Fellow Tablers,
It is a great honour to have become your National President at the AGM in Leeds last Saturday. For those of your who know me, you will appreciate that I am not likely to be representing my country at Football or Athletics - However, I am now privileged to be able to represent my country, Great Britain and Ireland at my chosen sport, which is Round Table. I will represent you to the best of my abilities and with passion to further the objects for which this Movements stands.
I must thank Martin "Gundog" Gunson and his team for laying on a fantastic weekend of Tabling fun. It was great to meet so many old friends and so many new lifelong friends as only Tabler can be. I would also like to thank Immediate Past National President, Graham and his National Executive for all of their work and dedication to the Association, it has been a pleasure working with all of you.
It is amazing how quickly our time in Table passes, it seemed like only yesterday when we were in Cardiff and I became your Vice-President. It is with this though in mind that we must focus our efforts in our short time in the Chair, the grains of time will run quickly though our fingers and before we will know it the Tabling year will be over. We must ensure that our well planned and throughout programme of events takes place, we must ensure that our committees and councillors keep on track to deliver the goals we so thoughtfully put in place and we must also ensure that we never forget that Tabling is first and foremost about having fun and enjoying each other's company.
I am primarily focused on trying to set a strategic goal for all Round Tables, and that is "Plus 1" - Plus 1 is where each Table strives to grow its membership by a single member over the course of the year, each Area collectively looks to grow its membership base by one member and finally Nationally we look to grow our number by one member. This task in its self is a monumental challenge for us all to undertake, if we can achieve and sustain this goal then the future of Round Table will be secure for years to come. Our sons and nephews will have the opportunities and privileges that we have all enjoyed - that being, the experience of Round Table - I believe that is a goal worth fighting for.
How do we achieve this goal - it is simply about making each club a vibrant and exciting place to be, with an organised programme of events, a good and effective leadership team and having fun - members will want to remain members, members will want to invite guests because they have the confidence that the contacts they bring along will have a good time, the guests will be asking you if they can become members because the experience has been fantastic - it is through these easy steps that we can rejuvenate and promote our great club. If you "Build it... they will come".
Already we are seeing the signs of this turnaround - 44% of our Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland either grew by one member or finished the year with at the same level as last. Over 10% of our Areas are in the same position, with Area 3 growing by 11 members. We can learn from each other and share the ideas that work, and stop doing the things that are not getting us anywhere.
My chosen Presidential charity for the year is in support of Air Ambulance Charities in conjunction with the Association of Air Ambulance Charities (AAAC). I am please that for the first time the National President's of Round Table, 41 Club and Tangent have joined forces to promote this most worthy cause. Together we hope to achieve a target of over £150,000 during the course of the year, and I know with your help this is achievable.
I look forward to meeting with you all over the course of the year - I am sure that my travels will take me far and wide, but always amongst great friends called Round Tablers.
Please have fun, do something positive and make a difference in your Tabling!
Yours in Table
Peter Manley
National President 2008/09
Round Table Great Britain and Ireland