A Christmas message from President Peter Greenaway.
I was looking back at the wishes I sent out last Christmas and it really does seem like Groundhog Day writing this one for 2021! Last year we were just going into a further lockdown, at present we seem to be rather less restricted this year but who know for how long!
Again, it is the end of a very difficult year for businesses and people alike. We did at least manage to have a few face-to-face networking events over the summer and early autumn, many thanks to our hosts, Shire Hall, Dorset Museum, the Kings Arms and The Coach House at Winterbourne Abbas. Sadly, we took the decision to postpone the President’s Breakfast and this, along with the raffle, will be rearranged for the New Year when we know what we are able to do.
However, it was great to get to meet members again at the events we were able to put on. Of course, we also had the very successful Dorchester Christmas Cracker, organised by Steve Bulley, which was for the first time a daytime event and was extremely successful increasing footfall in the town significantly. I know that it is planned to do another daytime event next year. We were lucky with the weather as well which helped, but people all seemed very happy to be out in the open air.
We have also welcomed our new secretary, Hazel Serkis, who has settled in very well and has supported the Executive throughout the year. Some of you will have met her at the breakfast meetings, hopefully many more of you will in 2022
It looks as if we will have to restart our events with virtual meetings again in January, but we do have a plan in place for some very exciting meetings for the year, so keep an eye on the website for details as they become available and confirmed.
Finally, as always, I would like to thank the Executive Committee for all their support through another difficult year. We really hope that we will be able to return to a more normal life in 2022 – as we also said last year, but we are in a different position now with a huge percentage of the population vaccinated which will hopefully make the virus a lot less threatening to most. We are really looking forward to being more active in the New Year as a Chamber!
I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and safe 2022 – and look forward to seeing you as soon as we are able in the New Year!
Peter Greenaway
President