New Presidents Day, David Akester

Fellow Rotarians and Guests according to the running order - the speaker today is me - with the President’s Address.

The first thing to say is that I know it a great honour to be President of The Rotary Club of Bradford - 95 years young and still going strong.

I have here the Club Handbook from 1987-88 which is the first time I appeared in it.

A few weeks ago I was flicking through these old books hoping to draw some inspiration from the eminent names of the past. My immediate thought was Oh Crikey how am I going to live up to all these distinguished Presidents? And to be honest, I’m still wondering that now. I don’t know if I can match up - but I am going to give it a damn good try.

I thought I should outline how I came to be stood here today. To go right back to the beginning, I was born on 7th April 1958. Unfortunately this was 2 days late for the end of the tax year. This irked my father – who was an accountant - as it cost him a significant tax allowance – he reminded me of this fact on most birthdays. Being born ‘late’ may go some way to explain my rather unfortunate habit of not always arriving on time for Rotary meetings – which has cost me plenty in fines as a result. I am aiming to do much better this year – you will be glad to know. Mr Secretary.

In 1984 I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and came back to Bradford to work for Rhodes & Co where my father was in partnership with Barry Oldam, Terry Bottomley and Tony Lee. My years working at Rhodes & Co were very special ones and this is where a wonderful young lady came into my life - and the rest, as they say, is history. And in case anyone is wondering, the lady I’m talking about, is sat right here.

Like Stephen before me, my father Jim Akester was a member of this club - he joined in 1969. Father and I had occasional discussions about me joining Rotary but he wouldn’t allow it until 1987. This was just after Elizabeth and I got married. Only under her influence, was I deemed suitable enough to join Rotary - he was probably right. So in 1987 I was proposed as a member by my father. I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for in-spite of the best efforts of the Information Committee which I recall included a youthful Jack Doyle.

There were 90 names in the Handbook at the time and it took a while to get to know all those people. Certain members, however, took it upon themselves to look after me. A couple of those - I won’t say who – are still in the book today - the point is they made a difference to me as a new member. The person who really took me under his wing was President John Naylor. It was he who explained what Rotary was about but the main thing was that he was friendly and welcoming - again that made a difference to me as a new boy. Sadly we lost John all too soon.

Those who remember John Naylor will be interested to know that his son Robert - now 73 - has just become a father for the first time to twin girls - 3 months ago. Elizabeth and I are very friendly with Robert and his wife Rehab – and that all stems from a Rotary friendship 30 years ago.

I was first asked about the Presidency by Manoj when he was President in 1993/4. I turned him down. I can’t remember my exact excuse but it probably included our son Peter who was just 6 months old at the time. But Manoj is a persistent devil and in his second stint as President he asked me again. At this very moment in time I wish I had taken up his original offer. But things are different now, we have Peter through university and George halfway through so there is a little more time to devote to Rotary these days.

We have had a fantastic year under Stephen's presidency and the club is in great shape. I would like to thank him for the many times he has gone out of his way to clue me up on what I need to be doing, what to look out for and when. This is typical of the Club as a whole - we may not be the youngest around but we know how to look after each other.

Our numbers have increased steadily over the past few years and we now have 2 corporate members. If everything goes to plan we should shortly have a few more members. Nevertheless, we need to spread the word about Rotary – whenever and wherever we can.

We have a good opportunity to do just this at Bingley Show later this month where we will be joining with Bingley Rotary Club to show what Rotary has achieved with its Youth Projects. In particular our successes with Youth Speaks competitions and in getting 2 Interact Clubs off the ground. Our first Interact Club, at Bradford Grammar, is now in its second year. Our second is the new Interact Club at Carlton Bolling School which will have its Charter Ceremony on Tuesday. The Interact kids are very impressive.

Thanks to Baldev, we have many interesting speakers lined up this year. I am particularly looking forward to hearing Wayne Jacobs talk about the One in a Million Charity and Free School. Wayne is a very engaging character and the pupils, when Mike and I were shown around the school were just amazing. I hope we can do some work with One in a Million during the year or at the very least invite a few of the pupils here on a Friday.

As my chosen charity I would like the Club to support the Motor Neurone Disease unit at the Marie Curie hospice in Bradford. They have identified some technology – which they lack at the moment - for

use when patients come to stay at the hospice - which we can fund – hopefully with the aid of a District Grant.

For fundraising, we will be doing our usual supermarket collections. There are many Social Events already planned – at least one a month – so we can have some fun. Social Events include the ‘Jewellery Evening’ in October so bring your partners – it should also generate some useful funds for our charity account. We look forward to I am hoping that we can have some joint Fellowship with Bradford West Rotary Club on that occasion.

There will be a Weekend away next year but this is something of a Magical Mystery tour at the moment – destination unknown. This is due to a higher authority veto.

This year we have some new faces on the Committees and I am looking forward to working with them and exploring new ideas and projects. I am also very pleased to have President Elect Chris by my side.

To conclude, my aim is to continue the work of my predecessors, to promote this Club and the ideals of Rotary, and also to develop friendships here and with members of our neighbouring Clubs. It is through friendships that our Club will grow and have continued success.

I look forward to the challenges ahead and serving this Club to the best of my ability. Thank you.