20425 - CAI Feedback Sep2019 COMPLETE v1 lowres

From the Chairman’s Desk Les Hampson Cert Ed FSCTE, Chairman Well it has finally arrived – my last editorial for Feedback as Chairman of CAI As I reported in the spring Issue, I am retiring at the AGM and, as I have gone back to being a sole trader, TV and Satellite is finally closing its doors after over 31 years in business As such I can no longer be a director of CAI I’m not the only director to be retiring as my good friends Derrick Walker, Mick Voss and Steve Staples are also standing down Derrick is the longest serving board member since 1982, and has served CAI well as our Finance Director for much of that time as well as being very involved with the Technical, Admin and Education & Skills Committees Mick has always brought a sense of reality to the board with his very down to earth attitude and his straight talking – ‘Well that’s a load of b*******’ Steve is quite new to the board but pressures in his own business has meant that he feels that he hasn’t been able to devote the time he would like to his role as a director Thanks to you all for all your hard work During my time I have made good friends with many people not only within the board, staff and committees but also with members in general It is very difficult to single people out as they all do a tremendous job but I must mention Dave Hodges who was a brilliant Chairman for over two decades and continues to work tirelessly for CAI and also now the SCTE I hope my tenure will have had half the good impact as Dave’s did Paul Blake and Robert Oliver have both served as my vice-chair and knowing that people with their vast knowledge and experience are only a phone call away was very much appreciated I’ve already mentioned Derrick, Mick and Steve but all the board and committee members present and past have worked extremely hard for the good of our membership Thank you to you all for this Obviously CAI wouldn’t function without the staff and we have seen some come and go but our current contingent seem to be well settled and enjoy their work Bev, you do and care far too much and I owe you a great deal – you know what I mean! To Amanda and all the girls, well done and thanks So that leaves our male staff, Kevin the facilitator, he’ll scrounge anything (well try to) - just don’t ask him to fix your computer! Kevin is probably the face that is seen by most of the membership, either out and about when he is assessing or in the classroom and I know how highly he is regarded Our other male member of staff is Pete Sealey, who has now been with us about 18 months and fitted in at the office from day 1, totally different to Tim Jenks but still has a wicked sense of humour – just a shame he can’t play the guitar! Pete, Kevin keep up the good work The other person who has had a big influence on me and my 31 years in the industry, and was in fact responsible for getting me to join CAI, did the sensible thing and retired last year Some of the board didn’t believe him when he told us 5 years previously that he was retiring on his 65th birthday but he kept to it and Tim duly retired in June ’18 to pursue more relaxing things than dealing with MPs, civil servants and the CAI Board(!), like 11 CAI Feedback Autumn 2019