Whilst I am on the subject of articles provided by the 'Friends' for the College I would also mention two Rear View Projection Aids and a Tape Recorder for the language laboratory. The curtains in the Library have also been provided by the F.S.C. We also had some second-hand silver cups given to us and after having these repaired and replated these have been added to the collection of cups for the School Sports day. When these have been sorted we will then have them engraved so that these will be in use this coming year. As you will see from this list, the Committee have been very active this year.
The usual activities have been arranged and in particular I would mention the Wine and Cheese Parties. These have proved very popular and quite a number of parents have asked us to hold these social evenings more often and not to restrict them to one every term as in the past. The Hobbies evening which was held in the Spring was most encouraging. The response by the boys was tremendous and many people commented on how surprised they were to see the many and varied hobbies the boys followed. The Careers evening was again held and we hope some of the boys will have gained some useful information for the Career they intend to pursue.
So far - so good. I hope as you are reading this you are not saying to yourself - they are always asking for money. This is not so. In fact with the Wine and Cheese Parties and the Dinner Dance we are satisfied if we just cover our expenses. The Committee feel that the most important thing with these is to make sure that everyone had an enjoyable social evening with the value for their money. We have four main events during the year to raise money. These are, the Football Pool, Christmas Bazaar, Whist Drives and Membership. The monies from this last item are used to cover the cost of the weekly Newsletters we send throughout the year and when I tell you that the postage on each newsletter is now £7 you will see how expensive this is, bearing in mind the cost of paper and envelopes has to he added to this figure. At the present moments there are 228 people who have paid their membership fees for this current year. With a total of 570 boys at the College, there must he at least 1,000 parents. The Committee, I know, are most concerned with this lack of support. I like to think that it is a case of forgetfulness and then when they remember some weeks later they think it is too late to send it in. May I assure you that it is never too late to send membership fees to me and it is with this annual renewal in mind that the Committee decided to recommend a Period subscription which will cover the 7 years a boy is at the College and this was introduced. I would just like to remind you that the Period Family Membership is £3. Period Individual £1 10s. 0d. and the Annual Family 10s. 0d. and Annual Individual 5s. 0d. With reference to the Whist Drives, these are a very sociable evening and if anyone would like to play I am sure they will enjoy themselves.
In conclusion may I wish you a very Happy Christmas on behalf of the Committee.
Arthur Mellins.