the dedication and affection with which the children are treated by Fabian and his team. Fabian´s personal role includes the managing and running of the home onsite.

In recent years, his personal social mission has grown with a project to combat the scourge of Jiggers, a disease caused by a parasitic flea. Fabian arranges treatment in remote villages such as Gwase to which he travels regularly with a small team. This Jiggers Outreach Project has succeeded in treating over 600 children, while at the same time assisting some 240 local people with a variety of ailments. These have included, among others, a young girl with a serious congenital condition, and an autistic boy with cerebral palsy. Thanks to Fabian they are receiving the treatment and attention that they deserve.

The overall impact of Fabian´s work on life in these remote villages cannot be overstated. He and his team have made a big difference to their lives. Fabian´s many years of service and dedication to the improvement of the lives of those less fortunate makes him a worthy and deserving recipient of the Prior Park
Association Medal – Lifetime Achievement Award 2021. He was nominated by Tim Heining (PPA 1968).

Inspirational Youngster Award

Tish graduated from Bristol University having studied anatomical science in 2017.

Her sister, Phoebe Bullman PPA 2013, writes in the nomination:

“Tish has been working as a front line doctor in the Intensive Care Unit since the start of the Covid19 pandemic. She has worked tirelessly and modestly putting her own health at risk on a daily basis. She displays the grace, compassion, humility in service and incredible kindness that the Prior Park Alumni Association honours. I can think of no one more deserving for this award than her.

Throughout the Covid19 pandemic Tish showed consideration not only for her patients on the ICU but also for her colleagues. Like many hospitals in the UK, the Royal Surrey struggled with PPE provisions. Tish reached out to Prior Park, who had been making face masks. Prior Park kindly helped the Royal Surrey to provide their staff with the necessary protective equipment for Tish and her colleagues. Tish from a young age has prioritised the needs of people around her before her own, something that has made her stand out from her peers.

“As a young female doctor working in an intensive care unit, Tish is a role model not only for her team but for aspiring Prior Park students. Her dedication has been recognised by her colleagues and patients alike. The hospital received numerous letters commending Tish for her hard work and caring nature. Tish exemplifies the dedication to service, compassion and kindness that is fundamental to the College’s values.

– Tish held her personal iPad for a patient to talk to his family and the wife completely forgot that Tish was holding it as she spoke with her husband – he was too ill to hold it. –

“These traits were initially sparked as Head of Baines during her time at Prior Park and have only helped her to progress in a career that demands so much from one person. Her work in medicine is not limited to patient care: she volunteered her own personal time to working on research, looking at alternatives to ventilating patients with Covid19. The results will be published once completed. Needless to say, Tish will give her time and attention wherever she can in order to care for others. Selfless and caring are just two words that can only begin to describe a truly wonderful human being.”

Tish’s mother writes: “Her experience has particularly been in ICU. I think this has inspired her in having the courage to apply for anaesthetics recently and she has now had her interview. She is just waiting to see if she gets a job in hospitals that would work for both her and Josh Luck PPA 2009 – (whom she married this year in Bath on June 6th.)

“Tish has gained so much knowledge in this field at the Royal Surrey. The team there became pioneers in intubation particularly in response to patients suffering from Covid and how to relieve them – and make it easier for medical staff.” A laudable recipient of the Inspirational Youngster Award. Thank you to all of our alumni who are in the service of looking after others, whether medical or care, fire, police, forces, social services, catering, cleaning – #respect.

To submit your nomination for next year’s awards please contact the PPA office at ppa@priorparkschools.com by 30th June 2022.