Brothers,
... Province 19 has a ... long line of distinguished Catenians...
I am very pleased to be your Provincial President for the forthcoming year. Thank you for inviting me to take this Office. Province 19 has a great history with a long line of distinguished Catenians who have been Provincial Presidents. Eighteen years ago, when I first visited Woking Circle as a visiting gentleman, Brother Vernon de Cruz was Circle Vice President, Brother Gerald Soane Provincial President and Brother John Barrie Provincial Director.
Three greatly respected Grand Presidents who have been part of that long line of distinguished Catenians who have been Provincial Presidents for Province 19.
Brother Vernon has had an outstanding year as Grand President. I don’t think that this comes as a surprise to anyone. With Evelyn giving him, as usual, her full support, both worked tirelessly for the Association over the past year. There is to be a celebration of Vernon’s year at the Berystede Hotel on Friday, 27 May. However, I believe that we should record now our thanks to them both for all they have done.
I can remember, very clearly, Bro Brian Towler saying last year with all
humility, please do not compare my ability with those who have preceded me
.
It was a line Brian should have better left to myself because, by
anyone’s standards, Brian with Valerie at his side had a vintage year last year.
Bro Brian, thank you. Please convey Province 19’s thanks to Valerie
for her great contribution. During last year Brian oversaw the inauguration
of Osterley & District Circle which followed on from the inauguration of
Balham Circle the previous year, of which, of course, Brian is a joint member.
Vast numbers of members turned out to welcome these two Circles into our
Province. Please do try and visit these Circles from time to time if you
can. They are two Circles I am particularly keen to visit during the
forthcoming year.
Province 19 has a great cosmopolitan mix of Brothers, with all types of backgrounds and occupations, all bound together by our Catholic faith. I think that this mix has been assisted by being in the London commuter area with many of us coming from other parts to settle in the area. Some Circles are in parishes with more transient populations than other Circles, but please do keep an eye out in your church gatherings for Catholics moving into the area who may well be potential members of our Association.
... excellent membership team...On membership - I can remember one of my three years as Membership Officer for Woking Circle coincided with our present Provincial Membership Officer, Chris Richards’ year as Provincial President. I can recall attending Provincial Membership Meetings at Bro Chris’ house. His message then, some fourteen years ago, was as is now, the importance of team work, both within the Circle and between the Province and Circle. The Province does have an excellent membership team, very ready and willing to work with Circles on membership issues. Please do call on them for assistance, for example, with pulpit presentations. Pulpit presentations do not always work but the only way to find out whether they do for your own Circle is to have a go and see. Our brothers at Coulsdon are a great example for the whole Association of what can be done with hard work and team work.
I know of many who do not join the Association until their 50’s and 60’s with the understandable complaint that despite being very active in their parishes they had not been asked earlier in their lives. There are I am sure hundreds of potential members for Province 19 just waiting to be asked. Our responsibility is to make sure that they are asked.
I would like to see more family involvement with both the Circles and Province.
For example, my youngest son Ollie, who was 14 a few weeks ago, went on
his first Provincial Weekend when he was 1 year old and he has been on a further
10 since, been on Catenian Pilgrimages and made his debut for Woking Circles
six-a-side cricket team when he was 9 years old. Not that we were scraping
the barrel, but I recall that my wife, Christine, also played. Ollie may
have started early but he has always been made very welcome. This has
always been very pleasing for Christine and myself. For those a little
older, the Guildford Father & Sons night offers a good opportunity for those
in their 20’s to learn more of the Association. Whilst some Circles did
support this event last year, it would be good to see a lot more support it this
year. There are some good opportunities both within Province and Circles
to involve families more. For example in Province the six-a-side cricket/
family day is never as well supported as it could be. Why not bring family
members to the Provincial Public Speaking Competition. What about making
family evenings of Bursary Fund presentations? There must be new ideas
Circles or Province can think of to involve families more.
... Circles should take a critical look at themselves...All Circles should be able to take a critical look at themselves from time to time and ask whether they continue to provide the sorts of evenings (the after- meeting social arrangements for example) that members want now and going forward into the future. For example, for those Circles that have a sit-down dinner every month, have they considered mixing this with buffet style meals? For non-dining Circles when was the last time this was reviewed? Does the Circle’s social calendar include the sorts of events which will appeal in a few year’s time to those sons attending this year’s Guildford Fathers & Sons Night. Does the social calendar have something for everybody? I believe going forward that the Association will have to have less formality in what we do both at Circle meetings and social events.
Referring back to teamwork, please liaise with our Provincial Vocations Liaison Officer, Paul Greeley, regarding the Association’s Vocations initiative. Bro Paul reported recently that he believed within the Province there was a growing awareness of the need for prayer and practical action on vocations. Please keep vocations in mind and perhaps invite Bro Paul to attend and speak at one of your Circle evenings, if you have not already done so.
Bro Brian mentioned last year the poor economic climate and that we need to keep an eye open for Brothers who might be in difficulty or need. It may be that they just need someone to talk to. Having been on a Circle Benevolent Board for many years, I am also aware of practical assistance available from the Benevolent Fund for those in some financial need. I say this because all sorts of enquiries are worked on a private and confidential basis and hence there is no publicity attaching thereto. Personally, I think that this sort of care for our fellow brothers is one of the areas that I find particularly attractive about the Association. Some Brothers may feel some sort of stigma about approaching the Circle Benevolent Boards. They should not. It is why the Benevolent Fund is there.
I had been a member of Woking Circle for a few months when I remember completing a Circle Questionnaire prepared by Bro Roger Nuttall. The result was an excellent paper by Bro Roger which, on occasion, I still read. On Provincial matters the following comments were made seventeen years ago.
- there are too many Provincial Officer evenings;
- Social events in Province should finish by 10.30 p.m. and costs kept as reasonably low as possible.
A couple of years’ ago when I was Provincial Chamberlain I arranged a
Chamberlains Workshop which unfortunately had to be cancelled because of lack of
support. I can see that the correct ritual and common procedure of our
Circle Meetings would not, to some, be the most exciting but it is an area that
some Circles still fall short on. I would like to quote from the Esher
Chamberlain in their January 2011 news letter:-
Officers and all present should be 100% conversant with their roles.
Circle Meetings should be simple and dignified with everyone knowing what their
role is. They should be informative, prayerful and enjoyable and it is up
to every individual to make them so
. I reckon that if all Circles could
follow this then our Provincial Chamberlain Bro Rod O’Connor will be very
pleased.
We have several Provincial Councillors retiring today. Thank you for your substantial contributions over the past years. I welcome all those joining Provincial Council. I will miss the interesting and amusing contributions to Provincial Council from our retiring Gift Aid/Charity Officer Richard Crail but if anyone can get Head Office up to speed on Gift Aid it will be Tom McEntee. Four years’ ago when I went to Nantes to watch England in the Rugby World Cup, the first person I met when I got on the tram to the ground was, not surprisingly, Bro Provincial Treasurer. In view of his globe-trotting, I am personally very pleased Bro David continues to find time to be Provincial Treasurer.
My old friend and Woking brother, Provincial Secretary Roland Cise, will no doubt continue to devote substantial parts of his spare time to both Province and the Provincial web-site. My thanks to David Prebble for agreeing to be Provincial Vice President. Province 19’s director, Peter Woodford will continue to give wise counsel to all who need it – not least myself, for which I am most grateful.
... I am proud to be President ...
I believe Provincial Council has a strong team and I am very proud to be its President.
Tony Thompson
