My dear CADS,
I hope you are all well. Although at this time of year we wake in the dark and have very short days, I do love it in January when the sunset is just that little bit later each evening and the prospect of Spring is ever closer. I have a bumper issue of ‘Greetings from the Chair” for you this month. There is such a lot going on in CADS these days…….
I was the speaker at yesterday’s January lunch at the KIGC. Although I often do public speaking, I must confess I was quite nervous presenting to my ‘pals’ at CADS. I needn’t have worried! It ended up being a fun interactive session and I think everyone got something from it, even if only some simple tips on how to get a good night’s sleep! So please come forward if you would like to be the guest speaker and present on your area of expertise at one of our lunches – you’ll find it a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
Honorary CADS, John Cameron-Webb, has asked me to tell you about his next trip to the WW1 Western Front battlefields on the weekend of 1 st and 2 nd April 2023.
“Similar to the October 2022 CADS weekend, we will drive the four-hour trip in our own cars (sharing where possible) either on the Friday or Saturday morning to meet
at 11.00 hrs in Albert; Picardy.
This next trip will focus on the 1916 Somme battles, looking at both the infamous 1 July disaster and subsequent, more successful offensives on the Somme battlefield
between July and November that year. We will start off at the “jump-off” positions of the 34 th Northumberland Division on 1 July and follow in their footsteps up to the huge Lochnagar crater. Looking also at the German cemetery at Fricourt, we will spend time looking at the 38 th Welsh Division attacks at Mametz Wood including poetry by Sassoon, Graves, Owen and visit Devonshire Trench cemetery to see William Noel Hodgson’s headstone and read his poem “Before Action” . Following the direction of the British front we will visit the beautiful South African memorial at Delville Wood and surrounding battleground. Saturday evening, we will dine together as a group at the Hotel de la Basilique restaurant. On Sunday we will continue along the front moving on to the Australian Division’s attacks at Pozieres and 36 th Ulster Division’s at Thiepval Wood. We will visit the impressive Thiepval Memorial to the Missing and visitor’s centre. There will also be an hour’s visit to the Newfoundland Memorial Park looking at the preserved trenches etc. in the 28-acre national park, then moving on to the Lancashire Fusilier’s infamous “sunken road” overlooking Hawthorne Ridge mine- crater. Finally, we will visit the Sheffield Wood Memorial Park and focus on the efforts of the Pals battalions to take the village of Serre. The tour will end around 15.00 hrs allowing enough time for everyone to return home early Sunday evening.”
Could those interested in participating please email John by February 14 th , please? He will advise on hotel accommodation and give more details on costs etc.
John’s last trip to Ypres in October 2022 was so successful that it encouraged some of the attendees to join CADS! With this in mind, I am delighted to announce a
special CADS recruitment event for our February lunch. We are holding a ‘bring along a guest’ lunch at the KIGC on Friday February 17 th . Can every attendee please bring a guest who could be a potential member of CADS? The guest speaker at the lunch will be Jan Willem Visser, the External Affairs Manager of Hardt Hyperloop. His presentation will be about Hardt Hyperloop’s mission to enable convenient and sustainable high-speed transportation for everyone with the global hyperloop network. (Hyperloop is the next mode of high-speed, clean transport for large volumes of passengers and cargo). To achieve net zero by 2050, the global hyperloop network is an indispensable piece of the puzzle and Jan Willem will tell us all about this. Please look at the website, it is absolutely fascinating. Please think now about who you might bring, and get that date in their diary – FEBRUARY 17 th , at KIGC, Amsterdam.
At a recent Board Meeting, we talked about what donations we would like to make in 2023 on behalf of CADS. We do have a policy on CADS charitable donations –
“With regards to charitable activities, we mainly raise money by the annual fees of members, supplemented by donations raised from time to time at CADS events.
Recipients of donations from CADS are guided by our name. Nominated charities should be Dutch or English or have a relation to CADS or its members.”
As Chair, I would like to see us donate to charities that combine the combined Anglo Dutch nature of our club and also have CADS donate to charities where our
donations actually make a difference. The reason for writing about this here, is that if you have a particular charitable passion that you would like to see CADS support,
please do get in touch to make your suggestions to the Board.
You know by now, that as Chair I am very keen to increase our membership. I think our club is such a wonderful vehicle for business networking and friendship and
I want to spread the word. To help achieve this, the Board have decided to take a stand at the Expat Show in Amsterdam on Saturday April 23 rd at the Westergasfabriek (10-5pm), to promote CADS. Many of you have businesses that serve the expat market so if you would be
prepared to do an hour on the stand to represent CADS when talking to the visitors, you can also market your own company at the same time. Please let me know if you would be interested in helping CADS out on the day.
As I said earlier, our February lunch will be a special ‘bring along a guest’ event on Friday February 17 th at the K.I.G.C. in Amsterdam. Lunch will be from 12.30 and
costs €55 p.p. Please have a think today about who you might bring along and get the date in the diary!
Looking forward to seeing many of you (with your guest) on Friday 17 th February at the K.I.G.C.
Warm regards,
Jennie