Dear Ward Club Members – I hope you are keeping safe and well.
At our Christmas Lunch I was pleased to install Debra Moorby as your President until May 2023. I wish her a very happy time as President.
I now look back over the last 19 months as your President; I was very honoured and pleased to be elected in May 2020, during the lockdown, but I was certainly not expecting to have such a challenging time. I was very grateful to Mira Joshi who helped me plan my programme for the year but sadly not one of those plans came to fruition until this year’s Carol Service and Lunch. It was so good to meet up again, with such a wonderful service led by Father David Armstrong with the wonderful choir, followed by our coming together again over lunch.
A programme of Zoom talks was organised, being the only way we could meet together for so long. It did have one special merit in that we have been joined by some members that we have not seen for some time. We organised into small groups in rooms after each talk, so that we could share news and experiences.
We started with Sheriff Chris Hayward talking on the City post Covid-19, followed by a virtual walk of Wren’s Churches led by Fiona Lewis and then last year’s Carol Service on You Tube, arranged with Father David and much help from Mhairi Ellis. 2021 commenced with the incredible Magician Alan Hudson, then a wonderful illustrated talk on ‘The Field of Cloth of Gold’ by Jo Mabbutt. Then we had’ Mind the Gap’ about the art on the underground over the years, with Charles Harris. A ‘Royal Westminster Tour’, led by Mark Conroy, was followed by a talk by Tim Kidd on the ‘Huguenots and Spitalfields’. Karl Lumbers spoke on ‘Trinity House’ and was followed by a Virtual Ramble through the City Gardens led by Sue King. We had our first get-together at lunch in St Botolph’s Church Hall when we welcomed Sheriff Elect Alison Gowman who spoke of the challenges and success stories during the pandemic. What a pleasure it was to all meet again in the Hall, although we were very careful with mixing. Our final Zoom Talk was by Charles Harris again, this time on ‘Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Wish’. A very different programme to that planned, but I think very varied, and the talks covered more ground than if we had tackled those subjects physically. I found the talks very interesting and your kind messages showed you had as well.
Jenny and I represented you at some lunches and dinners both actually and on Zoom. My most amusing memory was on Zoom when the dress code was ‘City Morning dress and the Ladies with hats’. We had a three course meal of our choice with our own selection of wine! I confess we both wore slippers, but the expression on the face of the person knocking on our door, seeing Jenny in her hat and slippers was so funny!
I hope we will be able to visit Budapest in May, after several sad postponements. It will be a great weekend.
Sadly we have lost a few members to Covid in this period, but we have seen some new members join. Membership is good and hopefully we can look forward to meeting up again, subject to Government restrictions. A very strange period, but Zoom did keep us together in those difficult times.
I want to thank Jenny for all her support. Peter Alvey has kept our finances sound and the Committee and Past Presidents have given me so much helpful advice. Thank you all. My special thanks go to Margot, our Honorary Secretary, for all her help and advice and who is now a Zoom Meeting expert.
Thank you all for your support over the past nineteen months. We have a very special and exceptional City Ward Club. I look forward to better times ahead and send best wishes to you all for a much better 2022.
Richard Price
