Dear Members,

The next Members’ meeting is our Annual General Meeting on 17th September. So I would like to make here a few comments on the past year. As the Society’s representative, I have attended events and functions in which I would not normally have had a chance to participate. Being President has enabled me to meet and get to know so many members. I wish to record my sincere thanks for these opportunities and to Councillors and our dedicated office staff without whom I would not have been able to fulfil the responsibilities of the President.

The past two years has been a period of transition. The Society has overcome major challenges - the search for, and relocation to a new home, following the sale of our Milton premises in December 2017. The move to Fortescue Street took place in September 2018 and then we underwent several months of design and fitting out to make Gregory Place fit for our purposes. Finally, we were able to invite members to the Open Day on 9th April and the official opening by our patron, the Governor of Queensland on 18th July. I would like to once again thank the Gregory House committee and all volunteers and staff involved in achieving this momentous change.

The on-going process to upgrade the incorporation status of the Society has taken up an enormous amount of time and effort over the past three years. The creation of a new legal platform for the Society from Letters Patent to a Company by Limited Guarantee, and adoption of a new Constitution, was passed at a special members’ meeting on 7th May. The 63-page document required to effect this change has been submitted to the Office of Fair Trading. I commend and thank the tireless efforts of Roger Grimley, Chris Spriggs and Lilia Darii as they have ploughed through the minefield of legal and administrative procedures required to make this transition happen.

Another important change this year has been the review and restructuring by Council of our staffing. This was conducted from October 2018 in consultation with our existing staff. I believe the resolution we achieved is assisting staff in their work and will enable us to pursue more effectively the Society’s wider goals in promoting Geography in future.

In dealing with these major challenges over the past 2 years, I have had little time to progress some geographical initiatives that I had planned, particularly the renewed development of the Society’s Scientific Studies and Publications. I hope to have an opportunity to work on these in the future. I look forward to continuing my associations with RGSQ.

Iraphne Childs, RGSQ President