Wisbech Business & Professional Mens Club - 2013

December 2013

 

31 members attended the Annual General Meeting and outgoing chairman, Derrick Holmes, thanked all his committee. He particularly thanked Secretary David Bruch and Tracy Saberton, Treasurer Stuart Warren and speaker finder David Hodgson.  He also highlighted the Annual Ball, the Newmarket trip and the golf day organised by Rick Wilson. Our incoming chairman Phillip Tolley then thanked Derrick Holmes for being our chairman for a second year and for the hard work that had been put in. The new Chairman's chosen charities will be Talking2Minds, a post traumatic stress disorder charity, and Wisbech Sea Cadets (TS Falcon unit). The next meeting  on January 8th. will have a professional speaker John McGovern, an ex professional footballer.

 

 

November 2013

 

36 members and 4 guests enjoyed the November meeting held at Mendi's Wisbech. During the evening Chairman Derrick Holmes inducted a new member with the club tie and lapel pin.  The entertainment for the evening was provided by Tom Binns, who hails from Chesterfield, in the persona of spoof Hospital DJ Ivan Brackenbury. Tom/Ivan has also appeared with Alan Partridge, and has been the warm-up comedian for TV shows including Men behaving badly. In 2013 he won Best International Act at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. He has also appear in serious roles in show such as Spooks. He appears at venues throughout the UK and also on Radio 2. Members were in fits of laughter at his performance. He was thanked on behalf of the Club by former Chairman David Bruch.

 

 

The date of next meeting is Wednesday 11th December when the Club will be holding it's Annual General Meeting and a new Chairman will be installed.

 

 

October 2013

Chairman Derricks Holmes welcomed 39 members and 2 guests to the Wisbech Business and Professional Men's Club meeting. The Guest Speaker for the evening was Andrew Ingram who gave an excellent slide show and talk showing the streets, shops and landmarks of Wisbech dating back over many years. The slide show brought back many memories for some members. He was thanked on behalf of the the Club by the Treasurer, Stuart Warren.

During the evening it was announced that the Golf Day, organised by Rick Wilson, on September 5th was a great success with 12 teams taking part. The overall winning team was Terry Roughton's. The day was followed by a Carvery Meal and a Cabaret.

The Grand Ball, held at Wisbech Grammar School on Saturday 5th October 2013, was attended by 190 persons who enjoyed a four course dinner with wine and dancing to Party X and a disco. The Raffle raised £838.60 which will be split between the Chairman's Charities, these being Scotty's Little Soldiers and the Bob Champion Cancer Trust

The date of next meeting is Wednesday November 13th when the speaker will be Ivan Brackenbury, a spoof Hospital Radio DJ.

 

September 2013

Chairman Derrick Holmes welcomed 25 members and 36 guests to the Wisbech Business and Professional Men's Club Ladies Night at the Rose & Crown on Wednesday 11th September. The guest speakers were Michael  "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards who gave a history as to his development from a giant slalom skier to becoming England's one & only ski jumper. On how he went from a 10 metre jump to a 90 metre jump in 6 months rather than the 10-15 years it should take to progress through the increasing heights and also how the various national teams gave him better & better pieces of equipment & how he scavenged his way around Europe & the world to pursue his dream of becoming an Olympic ski jumper. The second speaker was Billy Flywheel who baffled members of the audience & his "volunteers" with mindreading, sleight of hand & finally hypnotising various members of the club who are still recovering.

 

 

August 2013

33 members were welcomed, by the Club Chairman Derrick Holmes, to the August meeting held at the Rose & Crown Hotel, Wisbech. John Wilcox, a retired Police Officer, was inducted as a new member and presented with a Club Tie and Badge. The meeting was a Open Forum for members to discuss issues concerning the club, it's membership and future functions. A list of proposed speakers and costs were put forward by David Hodgson. It was agreed to proceed with preliminary booking of speakers for the first part of 2014. The members all agreed that the job of Speaker Finder was one of the most difficult and everybody wished to congratulate David Hodgson on his work in this field. The members also discussed ways of improving membership numbers and attendances. It was announced that the annual Golf Day on September 5th was sold out. The next meeting, on 11th September, will be the Ladies Night at the Rose & Crown Hotel when the main guest speaker will be Eddie the Eagle, winner of ITV's Splash! supported by Billy Flywheel, a comedian and after dinner entertainer.

 

 

July 2013

34 Members and guests were welcomed by the Club Chairman Derrick Holmes to the July meeting held at Mendi's, Wisbech. David Patrick, Local Councillor and Chair of Wisbech Taxis, was inducted as a new member and presented with a Club Tie and Badge. The speaker for the evening was Sally Chicken who travelled from Lowestoft to talk about Credit Union accounts. These are run be volunteers to provide alternatives to Banks, Building Societies, Pay Day and doorstep lenders. People can save, paying in cash with a pay point card in local shops. Money saved with Credit Unions is just as safe as money in the bank and the Credit Union is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Also present was Ross McGiven from Fenland District Council. There are two local points in Wisbech. These being the Rosmini Centre, Queens Road and the Oasis Centre, St Michaels Avenue. The Credit Union also protects you with a loan that attracts a low interest rate compared with some major money lenders and loan sharks. Phillip Tolley, Vice Chairman, thanked the speakers on behalf of the Club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next two meeting will be held at the Rose & Crown. The first on 14th August is an open forum for members only, The second on 11th September will be a Ladies Night featuring Eddie the Eagle as the main speaker. A few tickets are still available for the Newmarket Race Night featuring 'Madness' on 19th July. Tables are now being booked for this year's Grand Ball to be held at Wisbech Grammar School on Saturday 10th October.

 

 

June 213

The Chairman welcomed 29 members and 1 guest to the June meeting held at Mendi's Wisbech. The speaker was Patrick Burke, local farmer and comedian, giving a talk on Norfolk Characters. It was a fantastic night with a great meal and a great comedian who last visited our club 20 years ago. Chairman for the night, David Bruch, updated all the near future events and Michael Bates gave a vote of thanks. For the next meeting on July 10th the speaker will be Sally Chicken from Rainbow Savers of the Credit Union which launched in Wisbech in February this year.

 

Norfolk Characters

 

 

Chairman at Home

 

On the 19th May 16 members and their partners enjoyed a gourmet meal and entertainment at the Rose and Crown Hotel, as the Chairman at Home's function. Those who did not attend missed a very well appreciated occasion.

 

 

May 2013

The Chairman welcomed 24 members and their guests to the May meeting held at Mendi's Wisbech.

The guest speaker was introduced by David Hodgson. Bob Brind-Surch  gave an enlightening talk with regards to his working career and more interestingly the African safaris that he undertakes and a whistle stop 14-day safari was undertaken in 45 minutes. Bob, who comes from Towcester, takes small groups of people out to Africa and teaches them how to photograph wildlife. He was thanked on behalf of the club by member Colin Perkins.

 

 

 

Chairman at Home

On the 19th May 16 members and their partners enjoyed a gourmet meal and entertainment at the Rose and Crown Hotel, as the Chairman at Home's function. Those who did not attend missed a very well appreciated occasion.

 

April 2013

The Chairman welcomed 29 members and 2 guests to the April meeting held at Mendi's Wisbech. It was announced that The Chairman At Home Function this year will be held at The Rose & Crown Hotel, Wisbech on Sunday May 19th with a gourmet Sunday luncheon and entertainment. This function will be for members wives and partners only. The Ladies Night is now scheduled for 11th September at The Rose & Crown Hotel Wisbech, where the guest speaker will be Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards. Information was given for the Annual Grand Ball to be held at Wisbech Grammar School on Saturday October 5th 2013. Booking forms for the Chairman at Home Sunday Lunch and the Grand Ball are available to to download from this site, as well as for the 'Madness' concert at Newmarket.

 

The guest speaker for the evening was Maz Wilson MBE a Major in 254 Medical Regiment (V), RAMC. Maz talked on conditions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She showed some horrific slides of conditions and causalities of soldiers being treated which shocked the membership present. She was thanked on behalf of the club by member Mike Burns. Following the presentation the Club has agreed to make a suitable donation to the Royal British Legion. (Subsequently a cheque was forwarded to the British Legion with a covering letter and  a bouquet was sent to Maz Wilson as a thank you).

 

March 2013

Comedian and former professional footballer John Stiles, son of 1966 World Cup Star 'Nobby' Stiles, entertained the 43 members and 3 guests present with a mix of adult humour and football anecdotes. David Hodgson thanked John on behalf of the club members.

 

 

 

February 2013

The Chairman presented cheques to David Parish for SERV, and Andy Green for Wisbech & District Cancer Support, in the sums of £1,507 each. These were the Chairman's nominated charities for 2012.

 

 

We also had presentations from representatives of this year's nominated charities, Brendan Holmes for Scotty's Little Soldiers and Simon Masson for Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

 

January 2013

Derrick Holmes welcomed 27 members to his first meeting as returning Chairman at Mendis Wisbech and outlined his functions for the coming year. The Chairman's chosen charities this year will be Scotty's Little Soldiers and the Bob Champion Cancer Trust (details of both can be found on the links page)

The planned speaker for the evening unfortunately was not able to attend for personal reasons and sent his apologies. The Club's own David Hodgson kindly stepped into the breach with his informative, illustrated, talk on photography which was appreciated by those who attended.