creating a world-wide community in which distance and time-zones mean less and less. CoScan will surely now begin to take its proper place in that world. The York AGM itself was another welcome sign of our vigour. York has long been home to our meetings in the years between overseas Conferences, centrally placed and accessible for most of our members. In 2012 the local society, YASS, excelled themselves as hosts and put on a programme as stimulating in its way as the “CoScan Goes To…” events organised in recent years by the Shetland and Orkney societies. The setting for both meeting and dinner was the medieval Bedern Hall, relatively newly restored and the perfect setting for a small function - it is rare to achieve the combination of antiquity, modern catering and unthreatening size. The informality of our YASS hosts put us at our ease from the start, and they led us in a kind of pan-Nordic sing-song at the end of the dinner which sent everybody away in the best of spirits. Check out (as they say) the collection of photos now posted on our Facebook page for the proof. Of course York is special. Not many cities can boast ancient walls and historic buildings in quite such profusion - some of us were treated to a tour by a real expert, a YASS member, who pointed out rarely-noticed architectural and historical quirks and knew all the anecdotes behind them. The Minster is an amazing building - its fine peal of bells was being rung almost
Message from the President Mark Elliott Over the years I have spoken, probably too often, of Scandinavia and northern Europe generally as a haven of sanity in a troubled world. Looking out over the peaceful fells of the Lake District from our cottage window, one can easily forget external stresses and see only what is stable and eternal. But it would be wrong to pretend now that anybody is unaffected by the economic strains afflicting Europe. Unwise perhaps to say more, in a piece written inevitably some while before publication and in the midst of rapid and unpredictable change. Let me at least wish you all as easy and secure a summer as may be, and the space to build up strength to face any challenges which may lie ahead. “You all” in that last sentence is beginning to mean more than it did. At the Annual General Meeting held in York at the end of April, we had encouraging news of the growing interest in CoScan stimulated by our Facebook page and the efforts of Helena Schmidt. The meeting agreed to ease the procedures for those seeking CoScan membership from outside the UK. Like all organisations we are in need of new (and younger) blood. The web is
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