A.O.S.A. 2006 ANNUAL REPORT

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I thought would be an idea to include a piece about what how I put my first edition of the Mag together. However, I have found myself with a chicken and egg situation. By the time you read this, the Mag will be finished, but as I sit in front of my laptop typing this, there is still a lot of work to do. I have most of the articles in now and would like to thank the authors for their time and effort in contributing them. I would like to thank Gill Jackson who kindly agreed to compile and edit the News section for me. I also need to thank her for the invaluable guidance she has given me. Gill with Dick Dennis have provided a tremendous amount of help and direction. Dick will also be providing his professional expertise in getting the final copy in a form ready for the printers. (Just some of the technical terms Gill and Dick have been teaching me). I owe a debt of great thanks to Suzi Scaife for proofreading the articles, especially as I was a little tardy in getting the drafts to her.

You will have read that Dick, Gill Jackson and Peter Moore-Robinson are inviting all of their contemporaries for another of their once a decade do’s or birthday parties. This year it will be their collective 70th (ish) and I hope that they have a great time at the Reunion this summer. Others getting crowds together at the reunion for a great time are Jenny Summerfield (Smith 1981- 88), Tessa Snowdon (Greenwell 1981-88), Fiona Campbell (1981-88) and Sonia Wade (Dunn 1952-58). So if you took your 'O' Levels at Ayton in the Summers of ’56 or’86, there will be plenty of familiar faces at this year’s reunion.

The closing of the school has inevitably had an effect upon the Association. No longer does the Mag include a list of leavers. A sad sign that the pool of prospective new members now only consists of a diminishing pool of ex-pupils and staff. Without a venue, which was freely provided, many at the time thought that the Association was doomed as well. However, we are (very much) still here, there is an Annual Reunion, and the Mag has not only survived but has thrived as well. These are the two main benefits of the Association now, but they are also the biggest drains upon the Association’s resources. You will see from the accounts on page 12, that the bank balance is in a healthy state, especially when looking back over the years. However with an income that is relatively fixed set against costs that are continually rising, it is already apparent that our reserves will not last as long as we had hoped. There is no immediate danger but with interest rates at their current levels, income from the invested monies is hardly enough to make up for annual increases in costs. With less interest coming in we have to take more from the reserves, which means less interest the year after. This is the start of a downward spiral that can only end with a zero bank balance. With this in mind Diz Dexter, our chairman is launching an appeal with this year’s Annual Report, for donations to boost our reserves.

As I type this, it is February and although the articles have been finalised the work is not yet over. Producing the Mag is a long process, with some periods of intense activity between some lulls. Time seems to have shot by, it was nearly two years ago that I was elected Hon. Editor, and despite the work still to be done, my mind is already turning to next year’s edition.

James Slater (1974-78)
Hon. Editor

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