"Continued Friendships can mean different things to different people!"
Friday 16th February Region 15 The Heart of England hosted it's 2nd annual dinner with an invite for all to attend. So in 41 Club style a few from out of area visited.
With a warm welcome from so many familiar faces, it was straight into the banter of the evening with Peter Good National IRO , Hugh Milward the National Archivist and so many great Ex Tablers/41 Club Members.
Supported with a great speaker, who in my experience on the circuit must be one of the best I have witnessed, along with Dave Campbell National President of 41 Club GB&I.
Dave presented a great update on the progress of membership and projects around GB&I, especially the work with The Princess Trust, his chosen charity of the year, not only the great amount of money raised but also the mentoring scheme so many have signed up too.
Then moving onto "Dick" Richard Griffin LVO.
The former bodyguard to "Her Majesty The Queen" and HRH Prince Phillip Patron of Round Table Great Britain & Ireland.
His personal account with the royal family along with a behind the scenes viewpoint through great pictures made for an engaging presentation.
To give an understanding of his background here is an extract from his website;
"In 1986 he was promoted to Chief Inspector and moved to the Household of The Duke of Edinburgh for whom he worked for 13 very enjoyable years, the highlight of which was being attacked by a giant panda whilst on a visit to China. In 1999 he became a Personal Protection Officer to Her Majesty The Queen for whom he worked for 14 years. This period was the pinnacle of his career as he travelled throughout the world with Her Majesty. In 2010 he was promoted to Superintendent and held the position known as “The Queen’s Police Officer “until he retired in April 2013 when he was honoured by being made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, a personal decoration from Her Majesty. During his career as a Royalty Protection Officer he visited over 150 different countries"
It was a real personal account with so many laughs, but also great pride came through with his stories an great pictures shown. A fellow Welshman, it was an honour to meet and discuss my personal experience of HRH Prince Phillip with him.
41 Club - New Horizons with new experiences and continued friendships.
Well done to the Heart of England Team for putting on such a great evening.
www.41club.org
