The Victoria League Student House, in Bayswater, London, has been celebrating the 60th anniversary of its opening by Princess Alice.
The building – a residential house for full-time students aged 18 to 30 from any Commonwealth or former Commonwealth country – is owned by the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship, one of the oldest Commonwealth charities.
To celebrate the anniversary, the League organised a bus tour in late 2014 to visit some of the buildings relevant to the history of the league and of Student House, including the old headquarters and Victoria League Servicemen’s Clubs.
Trustees, staff, members and students toured central London aboard a 1962 Red Routemaster bus – the youngest passenger was 15 and the oldest 95.
A light afternoon tea was put on at the Student House, culminating in the cutting of the special 60th anniversary cake by the chairman, Mr Lyn Hopkins, who himself was a resident at Student House from 1973-75.
He said: “Like many residents, I learned of the Student House from a former resident. For many of the new students, it is their first time in London or even Britain. It is a safe, friendly and comfortable place where residents quickly make new friends. I still have some friends in different parts of the world who I first met there 40 years ago.”
The cake was donated by the League’s Gold Coast Branch in Queensland.
