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.