I am delighted to accept the Editor's suggestion that I bring readers up to date with what has been happening at the School, as there must be amongst you many who were trained as printers either here or at the William Baker School, Goldings, who may have heard rumours that the School was to close.

Early in 1978 this was fact and not rumour; staff and apprentices were informed officially that the School was to close. However, due to the personal efforts on the part of Mr. Roy Hodgson, Chairman of the School's Management Committee, who approached many people of influence, the decision was reversed. The main reason for deciding to continue was the successful application to the Printing and Publishing Industry Training Board for financial assistance. This resulted in subvention payment to the School of £30,000 per annum for five years. Subsequently the Board also became involved in the administration of the School and now three of the Board's members sit on the Management Committee.

Due to the uncertain future no recruitment of apprentices took place during 1978 and as this issue goes to press the number of apprentices in training is an all time low of twelve. A vigorous recruiting campaign is now taking place, hopefully to encourage two intakes this year, at Easter and summer.

Coincident with our other troubles has been "Father Time's" effect upon staff. So many reaching retirement age within a short space of time means that the staff team, stable for so many years, is having to be almost completely renewed. Mr. Reg Purkis has come out of retirement to help out, Mr. Jim Taylor and Mr. Frank Stevenson have retired, Mr. Phil Davey and Mr. Les Mondin are about a year from retirement, I retire in March of this year, and even the youngster, Mr. Trevor Powell, has passed the 60 mark. However, there is still the nucleus of younger staff to build around and I am delighted to report that one of them, Mr. Sam Edgar, is to succeed me as Principal. I feel sure that under his guidance the continuation of the project Dr. Barnardo instituted almost one hundred years ago will be assured.

And now, after forty years' contact with so many young men who are printing craftsmen in countries throughout the world, some of them owning their own businesses, many of them in posts of responsibility, comes the time to say "good-bye". It seems such a short time ago that I was introduced to my first two trainees at Goldings, Ernie Collins and George Walker. Ernie graduated to that greatest of all our newspapers, The Times, and they must both now be about 60 years of age. How naive I was in accepting the apples they brought me, thus condoning their scrumping from the orchards! How many men reach the end of their working lives having so much enjoyed their work and their relationships with their fellows as I have? I thank God for his guidance throughout those years and my colleagues and all those trainee printers for their support and fellowship.

RON STACKWOOD Principal

 Congratulations

The apprentices and staff of the Barnardo School of Printing have received a commendation for their work in the Inplant Awards for 1978. The award was in recognition of the 1978 Australian Christmas Card Order Form. This was designed by Colin Forsyth of our Head­quarters Graphical Department, and operators of the machine which was used to print the 30,000 forms were Trevor RiIey and Joe Khaled. Mr. Ron Stackwood, the School Principal, received the commendation at the presentation of the awards in the Stationers' Hall, in the City of London.

Mr. Trevor Powell, Works Manager at the School of Printing, has been associated with the Scout Movement for nearly fifty years, and received the Silver Acorn in recognition of "specially distinguished services to Scouting" on St. George's Day last year.

And 'Thank You'

It was a very pleasant occasion last year when Arthur Robertson, an Old Boy of the Printing School, came back with another representative of the Ilfracombe Round Table, to present a cheque as a result of an auc­tion held down there. This money was to pay for a new machine to expand the School's wide range of printing machinery.

Reproduced from The Guild Messenger 1979