Ladies and Gentlemen I have to admit that I accept this chain of office with a certain amount of fear and trepidation. What seemed like a good idea 12 months ago has very quickly evaporated!!!

Last year as most of us know Audlem Probus Club very nearly folded, that is until Jerry Sullivan decided to act as a caretaker President while I tried to learn the ropes. So on behalf of everyone I would like to say thank you Jerry for the impeccable way you have run and fronted the Audlem Probus Club over the last year. You have always been a warm, friendly, and approachable President and you have set the bar at a very high level. I would also like to thank all the committee members for their hard work during the year in keeping the Club running so smoothly. You are all a great team to work with and I look forward to being pointed in the right direction by you all in the coming year. My thanks also extend to our Tea and Coffee Ladies for keeping us so well lubricated, along with biscuits – what more could we ask for?

We always have a varied programme of very good interesting speakers, along with various social activities. So I would encourage all members to bring along your friends and neighbours as guests and hopefully they will want to join us. I am ever hopeful that during the year someone will come along and volunteer to fill the role of Vice President, or you might end up with me for another year – and nobody wants that!!

I will try my utmost to maintain the friendly, caring and welcoming spirit that I have experienced during my time in Probus and as my Management always says 'I can be very trying'. So thank you for your vote of confidence and I look forward to another successful year ahead.