By Phil Cockayne, Deputy President

Given that we always post about some of the great things we do in Bradford around helping the community, helping disadvantaged faces, putting a smile on the faces of young children etc. I thought I'd share some information about this years' annual dinner.

Our annual dinner happened on the 5^th September at the Midland Hotel. It was our 55^th Annual Dinner (although Phil Cavalier-Lumley was quick to point out the fact that we hadn't actually had 55, it was more like the 48^th but hey, whose counting? 

The night started off with some drinks in the bar for guests to meet some of the other attendees. The dress code was black tie (I always say; who doesn't love a black tie event?'. The night kicked off with the entrance of the top table which consisted of the following guests:

-          Sandy Needham, CEO at West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

-          Kate Senter, JCI UK National President

-          Katie Ogley, Regional Group Chairman for Yorkshire

-          Ben Hawley, President at JCI Barnsley

-          Charlie Pearson, President at JCI Leeds

-          Alex Byers, President at JCI Leeds

-          Ilona Alcock, President at JCI Sheffield

-          And yours truly, Deputy President at JCI Bradford

The evening kicked off with some lovely tomato soup followed by sautéed chicken and roast vegetables with profiteroles and coffee for dessert. Speeches were delivered by Phil Cavalier-Lumley - about JCI from 2009 to 2013 and his leadership, a talk from Kate Senter - talking about the Bradford team and how awesome we all are J, but also how we're viewed nationally. Finally, a short talk from me about JCI Bradford, echoing some of the things mentioned so far and why JCI is so great. We also recognised the great achievements of some of our members (Brogan Hirst - Marketing Director, Lucy Parr - Training Director and Michelle Pemberton - Community Director).  The Midland Hotel and Bradford Chamber both received recognition for their continued support for JCI Bradford.

As the guests filtered away, many stayed around (including a few of the other local presidents who may have had a few too many bottles of wine and stayed in the Midland lobby till 5am (what can I say...).

Huge thanks to everyone who came (all 40 or so of you). Hope you all had a great night. It was fantastic to see the support JCI Bradford has and bringing us all together to celebrate the amazing things we've achieved this year tops my annual calendar.

To those of you who missed out and what to get more of a feel for what JCI annual dinners a like, keep these dates for your diary:

-          JCI Sheffield, 27^th September; http://www.jcisheffield.org.uk/events/2014-09-27/1350-jci-sheffield-goes-to-hollywood/

-          JCI Yorkshire Regional Dinner and Awards Ceremony, Midland Hotel, 11^th October: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jci-yorkshire-regional-dinner-2014-tickets-12664861943?aff=eorg

-          JCI Leeds, 1^st November: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jci-leeds-annual-dinner-2014-tickets-12228611105

-          JCI Barnsley, date TBC

-          JCI Rotherham, date TBC

These events are pinnalce of the JCI Social calendar ad well worth attending (I've said it before and I'll say it again -who doesn't love a black tie event, anyway?)