Page 6 - OO_2018

COLUMN
The President
Richard Ellis (Sn 86) reports on an OO Club in good order after meeting many OOs at events around the globe
Having served on the OO Committee for a relatively short period
of time, I was surprised to get the call for the ‘top job’, but equally honoured to have been asked to serve as your President for the year.
The Club is in good order,
with over 11,000 members
spread across the world. The
Club’s objectives, amongst
other things, are to support
friendship amongst the Old Oundelians around the world
and to support the School in
many of its activities. I would
like to think that we have been following this to the letter; the number of OOs I have met at
events has been huge and I
am always amazed at the
sense of pride and passion
that OOs have in and for the School. One of the nicest parts of this is that many knew my OO father and his OO brothers, my OO cousin, OO nephew and many are friends of my OO daughter!
We must continue our support of the School in its execution of the Sports MasterPlan, but also ensure we cater appropriately for all those sports valued by both Oundelians and Old Oundelians alike. The Multisports Weekend was sadly wiped out by the weather front known as the ‘Beast from the East’. We very much hope to regain this trophy in March, when we reconvene for battle again! I urge you OOs to support your hard- working OO Sports Secretaries by volunteering to play in fixtures, as a lot of fun can be had. Details of who they are can be found on the Club website. My thanks go to Al Gordon (C 69) for his unstinting corralling of Secretaries to drive OO Sport.
Events so far have had me travelling across the country. An excellent lunch in Taunton with many of the South-West OOs was the start; the Over-60’s in
London saw a great turnout return to the RAF Club; and then there was dinner with the Governors in the magical surroundings of Grocers’ Hall. The Sports Lunch at Queen’s Club on yet another glorious spring day overlooking the grass courts was a stunning venue – and a great afternoon was had by over 100 OOs from around Europe. My sincere thanks to Guy Simmonds (St A 95), Al and Ian Hodgson (Sc 78) for their continued organisation of this event. We reinstated the Northern Dinner this year, held in the fabulous surroundings of an ‘aircraft wing treehouse’ in Yorkshire. My thanks to ‘J.T.’ – Jonathan Turner (S 84) – for his excellent hospitality. One common theme of all these has been the magnificence of venue, along with an expansion of my waistline!
The Club very much recognises that it is an international organisation; we are here to support the various groups of OOs around the world. I dined, along with fellow Committee member Harry Williamson (St A 55), in the fabulous surroundings of a 54th floor restaurant
in Hong Kong with two OOs who do a tremendous amount of work furthering the Club’s objectives locally. My thanks to Mark Reeves (C 80) and Jeremy Pong (Ldr 83) for their continued efforts. This preceded a wonderful gala dinner for OOs, current pupils and parents from the region.
I would also welcome any OOs to other events that we have later in the year where I certainly hope to meet as many as possible. We hold the London Dinner in November; this year’s is being held at Lord’s in the majestic surroundings of the Long Room.
The Club is also committed to continuing its assistance of current pupils via the bursary
fund support that it gives, which, along with supporting other charitable initiatives connected with the School, helps shape Old Oundelians of the future.
Of course, the Club would not operate without its Committee, to whom I am grateful for their efforts and support. My thanks to Simon Redfern (Sc 75) for his editorial stewardship of this magazine and the Club Secretary, Jane Fenton, who runs the Club with consummate ease and professionalism. I must also thank the Head, Sarah Kerr Dineen, for her unstinting support of the Club and Robert Ringrose (St A 71), our OO Chairman of Governors, for his support.
My thanks and appreciation of their wise counsel also go to my two Vice- Presidents – Philip Sloan (LS 71) and Alastair Irvine (Sc 81). I wish Alastair all the very best for his year of office in 2019. I am sure he will guide the Club through Brexit with aplomb!
The School appears in good hands and the Club continues to thrive, both constantly changing to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.
6
<<<RETURN TO CONTENTS
THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2017 –2018