I've just worked out the average age of an Old Bordenian Association Committee Member. It is 107.333 recurring. Mark you, I only just scraped a Pass in Maths, but the figure I've arrived at seems entirely plausible to me. After all, most of us have been on the Committee for 70 or 80 years. Well, it seems like it.....
We are appealing here and now for someone out there – ideally at least a couple of someones – to bring that average down. It may sound like a massive ask and a massive commitment, but it isn't – not least because we have just decided that, unless emergencies arise, we'll try to get by in future with one general Committee Meeting a year. On the same evening as the AGM.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the matters which need most attention – in particular the Website and the Remembrance Gathering – are dealt with by sub-groups which meet as often as is required. The remainder – the Dinner, finance, the sports sections, etc. – more or less roll on under their own steam and do not need the input of Committee discussions. Secondly, thanks to Bill Gates, we now have instant communication at our fingertips when something crops up; there aren't many of us who don't have electronic mailboxes these days. We simply don't need to make inroads into people's valuable private time by summoning them to quarterly meetings.
So it's not a huge sacrifice, being a Committee Member. One meeting a year, with appropriate lubricants provided, isn't asking a lot, is it? Then why am I making this appeal? Well, being an Old Bordenian brings many benefits, but the Secret of Eternal Youth isn't one of them! Above all we badly need an input from those who left School in the past, say, 20 or 30 years to help us make the Association more relevant and attractive in the 21st Century. It is already doing what we believe is valuable work by keeping Old Bordenians in touch, by sponsoring projects like remembering those who gave their lives in conflict. and by providing modest financial assistance to the School, partly to acknowledge the debt we all owe to Borden. But there may be other things we could do, or better ways of doing what is already being done, which will more readily occur to new, and especially younger, minds.
If it sounds a bit intimidating to turn up by yourself at this year's AGM (Friday 3rd October, 7pm), why not bring a like-minded companion, and come as a pair – or a threesome or foursome for that matter? The more the merrier. We really would be grateful for your presence, and nobody will pressure you to sign up for life.
Graham Barnes