The Royal Soceity St George - AGM

 

1.                 95^th  Annual General Meeting (AGM) – The HK Club

 

The 95^th AGM was held on 13^th September 2017.  This marked the end of my 1^st year as President.

 

 

2.                 Trafalgar Night – 20^th October 2017 HKCC Cricket Ground

 

Our flagship event attracted 108 people this year to the HKCC Cricket Ground. Our Guests of Honour was Mr. Patrick Turner of the British Consulate. The Speakers were Mr. Richard Sutton, who gave the immortal memory and Mr. Mark Peaker                    who dressed as a French Admiral giving the reply on behalf of the French. I acted as MC. The HKCC put on an excellent dinner and wine, followed by a rousing sing-song to some great English (and British) favourites including Jerusalem, Land of Hope and the National Anthem. Thanks also to John Tait who tinkled the ivories admirably to aid the participants to hold a tune. A lot of work goes into holding this event and I would like to thank all that helped from the committee and especially Mark Bromhead, who chair the organizing committee.

 

3.                 Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph –  11 November 2017

 

The Remembrance Sunday memorial service and wreath laying took place at the Cenotaph on Saturday 11 November 2017. The Reverend John Chynchen and representatives of other religious denominations led the prayers to remember the fallen in the two world wars and beyond. Nick Mayhew laid a wreath on behalf of the Society.

 

4.                 Inter-Society Football Competition – February 2018

 

It was great turnout for this annual event, including the Scots, Welsh, French, English, Irish and the British Consulate. This was played all afternoon and was followed by a large BBQ. A tightly fought competition saw the Welsh triumph, unfortunately from winning the tournament last year we ended up collecting the wooden spoon. We had over 100 for the social afterwards which was a huge amount of fun.  I would like to thank Mark Bromhead for organising this event.

 

5.                 England Team Sevens Lunch –4^th April 2018 - The Hong Kong Country Club

 

I received a number of notes of thanks for organising this excellent lunch, a lively lunch with approximately 101 in attendance including Patrick Turner on behalf of the British Consulate. It was wonderful having a member of the team dining on each table, which is what makes this lunch so special. Food and wine were excellent and the team promised to attend the lunch again next year which is great news.

 

 

 

 

 

6.                 St. George’s Day Commemoration at the Cenotaph – 23^rd April 2018 (St. George’s Day)

 

Members of the Society gathered at the Cenotaph and I laid a wreath to commemorate the fallen. The bugler did an excellent job as usual with the Last Post and then 17 of us proceeded with Andrew Heyn, the Consul General from the British Consul General, for an excellent breakfast at the HK Club.

 

 

7.                   Wreath Laying at Stanley Military Cemetery + tea at Shek-O Golf & Country Club – 30 April 2018

 

I received a number of notes of thanks for organising this important event for the Society and also invited were members of the St. Andrew’s, St. Patrick’s and St. David’s Societies. Patrick Turner was also in attendance from the British Consulate. A pleasant afternoon was had by all who attended afternoon tea at Shek O.

 

 

8.                 May Day Carnival – 1^st  May 2018, Kowloon Cricket Club

 

This was as always a very popular event, with the usual mix of Morris dancers, Maypole dancers, a real Maypole, May Queen competition, and a host of games for the many kids who turned up. There was as usual a large variety of English food of the highest quality and English craft beers and other popular drinks. We were honoured to have the Director for General Trade & Investment from the British Consulate, Hong Kong & Macao, Paul McComb, with his wife Chris, to open proceedings and to judge the May Queen competition. Many thanks to the KCC for hosting the event. I would like to thank Mark Bromhead for organising this event on behalf of RSSG.

 

 

9.                   St. George’s Cup Race Night – 16^th May 2018, HK Jockey Club Happy Valley (HK Club Box)

 

Our annual race night was well attended with 36 attending this ever popular event. Many thanks to Nick Mayhew, Malcolm Kemp for organising and hosting tables. As usual it was an excellent evening with good food and wine.

 

 

10.              Accounts for the year ended 30^th June 2018

 

I would like to thank Ivor Morris, our Honorary Treasurer.  (A copy of the draft management accounts will be sent to all members via email prior to the AGM on the 17th September 2018.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.              Charitable Donation

 

During the year, a donation was made to Shakespeare4All Company Limited (“S4A”) for their i2i Theatre Project 2017-2018. S4A is a registered charity and one of Hong Kong’s leading performing arts education organisations. Its mission is to offer experiential learning to children to the outreach communities of Hong Kong through the method of drama performance, education, the works of William Shakespeare and original drama productions to empower the youth in outreach communities and cross-border children who aspire to building a brighter future for themselves by breaking the poverty cycle through confidence building and life learning skills that drama education is renowned for.

 

 

12.              Conclusion

 

The RSSG has gone from strength to strength this year with a comprehensive programme of events. We have also seen membership increase from 717 to 722. As the President, I would like to thank the Committee for their support during this year, the Society would not be able to function and run the events it does without their time and commitment.  I look forward to another successful year.

 

 

 

Yours,

 

 

 

Jim Wardell

President

17^th September 2018