The OEA Way Forward

A Message from the OEA Committee

In his report to the OEA AGM in June this year and in the notices that he circulated immediately afterwards OEA President John Sturgeon advised that having left Blagdons on 31st March 2022 the chief focus of the newly elected OEA Executive would be to frame the Way Forward for the OEA in the post-Blagdons era. We have been working on that since then and will have a series of proposals to share with you early in the New Year but in the meantime we wish to share some outline thoughts.

Background:

The OEA has been in existence for nigh on 120 years – with sport at Blagdons being the main focus in the most recent decades. Leaving Blagdons brought all sorts of challenges but it’s time to put positivity to the fore and concentrate on how we can grow our Association and get plenty more people involved. We should look to 2023 as being our “turning point year!”

As it stands, we are a union of circa 350 individuals, predominantly 60 years plus – paying an annual fee of just £30… thankful for the time we spent at our Alma Mater with most of us having a desire to give back to the OE community in whatever small way we can. However, without doubt we need new younger blood of both genders to come forward to take over the running responsibilities of the OEA from the incumbents and this we encourage.

We have our guiding principles of Camaraderie, Connection, Charity and Community Sports within our constitution and we will be enacting those with the values of kindness, consideration, goodwill and fairness.

Camaraderie:

… can best be encapsulated by the phrase “Friendships For Life” … which indeed they are. Friendships that provide both laughter and company throughout our years… and support whenever it is required. We have many examples of members who still look to their school friends of 20, 30, 40, 50 and even more years back for conversation, imbibement, friendship and fun.

The OEA meets quarterly for the London luncheons (summer in Hove) and are looking to introduce twice a year events in Bristol, Oxford and/or Cambridge (indeed anywhere where there is a demand.) Mid-week Luncheons, initially introduced to provide opportunities for school-leavers to meet professionals from different walks of life and to help identify and find career opportunities, have been an OE tradition over many decades and have become extremely enjoyable social events. There might a place for both purposes but one avenue we should like to explore is whether there would be interest in ‘business drinks meetings’ enabling OEs to come together after a day’s work rather than during it. Either way, we need volunteers please to organise any of the new activities.

There’ll be some key event reunions held at the school each year. We also intend to organise some sporting outings (racing days for example) and get more WhatsApps groups going (usually just 4/5 friends passing the time of day online and making comment on the ways of the world.) Camaraderie can evolve as an objective in whatever way that may seem appropriate to OEA members.

Connection:

… “The Noble Aim” is our new three times a year Newsletter and will complement and continue the many years of excellent work of a number of Rose and Portcullis editors and, latterly, the communications entitled “Serjeant’s Duty”. We’ll keep you up to date with matters of interest and provide a gateway to all the varying communications platforms offered by the school. We contemplate launching a website if we find there is enough support for the idea and can find a volunteer to manage it. We are also intending to see how we can work within the constraints of GDPR legislation to “open up” the visibility of membership to each other.

Charity:

We have been and are pleased to support the school’s “Primary Ambitions” as being the charitable initiative we have focused upon thus far and we hope that we can extend our charitable reach in one way or another.(If you don’t know about Primary Ambitions please visit the school’s website on www.emanuel.org.uk/primaryambitions). As with Camaraderie our Charity objectives will evolve over time.

Community Sports:

OERFC is progressively settling into its new home at Taunton Avenue, Raynes Park, and we will be looking to encourage prospective members by assisting with the costs involved in getting started. We’re also wanting to organise a growth in relationships between the school sides and the OERFC sides of similar ages with the sponsorship of an annual competition and trophy. We also hope the OECC will at some point in the near future be able to be in a position to be a part of that cooperative positive pattern of development.

We are also keen to better include the Golfing Society and Shooting Club (and any other clubs of any description) if and as they require. In the same way we should like to explore the demand and potential for setting up other OE Clubs and Societies.

Finance and The Way Forward:

As you will see in the annual accounts at the 2023 AGM, we have circa £95k in the kitty with income currently of some £10k a year. We hope that this will grow if other OEs see a value in our efforts and plans, but our spending intentions each year will always be with a view to what we can realistically afford. Year on year planning will guide our decision making. In the first year in particular we will work very closely with the school to develop ideas and plans. The mutual discussions will help us understand how we can specifically appeal to today’s school leavers and those generations of students who have missed out on an understanding of the OEA’s role and purpose, albeit we know we have a lot of work to do to be relevant and worthwhile.

Membership is currently £30 a year. Our intention is to review that in function of the elements of our “Way Forward” proposals you support. However, any change here will need approval at an AGM.

Input:

If you have any comments or ideas you wish to share please send them to oeamember@gmail.com These emails are received by Andy Bryce, Membership and Subscriptions Secretary

…and finally if you are able to volunteer your time to help us make progress in our objectives…you know where to come.

The above missive is from the OEA Executive Committee