Once again I have the pleasure of writing my report for the School Magazine. Whilst writing about the activities of the F.S.C. I am tempted to ask myself - Has the Association had a successful year? Our activities during the past 12 months seem to follow the general pattern of previous years. The Committee are always willing to try fresh ideas and this year Record and Slides evenings have been introduced. The Slides evening was most interesting and those who attended were taken on a pictorial tour of Austria. Unfortunately the attendance for this event was rather poor.

The Christmas Bazaar last December again proved to be the biggest single profit of the whole year. However the attendance was smaller than previously and the weather was probably the cause of this. It was a typical "Salvatorian day" The snow started to fall before the Bazaar opened and continued throughout the afternoon. Had it not been for the Draw tickets which were sold through the School, the profit on the Bazaar would have been very small. Our thanks must go to the boys and also to the Members of the Staff who were involved in the distribution of the tickets and the collection of the monies.

Wine and Cheese Parties have again been most successful and in spite of the increased taxation and duty on Wines, we have maintained the admission at 2/6d. Profit has been much the same as last year.

The weekly Whist Drive held on Thursday during School terms, is the second highest source of income over the year and I am pleased to report that we have been able to maintain a steady attendance. However, we do have some vacant tables and would like to see more people come along. Although we know many of the boys at the College live some distance from the School, there are a great number who do live in the Parish of St. Josephs and the Borough of Harrow and many of their parents must know how to play Whist. At the present moment the percentage of parents who do attend the Whist Drive is very small. We should be able to do better than this. Admission is 2/0d each with an additional 6d for a Miniature Drive held during the first part of the evening. Refreshments are supplied and the atmosphere is quite friendly and sociable. We always endeavour to finish between 10 and 10.15 p.m.

The Association were responsible for supplying the refreshments at the Annual Sports Day and we also organised our usual Stalls at the Garden Fete in the summer.

One big disappointment was the large drop in revenue from the Membership Fees. This was down by approximately 30% to £119. 10.0d. There are just over 580 boys at the College and this means that if everyone became a member we should have a total membership in the region of 1,000. At the close of the year in August there were just over 300 members and the Committee do not consider this is satisfactory. The fee of 10/-d annually or £3 for the 7 year period (this figure is halved for individual membership) is primarily used to cover the cost of the Newsletter. In response to requests from a number of Parents who complained that they did not receive these newsletters when they were delivered by hand, we have posted them since. Again I must stress that the Association is entirely self supporting and we do not ask the College to supply any of our stationery or postage. The complete expense comes from our own funds. Any Membership monies left after the newsletters have been published are always used like all our other money to provide articles for the College It would appear that many parents take the view that once their son has been accepted and is attending a Catholic Grammar School, their responsibility as a parent is finished and the State then supplies everything which is needed. I ask each and every one of you to give much thought to this and only when a total membership of at least 75% has been attained can the Committee begin to think that they are being really successful in their endeavours. Whilst on the subject of Newsletters - just a couple of comments. It is difficult to please everyone on this subject. Some people tell me that when a function is publicised 7 to 14 days before it is due to take place, they have already made their arrangements and they cannot alter them. I have tried publishing the dates in advance and then I am told that so-and-so had forgotten what was on because they had not been reminded. However, the most aggravating comment of all is when someone admits that they did receive the newsletter and they did not read it. Some people prefer a short note just giving the dates and others think the more information it contains the better it is. If anyone at all has any ideas on the newsletters, either helpful or otherwise, do not be afraid to write and let me know, as it is only by doing this that you can get what you really want. After all the work that is entailed in the preparation and despatch of these we do like to please the majority of people.

The Dinner Dance was held recently and proved to be most enjoyable. The total amount of cash which was raised during the course of the year was £650 and 1 know some of you will be asking, what has happened to it. Actually we do announce at our Wine and Cheese Parties what we have done for the College but for those who do not attend we appear to be rather remiss in not publicising it better. The total expenditure on items for the College during the last year was £625. The largest single expenditure was on a Garage for the Mini Bus. We also contributed one hundred pounds towards the cost of a new blackout system in the Assembly Hall. A request was also made for a particular Duplicator and this we are ensured will give a much clearer copy to the duplicated examination papers. A special tie has been designed and this is now being presented to every Prefect at the College. A grant has also been made to the Jazz Society and the Table Tennis section have been given Senior and Junior Silver Cups for annual presentation as well as Individual awards. The equipment for the Geographical Society has been completed and the Hockey team now have some Hockey. Sticks. The Craft Department at the College also made some cricket nets and the Association bore the cost of these materials. The total cost of all these items was £625, so you will be able to see that we do not hold the money any longer than is necessary.

In summing up - I think you will agree that we do try and help the College in every possible way and 1 suppose that the answer to the question in my first paragraph must be, we have had a fairly successful year.

Arthur Mellins.
Hon. Secretary.

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