50 Years of Fleet Language Circle
The Way Ahead
The fall in numbers needs to be put into context, as we still have slightly more paying members than the average since the club began, despite the fall in attendance recently. I am confident that a new publicity drive will reverse this recent fall in numbers.
In the 19 years since I have been involved, there have been times when each of the French, German and Spanish tables have been the best attended. I also remember evenings soon after I joined when only a couple of us turned up to the Spanish table, a fate that has occasionally affected both the French and German tables in the last 10 years.
We celebrated our 50th Anniversary with a dinner at the Lismoyne Hotel, the place where Colonel Roots called the first meeting of Fleet Language Circle. What has struck me when looking through old records is that, despite occasional ups and downs, the club has maintained a similar format and strength for half a century.
Annual General Meeting
On 18th March 2021 the group's Annual General Meeting was held on Zoom. 23 members attended. Nick Keeley stood down as Chair and Mike Swaddling was appointed in his place, with Pat Humphreys and Bob Rusbridge remaining as Secretary and Treasurer respectively. After Bob had presented the accounts Mike paid tribute to Nick for his service as Chair over 26 years, particularly in certain lean times when his efforts over and above what might normally be expected of someone in the role had virtually held the group together.
Mike also commented on the obvious camaraderie within the group that had kept the three main tables going strongly via Zoom during Covid. The meeting finished with a language quiz devised by Mike which caused much scratching of heads but was much enjoyed.