Marianne’s AGM speech as she hands over Chair 24 March 2010
April 4th, 2010Here is Marianne’s speech at our AGM at The Black Lion Inn in St Albans (Fishpool Street) on 24 March 2010 as she hands over the Chairmanship to Monika
“At first I felt like I have not really done as much this year, especially compared with the amount of hours I put in last year getting the club off the ground, but once I actually wrote down what I had achieved as Chairman this year, it’s actually quite a lot!
So, my main achievements have been making sure the club is fully functional and building relationships with the other local clubs. The year started off with a bang at the National Conference in Eastbourne, where we were awarded 2 national trophies: the Membership Award for most new members in one year (15) and I personally was also presented with the President’s Award, which was a great surprise as I did not even know this award existed! It was very gratifying to receive it, as it recognised the work I had done in sharing our experience and knowledge in gaining new members with other clubs in the Area but also nationally by producing a document which is available on the National website.
As Chairman, I think it is important to work on building relationships with the other local clubs and I have been to 3 Tangent evenings: a dinner in September at which I was kindly made an honorary member, a meeting in November when I gave a talk to Tangent about Circle: The Story So Far and I attended their Elvis fundraiser, which was very successful. I have also been able to get to know a few more Tablers through attending the Safari Supper, liaising over Santa’s float and at the recent Chairmen’s evening. Indeed, one of the Tablers’ wives who came to my house for her main course during the Safari supper told me at the Chairmen’s evening that she was very keen to join Circle now her life is a little less hectic, so I hope she will be one of the first new members Monika will be able to induct next year! Also at the Chairmen’s evening I am delighted to announce that Tangent very kindly presented us with the old club’s regalia, which includes the Chairman’s jewel with the name of every Chairman since the original St Albans Ladies Circle was very first founded in 1952! Thank you very much to Daphne.
I have also been active within Area, well, I am the Area Vice Chair! I went to the Area AGM at Tewinbury Farm in May; the Area Dinner at Mid Herts Golf club in July, where we were awarded our Charter by the National President Niki Stocken ; and I went to the Think Pink Area meeting in October, which was held in Harpenden. In addition, I took the opportunity to attend the National Spring meeting in February which was being held in Newport Pagnall for the first time. This was very interesting to see how the organisation is run. The National Councillors are all women just like us with jobs and busy lives, but they somehow find time to keep this great institution going. It was certainly inspiring to attend and to talk to other Circlers from around the country, to see how other people do things.
Within the club, I have wanted to make sure everything is in place for the club to run smoothly, which included gaining our Charter, adopting the local rules, setting up sub-committees to share the workload between every member of the club and to start the blog to keep an electronic record of what we as a club have been up to.
I would like to now take this opportunity to thank all the members of the club’s council for all their hard work and dedication in making the club the success that it is. You have all really done a wonderful job and I really appreciate everything you have done for Circle this year. I particularly want to say Thank You to Sharon, for the amount of time and effort you have put in making sure we have had all these amazing events to attend. Well done from everyone here. To everyone on Council – there are gifts here for each of you!
I would also like to thank everyone who has been working hard in each of the sub-committees: Area Dinner, Publicity, Fundraising and Social – thank you for all your contributions however big or small, it is really appreciated. I hope you agree that they are a good way of becoming more involved with the club and a great way to get to know a few of your fellow members a bit better. Indeed, one of the best evenings I have had this year was going for a pizza with the fundraising team and learning a few of their secrets!
I would also like to thank a couple of husbands! Mark Harris for taking the fabulous photos for our advert and of course to Jay Sammon at FL1 Group for his amazing work on the website. We would be nothing without the website and I’m sure we all agree that he has done a great job.
Finally, I would just like to say a few words to motivate you all. The Circle motto is “Fun, Friendship and Fundraising.” This year we have certainly had lots of opportunities to have fun, and I hope you consider everyone in Circle your friend. We now need to continue our efforts with the fundraising side of things! By focussing on fundraising, we can have fun and build friendships though organising and attending these events, which will not only raise more money but also raise our profile and encourage other women to join. It is the ability to fundraise for different charities which sets our organisation apart from others and makes us more than just a social club. We have a great charity this year and I challenge everyone to make this coming year our most successful yet, both in terms of money raised and new members gained!
So everyone please raise your glasses to “fun, friendship and fundraising!””
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