Royal Hospital School join the Festival of Suffolk Torch Relay as Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations get underway

The Royal Hospital School (RHS) was honoured to be included as torchbearers for the Festival of Suffolk Torch Relay, as part of the celebrations surrounding the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Last week, RHS pupils and staff lined the road as Deborah Sweeney (Lead Sister in Charge at RHS) and Charlie Allison (Yr 12 pupil and RHS Charity Representative) passed through the school on a rickshaw bearing the Festival of Suffolk’s Torch.

RHS raised their Union flag to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, while the National Anthem played by the school’s full marching band. The school also raised its Admiralty-approved Blue Ensign flag to respect those who died at sea.

Mrs Sweeney was nominated to be a torchbearer for her tireless work in Suffolk hospitals over many years and more recently for RHS throughout the pandemic.

Deborah Sweeney, Sister-in-Charge at RHS, said: “It was an honour to have been nominated to be a torchbearer for RHS and a memorable moment for me to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in this way.”

Simon Lockyer, Headmaster at Royal Hospital School, said: “Deborah has been pivotal in caring for our boarding pupils, in particular during one of the most challenging times in the school's history - the pandemic. We are delighted to see her get the recognition she deserves through this nomination. It was fabulous for the school to be part of the Torch Relay route and we certainly gave the torchbearers a wonderful musical send-off as it headed on the next leg of its journey.”

Year 12 pupil Charlie Allison was also in the rickshaw with Deborah, as the school’s charity representative. The school community has raised thousands of pounds for The Suffolk Community Foundation, organisers of the Festival of the Sea, through numerous initiatives.

RHS is just one part of the Torch Relay’s 588-mile journey around Suffolk; starting in Brandon on Friday 13^th May. It will end at the Suffolk Show on Wednesday 1^st June, where it will be a centrepiece for the big Jubilee Pageant at the Showground.

The Royal Hospital School is partnering with the Festival of Suffolk to host its own Festival of the Sea on 11^th and 12^th June 2022 as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The fun-packed weekend will include a range of nautical activities and is open to the public. For more information and to book tickets, most of which are complimentary, please visit: https://www.royalhospitalschool.org/fos.