Held on Friday 8th March, PICT’s Annual Lunch, once again, took place at the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel on London’s Albert Embankment – and this year, thankfully, there wasn’t even a hint of snow in the air as there had been the year before.
This, the 10th Annual Lunch, followed the earlier AGM and the customary pre-lunch drinks, began with the Loyal Toast. This was followed by the President’s toast to the past-Presidents and the Committee after which the starter was served, a tasty ham hock terrine. As the plates were cleared, the legendary game of Heads and Tails took place – five calls of Tails on the trot gave rise to some jovial heckling from the assembled guests – ending with seven entrants on the stage for the final rounds. Following two calls of Heads, the eventual winner won it with a Tail. (once again your Editor was out in the first round!)
After everyone had re-taken their seats, Peter Blakeley, who had assumed the mantle of MC for the day in the absence of Andy Thompson, gave details of the fundraising auction and the table raffle that would be taking place during the afternoon. He also took the opportunity to kick-off proceedings by auctioning some of the donated items before the main course was served.
After a delicious chicken dish, followed by a warm victoria plum tart – all very yummy - Peter Blakeley, gave a witty dialogue of the new President before announcing him to the assembled guests.
Thanking Peter for the introduction, Peter Bothwick, PICT’s new President, took to the podium.
Peter began by saying that it was a real pleasure to welcome everyone to the Annual Lunch of the Paper Industry Charitable Trust and that he was delighted to see so many at the lunch this year. He then introduced PICT’s official guests – Andy Buxton, President of the Birmingham Paper Trade Society and Nick Murphy, President of the Lancashire 25 Club. He also thanked PICT’s officers, board and committee members, as well as past-Presidents Paul Johnston-Knight, Nick Gee and Joe Piggott.
He continued by saying that he did not propose to speak about the conditions in the paper industry, or equally to speak about Brexit – “Except to give you my answer to what appears to be the biggest question, which is, should there be an Irish backstop? And my answer to that is yes, there should be …. especially if the Irish wicketkeeper is crap!” Adding: “For those of you unfamiliar, that was a little cricket joke – apparently!” Although the start of his speech caused much hilarity – Peter’s focus throughout his address was to promote PICT’s mission as a charity, the vital work it does and the way forward.
He said that many at the lunch would already know the work that PICT does, however, some may know very little, or worse, “might still think that we are just an old boys club!” He explained that PICT aims to raise money through its events, in order that the charity can consider requests from, or on behalf of, paper industry personnel, past or present, who have found themselves in difficulty. “Please if you know of someone who might need our help, give us the information, which will be treated with the utmost sensitivity”. He continued by saying that everyone’s support at the lunch, and for the sporting events, enabled PICT to generate the income for its charitable assistance. He also thanked those that had donated prizes for the auction during the lunch.
In order to get PICT’s message out there further and increase awareness, Peter believes that there is benefits in working liaisons with other paper industry organisations and, in this respect, the charity has started constructive discussion with the Paper and Board Association, as well as entering into a partnership with Tim Bowler’s organisation Focal Strength Ltd, which runs courses for the paper and associated industries.
As well as increased awareness, Peter wants to elicit the help of the PICT members themselves. “I would like to see PICT make a brief appearance at as many of your internal meetings as possible – to not only keep everyone informed and updated, but also to listen to your thoughts for PICT in the future – perhaps you may have an idea for an activity that we can arrange in the name of PICT.” He added: “Put simply anything can be arranged, if the numbers are there to support it and it can generate some revenue for the charity.” He also wanted to see company managers and team leaders encourage their staff to join in with any of PICT’s events if they had expressed an interest in them.
This plea led on quite neatly for Peter to thank all the sports sections’ secretaries who work so hard in organising the events: Mike Robertson, that looks after cricket; Mike Kerlogue, who looks after Shanks golf; George Fowler, who looks after angling; Jon Vic, who looks after tennis; Fred Haines, who diligently organises the charity golf day each year; and finally, Paul Johnston-Knight, who is trying to revive the skiing section. He continued: “Paul is our immediate past-President and I must really thank him for his commitment to PICT throughout his year of office.” Peter then presented Paul with his past-President’s badge.
Peter then went onto thank PICT’s secretary, Anne James for all her tireless work, not only with the organisation of the lunch, but throughout the year. Adding: “Anne you are priceless, thank you, from all of us.”
Concluding, Peter thanked everyone who attended the lunch, explaining that by doing so they had already contributed to PICT, adding: “It is now up to us to give back to you, with greater awareness of what we do and can do. I therefore personally look forward to visiting as many of you as possible over the next 12 months.” He also thanked the PICT members who had brought guests with them, and it was to these guests that Peter proposed a toast.
After much applause, Peter went onto introduce the after-lunch entertainer – Daliso Chaponda.
Daliso, who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent – making it to the final of the 2017 series - enthralled the guests with a mix of African jokes and his thoughts on UK life. One amusing annotation was about male contact, commenting: “Men don’t like hugging in the UK – however, there is a 30 second window after a goal is scored in football – when anything goes…!!” And this was only one of his many amusing observations and anecdotes during his performance. And judging by the laughter that ensued around the room all the guests enjoyed his mix of jokes and thoughts.
Once the clapping had subsided, Peter Blakeley once again took to the stage and thanked Daliso for his entertaining look at life. He then proceeded to auction the final items, as well as announce the winner of the table raffle. Finally, on behalf of PICT, he thanked everyone for coming along to support the Annual Lunch and announced that the formal part of the day was now over and people could repair to the bar or local hostelry to continue ‘networking’. All in all, an excellent day was had by everyone, and we can now all look forward to next year’s fundraising lunch.