Ending an extraordinary year

Time flies and it’s hard to believe that we’re already in the middle of June with the end of the 2019-20 Toastmasters year just a fortnight away. The least I can say is that this year was a very interesting year for the District and a very successful one on so many levels. We started very strong with brand new initiatives like our District 91 boardgame and shooting the first round of incentives and #MyWhy videos with a professional camera crew.

Thanks to your efforts we quickly became the best District in Europe and soared to become the best District in the world for clubs with 20+ members. Not a small achievement for a small District that only represents 1% of Toastmasters worldwide!

The 2019-20 Toastmasters year will always be remembered as the year when COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic. I never knew that I would be District Director during a pandemic and the challenge certainly provided me with a lot of development opportunities. I have said a few times already and I’ll say it again. When national chains and brands like McDonald’s shut down their operations. Our Toastmasters clubs, your Toastmasters club continued to meet online during these challenging times.

I’ll never forget the enthusiasm of club leaders during the initial heady days during which we moved online. COVID-19 was the greatest challenge that we ever faced in our history, yet we rose to it. Thank you for going the extra mile and moving online. Thank you for attending our largest ever Conference with 800 attendees. Thank you for continuing to grow our organisation in exceptional circumstances. In the final two weeks of the year let’s finish the year with a bang and continue to grow our clubs. Now is the time to reach out to past members and invite them back. Why? Because we are Toastmasters, a brilliant bunch of people that can achieve extraordinary things!