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OLD BIRKONIAN SOCIETY
infocus magazine
OLD BIRKONIAN SOCIETY
OLD BIRKONIAN SOCIETY
BULLETIN PRESIDENT’S THOUGHTS The School has benefited from the support of Old Birkonians throughout its life after the first objective of the OB Society: “To facilitate communication and association between OBs”, the next is: “To found scholarships and otherwise to help and encourage any matters of interest to the School”. This past ‘help and encouragement’ from OBs has to a very large extent been the source of most of the fine campus in which the School is now situated; and also the sporting facilities in the McAllester and Noctorum fields. The gifts and legacies of past generations have been profitably invested. Over the years the Society has benefited from shrewd management of the available resources by Governors drawn heavily from the ranks of the OBS, and who have also themselves contributed generously. The Society has two charitable Funds to support the ‘Second Objective’. Of these two, the Endowment Fund is the major source of support for the School, and it is here that most gifts and legacies from OBs are collected. It has been invaluable in recent years both in extending the Campus and in alleviating some of the hardships arising from first the abrupt termination of the post-war Government’s ‘Direct Grant Scheme’ and more recently the 1980s ‘Assisted Places Scheme’. These demands have left the Fund seriously depleted. A consequence of this has been a loss of opportunity for scholars from the Town to experience an unrivalled education and a reduction in
the size of the School intake. This can only be remedied, without a political change of heart, by the provision of more scholarships and bursaries; and that is where we come in! A number of (very)-OBs from the intake of the 1940s have joined forces to fund a scholar who is now in place, and a most generous single-year group of more recent vintage has done the same. These gifts have been made through the School’s own Foundation Trust, but on reflection Members may see that this is what the OBS was set up to do. So maybe it would be a good idea for other scholarships to come about through the Endowment Fund, and thereby publicise the value added by our Society through the generosity of its members? To this end, the OB Council has approved the use of the Neil Gracey scholarship fund for the same purpose and has undertaken to add to it in his memory. A recipient will start at the School this September. The Endowment Fund would like to do more, and this is where we OBs are needed to fill the coffers with lifetime gifts or through legacies. And while lifetime gifts with Gift Aid are all beneficial to the Fund, higher rate tax payers also gain. And the combination of Income and Inheritance tax liabilities can make the cost of giving even more effective for any Donor’s estate when it is liable to inheritance tax, if the gifts are made out of income rather than by legacy. I won’t bore you with a personal obsession, just leave the idea! The Society uses all membership subscriptions for everyday costs, such as this magazine insert and postage. It relies upon us all, acting in concert, to make the OBS a donor of new blood to its source - our Old School - and new life to our Town, Birkenhead. Martin Brown, President OB Society
CHAIRMANS REPORT Once again I have appreciated the excellent support of our Secretary, Will Roberts and our Treasurer, Trevor MathewJones with a strong Council that has continued to share the benefit of youth and experience, however two of our long serving members are standing down this year. Graham Hurton and Alan Hanson have each made an enormous contribution to the Society over very many years and they will be sorely missed.
The Secretary and Treasurer Alan and Graham
CHAIRMANS REPORT CONTINUED
It seems the date of emigration is fast approaching for Alan and Angela and Australia’s gain will certainly be Wirral’s loss. As for Graham, our elder statesman, we are tempting him to continue at Archives by improving the quality of the biscuits. As well as thanking the members of Council for their contribution this year I should also like to thank the leaders of our numerous events, especially another stalwart who is also standing down this year. Phil Rees-Roberts has created the very popular annual event at Royal Liverpool Golf Club from what was a mini competition at Wirral Ladies Golf Club about 28 years ago. His commitment to the Golf Society as Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Speechmaker and all round dogsbody has been outstanding. He has promised not to disappear. Fortunately, Jim McGrath has agreed to take on the Secretarial role. The Council are in the throes of updating the constitution of the Society but the main thrust remains the same. Our aims are: 1. To keep a register of past pupils of the school believed to be alive, within which we highlight our Society Members. Updating is the name of the game. 2. To facilitate communication by way of the website, the annual bulletin, social events, sporting events, Facebook, Twitter and e-mails. 3. Most importantly supporting the School both financially via Bursaries and Scholarships and with loyal volunteers such as the enthusiastic Monday men who maintain Archives. The financial support comes from our two Charitable funds, The War Memorial Fund , often referred to as the Prize Fund and the more substantial Endowment Fund which receives a gentle flow of Bankers Orders from the benevolence of a loyal group of contributors. The Endowment enjoyed a generous boost this year from a donation by John G Brown (44-58). A fund has accrued over recent years to provide for the Neil Gracey Scholarship. At last it has taken root and is about to blossom. The student chosen to benefit is starting this September. Every effort has been made to inform the many donors of the outcome of their generosity.
We have continued our membership of AROPS which is The Association of Representatives of Old Pupils’ Societies. It has a membership of 285 schools in UK. It holds an AGM usually in London, an Annual Conference at various venues and where possible a Regional meeting. This year we attended the Annual Conference in Cambridge. We have maintained our usual diary of events during this Academic year. Starting with the successful OBS weekend in September at which the School won the Rugby (22-5) and Netball (31-26) whilst the OBS won the hockey (5-2). We then enjoyed a maximum turnout of 44 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in October for the Hoblyn Trophy. This was followed by a Liverpool Lunch at The Artists Club, The School Bazaar at which we had a stand with a new smart backdrop and the London Dinner at the House of Commons hosted by Karl McCartney MP for Lincoln, another full house. All of these were in November. At Christmas the Old Birkonians beat Birkenhead Park 24-7 in front of an enthusiastic crowd, who managed to dodge the snow by a matter of hours. In March of this year there was another lunch at the Artists Club and the Pragmatists had their Dinner at Brook Meadow in April. The latter are those who gather at The Wheatsheaf (Thatch) every Wednesday. (See article elsewhere). For many years we have entered a team in the Grafton Morrish Trophy which is organised by the Public Schools OB Golf Association. Some will remember that we won this prestigious national competition in 2011. Last October we lost in the Semi Finals and this year we have already qualified in the Northern Group for the Finals that are held on the Norfolk coast in September, so fingers crossed! As we approach the Michaelmas Term here are a few dates for your diary. 5th/6th September 2nd October 23rd October
The OB Society funds were transferred early this year to Rathbones in Liverpool to manage our investments. This came about as the result of Charles Stanley, our previous advisers, closing its Liverpool office.
20th November
Some statistics of interest –
27th December
7050 past students are on our database 2850 are members of the Society of whom 147 are Overseas members . An interesting pointer for the future is that 33% of current pupils at school are girls. In addition to our standard membership we have a healthy list of Honorary Members. These are recorded on our website and at present are eighteen in number.
28th November
OBS Weekend (See programme advertised.) Hoblyn Trophy at RLGC at Hoylake. Liverpool Lunch at Artists Club. London Dinner at The East India Club in St.James’s Square. OBS Stand at the School Bazaar. Birkenhead Park v. OBFC k.o. 3pm
So I hope to see you at the OBS Weekend. Please let me know if you can join us for lunch on the Saturday. office@obs.org.uk Roger Ewing (Chairman OBS)
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