Poetry Society Trustee Election
September 15th, 2011 § 7 Comments
Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It’s an honour to be elected to the Board, and I’ll be working hard for you. It’s not an easy job, by any stretch of the imagination, and there is very little time to get things right. Anyone who was at the Poetry Society AGM last night will have felt the anger that exists among the membership, justifiably. We shiny new Trustees can’t change the past, but we can work our hardest to secure the future. We have to get a move on: anyone at the AGM also understands the peril the Society is in.
Thank you to everyone who voted at all, whether for me or not. I am delighted to be part of this Board. Democracy, wonderful though it is, can deliver unpredictable results, and I was not a little concerned that things might end up… a bit random to say the least. The result was very close in some cases – three re-counts had to take place, and a number of us were starting to wonder if the Hanging Chad might make its appearance. But the end result, to me as a member as well as a Trustee, is a strong first step towards building new confidence. Such thought was put into the voting; I am sure people had been researching beyond the 200 word statements to deliver a group of people with a range of skills and experience, ages and backgrounds, and who, just as important, are going to be able to work together. I am as pleased by the process (long and moderately tormenting though it might have been for the candidates) as by the result.
There are some excellent candidates who weren’t elected. I hope we’ll be able to call on their expertise anyway. And my thanks go again to Kate Clanchy, whose tireless work, imagination and optimism have made this new start possible. And I expect she’ll be keeping a close eye on us!
Today I think we can say the members of the Poetry Society have got a Board they deserve. A good one.
The Trustees are: Shanta Acharya, Martin Alexander, Polly Clark, Robert Hutchison, Sir Stephen Irwin, Edward Mackay, Kona Macphee, Heather Neill, Paul Ranford, Michael Schmidt, Laurie Smith, Stephen Wilson
Congratulations, Polly – very pleased not only for you, but for the membership who have so clearly made it plain that this is “our” Society –
I’m sure that you and your fellow Trustees will now work hard to ensure that Judith and her excellent Staff can get on with the job, especially in the Education aspect, and develop a determination that we who live in the provinces who find it hard to afford getting to London shall not be overlooked.
There ought to be some way for us to recognise Kate Clanchy’s huge contribution to re-securing democracy within PoSoc.
Absolutely, we must do something to recognise all that Kate has done.
She’s one of that extraordinary class of people: the initiators – the ones who make the surprise party happen; who organise passers-by to lift the car under which the motorcyclist lies; who say, ‘Am I the only one who wants to know what’s going on? and then find out; who make things happen that let us all look back and say, Good God! If it hadn’t been for Kate, none of this would ever…’
And it’s true – “if it hadn’t been for Kate.”
I couldn’t agree more Christopher.
By the way, say hello to Bispham for my. My grandmother used to live there and I spend all my childhood holidays there.
This is a great result – congratulations Polly.
Thanks Frances!
Polly, many congratulations, and the very best of luck!!
Thanks Catherine… and now the work begins!