Croquet, cream tea, and country dancing: staff celebrate at the Village Fete

Boaters, blazers and floral prints were encouraged at the Fete.

The Queen's Lawn was transformed into a traditional British fete earlier this week to celebrate the contribution of Imperial's support staff.

More than 1,400 staff from across the College made their way to the South Kensington Campus for the Support Staff Village Fete – where they were greeted by lawn games, live music, and performances from traditional Morris Dancers.

Staff were encouraged to dress the part for the festivities – donning boaters, blazers and floral prints - as they helped themselves to Pimms, cream tea, and a hog roast from the farmer’s market stalls around the lawn.

In keeping with the theme, two members of staff - nominated by their colleagues - were chosen to receive the title of Fete King and Queen. 120 nominations were received from across all areas of support services - with Nick Leech (Research Office) and Lisa Cheung (Department of Physics) being chosen to receive the crowns.

Get together

Now in its third year, the fete is organised by the Support Staff Social Committee and marks the end of the academic year with a social opportunity for staff to meet colleagues from other areas of the College.

Louise Lindsay, Director of Human Resources, said: “It was lovely to see the Queen’s Lawn packed with so many staff enjoying themselves. This event is held every year to recognise the contribution of support staff and to provide them with an informal opportunity to meet others, and I am pleased it has been so well received.”

Stephen Nolan, from Advancement, was one of the attendees. He said: “It was my first day back in the office today since I got married, so it was a nice way to ease back into things. It’s been great to get together and with other staff outside of the office, especially at an event of this scale. The sight of Morris Men dancing on the Queen’s Lawn was definitely an unusual one – not something I ever thought I’d see!”