Our AGM this year coincided with a Tube strike but that didn’t stop our intrepid members getting to the Friends Meeting House in central London.
They were joined by dozens more who joined us on our increasingly popular live streaming service with people watching and joining in from all over the world.
Chairman Albert Barber opened the meeting by outlining how the Committee had been busy throughout the year working on a range of services for members.
Albert said one of the main aims of the Association is to help members maintain a link with the BBC and former colleagues. Evidence of your support came from two large donations made in memory of former members Doreen Perrin and Olga Roiu.
Another way of getting involved is to share your memories of the BBC in our 100 Voices project where we record your thoughts and put the recordings on our website.
Albert outlined how the BBCPA was changing with the times with a new Social Media offering. You can now follow the Association on Facebook and LinkedIn where there’ll be regular posts.
He said the BBCPA had good contacts with the BBC and Pension Service and numerous other broadcast groups. That helps us keep on top of changes in a fast-moving media world.
One area which has generated many calls for help is our Radio Times offer. Albert explained that a BBCPA member shouldn’t be paying more than £52 for a six month subscription. Details are on our website.
Albert then introduced our treasurer Richard Collins who said despite declining numbers, our membership stands at just over 2,000 with a need to recruit more former colleagues to join us.
Albert then welcomed the first of two main speakers.
Ben Harvey, Director of Governance and Operations at the BBC Pension Trust Ltd explained how the fund was in good health and less reliant on the stock market than it used to be. Like many funds, our scheme had made more investments in property and Bonds and was less vulnerable to world events as a result.
Saul Nassé was our second speaker. He worked for the BBC for many years and became Controller of BBC Learning introducing educational content like BBC Bitesize, Stargazing Live and BBC Food.
Today he is Chief Executive of the National Archives at Kew, overseeing the vital care of more than a thousand years of national and historic documents.
There’ll be more information about our AGM in the Christmas Newsletter. In the meantime if you’d like to look at the recording you can find it at https://bit.ly/bbcpastream
