2025 AGM
AGM REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
73rd OLD OSWESTRIANS’ CLUB
ROBERT JONES AND AGNES HUNT ORTHOPAEDIC NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
ON FRIDAY 6th JUNE 2025
1. MINUTES
The 73rd Annual General Meeting was called to order and the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 6th June 2025, having been circulated were taken as read & signed by the President
2. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE 2025 MEETING
Mr Bing advised the members that Mr Will Gibson had accepted the Clubs invitation to be the IT & social media lead. and would look into the possibility of gaining access to the clubs Social Media pages.
Members were also advised that a decision had been made to record the meetings individual presentations and enter them into an archive of sorts for future viewing. These will be made available along with the minutes of the AGM to members. Everyone was in agreement.
The constitution has now been updated from “Visiting Consultant Staff” to “consultants working at the RJAH”, after invitations were issued to all consultant staff at the hospital & trainees on the rotation, we are able to welcome 16 new members to the club this past year.
It was noted that although membership is rising, attendance figures at our annual meetings and evening meal are still on the low side and it was commented upon by some present that local members were conspicuous by their absence and should attend more meetings. The Executive committee suggested that as our members are from a variety of specialties, perhaps a representative from these specialties should be invited to lecture each year. Another suggestion given was that the evening meal could be subsidised for trainees by their consultants ‘firms’. These were discussed and agreed upon.
3. OBITUARIES
Notification has been received of the deaths of the following Old Oswestrians’ Club Members.
Eric Breemans Passed 2nd July 2024 -A member since 1987
John Dove Passed 12th September 2024 - Not a member but a colleague
Derek Graff Passed 2nd March 2025- A member since 1957
Akinori Watanuki Passed away April 2023 - A member since 1974
John Hopkins Passed away 22nd Nov 2019
At the request of the President, members stood for one minutes silence in tribute to departed friends & Colleagues.
Mr Crawford & Professor Peter Thomas spoke of their memories of John Dove.
4. PRESIDENT 2026/2027
It was advised that the Executive Committee would like to propose Jan Karel Van Meirhaeghe to the club as President elect 2025/2026. Mr Van Meirhaeghe thanked the committee and asked for some time to consider the request.
5. GOLD MEDAL LECTURE FOR 2026
It was advised that the Executive Committee would like to propose Mr Amit Gupta of Louisville, Kentucky as Gold Medal Lecture for 2025. This was unanimously agreed and an invitation will be issued to Mr Gupta in due course
6. TREASURER'S REPORT
The Statement of Accounts was read by the treasurer and stands at £9354.38
It was noted that the accounts at year ending 31.3.25 showed a substantial shortfall in last years accounts of £1084.78. Which has been attributed to the clubs purchase of 3 gold Medals & increasing running costs.
8. ARRANGEMENTS FOR 2026 MEETING
The date of next years meeting is Friday 12th June 2026. Venue: has yet to be decided.
9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Clubs finances were discussed at length and The Secretary explained that we needed to increase our annual income as the clubs rising financial expenditure is not being met by our annual income and the shortfall is only likely to increase over time.
Members were reminded that the membership fee of £25 was historic and had not increased in many years. To raise it could potentially impact trainee registration and it was suggested that it should be maintained as it is for trainees whilst they are on the Osw/Stoke training rotation. This was agreed by those in attendance.
Mr P Jermim suggested consultant membership fees should rise and Mr S Giles commented that at his hospital, consultants regularly pay for their trainees to attend their course dinners. Prof G Thomas advised that several similar clubs charge much higher fees for membership. Other consultant members agreed they would be willing to contribute more towards the clubs finances as our fees are so much better value for money than other institutions. It was therefore suggested and agreed by those present, that existing consultant members and consultants joining might be encouraged to voluntarily donate a minimum of £10 annually on top of the one off membership fee using direct debit. Members agreed this was a good idea and they would be more than happy to contribute more to the running costs of the club to avoid potential financial shortfalls in the future.
A letter of explanation will be sent to all members advising of this decision.
No other issues were forth coming.
Professor Stephens closed the Annual General Meeting and the Gold Medal Lecturer – Mr David Williams was introduced
Professor Stephens then presented Mr Robert Crawford with the Chain of Office.
The awards being presented later this evening are:-
Gold Medal – Mr D Williams
Lloyd Griffiths Medal - Mr Rakan Kabariti
Professors Medal - Mr Amr Selim
B T O’Connor Cup – Mr Joseph Attwood
HULU Medal - Mr Srin Cheruvu