THE DELTA KAPPA GAMMA SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL :: GREAT BRITAIN

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Presidents' Page

 

 Diana Bell

GB State

Organisation President

2023 - 2025

 

 

State President's Report
February 2024

The Planning Committee and Sheila Roberts (Revitalisation committee chair) started off the new biennium with a series of exciting visits, events and Zoom speakers. After Covid, which as Evelyn Goodsell said 'had a profound effect on members as we have appeared to lose enthusiasm to attend 'face to face' meetings', these are very welcome.

Anne Goldstein has been supporting us with Zoom and has found many very interesting speakers that we might never have tempted to attend a DKG meeting in real life! We have also had the opportunity to attend other countries' Zoom meetings thanks to the activities of the European Forum.

GB News in Brief, which replaced our GB News booklet, is now sent by email to members and on our website, although a hard copy can be provided for those who are not on-line. It's shorter, A4 size so easy to print out and has more news about members. 

The International Conference in Tampere, Finland was excellent. Well organised, some brilliant, interesting speakers and a great venue. We all enjoyed it. Also good to catch up with old friends. The Regional Director and European Forum are keen to help us run the next conference in 2025. We are still in the process of finding a suitable, reasonably priced venue for the 18th - 20th July 2025. Many offers of help and support from Europe have came in.  It will be a big undertaking, but not impossible! 

  Anne Goldstein

Gamma

 Chapter President

30th June 2022 

to

1st July 2024 

  

  

 

Barbara Kern

Alpha

Chapter President  

 30th June 2022

to

1st July 2024 

  

   

 Gamma Chapter President's Report September 2023

Sheila’s excellent idea of members organising outings has indeed revitalised our organisation - how we have missed seeing each other face to face. We now have two strands. Stimulating outings are combined with an online element that connects the two chapters. Zoom provides the opportunity for international members to join us and gives access for those who can’t get to physical meetings. It opens a wider world of speakers, too.

Our Zoom talks continue to be recorded for an unlisted Youtube page and this enables members who could not attend, to not have FOMO. (Fear of Missing Out).

We valued Barbara’s talk on Reminiscence Therapy back in March, based on her fascinating voluntary work in Sydenham Garden's Therapy Resource Centre and appreciated her coming to Tunbridge Wells. My deputy, Aileen, organised the highly respected conductor, Grenville Hancox MBE, to give a Zoom talk and we were inspired.

Our May Coronation meeting on Zoom showed what teamwork could do. Our memories, stories and pictures were shared and I put these into a Powerpoint. We had a stunning presentation by Duncan Lustig-Prean on LGBTQ+ for the Europe Education forum in May. http://www.dkgeurope.org/educational-topics.html

Diana impressed us all with the technological marvel of appearing in front of her fascinating Finland Powerpoint and the online newsletter was slick and informative.

Thanks to Sandra for the Tudeley visit, where we had an excellent speaker to tell the story of the Chagall windows. The group shared food afterwards. It was at All Saints’ that we first found out we had lost our dear member Robbie Scahill and several of us attended her funeral.

Visits to Sissinghurst and Ightham Mote (tbc) are on our list for future trips.

As numbers of active members decline and with limited finances, we are all doing the best we can to keep DKG GB afloat and have a positive programme based on members’ interests. It was great to hear about the success of the Finland trip.

 

  Alpha Chapter President's Report September 2023

Alpha has enjoyed many interesting meetings this year, some in conjunction with Gamma chapter with Zoom.

This method does mean that the membership, now more geographically scattered, can enjoy the events. It also means that we have access to a wider range of speakers. Thanks to Anne for facilitating the Zooms, and also her range of interesting contact.

In  March Barbara gave an in-person talk to a small group of Alpha about Reminiscence Therapy, describing experiences from her volunteering work with people with dementia at Sydenham Garden Resource Centre, actively involving her audience.

She then gave a similar presentation to Gamma members in Tunbridge Wells.

The April meeting was on music education, and Aileen had invited the conductor, Grenville Hancox MBE, to be the speaker.   

The Coronation in May was celebrated on Zoom with a Power point of members’ collected pictures, experiences and memories of both this in 2023, and the previous one of Elizabeth ll, 70 years ago, in 1953.

Also that month GB’s  contribution to the European Forum monthly series was an in-depth talk by Duncan Lustig-Prean on LBGTQ+ which gave us much food for thought.

In June a small group went to the Great Exhibition Road Festival, with tented informative stands in the road itself and in the museums and other places e.g. the RGS. Food for thought, and one to visit next year?

In July a small group visited Somerset House, and the Courtauld Gallery which has some lovely paintings, including an exhibition on Fakes.

The Greening of King’s Cross was the topic of a walking tour in that revitalised industrial area.  Barbara guided (herded?) a group viewing the canal-side nature reserve and other green spaces sensitively spaced amid the converted historic Victorian buildings and the modern ones.

 Sheila’s innovative idea of a monthly outing to a place of interest is already underway. The visits to the church in Tudely to the Chagall stained glass windows was colourful, with an informative talk, and the September visit to Sissinghurst Castle, although not blessed by good weather (autumn mists and wet weather had set in) was  another opportunity so visit a place of interest and enjoy a meal together.

It is an excellent way to enable members of both chapters (and friends), to meet up, especially important after the isolation of the pandemic. Thankfully we learnt to use zoom, and continue meetings that way.

The new style GB News has become a GB eNews, produced by Diana and is both colourful, and informative, showcasing our events, and activities and news of members, present and past.

On another Society matter, Joan was asked by Avenue M, (tasked by DKG International) to provide detailed information on education and membership in a pre-survey. I took part in the DKG 2023 Membership Survey carried out later in the year.

Further meetings this year include October Art in Therapy, and one on Children’s literature in November.

Alpha’s proposal for December is a visit to the exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands ‘Fashion City’ how Jewish Londoners influenced global fashion, followed by lunch at a Canary Wharf venue. More interesting meetings are being planned for 2024.  

 

Click to see the list of Great Britain State Presidents 

  and Great Britain's Chapter Presidents