ESU NewsTHE ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION Creating global understanding through English

ISSUE No. 132 JULY 2007

Telephone : 020 7529 1550 Fax : 020 7495 6108 Email : esu@esu.org Web : www.esu.org

Yemen Triumphs in InternationalContestThe final of the 26th annual International PublicSpeaking Competition took place, in May, at the USEmbassy in Grosvenor Square, and was the culminationof a week-long programme of events. The winner's trophy was lifted by Ali Hussein Saleh Mohammedfrom Yemen, whose speech Planning for a World withLight Water highlighted some of the environmentalproblems facing the global community. Yemen participated in the competition for the first time lastyear. Ali will return to London later in the year toreceive a certificate from the President of the English-Speaking Union, HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

Continued on page 3.

The ESU made history recently when the International Final of the Schools Mace, the national debating championships for Britain and Ireland, saw more than 200 school children, teachers, ESUmembers, Alumni and representatives of partner organisations, fill the famous red seats of Britain'sUpper House.

This was the first event ever to use the Chamber of either of the Houses of Parliament for non-Parliamentary business, a recommendation of the Puttnam Commission on the Communication ofParliamentary Democracy. The Hansard Society was there to evaluate the occasion and its successwill, no doubt, set a precedent to inform future discussions on the use of the two Chambers.

Continued on page 2.

Kenny Nicoll andNetan Dogra of GroveAcademy receive theSilver Mace fromLord Hunt

This year's winner, Ali Hussein SalehMohammed

ContentsSchools Mace Final . .Page 1

Yemen Wins . . . . . . .Page 2

Schools Mace cont'd . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 3

Yemen Wins cont'd . .Page 4

Lord Hunt in Bavaria . . . . . . . . . . .Page 4

John Smith Memorial Mace . . . . .Page 4

Romania Lecture . . . .Page 5

Talk on Iraq . . . . . . . .Page 5

Experience English Launch . . . . . . . . . . .Page 5

Emerging ESUs . . . . .Page 6

Hines Page Scholarships . . . . . . .Page 6

English in Action . . . .Page 7

No Confidence Debate . . . . . . . . . . .Page 7

Cheltenham Double . . . . . . . . . . .Page 7

Anglo-Brazilian Evening . . . . . . . . . . .Page 8

Mozart and His Operas . . . . . . . . . . .Page 8

Global Young Leaders . . . . . . . . . . .Page 9

Vision of Stanley Spencer . . . . . . . . . .Page 9

International at Home . . . . . . . . . .Page 9

Jamestown Celebration . . . . . . .Page 10

Alumni Officer in New York . . . . . . .Page 10

Travelling Librarian . . . . . . . . .Page 11

Nurse Work Programme . . . . . . .Page 11

Diary Dates . . . . . . .Page 12

ESU Makes History in theHouse of Lords

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ESU Makes History in the House of Lords continued

Delivering a speech of welcome, ESU Chairman, Lord Hunt, a former student debating champion himself, said of the historicevent, “I think it is vital that parliamentarians give their full supportto programmes like this, that teach the skills of debate and engage-ment in our schools, and that demonstrate the vital link betweenthat engagement and the structures of parliamentary democracy.”

Baroness Hayman, Lord Speaker, chaired the two debates from theWoolsack, although the rules of procedure were those of the ESU'scompetition. She expressed her delight at being able to look aroundthe chamber and see such a dramatic change from “the usualfaces”, and also spoke of her own association with competitivedebate, from setting up a schools’ debating club in Wolverhamptonand entering ESU competitions as a student, through to her entryinto elected politics.

The national winners of competitions in England, Scotland, Irelandand Wales, debated for the Silver Mace and the title of championsin the world's oldest and largest parliamentary schools debatingcompetition.

This year, the tournament attracted a record number of schools -more than 800 - with a significant number taking part for the firsttime. Access to the competition has become easier, in part, thanksto a nationwide road show of free workshops for new participants,funded by the Ministry of Justice (formerly the Department forConstitutional Affairs), who see the programme as an effective wayto encourage young people to examine and discuss current affairsissues.

In the first of two debates Howell's School, Llandaff proposed themotion This House would create a fully-elected House of Lordsagainst opposition from Haberdashers' Aske's School for Boys,Hertfordshire. Mount Mercy College, Cork and Grove Academy,Dundee debated This House would make it illegal to advertise gambling.

During the judges' deliberation the audience heard from DavidBussey, Chair of the ESU Centre for Speech and Debate's

committee, who spoke on the heritage of the contest, and Lewis Iwu, a former International Mace winner.

Ndanga Kamau, the Chair of the judging panel, eventually declared the Scottish team, Netan Dogra and Kenny Nicoll fromGrove Academy, to be overall champions. Grove is the first Scottishstate school to win the competition. As part of their prize Netanand Kenny will attend the annual ESU Awards Ceremony atBuckingham Palace later this year. Netan was also awarded theKenneth Harris Prize for the best individual speaker in the final,named in memory of the competition's founder, an ESU Alumnusand renowned Observer journalist. The prize was awarded byKenneth's widow, Mrs Jo Harris.

The day concluded with a reception in the Scotland Office, DoverHouse, on Whitehall, by kind permission of the Secretary of State.The ESU will cooperate again with the Scotland Office when wehold a debate to mark 300 years of the Treaty of Union inSeptember.

(L-R) Andrew Goodman, Nick Sloboda and Lewis Iwu enjoy the receptionat the Scotland Office, Dover House

The Rt Hon Baroness Hayman, Lord Speaker, welcomes debaters and audience members to the House of Lords

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Yemen Triumphs continued

Runner-up was Vikram Joshi fromAustralia, who also won the Audience'sChoice Award, and the prize for Best Non-native English-Speaker was presentedto Xing Chen of China.

The theme for speeches in this year's competition was Dynamic Earth, and thediversity and quality of responses to thisbrief impressed the judges of both theGrand Final and the Heats, which tookplace in the morning at Dartmouth House.

Since its inception in 1981 with just four countries participating, the InternationalPublic Speaking Competition has gone from strength to strength. This year we welcomed 59 students from 34 different countries, each of whom had alreadyachieved success in their own nationalcompetitions. The competition is not only ashowcase for some of the most exceptionalpublic speakers from around the globe butis also an opportunity for young people tomeet and gain an understanding of eachother's backgrounds and beliefs.

The ESU is extremely grateful to HSBCHoldings plc, who have sponsored theevent since 1997, and without whose continued support the competition couldnot take place.

Participants were welcomed to theEmbassy by the Hon. Robert H. Tuttle, The Ambassador of the United States ofAmerica, who congratulated the finalists ontheir achievement and wished them luck.Valerie Mitchell, ESU Director-General,opened the proceedings and, at the conclusion of the event, presented eachcompetitor with a certificate and a copy of the Macmillan English Dictionary forAdvanced Learners, kindly donated byMacmillan.

Judging the Grand Final were Sir Brian Fall,former British Ambassador to Russia, whochaired the Panel, Professor Stanley Wells,one of Britain's foremost Shakespeareanscholars, Lady Boyd, author and Chairmanof the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust,and Mr. Robert Rowland, former Editor ofBBC's Panorama.

The ESU would like to thank the Ambassadorand his staff for allowing us to use theEmbassy as the venue for this year's final.

During their week in London, participantsenjoyed the chance to learn more about oursponsors during a tour of HSBC's global headquarters in Canary Wharf. They alsotook part in a mock parliamentary debate,visited the House of Commons, and

attended a performance of The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre.

This was preceded by a talk with theshow's director, Robin Herford, a formerESU scholar.

Many of the participants spent the weekendfollowing the final with ESU members indifferent parts of England. This is a highlyvalued part of the programme, and wewould like to thank the host families andBranches for their generous hospitality. Wewould also like to thank Branches whogave financial support to the participants,those who judged during the heats, andESU Colchester Branch member DavidWatson who kindly filmed the Grand Final.

"I am so happy about being part of theprogramme in London more than winning.I had a golden opportunity to make friendswith students from around the globe.Being a winner of the International Public Speaking Competition is a greatachievement. It is an accomplishment forall the Yemenis, and I am proud to bringYemen to the top of the world and this isthe least I could for my country”.Ali Hussein Saleh Mohammed

(L-R) Vikram Joshi(Australia), Runner-upand Audience Choice; Ali Hussein SalehMohammed (Yemen),Winner; Xing Chen(China), Best Non-NativeEnglish-Speaker

Ambassador Tuttle welcomes the competitors

Judges and participants at the International Public Speaking Competition

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Lord Hunt Joins ESU Bavaria CelebrationsLord Hunt spent a long weekend in Munichto celebrate the 25th Anniversary of theoldest non-native-speaking ESU Branch in Europe.

On the evening of his arrival, HM ConsulGeneral, Mr Steve Plater, hosted a reception at his private residence to markthe occasion. Lord Hunt met a number ofESU members and also representatives ofthe Diplomatic Corps in Munich, namelythe Consuls General of South-Africa,Slovenia and France and the HonoraryConsul of Cyprus, as well as members ofother organisations with similar aims of theESU, the German-British Association andthe Cambridge Society.

A dinner followed at a Bavarian restaurantnearby.

The following day saw a sightseeing trip to the city centre, including a visit to therenowned church of the brothers CosmasDamian and Egid Qurin Asam, who both,as sculptor and painter, stand for the transitional period of baroque- and rococo-style in Bavaria.

In the evening, Lord Hunt gave a talk entitled Shaping a Free Europe Together:The Spirit of Cadenabbia, which raisedsome aspects of British-European andBritish-German relations.

In his talk he mentioned his first acquaintance with politics as Cabinet Minister in both Margaret Thatcher's andJohn Major's administrations. He also highlighted his participation in the British-German Round-Table events

organised in Bonn, by members of theYoung Conservatives and the Junge Unionand, since 1985, at the summer residenceof the late Konrad Adenauer in Cadenabbia,by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. It was here where he - among other friendsfrom the CDU and CSU - also met AngelaMerkel for the first time, and it was shewho once coined the aforementioned title of his talk.

Dr Claus Bruegmann, Chairman of ESUGermany-Bavaria, presented Lord Huntwith a memento - a cartoon, which linkedhis capacity as Chairman of the ESU to thetopic of his talk, depicting Sir WinstonChurchill, whose views of post-war Europewere, as Lord Hunt admitted, the reason he began life as a politician.

New Sponsors View Final of the John SmithMemorial Mace

Representatives from Baillie Gifford, the new sponsors of the John Smith Memorial Mace, the National University DebatingChampionships for Britain and Ireland, had their first view of ESUdebating programmes at the Honorable Society of King's Inns,Dublin in April.

Richard Barry, HR Manager for the Scottish-based independentinvestment managers said, “In any team environment people willhave different opinions, and debating allows all options to beexplored. Many companies look to recruit people with debatingskills; the ability to construct a persuasive argument, the confidence to speak in front of others and the flexibility to be able to think on their feet. This contest plays an important role inencouraging students to get involved in debating and the skills theylearn could benefit them hugely in later life.”

As testament to this, the Baillie Gifford delegationincluded not only people new to the ESU, but alsoKen Barker, no stranger to competitive debate as aformer finalist in this competition.

A crowd of supporters from the four home nationsfilled the Inn's portrait-lined dining hall as the speakers prepared to deliver their speeches.

Teams from the Glasgow University Union, CardiffUniversity, the Cambridge Union Society andUniversity College Dublin Literary and HistoricalSociety debated the motion This House would createa directly-elected executive President of theEuropean Union. Proceedings were opened by Jon Dye, Chairman of ESU Scotland, and chaired by Derek Lande, convenor of the competition inIreland.

The judging panel, chaired by Clark McGinn, a member of the Centre for Speech and Debate's committee and a winner of the competition forGlasgow University Union in 1983, declared theEngland team of Sam Block and Adam Bott as champions. Sam was also awarded the Kenneth

Harris Memorial Prize, named after the late founder of the competition, for best speaker in the final.

The ESU would like to thank Baillie Gifford for their sponsorship,Camilla McAleese and the Honorable Society of King's Inns, Clark McGinn, the rest of the judging panel, and the four national convenors for their time and support in running the competitionand ensuring the success of the event.

John Smith Memorial Mace winners, Adam Bott and Sam Block (centre), with (L-R) Ken Barker, Richard Barry and Clark McGinn

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Experience English Programme LaunchedIn early May, a group of 15 carefully selected volunteers was welcomed to theoffices of the Helen Bamber Foundation for an evening information session markingthe beginning of the Experience Englishprogramme. In an exciting new partnershipwith the ESU, this programme pairs volunteers with clients of the Helen Bamber Foundation in order to provide conversational support and to help facilitatethe transition to life in London. The HelenBamber Foundation is a human rights

organisation working with asylum seekersand refugees.

Each pair will meet for one hour per week in and around the City, making use of the galleries, museums, parks and cafesavailable. The ESU is thrilled to be workingwith such a high calibre of volunteers andwe would like to offer our thanks to themand to the Helen Bamber Foundation formaking this project possible.

For more information, please contactKatherine Plummer, Education ProgrammesManager, or Anne Hodgson, ProgrammesCo-ordinator.

Please visit www.helenbamber.org for moreinformation on the work of the Foundation.

Prince Radu Gives Second Romanian LectureAt the invitation of Director-General Valerie Mitchell, Prince Radu of Romania was delighted to come to Dartmouth House to give his second lecture on Romania, entitled What Does RomaniaContribute to the European Union?

The meeting was held in the Revelstoke Room at DartmouthHouse, under the aegis and chairmanship of Professor Alan LeeWilliams and the Mid-Atlantic Group. Prince Radu gave a mostthought-provoking and up-to-date talk on Romania and wasdelighted with the enthusiastic response he received from the audience, particularly through their challenging questions.

(L-R) Prof Alan Lee Williams, HSH Prince Radu of Romania,

Valerie Mitchell, Helen Meixner, Former Country Director of the

British Council Romania and Ralph Land, Chairman, British Romanian

Chamber of Commerce.

Hans von Sponeck Provides Iraq PerspectiveIn April, The English-Speaking Union, in association with LiberalInternational and The British-German Association, hosted a lecturewith Hans von Sponeck, former UN co-ordinator on HumanitarianAffairs in Iraq, who presented his acclaimed book A Different Kindof War at Dartmouth House.

The speaker offered guests a critical, lucid, and well-informed survey of political developments in Iraq as well as a heart-rendingaccount of the suffering of the Iraqi people. Drawing on previouslyunpublished internal UN documents and discussions with UN decision makers, Iraqi officials and politicians as well as ordinaryIraqis, Mr von Sponeck questioned who really benefited from theUN's sanctions policies against Iraq. He also discussed the role theUN Security Council played, and whether there were then, and aretoday, alternatives to these.

Hans von Sponeck described his own attempts as he tried to direct the sanctions programmes in a humane manner and gave a challenging and meticulous lecture offering guests a uniqueinsight into a highly topical subject.

Valerie Mitchell presided and Robert Woodthorpe-Browne and Saroj Chakravarty, ESU Governor, also said a few words.

When visiting Dartmouth House, why not take a moment to look at the display cabinet, where you will find an exclusive range of gift items, all featuring the ESU logo. The items for sale are reasonably priced starting from

just £3.50 and range from key fobs to an impressive assortment of glassware, ties, and jewellery. Ask at reception for details.

ESU Merchandise

(L-R) Robert Woodthorpe-Browne, Hans von Sponeck and Saroj Chakravarty

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Octet Wins Walter Hines Page ScholarshipsEight Walter Hines Page Scholarships were awarded following interviews held in March. The scholarships provide teachers withthe opportunity to spend two weeks in the United States visiting a variety of schools and educational organisations to investigate aparticular area of professional interest. The English-Speaking Unionis grateful to the ATL, NASUWT and NUT teaching unions and theHeadmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference for supporting thescholarships.

This year's scholars will explore issues including: reading and itsrole and importance in the curriculum of American schools; theplacement of learning centres into premiership sporting venues;teaching English to boys; and approaches to dyslexia.

The panel also interviewed candidates for the Chautauqua scholarship which enables a teacher to study at the prestigiousChautauqua summer school.

This unique establishment offers scholars the opportunity of reflection and self-expression through its arts, education and religious programmes. Diana Bath is the recipient of this award.

All of the award winners are looking forward to sharing their ownteaching experiences with colleagues in the United States and promoting current UK educational initiatives and approaches, aswell as exploring and comparing US strategies and ideas.

(L-R) Dr. Colin Niven, ESU Education Committee, Elizabeth Stokes, ESUDirector of Education, George Wiskin, ESU Education Committee and NUTrepresentative, Alison Wheatcroft, Chair of the Walter Hines PageInterview Panel

Encouraging Emerging ESUs

Two potential new ESUs are taking shape in Iceland andBangladesh with recent visiting ESU representatives offering their support.

Spreading the ESU word in Iceland was part of the remit when Brian Monteith MSP, HonPresident of ESU Scotland and Jon Dye ESUGovernor and Chairman ESU Scotland visitedthe country in early March. As well as awareness building, the duo met individualswho might form an ESU steering committee in Iceland.

Following a letter of introduction from ValerieMitchell to British Ambassador HE Mr AlpMehmet, who had pledged support to ESUIceland, a packed programme was organisedwith a number of key individuals in IcelandicSociety.

Mr William Miller, Chairman of the International Council, togetherwith Lord Watson and Valerie Mitchell were delighted that BrianMonteith represented Iceland at the International Council inLondon, in September 2006, and are now looking forward toreceiving members of the Committee at the InternationalHeadquarters at Dartmouth House.

In April, Professor Alan Lee Williams, a former Director-General ofthe ESU, visited Bangladesh on behalf of the Sir William BeveridgeFoundation. A prior meeting had been held with Valerie Mitchell,where Professor Lee Williams suggested that, through his presentcontacts, we may be able to help to sow initial seeds to form anESU in Dhaka. Valerie responded enthusiastically to the idea andfollowed it up with a letter to the British High Commissioner inBangladesh, who has given great support to the concept.

A steering committee was formed with Mr Aftab Ul Islam as itsChairman and a dinner was held with Professor Lee Williams asthe guest of honour during his stay. Mr Islam will be given an invitation to attend the international Council Meeting in Tokyo in October.

(L-R) Jon Dye, Brian Monteith MSP, Kristin Ingolfsdottir, Rector ofUniversity of Iceland and HE Mr Alp Mehmet

Centre: Prof Alan Lee Williams and Mr Aftab Ul Islam with members of the steering committee

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Volunteer tutors from the English in Action and English in Action inSchools programmes met at Dartmouth House, in April, for coffee,cake and conversation.

English in Action provides one-to-one English support to studentsat Dartmouth House. The schools programme sends pairs of volunteers into London primary schools to work with small groupsof children who have English as an additional language.

The coffee morning gave the volunteers a chance to share their latest experiences of the two programmes, and also to hear aboutnew developments at the ESU.

Katherine Plummer, Education Programmes Manager, informed the volunteers about the launch of a new and exciting ESU project,in partnership with the Helen Bamber Foundation. The ESU isrecruiting and training volunteers to provide conversational supportto refugees and asylum seekers which will aid their transition to lifein London. (Please see separate story for more information on thisproject.)

All the English in Action volunteers are now enjoying the programme's new summer term, which promises to be as successful as ever.

For further information about volunteering with English in Action,please contact Katherine Plummer, Education Programmes Manager.

English in Action Coffee Morning

Young Politicians in No Confidence DebateSome of Britain's brightest young political minds came together atthe ESU Headquarters for the Dartmouth House Debating Society'sannual No Confidence Debate.

Suella Fernandes, a barrister and former Chair of the CambridgeUniversity Conservative Association, and Mark Gettleson, Chair ofthe Liberal Democrat Youth and Students, proposed the motionThis House has no confidence in Her Majesty's government.Defending the status quo were Tom Hamilton, a former WorldUniversity Debating Championships Finalist and Labour PartyMember, and Stephen Longden, Campaigns and MembershipOfficer at Labour Students.

Several thoughtful and impassioned floor speeches followed thedebate, and after summations from Tom and Suella, the audiencevoted, with the majority supporting the motion.

Our thanks to each of the speakers for giving up their valuable timeto participate. The next session of debates will start with theShakespeare debate on Wednesday 3 October.

No Confidence Debaters: (L-R) Mark Gettleson, Suella Fernandes, Stephen Longden and Tom Hamilton

English in Action volunteers with Katherine Plummer (right)

Cheltenham DoubleCheltenham Ladies' College won the The National Public SpeakingCompetition for Schools for the second year in succession. Thiscontest is run by ESU Branches around the country for pupils inYears 10 and 11.

The prize for Best Speaker went to Lorna Badham of Haberdashers'Aske's School for Girls, for her speech entitled, Gun crime amongthe young is impossible to stop.

Please see Branches News for further information about theCompetition.

The winning team from Cheltenham Ladies' College, with Chair of thejudges (and Deputy Chairman of the ESU) Edward Gould

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Anglo-Brazilian Cultural Evening

On 26 April the Brazilian beat of samba and bossa nova filled theLong Drawing Room at Dartmouth House and thrilled ESU andAnglo-Brazilian Society members who were there to celebrate the links between the ESU and Brazil. Sipping their caipirinhacocktails at the pre-show reception, they anticipated the delightfulafternoon ahead of them.

ESU Director-General Valerie Mitchell, opened proceedings byexplaining the importance of holding such a special show ofBrazilian popular music. In 1999 the ESU was launched in fourcities in Brazil, and today there are many education programmesrunning between the two countries.

HE Mr José Mauricio Bustani, the Brazilian Ambassador andPresident of the Anglo-Brazilian Society, was the Guest of Honour.He emphasised how pleased he was that two such important organisations had merged on this special occasion and alsoexpressed his delight at being in the beautiful international headquarters of the English-Speaking Union.

He went on to say that he was born in the north of Brazil, fromwhere some of the country's greatest musicians and artists hademerged, and that the audience that afternoon would be enjoyingmusic written by some of these outstanding composers.

The renowned Brazilian singer, Adma took the floor and sang manybeautiful songs. She charmed the audience with music by GilbertoGil, Antonio Carlos and Dorival Cayme. Accompanying her wereseveral talented musicians, who played cello, bass, percussion andguitar, and Phil Dawson, who sang with her on one of the songs.

It was indeed a truly magical experience for all who attended. The atmosphere of Brazil impregnated Dartmouth House and soenthusiastic was the audience that Adma managed to get all tostand and finally dance to the last song.

The Reception which followed included Brazilian empanadas anddelicious canapés provided by Leith's.

Adma with Michael Gabriel, Chairman of the Anglo-Brazilian Society

Musicians at the Anglo-Brazilian Cultural Evening

Prize-winning Author Presents Mozart Multiple prize-winning author, David Cairns, presented his newbook Mozart and His Operas at a music lecture at DartmouthHouse in early May. The book traces Mozart's life through hismusic and focuses on the seven mature operas.

David Cairns dissected each opera with an infectious combinationof musical insight and vivid recreation of the historical facts. Heprovided a most instructive and entertaining guide to the Romanticnovelty of Idomeno and the Shakespearean drama of Don Giovanni,giving guests a true glimpse of the composer's personality.

The talk brought his extraordinary knowledge and love of his subject to show that Mozart's operas are pivotal to our understanding of him as a man and a composer in this most warm and passionate lecture on Mozart and His Operas.

Veronica Franklin-Gould, Deputy Chairman of the Cultural AffairsSub-Committee introduced the lecture with Anne Skeggs, Chairmanof the Cultural Affairs Sub-Committee giving the Vote of Thanks.

(L-R) Anne Skeggs, David Cairns and Veronica Franklin-Gould

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ESU and Global Young Leaders OfferInternational Debate Support

The Centre for Speech and Debate haspartnered with a brand new debate course,Global Young Leaders (GYL), to offer youngESU Alumni from around the world, experttuition.

The ESU Speech and Debate Squad hasalready benefited from a donation from OurWorld English Schools (OWES), the parentof GYL. So far this year members of theSquad, drawn from the ESU's pool of

trained mentors, have supported publicspeaking and debating competitions forschool children in Hong Kong, Mauritiusand Mongolia, and have taught universitystudents in Lebanon. Later in the year,debate experts will be off to Israel, Japanand Mexico.

International ESUs are offering those students involved in their programmes the chance to take their skills further by

attending the two-week residential GYL programme in London. Here, they will learn from ESU-trained tutors, using ESUmaterials, and their courses will feature aweekly visit to Dartmouth House.

OWES has offered each international ESU that has hosted a tour working withstudents aged 16-18 this year, a free placeon the course. The Centre hopes to widenaccess to the course as the partnershipwith GYL continues, and is keen to developthe programme as a global equivalent ofthe ESU's own Debate Academy for UK students.

The links between Debate Academy andGYL have already been forged this year - as the ESU cannot offer the Oakham-based weekend of intensive training in July, OWES has created a week-long GYLcourse, with both residential and non-residential options, as an alternative.Debate Academy will return for UK students in 2008, but we hope that itsinternational 'sister' GYL will, by then, beoffering a real chance to young alumni ofESUs around the world to get the samekind of expert support in speech anddebate from the ESU.

Stanley Spencer's VisionAnn Nevill's family were friends and patrons of artist, Stanley Spencer, so shewas well-placed to deliver a lecture on The Vision of Stanley Spencer to an appreciative audience at Dartmouth House in early May.

Her absorbing talk explained how StanleySpencer expressed his whole life and beliefsthrough the medium of his pictures, including his war experiences and relationswith his two wives.

The lecture was preceded by a receptionand raised over £1,200 towards the ESUChilton Art History scholarship.

Mongolian competition winners with members of staff at ESU Mongolia (Orkhon Gantogtokh,Chairman ESU Mongolia, far left) and Squad members Sam Block and Andrew Goodman

International at HomeThree times a year Dartmouth House opens its doors to overseasguests for the ESU's International at Home. The latest event tookplace on 9 May when Susan Bull, Chairman of the PromotionsSub-Committee, welcomed guests from 18 countries.

Those attending included members of the international diplomaticand business communities in London. The morning ended with atour of Dartmouth House.

(L-R) Mrs Susan Bull, Chairman, ESU Promotions Sub-Committee, Mrs Radhia Naima Msuya and Ms Caroline K Chipeta

from the Tanzanian High Commission

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Alumni Officer Visits New YorkIn April, Alison Wardrop travelled to NewYork to help ESU United States with theirannual Shakespeare Competition. The competition takes place over three days and includes over sixty young people fromacross the United States, who had won thechance to participate and represent theirESU Branch in this exciting event.

Alison also got a chance to meet the SSEAlumna, Megan Sherriffs, who is currentlystudying in the USA. Megan is from Fifeand attended Madras College in St Andrewsbefore being awarded an exchange at StonyBrook in New York State.

Megan has settled in, and is participating enthusiastically in school activities. She told a delighted Alison how much she has learnt from her experiences andalso explained how she hopes to have strengthened American-Scottish relations.

Lord Watson Celebrates the Voyage of Englishin Jamestown

Lord Watson of Richmond, Chairman Emeritus of the ESU'sInternational Council, was present at Jamestown's celebration of its400th anniversary, which was celebrated in the presence of HMThe Queen on her State Visit and HRH Prince Philip. Lord Watsonand Sir Robert Worcester, ESU Governor and Chairman of thePilgrims, co-chair the committee and have been much involved in the celebrations. “For me,” says Lord Watson, “Jamestown is a celebration at several different levels. It is America's 400th

birthday. It recognises the extraordinary courage of the originalfounders who travelled in three small ships across the Atlantic tofound the first English colony in the new world.”

Lord Watson emphasises, however, that Jamestown also marks thebeginning of the voyage of English from being a language used bysome 3.5 million people in 1607 to its present role as “the workinglanguage of the global village”, with some two billion people nowusing English worldwide. “The significance of this is profound,”says Lord Watson. “English really is vital to global understandingand it carries in the language the values and history of the rule oflaw and free enterprise. For the Jamestown Foundation, unlike thatof the Pilgrim Fathers, was commercially motivated and supportedby 50 Livery Companies in the City of London.”

These themes are the subject of Lord Watson's book, Jamestown:The Voyage of English, recently published. Prince Philip, asPresident of the ESU, wrote the foreword to the book, remarkingthat from “the acorn of Jamestown, there has grown the mightyoak of an English-speaking North America”.

Lord Watson met The Queen twice during her visit - once while presenting the British Jamestown Committee to her and to VicePresident Cheney, and later at the luncheon given by The Queen atColonial Williamsburg. “This celebration was an exhilarating andexciting moment and one recognised by the Americans and ourselves as of truly historic significance.”

Lord Watson and Sir Robert Worcester with the statue of Pocahontas inJamestown

Calling ESU Alumni!We are always interested in receiving stories and pictures ofyour experiences, particularly for this year's Alumni Update,which is currently being compiled.

SSE Class of '54 are having a reunion lunch at DartmouthHouse on October 23. If you graduated from the SSE programme in 1954 and are interested attending, do get intouch.

In addition, should you feel able to support us with a donationtowards the Alumni Association, it would be much appreciated.If you are interested in becoming more involved with the AlumniAssociation, please contact us.

Contact: Alison Wardrop, Alumni Officer. Email: alison_wardrop@esu.org. Tel: 020 7529 1550

Four of our Alumni, (L-R) Martin Skan, Michael Brett, RoderickChamberlain and Sir Ian Blair at the English-Speaking Union's All AlumniReunion

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The Travelling Librarian Award

The 2007 Travelling Librarian, Karen Poole, was selected on 16thMay. Karen is Assistant Librarian at the Royal PharmaceuticalSociety and is currently putting together her trip to visit key healthand pharmaceutical establishments in the United States with aview to sharing information on resources and the electronic deliveryof information and training.

The Award has given rise to an annual event - the TravellingLibrarian Reception which took place at Dartmouth House recently.

The ESU Library tracked down all the surviving recipients of theAward and produced a directory of winners. This contact broughtnew faces to the Reception, which was a great success, largely dueto the entertaining speeches by Kate Smith (née Asbery), the firstTravelling Librarian in 1965, and Kim Sherwin, from the JointServices Command and Staff College, the 2006 winner.

Kate described the American political situation in the 1960s andthe reaction to the race riots which were taking place while shewas there and Kim expressed her amazement at the sheer scale ofthe organisations she visited, which included the Pentagon, with its17 miles of corridors, shopping mall and McDonalds. She visitedmilitary colleges in Washington, Virginia, Pennsylvania andAlabama and managed to fit in the United Nations and severalother libraries in New York.

Kim was hosted by an ESU family in Washington and praisedAmerican hospitality and the willingness of her colleagues to shareinformation.

We look forward to hearing about Karen Poole's experiences whenshe returns from her trip.

Kim Sherwin (left) and Karen Poole at the Travelling Librarian Reception

Nurse Joins Work ProgrammeSalisbury Branch once again welcomed a nurse to the GreatWestern Hospital, Swindon, in May of this year, for the ESU NurseWork Programme.

She was Anna Luiza Gryschek, a graduate nurse from theUniversity of Sao Paolo Nursing School, Brazil. Anna's particularqualification is in the field of Community Health, dealing with Aidsand HIV.

In addition to working in the hospital alongside her English colleagues, a special programme was prepared for her, whichincluded a day with Professor Rachel at the Oxford BrooksUniversity Hospital and a meeting with the co-ordinator of theTerrence Higgins Trust.

There was also a visit to Salisbury Branch to meet the Membersand have lunch with them.

On her return to Brazil, she sent the Branch a charming letter that says: 'Please tell Salisbury Branch and all who have supportedme this has been a wonderful opportunity and I shall never, neverforget it. It has truly been priceless.'

Salisbury Branch wishes to thank Metropolitan Essex, Bristol andExeter Branches for their continued support; Dartmouth House forAnna's weekend in London, and especially the NHS Great WesternHospital, Swindon for their invaluable co-operation with the ESUNurse Work Programme, the charity the hospital has committed tosupport.

Anna Luiza Gryschek (centre), with Salisbury Branch members, (L-R)Pamela Brudnell-Dale, Gill Prior, Head of ESU UK Nurse Work Programme,Erica Patterson and John Tough

English-Speaking Union & the All England Lawn Tennis ClubGap year students (must be 18 or over) are required to help theHead Coach at Wimbledon to run the 2007 Wimbledon JuniorTennis Initiative:

• 3-month placements (starting in September) based at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and schools in London

• Interest in tennis good but enthusiasm is a must• Ability to work well with children• Expenses paid only (food and travel)

If you know if anyone who may be interested, please contact Alison Wardrop, ESU Alumni Officer.

Telephone : 020 7529 1550 Fax : 020 7495 6108 Email : esu@esu.org Web : www.esu.org

Unless otherwise stated we regret that no refunds can be made for cancellations within seven working days of an event.

For members: We accept payment for Dartmouth House events andmembership subscriptions by credit/debit cards. Cards bearing Visa,

Master-Card, Maestro, Switch, Solo or Delta symbols can now be used to make bookings by post, telephone or email.

DARTMOUTH HOUSE Telephone : 020 7529 1550

Diary DatesJULY

Tuesday 3 JulyHouse of Lords Tea Party 3.30-5.00pmThe Rt Hon The Lord Hunt of Wirral MBE will receive guests on the Terrace of the House of Lords. This event is now fullybooked. Please contact Gillian Parker if you wish to go on thewaiting list.Tickets: £25 Contact: Gillian Parker

Wednesday 4 July at 6.30 pmLiterary lecture with Professor James Raven at DartmouthHouse. Professor Raven will present a talk on his new book The Business of Books: Booksellers and the English Book Trade 1450-1850.Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.Tickets: £8 to include a glass of wine Contact: Gillian Parker

Wednesday 11 July 10.30 to 11.30 amCoffee Morning at Dartmouth House for members and their friends.Contact: Jacqueline Abbott

AUGUST

Wednesday 8 August 10.30 to 11.30 amCoffee Morning at Dartmouth House for members and their friends.Contact: Jacqueline Abbott

SEPTEMBER

Wednesday 12 September 10.30 to 11.30 amCoffee Morning at Dartmouth House for members and their friends.Contact: Jacqueline Abbott

Wednesday 3 October at 7pmShakespeare Debate at Dartmouth House. The Debate is free

of charge and open to the public.

Contact: Vivienne Thomson

Friday 19 to Sunday 21 October2007 Branches Conference at the 4-star Old Ship Hotel,

Brighton. The conference will open on Friday evening with a

reception and dinner at the hotel. Conference events will take

place in the hotel and there are optional excursions on the

Saturday afternoon. A gala dinner with musical entertainment

will take place on Saturday evening at Brighton's Royal

Pavilion.

Contact: Meriel Talbot

Wednesday 24 October Lecture at Dartmouth House by Professor Tony Badger, the

Master of Clare College, and Paul Mellon, Professor of

American History at the University of Cambridge, on

Presidential Oratory: Franklin D Roosevelt's Fireside Chats.

Tickets: £7.50 to include a glass of wine.

Contact: Gillian Parker

Wednesday 12 December at 7pmESU annual Christmas Concert at Dartmouth House, with

seasonal music and readings. Join us for Yuletide cheer,

festive fare, mulled wine, readings and carols with singers.

Tickets: £15 to include mulled wine, sandwiches and

mince pies.

Contact: Gillian Parker

ADVANCE NOTICE

If you would like to strengthen the ESU’sever increasing educational programme by a donation or a legacy in your Will,please contact Jo Wedderspoon at Dartmouth House37 Charles StreetLondon, W1J 5ED, telephone 020 7529 1550email jo_wedderspoon@esu.org.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Support the ESU