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Father Trevor Huddlestone (1913-1998)
Memorial Window Dedication at Lancing College

An account of the day by AVT's Becky Geoghegan

The Challenge

AVT were pleased to be appointed by Jeremy Tomlinson, registrar for Lancing College to provide event production services for the dedication of a new stained glass window to former pupil Father Trevor Huddleston, CR,OL (1913-1998).

Anglican Bishop and President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Trevor Huddleston, spent his life working in Britain and Africa to change conditions for the poor and underprivileged.

It was a surprise and a pleasure to discover that the dedication would be made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a friend and colleague of Trevor Huddleston during their struggle against South African apartheid.

The AVT Solution

Lancing College Chapel is a beautiful and interesting place but not without its challenges for an occasion such as this.  With so many people inevitably keen to attend, numbers were expected to grow to a staggering 1000, and as a result would extend to the side chapels, where the view of the service would be obscured.

AVT was initially requested to relay a live camera mix of the entire service to eight of our plasma displays, placed at suitable points within the side chapels.  Most importantly we were also required to relay the live images of Archbishop Desmond Tutu blessing the Window which is located outside of the main Chapel.

A suggestion was made to Jeremy Tomlinson that the college could opt to record proceedings as a lasting reminder of this special day, and in order to produce a DVD to be made available to all interested parties. Once it had been decided that this was the way to go it was straight down to planning the correct equipment and crew.

Four cameras and three camera men were allocated to cover all available shots for the live vision mix; recording decks were provided for the post event edit, audio equipment was supplied in addition to that already in situ at the venue as we were unable to take a feed from there system.  Rig day on the 21st May went according to plan, with everything set to go we looked forward to the day itself.

On arrival at Lancing College on the morning of the 22nd you could feel the level of anticipation and excitement in the air, as we all waited for the arrival of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This was preceded by the arrival of pupils & parents, college staff, and invited guests, many of whom represented international communities and organisations with which Trevor Huddleston was mostly associated. 

Press gathered and AVT got on with the task in hand. During the very last moments prior to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s arrival we were approached by Meridian TV, desperate for footage to run on their Six O’clock news report, with client approval we agreed that they could take a feed from our equipment, and later that day we watched on proudly as our live mix footage was broadcast across the South East.

The service went extremely well and was an apt and fitting tribute. There was lots of positive feedback from attendees seated in the side aisles, who really felt part of the occasion thanks to the camera relay to the plasmas.

The sun shone brightly as everyone spilled out onto Lancing College Campus.  The Archbishop’s smile was infectious and he embraced and shook people’s hands, he even had to time to smile and say hello to me!

With Footage in hand and all equipment packed away, it was back to AVT House and studio to get on with the post event edit and DVD creation.  Once finalised and orders were received / sent out, our job was complete.

The Results

"As Account Manager for this event I am, as ever, extremely happy with the way that all departments at AVT worked together to help deliver a fitting memorial service in an appropriate manner."

Becky Geoghegan

Jeremy Tomlinson wrote:

“Dear Becky,

We have had lots of very appreciative letters and calls about the dedication service, including very favourable comments about the provision and quality of the CCTV and sound amplification”.

To order a copy of the service DVD from Lancing College click here

To hear a report on Archbishop Tutu's visit, that was broadcast on BBC Radio 4's "Sunday" programme on Sunday 27th May, please click here  and then click on the link "Archbishop Desmond Tutu visits Britain".

To read the text from Archbishop Desmond Tutu's sermon click here

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