Ladies and Gentlemen, Trustees and Members,

Let me introduce myself, my name is Ian Atkinson and I have been involved with We Remember Submariners for the past few years, firstly as a Voting Member and assistant to the Webmaster, more recently as the Public Relations Manager, then Vice-Chairman and following the previous incumbent needing to step down, due to personal reasons, I have unexpectedly assumed the role of Chairman until the next AGM.

So, who am I? I am a veteran of the Royal Navy, having served 32 years between February 1979 and April 2011, with 25 of those years patrolling the ocean depths, on Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines, leaving the Royal Navy as a Chief Marine Engineering Mechanic. I am incredibly proud to have served and love to regale an audience with some of my many adventures. I am a published author of two books, I also ride a motorcycle and have recently started treading the boards. I have been happily married to Anita for 34 years and now live near Bristol, with an aging Siberian Forest Cat, called ‘Squiggle’.

In truth, I wasn’t expecting to succeed my predecessor quite so soon, but I will give it my best shot and supported by a strong group of Trustees and the Management Team we will aim to take the charity forward.

If you have any suggestions for the charity in general, fundraising ideas, merchandise suggestions for the shop or newsworthy events for the website, please drop me a line.

There is much going on behind the scenes, and I look forward to working with you to take our charity forward.

Ian Atkinson

Chairman