President's Report, September 2008It was a hectic start to my year as President, as in the first week Eileen and I attended the Inner Wheel Garden Party, a dinner at Cumberland Lodge hosted by Thames Hospicecare, and the welcome home dinner for the Group Study Exchange team following their visit to Rumania and Moldavia. The team had some very interesting experiences to relate, and we later welcomed them at our own Club dinner for a repeat performance. Our charity Golf Day was held at Chobham Golf Club on 21 August, for which the weather was very kind to us. 19 teams took part in an optional Texas Scramble early in the morning, followed by a Putting competition, and the 18-hole Stableford round. At the dinner, compered by a professional entertainer, we had a raffle and an auction, and in the whole day we raised £11,500, a very successful outcome. This is shared between the Children with Special Needs Foundation and our own charitable fund, which supports both local and international causes. Our contribution to the CWSNF this year will assist with the purchase of two computer controlled reality bikes, which will be installed at Charters School, and for which the presentation is to be in October. We have enjoyed some excellent speakers at Friends and 5th Wednesday evening meetings, and a quiz run by heroic policeman Martin Bell and his colleague John Oblein. On 21 September a group of 38 took a coach trip to London, and once again we had glorious weather. After we had met up with the guide, we went on a walking tour of the Borough Market area, the object being to look at locations that had been previously used for cinema film settings. Our guide had a very comprehensive knowledge of the area, and it seemed that almost every façade and doorway had at one time or another been used for films, and he reminded us of the dates they had been filmed, and the stars who had taken part. After lunch at Notting Hill, we then were taken to the Imperial War Museum, where the Ian Fleming/James Bond exhibition is being held. It's quite amazing how much memorabilia of Ian Fleming's life and work has been retained, and we were absorbed in this exhibition until returning to the coach for the journey home. David Marshall |