Dr John Knight Returns as YGS President

Earlier this month at the AGM we announced that Dr John Knight will be returning to the role of presidency. John originally lead the society from 2014 to 2016, his returning to the post comes with warning for the future of the Society as John explained in his acceptance speech.

“Normally the incoming President thanks the membership for bestowing the honour to represent this prestigious society. It’s of course a great honour, but in this case, my return for a second time as President is accompanied by disappointment that the attempts to find fresh candidates for the running of the Society has failed. It therefore falls to me to underline the crisis the Society now faces.

Our rules state that there must be a President, General Secretary and a General Treasurer for the running and governance of the Society. The post of General Secretary is being managed on an acting basis by Paul Hildreth (President 2018 – 2020) and the outgoing President, Nick Riley, has stepped into the role of General Treasurer. Both are doing so only in the absence of any other volunteers. In summary, the key Officer posts are in the hands of the old guard. This situation is clearly unsustainable.

The society is, otherwise, healthy; Council continues to include a number of hard-working and committed members who ensure the activities of the Society continue to operate and we have an essentially consistent and sizable level of membership – the Society clearly has a future. However, this future can only be realised if the key Officer posts are operational.

To survive in our existing format, we require a new Vice-President, who would serve a term on Council before taking over the post of President. With great reluctance, Council advises that if no new volunteers offer themselves before the December 2023 AGM, steps will be taken to adopt changes to the Rules. These changes would undoubtedly mean that the Society would cease to be a Registered Charity, and in effect it would mean closure of the Society.

Notwithstanding this stark analysis, several strategies for the coming year have been discussed in Council. As these are deployed, we will keep the membership updated; all is not yet lost, but successful continuity into the future is very heavily dependent on active support and participation from across the membership.

Help us save the Society.”