District Chairman Carol, District Governor Bob, distinguished guests, and friends.
I am delighted to be here today supporting Carol at your District Rally, may I take this opportunity of
thanking Carol for the wonderful afternoon tea at the home of Hannah, great to meet the District
Executive and your club of Yeovil, I was very impressed by the ‘flypast’, really stunning and memorable,
we have, as friends do, chatted the whole afternoon. May I take this opportunity of thanking your Member
of Council Trisha for looking after me so very well today, also to Carol for her hospitality this evening. I
have known Carol for a number of years, she was ‘one of my girls’ when I was Association Overseas
Chairman, Carol was so very helpful when asked to do a welcoming stand of our work for Association
Overseas, when the Countess of Wessex came to our Annual Conference in Plymouth. Carol is very
organised and I wish her well in her year ahead as your District Chairman. Our new Inner Wheel year
started with our Leicester Assembly where everyone had the opportunity of working as a TEAM, together
everyone achieves more, it is very obvious looking at your Home Report that your District does exactly
that. Your clubs within your District have supported Inner Wheel Day with many Acts of Service, this
Birthday, on the weekend of 10th January 2016, if you wish, I would like the whole of GB&I to celebrate
the day hosting a coffee morning or afternoon tea for Parkinson’s UK, my chosen charity for the year, you
will find this leaflet on our web site. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition, there is currently
no cure for Parkinson’s, one person in every 500 has Parkinson’s. That’s about 127,000 people in the
United Kingdom; this is a great opportunity for our 90 year journey to continue, also raising money for
this incurable disease. For those of you who were at Leicester Parkinson’s UK did a terrific presentation,
Sheila, a Parkinson’s sufferer related her story which was full of laughter and tears. Sheila will be in
Glasgow accepting a cheque on behalf of Parkinson’s UK, those of you going, will hear her story ‘first
hand’. Speaking about Glasgow, next year, Inner Wheel will be at the Glasgow SECC at our Annual
Conference, a warm welcome awaits all, I hope to do a different address at Conference next year, I can
only do this with your help, please at every opportunity take pictures of these events and send them to
you, Glasgow will also have a few surprises! An olde fashioned sweetie shop will be my charity stall in
Glasgow next year, I would be very grateful to District 20 if they could, again, if they wish, bring small
bags of sweets to the stall, all money raised will be for Parkinson’s UK. A ceilidh ball will be held on the
Wednesday night, tartan sashes of your choice to be worn, with a posh frock! Worry not about the reels as
a caller will be leading the dances from the Glasgow Conservatoire.
Inner Wheel has had a great past, we now have to make sure that we have a great future; we need to
look forward, move and widen the boundaries to enable our wonderful organisation to flourish in the years
ahead. For the past two years we have had an Interim Membership Committee, there is now a new team
in place, they are ready for the challenges ahead, which I am sure will be many! Please use this
committee to your advantage. We have our own patron Sian Lloyd, wherever possible use her on your
letterheads, with her high profile it is hopes Sian will promote the image of Inner Wheel.
Delighted to see that your links with Rotary at District and Club level is so strong, I am sure Carol and Bob
will serve you well this coming year. Inner Wheel here in District 20 have given assistance to Rotary social
events on many, many occasions, your fundraising and social events have raised a fantastic £58,000 p,
this does not include any donations to your overseas projects, District 20 have supported over 58 different
charities this past year, a fantastic amount, well done to everyone. Charlotte De Vos, The International
Inner Wheel President from Belgium has chose ‘Unique and United as her theme for this year, a great
theme for GB&I, we are Unique, being one of the largest women’s voluntary organisations in the world,
active in over 104 countries, with over 100,00 members. We are united in our aims and wishes by our
actions and deeds to improve the lives of others at home and abroad. At Association, District and Club
level we work together as a TEAM, TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE.
It is a great privilege for me to be your Association President this year. So very delighted to be here, so
looking forward to my visits throughout GB&I.
Some of Life’s little Instructions
Treat everyone you meet as you want to be treated
Strive for excellence - not perfection
Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them
Leave everything a little better than you found it
Be forgiving of yourself and others
Return all the things you borrow
Be there when people need you
Never underestimate the power of love
Don’t be afraid to say I made a mistake
Whatever promises you make – keep them
Don’t expect life to be fair
Count your blessings
Drink champagne for no reason at all
Ladies and gentleman, thank you for listening