The Midlands District of the Association of Speakers Clubs have introduced a new trophy awarded annually to the club, in the midlands, with the largest increase in membership. At the ASC Midlands District AGM in March the new trophy was awarded to Sutton Coldfield Speakers Club. Special guest, National President Lindsay Dutch presented the new trophy to Club President Pam Collins, at the meeting held near Coventry.
It was a busy day for Brian Micklethwaite from Wolverhampton Speakers Club. After presenting reports as District Vice-President, District Webmaster & West Midlands Area President he went on to compete in the Midlands Speech Contest.
Brian delivered an excellent speech, but the competition was won by Richard Yendall of Stratford & South Warwickshire Speakers Club, who now goes forward to the National Final in Glasgow. The evaluation contest was won by Tony Coleman from Market Harborough Speakers Club. The Brian Driscoll Trophy was awarded Ian Briggs of Shepshed Speakers for work to encourage young speakers.
During the AGM members were updated about the progress with the new Speakers Guide. Early copies will be available at the National Conference in April. It was suggested that existing members could have copies of the updates to replace pages in the current edition.
During 2014-15 there will be one general meeting of the District instead of the previous two with the district capitation remaining the same.
At the end of the meeting new officers were introduced including David
Dugmore, of Sutton Coldfield Speakers Club, who will be taking over as West Midlands Area President from the 1st of June.
The National Conference will be held in April in Glasgow.