My dear CADS,
How are you all? I’m writing this on a rather wet and windy weekend, so it’s hard to believe that until quite recently we had had several days upwards of 20 degrees. Autumn has come rather quickly!
AGM – Last Friday was the CADS AGM, held in the IGC, Amsterdam. We had a super attendance of over 20 members which is a big improvement on last year. Thank you for coming along. The 2 significant motions passed were the election of Peter Smethurst to the CADS Board – welcome Peter; and my re-election as Chair of CADS. Thank you so much for your support, and I am very much looking forward to the next 3 years with you all!
Anglo-Netherlands Society – We held the October meeting immediately after the AGM on Friday, and we had 27 diners for lunch – fantastic. Our two speakers were Dick van den Broek and Lord Taylor of Holstead CBE, who hold the roles of Chair and President respectively, of the Anglo Netherlands Society.
John and Dick both presented to CADS on what the Anglo – Netherlands Society is, who are the members, what the society gets up to, and how CADS might collaborate with the ANS in the future. Both presentations were interesting and quite valuable as CADS makes its plans for doing more with other societies in 2024. The ANS has a different (non-business), but complimentary, purpose to our own. Here is an excerpt from their website:
“The Anglo-Netherlands Society is a non-party-political, non-profit organisation, based in London, run by voluntary effort, which aims to promote the social, artistic, literary, educational, scientific and other interests the Dutch and the British have in common, as well as developing goodwill and understanding between the peoples of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.”
Members typically join with their spouses, and they also have corporate support from some of the major Dutch corporations based in the UK, whose executives are members of the ANS. I think that CADS will get great value from further collaboration with the ANS, in particular in recruiting members, communications with members, and the kinds of events we organise. If anyone would like to join the ANS then please let me know and I will provide you with the application form.
On Friday, Dick also shared with us that there had been a book published in 2020 to commemorate 100 years of the ANS – ‘North Sea Neighbours’. It contains a selection of interesting anecdotes, both light and serious, about the long-term partnership between the UK and the Netherlands. The book costs €10 and if anyone would like a copy, please let me know. I am hoping to be in the UK with Dick and John at an event with the NBCC, so I can collect the copies there and avoid the horrific post – Brexit postal costs.
Introduction to New Members – We have recently had several new members sign up to CADS. I’m delighted to introduce one of them – Nick Bowers. Nick moved to The Hague with his Dutch wife Sophie 5 years ago, after a long career in investment banking in London. Nick is President of the Oxford and Cambridge Club of the Netherlands and already considers himself a proud member of CADS. Nick found us via our revamped website (thanks to Julia) and has already attended many of our events. Welcome Nick!
CADS – permanent home – Having the IGC as our permanent venue has really made a difference to attendance numbers so I have gone ahead and booked us in till the end of 2024. Many of you have asked about the pricing structure of our events particularly in comparison with the prices that IGC members are charged. For the purposes of transparency, I want to share with you how we arrive at the current price of €55 per person for our events at the IGC.
The 2-course menu is €35 per person (same cost as IGC members). We also take the drinks package at €15 per person for wine, water, and coffee. We are not charged for the room but are charged for the use of the LCD screen. It is also a CADS tradition that we do not pay speakers for their presentation, but we pay for their lunch and give them a gift. To cover those costs, €5 is added to the lunch cost for every CADS attendee. And this is how we arrive at €55 per person (€35+€15+€5). Fantastic value in my opinion!!
Next Meeting – Our next meeting will be lunch on Friday November 17th at the IGC. Our speaker will be Rob Peters, Director of Yeager Energy. He will talk to us about geothermal energy; what it is; where it is used; and how it could help achieve national climate ambitions – a really current and relevant topic.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Friday November 17th at the IGC.
