The Twelfth Man 2020

I would like to thank Ron Firth for all the work he has done by organis- ing the Christmas Lunch and pie-and- peas suppers over the years, which are very important to our finances. Andy Jones has very kindly taken over the role and I am sure he will do a great job. Secondly, I would like to thank Ali Saad for the excellent work he does as Membership Secretary which in- cludes posting out the magazines and other membership information. Without the help of these two people the load on my shoulders would be too great. This curtailed season for the Society has increased its bank balance mainly due to the following reasons: 1- The Society made a good profit from the Christmas Lunch due main- ly to Paul Farbrace taking a small fee, stating his admiration of the Society in doing an excellent job with winter nets for the youngsters. 2- Society members continue to very kindly sponsor the room hire fees for the season, increased this year with one special donation of £1000. 3- Our speaker Phillip DeFreitas could not come due to family illness which meant the saving of his fee. Profit for the year was £468. The Committee over the next few months will have to make decisions on which way this Society will go in the future. However, financially the Society is strong due to the continued help of the members in supporting it. I hope this will carry on to keep the Society going for future generations. That is why we would like to see the average age of the Society reducing so please help in recruiting new (and hopefully younger) members. please look at the information in your membership pack in this respect. Despite these challenges I look for- ward to my third term in office. In the meantime I must thank all my fellow Committee members for their help and support, especially James Greenfield and Brian Sanderson who do such sterling work in their roles, as well as Andy Jones who, as Assistant Secretary does such a lot of unsung work to make sure our meetings run smoothly. This year Andy is also tak- ing over the role of Functions Officer from Ron Firth who is stepping down. We must hope and pray that by the time we reach Christmas we will be coming together at his first organised function. I hope that everyone in this unique Society remains safe and well in these strange times. A s we all know, the season for us all has been particularly difficult and many of us are missing the cama- raderie of the Society. I hope the Sec- retary’s bulletins have been keeping you up to date and you found them useful. Hopefully, in the not too dis- tant future, we will be back into the swing and getting our fix of cricket on Monday afternoons and Thursday evenings. With new members our numbers continue to be constant at around the 300 mark although, unfortunately, we have lost several members who have been with us for many years. Chris, our secretary, has included obituaries for some of those members who have passed on. We pass on our condo- lences to their families and they will be sorely missed. We have had three resignations this year, which is a first for me as the Membership Secretary! I would like to thank all our members for their continued patronage of this great Society. * - Ali Saad has since stepped down as Membership Secretary. For alternative contact details on membership matters please see the Officers’ List on page 47. 50 51 Membership Officer’s Report Still holding up in difficult times Ali Saad Treasurer’s Report Reduced costs and generous donations boost profit Brian Sanderson