From the President:
St Beghians - people we are proud
to know
In a few short formative years St Bees School turns out
teenagers who go into all walks of life, but ultimately how should
we gauge success? I believe success is marked by the respect we earn,
not through money, but by the way we conduct ourselves in everything
we do. During my time as President I have met some great people that
went to St Bees and there are some that I haven’t met but wish
I had. On 7th May at the North West Branch Dinner in Kendal, I thought
it important to mention one of these. Bill Barker (G/SH 78-83) spent
his life as a policeman and sadly died during the dreadful November
2009 floods in Cumbria. While turning people away from danger, PC
Bill Barker lost his life when Workington’s Northside Bridge
collapsed beneath him. By all accounts he was a well respected man
of principle and also quite a character. From reading the reports,
like many others I can understand why his wife, Hazel, four children,
relatives and friends must have been proud of him. I wish I had known
Bill.
Interestingly enough for me and also at the Kendal Dinner, I was pleasantly
surprised to be re-acquainted with another Bill, but this one taught
me at my preparatory school, Harecroft Hall. After meeting him again
now after all these years, Canon Bill Greetham (G53-58) made my evening
with fellow St Beghians even more memorable. Many thanks to Darryl
Davies for organising this event and to all those who attended. It
also reminded me about the importance of our Bulletin and the internet
to provide us with details and news about those we haven’t seen
for a long time. For all of us in the St Beghian Society, contacts,
information, and communications are essential. Therefore, it is important
for the Society to be as up to date as possible, and we do try our
best. Many thanks for this are mainly due to Pam Rumney, our Office
Administrator, and Tony Reeve, our Bulletin Editor, who co-ordinate
branch and members’ news and do almost all of the hard work.
However, for our network to be effective, individual input really
counts. I know from my own visits to the various branch events we
all like to hear news about our peers and their current whereabouts.
Sometimes I wish that we could dispense with the “O” in
OSB. It concerns me because there are lots of young OSB’s who
are already busy making their mark in life and it is really important
to know more about them. We all learn and enrich our lives and perspectives
by sharing experiences with others of every age. Because I am so enthusiastic
about the benefits of our unique background, I would urge all OSB’s
and YOSB’s to take every opportunity to further enhance our
Society. How? I think it’s easy; make your presence known and
communicate! In addition, and also useful to us, are suggestions you
may have for developing our scope of activities. It is for this reason
I would personally like to hear from you and promise, for your trouble,
I’ll spend my time sending you an appreciative reply.
Last but not least I would like to thank all those who have responded
to our information request. It has been very successful so far. More
than ever our Society needs just a few details from each of us. Occasionally
there are situations when we know our own experience can benefit others.
In one of these instances, with your permission, we may need to contact
you. In the present economy, there are St Beghians who will need a
leg up on the career ladder or who are contemplating a change in their
employment path. Useful advice is sometimes hard to come by when we
most need it and for those in an employment quandary, this is the
reason for The Virtual Careers Forum (ref: The OSB Bulletin, January
2010 issue). When required, all voluntary assistance will be gratefully
appreciated. If you haven't already notified us about your willingness
to participate, please complete the form on our website or contact
Pam Rumney at the OSB office. It’s quite short and together
with the other forms already submitted will make all the difference
to maximising our resource.
It will be a great pleasure to hear from you, or even better to see
you sometime soon.
Don H Williams MCIM
President St. Beghian Society
Email: don@kingdomofnorthumbria.co.uk
Cumbria
Dinner, May 2010. Speech
Day, May 2010.