News

“We are a group of friends who, having worked together for many years, are now enjoying our retirement. With many different interests and leading busy lives, it would be so easy for us to lose touch. Being members of the Fellowship though, we meet for lunch prior to the meetings and catch up with all the gossip. Our table is usually the loudest; how we manage to make so much noise and still eat is a miracle but we have a lot of practice, and we keep honing our skills.....”

This year’s Annual Conference and Holiday was held at Gunton Hall, Lowestoft and three Members of our branch went from Monday - Friday to enjoy the additional two days’ outings. As the Yorkshire Regional Representative I attended two dinners, the Conference and the AGM.
The Conference was opened on Tuesday evening by Ken Jarrold, our new Patron, to whom we were introduced, and heard that he knew Harrogate well.
Following the Welcome Dinner there was a presentation by two representatives from Xafinity the company which is going to produce the new format of the Fellowship Newsletter. They gave a us a good idea of what we can expect to receive and answered questions from the floor.
On Wednesday morning the ‘Harrogate Team’ had an early breakfast and then mounted their display of the Branch’s activities and crafts loaned by members. We had a good deal of interest from other delegates, and we felt proud of our Members’ talents.
The theme of the Conference was ‘60 Years of the NHS’ and commenced with a presentation by Stephen Welfare - Workforce Director, East of England SHA - entitled ‘Changes in the Workforce over the last 60 years ‘. The Fourth Irene James Lecture was given by Anne Campbell, Chairman of Cambridge & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, who presented ‘60 years of Mental Health’. Both papers were very interesting.
Mike Brown then gave us his Director’s Report which covered the progress that he has made in the last year. This included obtaining Grants, publicising the Fellowship, launching the lottery, training and many other positive aspects.
The AGM included re-election of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and a vote on changes to the Constitution. Following lunch seven motions were debated; the most relevant was a suggestion that the name of the NHSRF should be changed but, after discussion, it was voted by 33:7 to remain the same.
Following the presentation of Newsletter Competition Award and the Sefton Cup, there was a draw for M & S Vouchers donated by Xafinity. The £100 prize was won by Kath Peach! We then enjoyed some entertainment by an opera singer (the husband of a member) who reminded us of 60 Musical Years which made a good finale to a very interesting conference.
The Gala Dinner was followed by an entertaining speech by Anne Stein from Personal Finance Training who organise Pre-Retirement Courses, after which there was entertainment by Warner’s Leisure .