President's Report

Tēnā Koutou Katoa

Rectors, Foundation Managers and Brothers, welcome to President's Report for 91st AGM of the St Pats Old Boys Association.

My name is Brad Hudson (Stream 2000-2004) and I am the President of the Association.

2019 was a great year for the St Patrick's College Old Boy's Association as we continued to grow our level of engagement in a new and exciting world. Along with our Facebook Page and Group, we have started an Instagram group that has becomes a key tool to engage our younger members of the association. Our website has had an upgrade this year to make it more user friendly and attractive. Many thanks to Evan Bayly and his team at Expert Services for their professional work on the website.

As President, I started a new feature called 'The President's Old Boy's Focus'. So far there have been sixteen entries posted on our social media pages and a handful of them were published in the October Patsman. 2020 will see the Old Boy's Focus continue as they have been engaging for old boy's and the wider community.

I would also like to mention and thank our committee members. Your efforts and hard work engaging old boy's and preserving the history of both colleges is greatly appreciated. After last year's AGM, Gerard Duignan stepped down as secretary. I thank Gerard for his years of service to committee. His sharp wit will be missed. Our new secretary Vincent Schumacher (Town) stepped into the role and did a fantastic job. However, Vincent had to step back in September due a new born and work commitments. We wish him well and hopefully he can return in the future. Gordon Noble-Campbell is also stepping down from the committee. The committee thanks Gordon for his governance work around the constitution and our relationship with both colleges' foundations.

Best wishes to Town Rector Neal Swindells who has finished up after six years. Neal has done a great job leading the college and the association wishes him and his family all the best for the future. His successor has created history. Congratulations to Town Old Boy Mike Savali for becoming the 25th Rector of St Patrick's College Wellington. Mike is also the first Pacific Island Rector at the college. Mike previously taught at Town and was Assistant Rector at St Patrick's College Silverstream.

The official duties in 2019 began with the awarding the Old Boys Scholarship to a St Pats Town year 9 student, Noah Kalalo. The award is made on the basis of the recipient displaying leadership potential, diligence and all-round ability and contribution to their school. His previous principal noted Noah's strong leadership values and organisation of activities within the school. Congratulations Noah!

Other highlights during the year included:

• The Old Boys Tradition Rugby Game. Played in the morning of the Winter Exchange held at Silverstream so Old Boys could also support their colleges and be part of the day. This year, Silverstream took home the BP McMahon Cup beating Town 29-7. Stream have now tied the series 3 all in this ongoing series, which started back in 2014 and have won back the B.P McMahon Cup. We are hoping for an Old Boy's Football match in 2020
• We saw the Foundations continue their reunions. The association supported the Town Foundation Dinner celebrating 40 years since the move to Kilbirnie from Cambridge Terrace.
• The Old Boy of the year recipient was again a quality Marist Man with the award going to Fr Denis O'Hagan SM.
• A Bumper 2019 October Patsman that provided more old boy's stories for members to read about. Many thanks to Forsyth Barr for their sponsorship of the publication.
• Finally, the second Mix N Mingle was held in November at the Kanteen Café. Members were thrilled to hear from Stream Old Boy Thomas Waldrom speak to the audience about his professional rugby career. We were also treated the great humour of the Irish Ambassador Peter Ryan who entertained all members.

As we enter 2020, new challenges face the association and the committee is working hard to meet these challenges. With the updated rules from the government on school donations and our legal obligations, the committee is starting to look into these areas. This also gives us a chance to review our policies on membership.

If you are interesting in being part of the executive committee in 2020, please contact me on the following details, brad.hudson1986@gmail.com.

Take Care and God Bless

Sectare Fidem

Brad Hudson
President, SPCOBA

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