Draft:The City and Guilds College Association

The City & Guilds College Association (CGCA). is the largest independent society of engineering alumni at Imperial College London.

History
The City and Guilds College Association (CGCA) was founded in 1897 by the staff and students of the Central Technical College (CTC), which was located on Exhibition Road. Until 1992, the CGCA was known as the "Old Centralians", reflecting the CTC origins of the City & Guilds College.

The CTC was established in 1884 by the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education (CGLI) known today as the City and Guilds of London Institute, an organisation of trade guilds created by sixteen of the existing Livery companies in 1876. A remit of the CGLI, to create a high-level Technical Training Institute and feeder schools led to the introduction of technical evening classes in 1879, held in the Cowper Street Schools. The success of these courses required a new building for both day and evening classes, therefore Finsbury Technical College (1883-1926), was created. It was the first technical institute in the country and acted as a feeder institution to the CTC. As a suitable site could not be found in the City for the CTC, it was established in Exhibition Road, a developing area of South Kensington, inspired by Prince Albert’s vision for technical education and collaboration in Science and Art

In 1910 the CTC became a full constituent College of Imperial College, (founded in 1907), changing its name to the City & Guilds College (C&GC), albeit known as the 'City and Guilds (Engineering) College' from 1911 until 1935, to emphasise its status as an engineering college. Since 2001, the C&GC has formed part of the Faculty of Engineering.

Purpose
Since formation, the CGCA's objective has been to 'maintain an effective connection between present and former students and staff'. Today, it enables close links and networking for those in, or seeking to enter, engineering careers. Meanwhile, CGCA’s Charitable Trust, formed in 1965 (which retains its original name, as the ‘Old Centralians’ Trust’), primarily supports hardship amongst engineering students at C&GC, but also provides grants towards extra-curricular enterprise and adventure.

Practically, this involves running a number of social and professional networking events, including a flagship annual dinner, a welcome event for new engineering students, and career networking events. In collaboration with the Royal School of Mines Association, it also produces and distributes twice-yearly the Imperial Engineer magazine, containing articles of current interest, news of Imperial College, and of students past and present.

The Association maintains close links with the City and Guilds College Union, Imperial College London and the City and Guilds of London Institute. In addition to having, within its membership, alumni, the CGCA is also open to current engineering students of the College, typically also hosting a number of joint alumni-student events.