I am pleased to say that Graham Osborne, who has been a member of our Club since 1979, has written to say that he is prepared to stand as the new Hon.  Secretary for which we are most grateful.  He is unable to take over until the A.G.M. next April when he retires, so in the meantime I will be handling all our secretarial correspondence.

The first IFSCO Internet conference was held on Sunday July 1st, although unfortunately I was unable to take part, but the minutes received soon afterwards gives information on what was discussed.  Manfred Rauschenberger, will become the IFSCO coordinator for Scout Philatelic Forgeries.  He has already written a number of articles on forgeries that have been published in our bulletin.  Manfred will be pleased to receive all news on forgeries, to record them, inform all clubs, publish articles and answer questions of members of any club.  The problem of finding new members in the various clubs, in the age range of 30-40 years and younger was also discussed.  It was suggested that member clubs try to have a presence at their own National Jamboree to promote Scout Philately.  SOSSI did this at their recent exhibition and had a first class stand where a number of new members were recruited.

The next International Philatelic Exhibition in Europe HAFNIA 01, is being held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 16-21st October.  I have heard that the prize-winning collection of Hallvard Slettebø of Norway will be on display, but to date I have not heard of any other members that are showing.  Some 2200 exhibition frames divided between Traditional, Open Class and Literature will be competing for the awards.  I understand that the Danish Scout Stamp Club will be holding their A.G.M. during that week.  I will be attending this show where I hope to meet some of our members.

Congratulation to the "Club Filatélico de Scouts y Guías" of Spain on their 15th Anniversary.  This club has an active membership and will be holding their sixth National Exhibition of Scout Philately in Madrid from 19th to 26th October 2001, although I have still not received confirmation that the dates have been finalised.  The application time to exhibit has now passed, but visitors are most welcome.

Although the Centenary Jamboree in 2007 may appear to be a long way away, much work is already taking place behind the scenes.  Clare Kelly of "Scouting 2007" has written to the Royal Mail requesting that stamps should be issued to celebrate the Centenary of Scouting or perhaps the 150th anniversary of B.P.'s birth.  Although it is some time before the 2007 programme is considered, the Stamp programme Manager has written saying how the subjects are considered.

"The suggestion that you have put forward are certainly interesting ones and I have included them in the list of subjects for consideration for the year 2007.  However we normally receive over 2000 suggestions for stamp subjects each year.  As the number is limited to between 9 and 12 you will appreciate that the final choice is a very difficult one.  The stamp subject selection process works initially with a list of potential subjects for each programme drawn together from the suggestions that have been made to us by customers.  Added to the list is a comprehensive range of themes, events and anniversaries relating to each year.  Market research is then carried out amongst a representative cross-section of the U.K. population to determine the potential popularity of each subject.  Initially this takes the form of a telephone research poll (to adults) to reduce the selection to around 25 subjects.  Then in- depth market research is carried out amongst small focus groups (children included).  From the results of the research, a short-list is made up and submitted to the Post office Board, the Stamp Advisory Committee and finally to Her Majesty for approval."

This gives us some idea how stamp issues are selected, and it looks as if we should all write to the Royal Mail from the year 2004 onwards.  It was different in 1957 when the matter of issuing special stamps was brought up in the House of Parliament and with lobbying of members to the Postmaster General.  The set of three Scout stamps were then issued, the first commemorative ones for four years.

I have had a positive feedback on the Child Protection policy mentioned in the last bulletin.  In particular a most helpful one from a member in Canada.

Have any of our members been selected to attend the 20th World Jamboree in Thailand next year?  If so I would appreciate hearing from you, as the Editor would very much like a report for the bulletin.

Personally, I am now back in the Scout Movement having been made an Honorary Member of the Scout Association, so I can still wear the uniform, which as the U.K. members know will be changing during the next two years.