VEREENIGING. – To be a grandparent is without a doubt one of life’s greatest pleasures, even when your grandchild is living abroad, and contact is usually limited to video calls. The pride and joy derived from a grandchild is, however, in no way compromised by such a limitation. At least one local couple, Dr Gary Immelman and his wife Lorna, can attest to this fact.
Their grandchild, William Thomas, born on 7 June 2019 in England, has been chosen to be a part of The Children of London Project. This prestigious project is the work of world-renowned photographer, Richard Bradbury, who produced a book that chronicles the lives of children, aged 0 to 12 years, living in London during the time frame of one year. Just 500 limited edition copies were produced, of which copies 001, 002 and 003 are retained by Her Majesty The Queen, The Prime Minister and The Mayor of London. The project has raised more than £80 000 for a well-known children’s hospital in London, The Great Ormond Street Hospital. The grandparents are eagerly looking forward to getting their copy of the book.
“We are indeed very proud grandparents,” says Gary, a highly regarded South African businessman residing in Three Rivers.
“We unfortunately see little William far too seldom because Covid currently plays a huge role, but we use WhatsApp and Facetime almost on a daily basis. We are so thankful that such technology exists.”
William is the first child of the Immelman’s daughter Natalie and her husband Christopher Thomas, a senior partner at Deloitte in London. Natalie grew up and went to school in Vereeniging before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant. She moved to the United Kingdom 10 years ago where she worked as a senior manager, also at Deloitte. Natalie has quite a number of feathers in her cap, such as being a Director of the Nedbank Charity Golf Day, the largest charity golf day in Europe. She served on the executive committee for the South African Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and in 2015 was nominated in the Category: Woman in Business of the Year, a competition presented by the SA Chamber of Commerce (UK).
Natalie and William visited the Immelmans in Three Rivers recently and Grandma Lorna visited them four times in the past 22 months. The Immelmans are also loving grandparents to Leslie (6), their late son, Dr Quintin Immelman’s only child, who lives next door to them with their daughter-in-law, Mrs Bonitta-Leigh Immelman.
Some of world renowned photographer Richard Bradbury’s striking photos of William that appears in the limited edition book of children of London:
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