Pen Portraits
Sylvia Bagnall ( Social Sub-Committee Chair )
I have been a member of The Club since 2016 in my own right, involved since 2010. In 2018 I was elected to the Main Committee. In the same year I became Chair of the Social Committee, a position I still hold. I was also asked to manage the staff in 2018 when Tony Thorndike left the post.
Since becoming Social Committee Chair I have organised and hosted many events and dinners; obtaining speakers and liaising with staff re menus etc to ensure events run smoothly. During the years I have also hosted and organised several charity events. I started the Book Group and Papers on Sunday and I believe I have brought my skills and enthusiasm to The Club and helped to contribute towards its present success.
I obtained my management experience working for IBM. I managed various departments over the years including 200 contract staff covering a large and complex conference and data centre and several large scale company projects countrywide. I developed and worked with the Company on Department Creation to fulfil customer’s requirements and, within HR, provided personal skills development training for staff.
After taking early retirement from IBM I worked with Barclays Bank training new staff in customer service and interview techniques.
I was head hunted by ULG where I worked with the World Bank bringing teams of professionals together to work on global projects.
I lived in Paris for five years where I was involved in many different projects associated with the British and the American Clubs.
When I returned to the UK I was invited to become a Trustee of various boards, including Henshaws, Harrogate Advocacy, and Age UK where I helped to organise a merger between Harrogate and Darlington branches. I was also on the board of ‘Healthwatch’ which was a new organisation set up to work with the Quality Care Commission on hospital and care home inspections.
I was a Samaritan for thirty years in various parts of the UK.
I am an NLP Practitioner and a certified trainer.
It is difficult to describe a long career in short sentences, however, I think the most important point to make is that I am passionate about the Harrogate Club and at the end of the day it is all about people and fellowship. Every organisation should move forward when it is at its most successful and I feel it is important that The Club evolves in a positive and dynamic way whilst still protecting its heritage.
Mark Hamilton
I joined the Harrogate Club in 2016, shortly after moving to Harrogate from London and have been a member of the committee since 2018. I have been acting as the point person for the premium membership and have been part of the social sub-committee since 2019. I have arranged and run sporting events such as screening of the rugby for both the World Cup and the Lions Tour – something I would like to expand on. I have over 15 years experience in the executive search industry and have been running my own business focused on the technology investment banking market for the last 5 years. In addition to this, I have invented and co-founded a new baby product, which will be launched in the New Year.
Mike Harrison
Since my heart attack two years ago and having to stand down as Club Honorary Secretary, I have now fully recovered and believe I now have the energy and commitment to build on my previous major contributions to the life and culture of The Club. The special talents that I can bring are in-depth committee work experience borne of many years of voluntary Committee work in Charities and Clubs variously as Chairman, Managing Director, Treasurer and Secretary (including my years as our Club Secretary); financial acumen from having held senior corporate commercial jobs and running my own business; and above all a deep sense of responsibility to help the Membership move The Club forward to a bright future all borne of a great affection for The Club building and the many Members I count as friends.
My Committee record at The Club: –
Member 2011 to Present – 2015/16 Committee Member – 2016/19 Honorary Secretary – 2017/19 Joint Chair Social Sub Committee – 2020 Rules Sub Committee member.
Main achievements: –
Governance Improvements, Rules redrafted 2017, Constitution written and adopted at the 2017 AGM.
Rule changes to admit women as members.
Big improvements to Club Social event offerings whilst Joint Chair of the Social Sub Committee.
Sholto Hughes ( Membership Sub-Committee Chair )
A member since 2017, I was invited to the committee and to support on the membership sub-committee roughly 2 years ago by Andrew.
After joining the main committee and membership sub-committee committee, I worked with Andrew to improve the application process for welcoming new members to the club. As acting head of the membership sub-committee following Andrew’s stepping down this year, I have continued to be heavily involved in ongoing improvements and maintenance of the membership database as we approach renewals in April.
I believe that my experience in both project and change management has meant that have been able to contribute meaningfully and to take a balanced view when it has come to discussions and decisions during my time on the committee.
Dariel Pitt
As a member of the club for 2 years now, I’ve really enjoyed and benefited from what it has to offer. In addition, I’ve organised a number of successful and well-received events there, a party for 60 people and a couple of private dinners as Yorkshire Regional Secretary for the Old Fettesian Association.
For the last 7 years I’ve been a freelance instructor and National Trainer for Mental Health First Aid England, delivering course (Armed Forces Community, Youth and Adult) F2F and online to national/large corporates, public and third sector organisations. I’ve a background in sales, training and BD, ran a computer training company in London and been a Business Partner at Leeds Bradford Airport. I have a close association with Mind in Harrogate District, was a Trustee there for 3 years and at one time social secretary at HRUFC.
I would love to see the club continue to flourish and thrive and welcome the prospect of playing a part in helping to steer it in an even more favourable direction for all members.
David Poole
A proud Yorkshireman, born and bred, I have been a Full Member of The Harrogate Club since October 2018.
My primary career was as a Commissioned Officer in HM Armed Forces, serving predominantly in the UK and Germany. During this time I have been a member of the RAF Club in Piccadilly, London. I have served on the committees of a variety of Officers’ Messes at home and abroad with spells as Entertainments Member, Wines Member and also as the President of the Mess Committee.
On leaving the Armed Forces I became the owner and company director of a recruitment business based in York. I am now retired and living in Harrogate with my wife Ruth, who is also a Full Member of The Club. I consider that I have significant skills and attributes, particularly in the field of human resources and personnel management, which I could utilise for the benefit of The Club and its members.
Mark Prince ( Technology-Sub Committee Chair )
I’ve been a Club member for over seven years and I’ve taken great pleasure in seeing the Club grow from 96 members to over 220 in this time. I joined to be part of a Harrogate tradition, and to enjoy the fellowship a Club like ours brings. Whilst I’ve been a member at the Club I revamped the Club website, created all the pages about the live music, and introduced the Club calendar and electronic ticketing. Most recently I set up the Honesty Bar pilot where members can order drinks on their smart-phones if there isn’t bar staff present.
My career has been in software development and technology, culminating in an Executive role running Hewlett Packard’s UK Telco business. This has given me a good blend of current, practical technical knowledge and commercial experience that I can bring to the role of chair of the Technology sub-committee. I’m currently the chair for this sub-committee and I would like to seek re-election using technology to improve the member experience in the Club.
IT increasingly touches nearly every aspect of running an entity such as the Club, so the sub-committee is necessary to ensure there is a clear strategy and plan. I think the role of chair of this committee is then also to ensure that IT is supporting the objectives of the other sub-committees. I think right now we have great opportunities to bring technology to customer service whilst giving the Club the processes and procedures it needs as a stable base for the growth to come.
For me, technology isn’t an end in itself, but a way to make improvements. Done well, technology should be practically unnoticeable, running smoothly in the background to support the work being done by the other sub-committees for the members.
James Thorn
I have been a member of the Harrogate Club for over three years and thoroughly love being a part of its history. I would be honoured with the opportunity to be an active part of its future.
I am a member of the building committee run by Marcus. In 2019 I was successful in winning The Club Annual Snooker Competition organised by Colin, a part of The Club I am very passionate about and use regularly.
Professional I work for Hunters as an Estate Agent alongside managing my own portfolio of properties.
I feel The Harrogate Club has got an amazing history and getting the future right for The Club is vital.
Marcus Wearmouth ( Building Sub-Committee Chair )
As a second generation member I first came to a club speaker event 20 years ago and am now a premium member with a desk in the basement.
I was the Harrogate Beer Festival Chairman in 2010, International Round Table President 264 in 2014 and Harrogate Round Table Chairman in 2016.
Professionally I have a degree in surveying and have had my own local consultancy since 2011. I am also a Director of a national network of surveyors and engineers.
Since taking over the Building Sub-Committee, the team has been working to digitise the club operation by recording the age and condition of all the fixtures and fittings. A full Building Survey has been commissioned to understand the condition of the building and target future maintenance. A 3D survey of the building is also ongoing to allow future alterations and refurbishments to be visually represented for members prior to commencement. The work we are currently undertaking will modernise the club operation over the next year.
Ruth Whaling
I have lived in Harrogate for 6 years and been a member of the Club since 2018. I am a passionate believer in the Club and enjoy all of the different aspects of what we have to offer, attending many varied social events as well as having office space downstairs. I enjoy all of the quirks that make us what we are but also have an eye to the future and how we could offer more to a wider range of members.
I am already an active member of both the Club’s main Committee and social committee and have just been asked to join the membership committee as well. I believe that people are at the heart of the Club and am in the process of setting up a new WhatsApp group to facilitate members making links with each other. I also hope to work in collaboration with others to initiate a scheme for new members to link up with an existing member to help ease their way in and aim to take a lead on setting up a regular film night and Wimbledon viewing events in the summer.
In terms of my professional background I am a Consultant Educational Psychologist and provide specialist psychological assessment, advice and training around the country. Oxford educated, I am an Honorary University lecturer and published in my field.
Originally hailing from Edinburgh I enjoy sharing reminiscences with the many members who have links there. Since then I have travelled widely and lived abroad, most notably in Granada Spain, and speak fluent Spanish. I hope to continue to offer my services as an active member of the Committee in supporting developments in all aspects of our wonderful Club and helping bring people together.
Clive Whitburn
I have been in full time employment for 53 years. I worked for ICI for 32 years where I reached a senior management position and gained great experience of working effectively in committees. Since leaving ICI I have been a consultant to the chemical industry and have set up a company to develop technology to generate electricity from low grade waste heat.
I believe that the Harrogate Club is a valuable asset that must be cherished and preserved, and that the Committee should have a vision of how they would like the Club to look, feel, and operate. They should share that vision with the members and then set about making it a reality.
Colin Wormald
I am a Chartered Engineer and still maintain my interest in Control Engineering as a Fellow of The Institute of Engineering & Technology. I have established and developed two successful Computer Businesses. The first was sold to a listed company in 1989 the second still trades in Harrogate.
I have been a Club member since 2015 and in 2016 I was asked to re-organise snooker at the Club and join the committee. Since then I have been instrumental in many of the improvements to both the snooker room facilities and the organisation of leagues and tournaments.
I wish to continue as a committee member both to represent and develop the snooker facilities but also to participate in the development of Club as it enters a new phase. I believe that change is necessary but should be sensitive to both the needs of the membership and the traditions of The Club.