Peter Kraushar

Without the education at St Paul’s, my life would have been very different. As a five-year-old boy my family and I were evacuated from our native Poland when the Germans invaded, leaving behind everything we owned.

When I was 11, we came to England. I could speak little or no English but my mother was determined that my brother and I would receive a good education. She had seen a sign for
St Paul’s School at Barons Court tube station and so took me along to meet Alan Cook, Surmaster at the time.

Mr Cook must have seen potential and ability in me and gave me a lifeline by offering me
a place to study at St Paul’s. My brother and I spent several very happy years at the school before I went up to read Classics at Christ’s College, Cambridge with a major scholarship, after being advised by Robert James, the High Master, that only Pure Maths and Classics were worth studying at university!

National service followed and then I was seduced by a small advert to join a marketing agency. A lifetime in marketing followed, and I founded and chaired KAE Development and Mintel International; as well as chairing the Marketing Society for two years.

I will be eternally grateful for the chance that Mr Cook took on me. The award of a bursary transformed my life. St Paul’s has a historic importance in offering able boys a chance. I want
to help ensure that not only does that tradition continue but that we are able to offer this
life-changing opportunity to more and more boys.