President Stephens Valediction

I’m proud to have served as President of this Club, and have tried to do so with good humour, openness and a lightness of touch. I feel that the Club is in good health , and am pleased that we have been able to achieve continuity of Presidents for the next three years which is something which I started to organise before becoming president elect. There’s a strong social and fellowship side to the Club, and we’ve had excellent events and visits including the weekend in Cambridge.

I wanted to help Centrepoint with their housing for homeless 16-25 year olds in Bradford, and am delighted that we’ve been able to donate £2200 to them for bed linen, cooking equipment etc, and we’ve had a very good presentation from them at one of our meetings.

Together with the District Grant for Centrepoint we’ve raised over £10,000 this year from collections, social events, raffles and donations etc, which has also enabled us to sponsor 2 young people to attend RYLA courses, donate over £500 to the work of Bradford Cathedral, £3700 to Marie Curie hospice from last summer’s walk, dictionaries to Positive Lifestyle in Bradford, and give other donations to Heaton Woods Trust, Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue, the Haiti earthquake relief fund, Healthcare 4 All, Shelter Box and the Bujagali Trust.

Memorable events include laying a wreath on behalf of the Club at the cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday, our excellent carol service at the Cathedral, the well-attended Charter lunch with 120 guests, Bradford Grammar school’s Christmas Fair, the Cambridge weekend , and awarding an honorary Paul Harris Fellowship to Clare Sharpe of Positive Lifestyle – thanks to all who organised and helped with these events. I’m pleased that we’ve strengthened our links with Bradford Grammar school, and there are 1 or 2 other potential Interact Clubs which might come to fruition next year. I’ve also represented the Club at 11 other enjoyable and friendly charter events.

I am grateful for the support of all members, including Alan, Manoj and John as recent presidents, and particularly from Martin as Secretary whose guidance has kept me on the right track, and it was a pleasure to invite you all to my house for a BBQ lunch as a way of saying thank you. All your efforts have contributed to a very enjoyable year , and I would like to mention 2 particular members who have worked tirelessly throughout the year, namely Baldev for all his hard work and devotion in arranging a broad variety of excellent speakers, and Alan who has driven forward the Youth Speaks competition by arranging a successful local round at Bradford Grammar School and steered their new Interact Club to their Charter ceremony a year ago – it’s my pleasure to be able to recognise Baldev and Alan’s hard work and dedication to this Club by awarding both of them a Paul Harris Fellowship.

It now remains for me to thank Rachel for her support, and attendance at events during the year, and to wish David Akester all the best for his year as President, and Chris Binns for his year as President-elect. Thank you all for a very enjoyable year , and we look forward to a successful year to come.

Stephen Jordan , June 2017