The end of April, beginning of May has been another busy period, with a visit from our International Director, Corporate Award visits, our District Council meeting and Elections, our fabulous District Conference, notification of the Talk Up Toastmasters Award winners and, I am delighted to say, we have added four new clubs to our Toastmasters Family.
New Clubs
Lets give a very warm welcome to the following newly chartered clubs:
- Ciso Speakers Toastmasters
o A specialist club focusing on Cyber Security, meeting 3 rd Thursday 6pm - Excalibur Online Global Speakers (EOGs)
o An Advanced Club meeting, 1 st & 3 rd Wednesday 7pm - Hemel Speakers
o A local community club, meeting 1 st & 3 rd Thursday 7.30pm - Pen Trust Parables
o A corporate club, meeting times to be confirmed
Congratulations to all the Sponsors and Presidents who brought these clubs to life; Andy Green, Nicola Ferrari, Andrew Bennett, Samir Malik, Sujanth Sivanesan, Imke Hoffman and James Beamish. As well as the home team, Ramesh Hali Demo Lead, Mary-Anne Ledger Division B Director, Alison Morris Division J Director and everyone else who gave a helping hand. Ciso and EOGs go into Division B, Hemel and Pen Test into Division J.
EOGs, Hemel and Pen Test were all started by current Toastmasters, so if you have an idea for a club in your Area; Community, Specialist or Corporate please do let us know.
club.growth.director@d91toastmasters.org.uk
Delighted to do an Area Visit to Ciso and see them in action for their first meeting
Delighted to be going to Excalibur’s online charter party on Wednesday 27 th May
It was wonderful to see Hemel Founders Sujanth and Imke at the D91 Conference
Pen Test are currently planning their first meeting since chartering.
International Director and Corporate Awards
It was an honour to be visited by our International Director, Francesco Fedel. As well as doing key note presentations at the District Conference one of the main reasons for his visit was to recognise organisations that have successfully sponsored a corporate club over a number of years. We were delighted to be hosted by both PA Consulting who sponsor PA Consulting London and HID who sponsor Toast Titans The HR Directors could not praise Toastmasters enough for the valuable skills it gives its members. It was wonderful to see these organisations recognised for their commitment to the Toastmasters programme.
Here is us on the Train going from PA in London to HID in Cardiff with International Director, Francesco Fidele.
Here is PA accepting the award and also running a mini table topics session.
Here is HID accepting the award and also running a mini table topics session.
District Conference
Just some of the District 91 conference activities from a warm welcome by our Conference chair, Pearl Cadogan, to the International Speech and Evaluation finalists, to some of the many
presentations we had the pleasure to learn from.
Before the conference got into full swing we had the District Council Meeting and the Trio elections. I am delighted to be working with Seema and Alison next Toastmaster year. Have you ever thought about stepping into a Leadership role. They do take a bit of effort but you learn so much and you never stop learning and growing. Maybe you want to be on a Club Committee or maybe an Area, Division or District Team. And don’t forget about the Conference team, we are always happy to receive proposals for future conferences. There are always lots of roles behind the scenes. If
interested please do ask. club.growth.director@d91toastmasters.org.uk
The Trio for the Toastmaster year 2026-27, L to R Alison Morris Club Growth Director, Seema Menon District Director and Lynne Gayer Program Quality Director
Talk Up Toastmasters Award
I am finally able to announce the winners of the Talk Up Toastmasters Award. Apologies for the delay, Head Office were behind schedule. Congratulations to all of the following clubs who added
five or more new, dual or reinstated members between 1 st February and 31 st March 2026. It was great to see clubs adding five to 16 members. All will be recognised by both Head Office and District. Well done.
Beat the Clock
And remember we are in another club building incentive period with Beat the Clock. It is a race to the finish between 1 st May and 30 th June. Once again, Clubs will be recognised by both TMI and
District 91 where we offer £25 to 25 clubs who bring in five new, dual or reinstated members. Many clubs are planning Open Houses to help increase membership, so go on, invite your friends, family and colleagues, let them see the wonders of Toastmasters and what it can do for them.
Insert Beat the Clock Poster that Allen has here
Anniversaries
Another way to attract guests and potential members is to have an Anniversary celebration.
Congratulations go to:
| Club Name | Month | Year | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton & Hove Speakers | May | 2001 | 25 |
| Woking Speakers Toastmasters | May | 2006 | 20 |
May data – Based on the Official Charter Date
Top Tip
Borrowed from one of the presenters at conference
- Toastmasters is not about perfection, it’s about progress
o So grab the opportunity and give it a go. Whether it’s doing your first speech, running an Open
Last Updated on 24th May 2026 by Allen Paul