The USA has a new President, and the WPAG has a new Chairman.

Only time will tell if that is as far as the comparison goes!

John Roper, Chairman of WPAG for the past 5 years has retired for personal reasons, and we are very pleased to announce that ex-Borough Mayor Carl Storer, resident of Oaklands, has been elected to be our Chairman. John will continue to be our webmaster, hiding behind the title of ‘Editor’.

We also welcome on to our Committee another ex-Borough Councillor, Sandra Kyriakides, who has been given the Portfolio for managing Projects, about which we will be hearing more in due course.

Arseven Reshat Gumush was elected Treasurer following the retirement of our long-running Treasurer, Jim Evans.

We welcome them all, and the Committee already has a more vibrant feel about it.

Carl Storer is in the process of getting his feet under the table, but the Committee has renewed its determination to broaden the scope and the membership of the WPAG to include representation from all three communities, Welwyn Village, Oaklands and Mardley Heath, and Digswell.

It has long been our stated objective to invite representatives of local Residents Associations to join the WPAG Committee, and we will be renewing our efforts in that direction, as well as working to increase our membership. If you are seeking to set up a Residents Association in your area, please let the WPAG Chairman know, and we will see how we might help.

We are also very pleased to promote local organisations and amenity groups. We would like many more local groups to come forward, just as the Welwyn Allotments Association has very recently done. We are happy to promote local organisations’ activities, at no cost, and as they agree to tell us something about themselves and their activities, they are listed in the WPAG Events Calendar. Have a look – you might be surprised at what is going on, and perhaps you can get involved – volunteers are like gold-dust and are always very welcome.

And a reminder – the WPAG is a Registered Charity and we have no income other than membership subscriptions. As we automate many of our administrative functions, our main outgoings, apart from hall hire, now relate to the running and maintenance of this website.

So, if you enjoy reading this website and you are not a paid-up WPAG member, please go to the Membership page and help us. Although the Treasurer has plans to introduce a Standing order System as soon as practicable, the Membership page allows you to sign-up straight away using online payment mechanisms. Try it – it only costs £4 per annum.