The evening dinner was held in the Christie library in the Whitworth building. This was indeed a memorable occasion as, after the drinks reception, we proceeded up the same stairway as trodden by all graduates on their way to the Whitworth Hall graduation ceremony.
The book lined library was an appropriate dining room for the 74 guests, where portraits of the previous Chancellors graced the walls. A delicious four course meal was followed by speeches and toasts. There is never enough time to catch up with everybody and the general feeling was that the dinner could be held once a year instead of biennially. Watch this space!
There was a disappointing number who attended the FC Wilkinson commemorative lecture in Mandec. Professor Trevor Burke, now at Birmingham Dental Institute, was our speaker, and he was made very welcome. He enjoyed meeting up with past students, and staff and colleagues and friends from the Manchester School of Dentistry. He was certainly on top form, with his extensive knowledge of the research and development of composites. There were tours of the Dental School provided by some of the current students, to see the updated clinics, which were greatly appreciated by all the delegates.
The sponsorship for the meeting was provided by Dentsply, GC and Wright Cottrell and Hereaus. The quiz of the museum instruments and equipment was won by Robin Heywood.
The Biennial Meeting 2017 was chaired by the outgoing president Margaret Kellett (2015-2017). She inducted the new president, Jill Jagger (2017-2019) and the president Elect as Professor Paul Coulthard (2019-2021).
We said goodbye to Julie Wright (Treasurer) and Carolyn Stylianouu (BGM secretary) who have both retired and are now moving to warmer climes. The new Treasurer is Paul Johnson. We have two staff members: Craig Jack and Carly Taylor. We also have a student rep who is Khadija Khaled.
There is to be a recruitment drive for new graduate members and mature members. Members are now able to subscribe annually, by direct debit, instead of the previous standing order, via the Gocardless system.
We aim to support the students in many ways, by providing financial assistance for cases of hardship, student prizes, and a student volunteering award. We also donate towards the graduates’ lunch on graduation day. There is also an annual draw for two Somanda members to win £500 each to fund verifiable CPD courses of their choice.
If you would like to contribute to Somanda, in any way you can, please contact the Secretary.