Fast approaching the half way mark in my term of office as IRRV National President, things are certainly beginning to get a little more busy! The first half has certainly flown by and with the calendar filling up fast, I’m sure the second half will pass equally as quickly.

March started with my own local Association Dinner – London and Home Counties. It is certainly a very different affair set within the surroundings of the Innholders Hall in the City of London. As my tour of the country continues, I’ve quickly learned that each of the Associations plans a unique evening but it is perhaps the setting of the London and Home Counties which provides a somewhat different experience. The Innholders Hall is a Grade II listed building featuring a beautifully preserved 17^th Century Old Court Room and an impressive Great Hall. I'm not great at taking photographs of events but luckily, others are and here is a small selection to provide a flavour of the evening. 

As you can see, a good time was had by all despite the fact that the Toastmaster decided to go home. Luckily London and Home Counties President, Andy Cummins, and I coped and I've decided that I know what I want to do if I ever leave Revenues and Benefits, although, having broken the solid oak sound block I fear my expenses could be a little high!    

 As is fitting at an Association event, Mr Cummins occupied the "big chair" flanked by myself and his good lady wife. 

My thanks must also go to Kevin McCarthy for the sterling job he did of sawing the security tag off my dress. As i may have said previously, its ok for the gentleman among you as you merely get your DJ dry cleaned and make sure you have a clean shirt. However, us ladies have other challenges including which dress to wear. A word of advice ladies, beware ordering a dress on line and simply removing the price tag before wearing. In future I will always check for any lurking security tags hiding in the hem which you may not spot until half way through the evening. With a large number of Enforcement Agents in the room you can imagine the speculation regarding whether I had indeed paid for the item! Rest assured, I had and my knight in shining armour, Mr McCarthy, saved me the embarrassment of trying to convince a shop assistant of this fact long after proof of purchase had been destroyed. Although I'm still not sure how / why Kevin developed this skill....... 

 Of course the evening doesn’t just happen and my thanks go to everyone on the Executive Committee, especially Chris Grose, for organising the evening and the local President, Andy Cummins, for allowing me to share in his evening. With his good lady wife being originally from Scotland, the top table represented a fair few of the Celtic nations.

With a slight interlude, during which I represented the Institute at the Association of Accounting Technician’s lunch in similarly grand surroundings at the Fishmonger’s Hall in the City, it was onto the next Association Dinner.

This time the evening was organised by the Lancashire and Cheshire Association in Haydock Park. We had a plethora of President’s attend that dinner with East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire represented. A warm welcome was extended by the Lancashire and Cheshire Executive and I’d again like to thank them, especially Linda Price, and their President, Robin Gibbons, for a wonderful evening. In fact I may have enjoyed their hospitality a little too much as I found myself on the dancefloor accompanied by Dave Chapman and Kerry Macdermott attempting to re-enact the tutor’s routine from the revision course when that well known Step’s song “Reach” was played. Anyone who has attended the revision courses over the years may recall the tutor’s “entertainment”. Sadly, I didn’t manage to stay up until the bacon butties arrived at half past midnight. Organised by incoming president, Catherine Nicholson, I’m sure they were most welcome by those still networking!

 

It was my pleasure to also join robin in presenting a Long Service Certificate to George Smith who celebrated 50 years of being an Institute member.

And I'll leave you with one final picture of the evening. Can you guess who these natty red and black shoes belong to? The owner will be well known to those who have previously attended IRRV events although he has now upgraded from his original black and white pair. Answers on a postcard please - sadly no prize though!