Dickens' descendant Lucinda Hawksley to open Oadby college’s new dining area

Literature then lunch will be on the timetable for pupils at an Oadby school when their new dining hall is officially opened.

Beauchamp College in Oadby is to have its new dining area, the Refectory, officially opened by the great-great-great-granddaughter of novelist Charles Dickens, author and biographer Lucinda Hawksley.

Ms Hawksley will be opening the new facility at 8.55am on Friday.

After meeting some of those involved with the design and building of the Refectory she will be speaking to pupils from Brocks Hill Primary about the life and work of Charles Dickens.

Ms Hawksley will then be holding a creative writing workshop with Beauchamp College students.

After lunch students from Gartree and Manor high schools will have a presentation on the life of Dickens, the social campaigning he did and the changes he affected.

Ms Hawksley is an author, biographer and art historian with a special interest in literature and art from the 19th and early 20th centuries and in the history of London. She is also an award-winning travel writer. For the last decade she has been a Patron of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

A Beauchamp College spokesperson said: “The Refectory is a space for students to meet, socialise and eat and with this in mind they took a lead in the design of the space and its decoration. The name was also decided by a student poll.”

“The space will also be available to hire privately as a function or meeting room.”

Lucinda Hawksley’s website can be found at

www.lucindahawksley.com

The Refectory can be seen on the Beauchamp Facebook page at http://goo.gl/s4VR2