Men’s Fellowship Breakfasts (Oct 24): Richard Jackman

The Men’s Breakfast got off to a racing start in early October when Jonathan Laver, the President of the Motor Cycling Club, delivered his informative and hugely entertaining talk about the origins of the Club, which was formed in 1901, and how it goes from strength to strength; organising events that test the driving skills and capabilities of the classic motorcycles and now cars* that take part.  Jonathan nominated “Veterans with Dogs” as his chosen charity and moved the breakfasters to make some supplementary donations that took the sum raised to over £170. (*He revealed that some modern cars try to take part but when they get ‘airborne’ the airbags go off and the electronics shut the engine down!)

The next breakfast is unusually on the first Wednesday, the 6th of November, rather than the first Monday in the month. This has been done to accommodate the busy diary of Wiltshire’s Chief Constable, Catherine Roper who will be the speaker. In post since February 2023, Catherine will offer breakfasters some insights into her role and the challenges that it poses drawing from the experience that she has gained during her 24  year career, which has spanned many areas of policing including specialist crime, armed unit, custody, intelligence, protection, professional standards and crime prevention.  Most recently she was the Commander responsible for Central Specialist Crime, which included tackling the most serious organised criminality.

Breakfasts cost £15, of which £2 will go towards the charity of the speaker's choice. Please note, this is not a club, but is open to all. Just contact the organisers via email ( uwvmfb@gmail.com), before the preceding Friday at the latest, if you'd like to attend. 

For your forward diaries, the December breakfast on 2 December returns to the usual first Monday of the month. The in-house speaker will be Andrew Moore with a talk based on family connections with the German Navy’s raid on the seaside town of Hartlepool during the First World war.