Welcome to the Old Grovian Association!
It is indeed a tremendous honour to have been selected as Chairman of the Old Grovians Association for this coming year. It was very apt that I was asked by John Cockshott while just finishing off a training rugby session at the school – with the majority of my time at the Grove being spent under the tutelage of 'JC' in the workshop or on the rugby field.
I have, and will always treasure my time spent at both the Grove and Bronte House, enjoying it so much that I ended up staying on for an extra year.
I came to Bronte House at the age of 9 with my brother, Mark, as a boarder and was affectingly termed an 'Army Brat'. At the time my dad was in the army and based abroad and wanted to try to bring some stability to our school life. I can honestly say my schooling at the Grove has had a great deal to explain the person I am today.
People who knew me the most at school will remember I spent most of my time on a sports field and my report card would always make reference that if I spent as much time and effort in my academic studies as with my sport then I would go a long way. Well I did eventually take that advice on board and after leaving the School in 1993 I studied a Business & Finance degree at Bolton, something which I’m sure I would not have achieved without the drive from the school and my friends.
After graduating from Bolton I took a position in the Finance Department for the Royal Mail based in Manchester, firstly as a Credit Control Clerk before I moved into the Management Accounts department. After a few other roles and a move back to West Yorkshire I am currently a Finance Analyst for the Post Office. I have also, while working for the Post Office been studying for the Charted Institute of Management Account qualification.
Since leaving the School I have been an active member of the Old Grovians Association, not surprisingly mainly on the sports field, where we have had an Old Grovian Cricket side who have been competing for a number on years in a national competition, with some success. I am also involved with the Current Old Grovians Rugby Club.
For those that are unaware we have a formal rugby club which has been established for 3 years now. The club gained promotion to Yorkshire League 4 last year. As a club we are keeping strong links with the School and play all home games on the School grounds and after the game reside in the Hastings-Long Gallery. There is a very strong presence of Old Grovians playing, which is very encouraging. If anybody is interested in playing or just watching please come along on a Saturday, the fixtures can be seen on the website www.oldgroviansrugby.com
In my inaugural speech at the Old Grovians AGM, I mentioned my aspirations for this year. One of the things I'm most looking forward to is attending the 3 main reunions and spending time getting to know friends old and new.
I have offered my continued support as Chairman for the 2012 Appeal Working Party as well as attempting to keep on with John's (Tunstall) initiatives from last year, in particular encouraging the younger element to reunions and also to hold a Chairman's Dinner at the School in June.
My main activity for the coming year will be to start an annual Golf Day. This will be designed to help bring a different group of Old Grovians back to a formal event. The aim is to hold this on a Friday afternoon late in the summer and to include presentation of trophies as well as a dinner and drinks to give people the chance to socialise. I will be looking to develop this over the coming years, to what I hope will be a regular and well supported event. I will be communicating more about this as the year progresses.
I look forward to seeing how the year develops and to share updates with you all at the next AGM.
Stuart Nesbit
Chairman OGA 2009-2010
(Woodhouse Grove 1982-1993)