48 C O N T E X T 1 1 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 0 Notes from the chair Friends linked by our passion This is my first set of notes from the chair, so hello to you all! I follow Dave Chetwyn as your chair/chairman/ chairperson and my first thought is how to solve the title conundrum. I will have to work on that. Our company secretary has suggested Madam Chairman – but I am not sure about that one either. First I must thank those who had sufficient faith in me to suggest that I stand as your chairman. Second, thanks to my nominees. Mostly, thank you for the votes at the AGM. For those of you present at the AGM I had threatened to do a Gwyneth Paltrow, thanking my parents, family and friends and bursting into tears.You will be relieved to know that I did not. I would like to thank Dave again for his hard work, devotion and determination during his three years as chair, steering the institute through an eventful time. During his tenure he always appeared to be one step ahead of events, competing interests and non-believers. He is passionate about conservation, and has been and still is a wonderful ambassador for our work. I find the idea of taking his place in the chair somewhat daunting (and he’s a bit taller than me so we may have to cut down the legs of the chair). I have been hanging around the IHBC for quite a long time now. I have to say if someone had told me at the outset that one day I would become the chairman of this organisation I would have been very surprised. But to all those of you who are reading this and do not at present feel very involved in the IHBC, I would say get out there and immerse yourself in the joys of the institute. I was lured into the IHBC (or the ACO as it was then) by my boss at the time in Brighton Borough Council. He persuaded me that I would enjoy monthly meetings in a pub in rural Sussex to organise the 1991 Annual School in Brighton. This was in 1989, so I had to squeeze it all in after school. (That bit is not entirely true but I realise that I have just outed myself as a woman of certain years). Actually, he was absolutely correct. I did enjoy the meetings and I met a group of enthusiastic, knowledgeable, entertaining and probably bonkers people who were already members of the ACO, and who persuaded me that I would meet more entertaining people and have even more laughs. Since then I have volunteered for unglamorous but absolutely essential jobs like the minutes secretary of council and executive for the ACO. I have been treasurer for the south east branch, helped to organise events within the branch (together with some of the original Brighton group) and even organised another annual school in Guildford. The ACO became the IHBC, and we became a more focused, influential and relevant body. I have been lucky to see this development at first hand during my time as chair of membership and ethics, as we developed and refined membership standards and ethical issues. Today we have an influence beyond our numbers, and a respect that has been gained through the hard work and vision of our volunteers, and the professionalism and dedicated work of our national office. We are still essentially a collection of knowledgeable, enthusiastic and slightly bonkers people with so much to give to each other and the IHBC. It is not all serious – it is also about having fun and getting involved. During my tenure I hope to build on the wonderful work Dave Chetwyn and the current committee chairs have achieved. It is a team effort rather than a job for one person, and I am lucky to have support and encouragement from a talented and dedicated team in the national office, and knowledgeable and committed officers across the whole organisation. Although we are now a professional and influential body of people, we are still essentially a group of friends linked by our passion for the historic environment. Friends always stop to help, chat and pour the chairman a cup of tea, and possibly even fetch her a biscuit. Remember that I particularly like shortbread, but a bourbon will always suffice. Jo Evans, [email protected] Dave Chetwyn steps down. (Photo: Fiona Newton)
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