The SDOS AGM took place last week and was, as usual, a fantastic occasion with a great talk by Steve Lawless on birding in eastern Australia.

The evening also saw SDOS chair and all-round hero, Tony Benton, step down from his position after four years in the hot-seat.

The new Chair, the fantastic Jen Holter, paid tribute to Tony with these lovely words for those unable to attend the event…

For those of you not able to attend last night’s AGM, I would like to share the following tribute to Tony Benton in recognition of the tremendous job he has done in leading the society for the last 5 years. When he was elected in 2021, he highlighted 3 passions that he would bring to the role…

·      ‘A passionate daily birder, finding them fascinating and awe-inspiring

·      Talking about birds & conservation – seeking to enthuse about birds and help people to connect with nature

·      Volunteering ethos, with leadership roles in a number of other organisations’

These passions have been very much in evidence throughout his stewardship. Initially as Public Engagement Officer, then as Chair of Council, he has been a driving force in raising awareness of birds and local conservation issues, through the development of a social and mainstream media presence, a fantastic new website, together with ad hoc public engagement and community events. He has actively encouraged members to volunteer to support these activities, and their contributions have been impactful and highly valued. Under his guidance the Society has doubled in size and become well known and respected by members of the public and by other local organisations and wildlife groups.

Those of us on Council have enjoyed working with him and he has become a good friend. On a personal basis, I am sad he has decided to step down, he will be greatly missed, but we respect his decision and are grateful for his hard work and commitment to the Society. He will continue to support the group and hopes to have more time for the public engagement work he loves, as well as pursuing other interests.

A gift was presented to Tony to show our thanks and appreciation for all he has done for the Society.

Jenny then went on to outline the new look SDOS Council…

It is a great honour and a privilege to follow in Tony’s footsteps in taking on the role of Chair. He is clearly a tough act to follow, but fortunately Council are an experienced and enthusiastic team and with the addition of new faces bringing fresh ideas, energy and experience our aim is to continue to build on the work of recent years, and to ensure we have a really strong offer to our members, with a wide programme of events, interesting newsletters and vibrant usergroup.

It is fair to say, that as the Society has grown, so has the workload, and the breadth and depth of work overseen by the Chair has increased significantly. As well as ensuring Council is delivering a high-quality programme and fulfilling the aims of the Society in the ways listed above and detailed in Tony’s report, the Chair must oversee the smooth and efficient running of our systems and processes.

Council have therefore made the decision to appoint Richard Allan to the new role of Vice Chair, enabling the increased workload to be more formally shared, and ensure there is another person on hand to deal with SDOS business if the Chair is unavailable.

We aim to work collaboratively, drawing on our combined skills, to keep the Society running well and moving forward.

We also are delighted to welcome Jackie Burdon to the team, who brings a range of skills and experience which will help us to move forward.

You, the members are the lifeblood of the organisation, and we are always looking for more volunteers to help with the organisation and delivery of the many activities we offer, so if you would like to get more involved, please do get in touch.

Thank you Tony for all your incredible work and congratulations Jenny, it’s going to be a very exciting time for SDOS!