Joan Gough (née Sawyer, 75-77) has been elected as the new OP President at the Annual General Meeting of the Old Pocklingtonian Association held last week (12/11/2020) on Zoom. Joan, who was one of the first girls to attend Pocklington School in the sixth form, is now the first female OP President in the history of the Association. She succeeds Trevor Loten (70-80) who stepped down from the role after coming to the end of his three-year tenure. 

Congratulations also go to Charlie Lambert (01-08) who was elected as Vice President. He takes over from James Sweeting (81-88) who stepped down after eight years on the committee. 

Trevor commented: “I am really pleased to be handing over the reins to Joan, who has been an integral part of the OP committee for several years and congratulate her on becoming the first female President!”   

Joan said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of OP President and very much look forward to working with Charlie and all members of the committee to build on the achievements of my predecessors.  With the unusual times in which we are living, our initial priority will be to engage with and support our younger members as they work through this time of great uncertainty.  To this end, we are very fortunate to have Rachel and Leanne in the OP office whose hard work and dedication provides continuity and makes all our endeavours possible. 

I would also like to thank Trevor and James for their significant contribution over the years. Their combined experience has been of much value to the OP committee and we look forward to keeping in touch and seeing them at OP events once these can resume.” 

Other newly elected committee members are Matthew Atkinson (85-93) and Michael McInstry (00-11). 

The full OP committee is now as follows: 

If any OPs would be interested in getting involved with the OP committee in the future, please contact the OP office.