22. Meeting with CIWEM

The Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM) has a long and positive history with the Water Conservators, but since the tragic death of their CEO Nick Reeves, we have lost some of the momentum to maintain and develop that relationship.

Ralph Riley (our Clerk) and I recently met with CIWEM’s new CEO Terry Fuller (see photograph) at their smart head office in Saffron Hill, London to see how we could remedy that. We quickly established a good rapport and both sides are working up some proposals that will benefit our members. Watch this space!

21. Holiday’s over – busy month ahead!

With our summer holiday nearly over and our return to the UK imminent, thoughts of the busy month ahead are in the forefront of my mind. Fiona and I have over 20 events to attend by the end of September – I will do my best to keep you up to speed on what we are doing by writing regular blogs. I hope they will give you a good feel for the role of the Master.

One of the recent highlights of our holiday was the Simply Red concert held in the grounds of a beautiful medieval castle near Marbella. The concert which didn’t start until 11.00pm was fantastic, particularly given the full moon and the backdrop of the glistening Mediterranean (see photograph). Much water (bottled of course) was consumed by the audience, as temperatures at midnight were still 30C! Provision of safe water to drink is good business here!

Look forward to seeing many of you in September.

20. Michaelmas Lunch – Lord Tim Bell

Our Michaelmas Lunch this year will be held at Trinity House on Monday 19th September. Trinity House is a charity dedicated to safeguarding shipping and seafarers with a statutory duty as a General Lighthouse Authority. It has been based since 1796 at its beautiful and much-admired headquarters at Tower Hill, close to the River Thames.

My principal guest is Lord Tim Bell (see photograph) who is probably best known for advising Margaret Thatcher in her three successful general election wins. I hope he will be able to share some amusing anecdotal stories of those times.

I hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us at this unique location and to hear a business and political PR guru speak.

19. Lord Mayor’s Show – Come and Support Us!

The new Lord Mayor will be elected on 29th September and installed at the Silent Ceremony on 11th November. If all goes to plan the new Lord Mayor will be Alderman Andrew Parmley who is a member of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators.

A number of company events are planned to support him in his year and the first will be our participation in the Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday 12th November. We have entered a float in the show and around 50 of our members and sponsors will participate on and around our float for the procession through the City. We are putting a massive effort into this entry and would love to see as many members and their families supporting us in the crowd.

Please put Saturday 12th November in your diary – we would love to see you along the route of the procession.

18. The Water Conservation Trust – Sponsored Walk, Sunday 2nd October 2016

To help raise funds for our schools programme, our charity, (The Water Conservation Trust), is organizing a sponsored walk on Sunday 2nd October 2016. The walk will start at The Angel, Islington, and after a relaxing 7 miles we will arrive at Battersea Park. Along the way we will visit some historic water sites (some famous and others not so well known).

The walk is being organized by Rob Casey and full details can be found on our website. I hope as many of you as possible will come along and help us raise some funds.

You can contact Rob at: rob.casey@thameswater.co.uk

Photograph shows Rob just after our arrival at the Olympic Village at the end of last year’s walk.

17. Investing in the Future

Our charitable works, undertaken through our Trust (The Water Conservation Trust), strongly focus on supporting post-graduate students studying key subjects related to our industry.

On Monday 19th September the Trust has organized a showcase event where several of our students will have the opportunity to present their work. The event will be chaired by Dr Christine Rigden, Sheriff of the City of London and will be held at the offices of Pinsent Mason, 30 Crown Place, London EC2A 4ES.

This is a great opportunity for you to meet current and past students and their academic supervisors and we hope that you and your guests as well as representatives from companies in the water, waste and environment sectors will attend. Full details are available on our website.

You should pre-register before 30th August at:

http:/wcwcunivesitiesprogramme2016.eventbrite.com

Registration and refreshments:    17.30hrs
Introduction and Presentations:   18.00hrs
Reception (including hot buffet):  19.30 hrs

Photograph shows Exeter University which was the first to benefit from our bursary fund.

16. Reflections on my First Month as Master

I can hardly believe that my installation and our subsequent dinner at the Painted Hall in Greenwich is already one month ago -  and what a month!

I have tried to record attendances at events on behalf of the Company in my blog postings and there will be plenty more to come.

Fiona and I have already been reduced to “shadows of our former selves” as the attached photograph clearly demonstrates!

Happy summer to you all.