Friends of Preston Lodge

It was great to welcome back a group of former students and parents to Preston Lodge this week to speak to S2 pupils about their careers.

Organised by the Preston Lodge Learning Foundation, the sessions were relaxed, chatty and interactive—lots of questions, laughs, and a few “wait… you used to sit here?!” moments.

We had Clelia Di Canto, Deborah Gammell, Greg McEwen, Professor Jenni Smillie, Rev Dr Robin Hill and Kieran Wight back in school sharing their journeys since leaving PL.

Clelia Di Canto – Award-winning pastry chef at Archerfield, working in patisserie and hospitality. Clelia talked about apprenticeships and working in food, and students were very interested (especially once cakes got mentioned… that helped!).

Deborah Gammell – WCorp Ambassador, advisor to family business Conifox Adventure Park, independent researcher in leadership and Advisory Board Member at University of Edinburgh Business School. Deborah spoke about business and leadership, and shared insights from her work with Conifox Adventure Park, which caught students’ attention and sparked interest in the fun side of running a family attraction.

Kieran Wight – Initially worked as a sous chef before going on to set up and now successfully run his own catering company, East Coast Catering. Kieran shared his journey through professional kitchens and how that led to building and running his own business.

Greg McEwen – Lawyer. Greg explained the difference between civil and criminal law and kept students engaged by asking what they thought lawyers do day to day—especially when it comes to court and what really happens there.

Rev Dr Robin Hill – Minister with years of experience across different roles, this time-sharing insights into journalism. Robin encouraged everyone to think about interests which they already have in S2, and how these might lead on to the possibility of a career in journalism or public relations.

Professor Jenni Smillie – Professor of Theoretical Particle Physics
Jenni got some brilliant (and slightly unexpected) questions from students, including “What happens after you die?” and “Why can’t animals talk?”—she’s still thinking about a few of them!

The speakers also really enjoyed being back and catching up with some of their teachers while they were here.

We’re currently gathering feedback via short surveys from both students and our guest speakers to see what worked well and what we can improve for next time.

If you’re a former student and would like to come back to PL to take part in a career event, small group session or find out more about our projects, we’d love to hear from you.

Please do get in touch, [email protected] and we can arrange for you to come in and have a chat. Our PL barista students make a great coffee!