Our AGM is now only two weeks away and it will be the first Annual Meeting we conduct virtually by "Zoom". All paid up members will shortly be receiving the information needed to join the meeting.
Nominations have now closed for OA Officers and the Committee. There will be a change of personnel this year as Chris Horsburgh (1967) and Andrew Sharp (1972) step down from their respective roles as Chairman and Secretary. Chris has been nominated to take over the role of President, a post held by the late Martin Morton. Andrew has been nominated to take over as Chairman having also served as a Vice Chairman for the past three years. Michael Hallisey (1972) has been nominated for Secretary. Michael was the first Head Boy when we moved to Westgate in 1971 and the Committee are delighted that he has agreed to accept the nomination for Secretary as the running of the OAs changes hands. We are allowed two Vice Chairmen. Richard Caraccio (1966) is one of the nominees. Richard has served on the Committee for the last few years serving as both our events and website Officer. Jason Savage (1976) is the other nominee. Jason has served on the Committee before and is currently the Chair of Thanet District Council. Bob Bridger (1970) has been nominated again for Treasurer. Bob was elected in Treasurer in 2019 after a spell as our Finance Officer. Other nominated to the Committee include Peter West (1967) who has served on the Committee as Vice Chairman and other offices over the last 10 years. Peter currently looks after the Archive and is our Membership Secretary. Keith Fenton (1984); Richard Scollard (1987) and David Fugurally (1989) have all been re-nominated. Two new nominations - Dennis Yapp (1973) and Giles Govier (1973).
With nominations closed and the requisite number of nominations filled, there will be no need for a ballot. The new Committee will represent a significant shift from the Ramsgate to the Westgate Generation, with the majority of members having attended Westgate for part or all of their time at our School. Ramsgate will still be well represented and with Chris Horsburgh as our new President, he will, in his new role, have the responsibility for making sure we do not forget our past, our culture and our traditions.
Another significant change being proposed is to move our Annual General Meeting to taking place every TWO years. In general, the committee meets four times a year so increasing the term of office from one year to two years will allow more time for the Committee to get to know each other across the generations and will offer stability. Apart from which, the administration required to organise an AGM is quite time consuming and the change will allow us to focus more on the priorities at hand.
This will also be our first ever General Meeting held by "Zoom". We will of course like to receive your feedback as given that we are not only spread across the UK but many parts of the world too, it will hopefully provide greater access for members wherever they come from.
Formal meetings of the OAs are for paid up members only. Members are not only those who attend the school but for former staff, family and friends who are associated with our School and it's history. Presently we have Life Membership on special offer at £100 (reduced from £200). Ordinary Membership costs £20 per annum. It's so easy to join - just click on this link and it will take you from there. hhps://www.oldaugustinians.org.uk/membership-join
Finally, with Covid restrictions beginning to lift, we are pleased to remind you that we will be holding events this autumn and into next year to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of our School finally leaving Ramsgate and moving to its final home in Westgate. To mark this special anniversary, we have booked our old school building in Westgate for a special lunch to be held on Saturday 25th September 2021 and we have also booked the National Liberal Club in Westminster for our black tie dinner for Thursday 16th June 2022. More details of both these and other events will be released later but please keep these dates for your diary.
More news will follow our AGM - hope you can join us from our Zoom AGM on 20th May 18.30.