Division J consists of 5 Areas and 22 Clubs from Buckinghamshire to South Wales, along the M4 corridor, about a distance of 180 miles one way.
J4 is in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and is being looked after by Helyn Ashford, who was our Division Director last year and previously Area Director for J10. She has been in Toastmasters since 2020 and really immersed herself in District roles. This is shown by her taking on this AD role whilst living in Wales.
J7 is in Oxfordshire and being looked after by Dominic Heaney who has been in Toastmasters since 2019, he has nearly completed 2 pathways and has been a member of 3 clubs.
J10 is in Wales and is being looked after by Sarah Pantry who has been in Toastmasters since 2019 and having immersed herself in club roles, has taken the plunge to Area.
J11 is in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire and is being looked after by Adrian Lane who has been in Toastmasters since 2015, the area has been blossoming, and last year won 3 out of the 4 speech contests at Division.
J22 is in Oxfordshire and is being looked after by Andrew Graner, who has been a Toastmaster since 2018, unlike the other Area Directors Andrew doesn’t live in or near his Area, in fact he is in California. Andrew was J22 AD last year and kindly agreed to continue this year, for which we are very grateful.
Alison Morris is the current Division Director and has been a member of Thame Speakers since 1998. Having been involved in a vibrant club which has hosted a few District Conferences. She has been an Area Director 3 times, this is her second stint as a Division Director and she has also been District Administration Manager. We cannot finish without mentioning her husband who has been a member of Toastmasters since 1991 and great support to Alison in her roles, so much so, it is said you get 2 for 1 whenever she visits. She is also a member of the District Trainers Bureau and received Area Director of the Year for 2024/25.
We have several people who have been members since before 2000, with the longest serving member joining Oxford Speakers in 1980. Currently our membership is 544, which has increased over 10% since the beginning of the Toastmasters year. As with all clubs we have renewals coming up and are doing our best to encourage all members to renew.
In respect of potential Clubs we have one that is currently pre chartered and are working to get them over the line. One club is struggling to get over the good standing line but we are determined to revitalise this club, with the help of District. Otherwise all clubs are either 20 or above members or very close to achieving that goal.
Clubs have been working very hard to meet the deadline of submitting Club Success Plans and completing Club Officer Training, with a 100% take up within the timescales. However they don’t get any time to “sit on their laurels” as they need to organise and run Humorous and Table Topic Competitions.
The Area Directors are busy doing their visits and preparing their Area Contests, which the Division Director will be supporting and to help as required (apparently bring cake is a re-requisite). We have set the Division Contest for 1 November at Sudbury Hall, Chepstow, from 10am till 4pm. This is a venue we have used for a few years as it is ideal for competitions and training. We will be holding not just Division Competitions but also training workshops for both members and Club Committee Members, so do think about coming along. Details will be on D91 calendar soon.
For the last 3 years we have had the Distrct Area Director of the year awarded, a testament to the work that the Area Directors have put into the Division. We have also had someone on the District Committee since Division 71 has been formed.
Alistair Driscoll from J22 has attained the top accolade of DTM this year, so congratulations to him
Since the formation of District 91 Division J has been Presidents Distinguished 5 times and Select Distinguished 4 times.
Our Division has a can do attitude and this was shown last year by Gloucester and Worcester Speakers, thinking out of the box, with unusual break out rooms. See picture for Gloucester but as we had to put 2 of the table topic competitors at Worcester in the disabled toilet, as this was the only room available as it was raining outside, I decided not to give pictorial evidence of this.
We are very proud of Jean Gamester DTM, who has been voted in as 2nd International Vice President for this year. Jean started her Toastmasters journey in 2006 at Thame Speakers being a very active member both at Club and District, she moved to Cardiff in 2018 continuing her meteoric rise. We wish her a continuing journey at International level and are appreciative of her also taking on the role of President at Cardiff Speakers, when does she sleep????
As a Division our members are not only involved in their Clubs and Area there are a number of us who have been involved in the BETA COT training as well as CSP and other training sessions. There are many more wonderful things I could mention but I don’t want to make any other Divisions under pressure.
Division J has a great team of enthusiastic and dynamic leaders
All Hail Division J
Last Updated on 30th September 2025 by Allen Paul