A.O.S.A. 2007 ANNUAL REPORT

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Producing the magazine this year has been quite a challenge. Dick Dennis has only been able to cheer and shout advice from the touchline owing to ill health, but I would like to thank him for the help he has given. Gill Jackson (Hinds) has done a brilliant job compiling the news and Suzi Scaife has again saved our blushes by proofreading most of the articles. (This one excluded, so any mistakes here are definitely down to me alone!) With Dick out of action I have had to prepare the magazine for the printers myself. This would have been another steep learning curve for me to climb at the best of times, but just at the crucial time of setting the Mag’s layout, our family's social worker announced that she had found two children for us to adopt. (Those OS that know Pam, Henry and myself, will be aware that we have been waiting over two years for this to happen.) So getting the Mag ready for printing has been a rush job this year and I must apologise for any errors or omissions that are likely to have slipped through.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the school’s closure, although I understand the trust and therefore the school itself still exists as a legal entity. This is because when the land and buildings were sold a clause was put into the contract requiring an additional payment to the trustees should any further development take place before 2017. We are already half way through that period and yet the Ayton Old Scholars Association is still going strong, something many thought we would not see ten years ago.

What of the future of the Association? We are assured that thanks to the appeal last year, the funds will not run out for another fifteen or more years given the current rate of spending. We have a strong core of members, with over six hundred either life members or paying an annual subscription. Attendance at the reunion cannot be accurately measured but normally about eighty tickets are sold for the evening meal and roughly the same for lunch the next day. However, several more drop in on some of the other events, so well over a sixth of our membership participate in reunion activities, and that’s not including some of the smaller get-togethers that occasionally happen at other times. The only other sort of event like this that I have come across is the veterans’ reunions that my father attended. Although he has passed away I understand some of his squadron still hold an annual event. That is sixty years after they were demobbed. In theory the Association could still be going in 2057. Unfortunately when I look at make up of the organisation I fear that the AOSA may not last so long. The majority of members represent those who attended the school during the 1940s and 50s yet the school peaked in numbers during the 1970s. Again attendance at the reunions is heaviest amongst those at the school during the 40s and 50s. The same goes for the News section in this Mag, with the longest column inches belonging to the 40s and 50s.

I think now is the time to start seriously debating the future of the Ayton Old Scholars Association, we need to discuss how to get more younger OS to become members and active members at that. The form and shape(not just venue) of reunions needs consideration, although many of us enjoy the walks and treasure hunts, many are finding it harder to participate. The Annual Report should also be looked at. A lot of the content is dictated by the constitution, and a lack of a News section would no doubt cause a riot at the AGM, but what goes into the rest of the space must be relevant to Old Aytonians. I fear that by resting on our laurels, because we have a formula that works currently, we will suddenly find ourselves in a situation, where dwindling numbers will cause the reunions to fizzle out and the Mag to reduce to a newsletter.

The AGM is not necessarily the best place to mull over such matters, it is there for well drafted proposals to be put forward and decisions made. There is a whole year during which ideas can be tossed about before they become proposals. Groups who meet regularly can and no doubt will talk over ideas. For a wider audience there is the AOSA website forum, where discussions can happen amongst members spread throughout the world. If you feel like putting pen to paper, write to the committee or myself.

James Slater (1974-78)
Hon. Editor

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