magazine - Somerville College - University of Oxford

Somerville Magzine | 7
On taking the Chair of the
Somerville London Group
SUE ROBSON
(Bodger, 1966, PPP)
Somerville London Group has been
going strong now for over 20 years,
chaired initially by Miranda Villiers
(McKenna, 1954, Classics) and,
more recently, by Ginny Covell
(Hardman Lea, 1973, Modern
Languages). They are both a hard
act to follow and, since taking the
Chair after our AGM on 19 January
2010, I sincerely hope that I can
continue to deliver to their high
standards.
We now have around 1,800
members and we organise between
four and six events each year, with
talks from eminent public figures,
private visits to museums and
galleries, summer lunches, music
events, book launches for Somerville
authors, and more besides.
Our aim is to arrange a variety of
interesting events which are fun
as well as stimulating – and which
allow Somerville alumni to catch
up with old friends and make new
ones. Our financial golden rule is
never to make a loss and to contribute
the small profits that we do
make to the Somerville Campaign.
I read PPP at Somerville and
then developed my career in marketing
and market research. I used
my Psychology to train as a qualitative
researcher, using these skills for
marketing and advertising clients.
I ran my own qualitative research
consultancy for 20 years and have
now downsized to being an independent
consultant, combining this
with some pro-bono work.
While I was busy working full
time and bringing up a family I had
very little time to give to outside
interests such as the Somerville
London Group, but I am now able
to enjoy a greater involvement with
the College generally and the committee
in particular.
I have been on the committee
for over a year now and have been
organising tickets and payments
for events. This has given me an
opportunity to meet some members
but I do hope to meet many more
at the next series of events. We are
planning some interesting events for
2010, starting off with a talk from
Charles Moore, the authorised biographer
of Margaret Thatcher, titled
‘Before she became a Thatcher, the
early life of Margaret Roberts’.
We often manage to use our
Somerville connections to good
effect when setting up events but
are always in need of more ideas
and more contacts. I would be
very interested to hear from any
Somervillian who has ideas or is
interested in joining the committee.
Equally if you do not get our
twice yearly newsletter and are
interested in joining us please do
get in touch. You can contact me
on 020 8997 0848 or suerobson@
btopenworld.com.
A year in the life of the
Lord Mayor of Oxford
SUSANNA PRESSEL
(1965, Modern Languages)
Back in 1996 I was surprised to
find myself an Oxford City councillor,
having fallen into it somewhat
by accident. After 13 wonderful
years had flown by, with no two
days the same, it felt even more
unreal when I found that it was
already my turn to be the Lord
Mayor of Oxford.
I had an unforgettable year, in
which I carried out 626 Lord Mayor
engagements, including dozens
of receptions in the Town Hall and
elsewhere, dinners, performances,
exhibitions and big annual events,
like speaking at Remembrance
Sunday in Oxford and in Leiden,
opening the St Giles Fair, inspecting
the city walls, switching on the
Christmas lights in Oxford, opening
the Christmas market in Bonn, and
leading the Lord Mayor’s Parade.
There were several big one-off
events, for instance, opening Bonn
Square, accepting the handover
of the Olympic flag, visiting 10
Downing Street, and attending the
coronation of a Nigerian chief (in
Oxford). I also had to welcome the
Dalai Lama, the Queen and other
members of the royal family to
Oxford. In addition, the Principal
kindly invited me to several memorable
events at Somerville in
my capacity as Lord Mayor.
In some ways, it was the invitations
from local community groups
that were the most interesting
engagements. They made me
more aware than ever of the quiet
altruism of many of our citizens. It
was good to be able to thank them
on behalf of the city and to invite
some of them to receptions in the
beautiful Lord Mayor’s Parlour,
where I also entertained a very
wide range of foreign visitors.
The civic ‘pomp and circumstance’
can seem irrelevant and
anachronistic, and it amused some
of my friends and family, but there
has been a mayor of Oxford since
1127 (and a Lord Mayor since
1965), which helps to put it all
into perspective. It has been an
enormous privilege to have been
allowed to carry out this role, the
first Somervillian to do so, as far
as we can work out, and I met
many amazing people during my
year as Lord Mayor. Three weeks
after it ended, I was elected to the
County Council as well as staying
on the City Council (with Somerville
College part of my County division),
so I had no time for withdrawal
symptoms. I would encourage any
readers to consider standing for
their local council: it is certainly
one of the most rewarding things
I have ever done.