We are very pleased to announce the co-option of Gary and Noreen Kennedy to the vacant role of Non-Executive Director/Director Without Portfolio.
The co-option of Gary and Noreen is one of the benefits of the changes in the working practices of British Naturism. The move toward virtual meetings means that highly skilled individuals who were too geographically remote to attend regular in-person meetings can now contribute and we are likely to see a better spread of officeholders. Gary and Noreen’s location in Northern Ireland is particularly desirable as there are inevitably events shared between Northern and the Republic of Ireland so the sharing of ideas and skills with the Irish Naturist Association (INA) is likely to improve even further.
The second significant deviation from historical methods is that Gary and Noreen will be sharing the single role. Although Gary’s name will be listed with Companies House for legal purposes, they are taking on the role as a team. We believe that time constraints are one of the major factors that discourage members from volunteering for leadership roles, so finding new ways to remove such obstacles will allow more people to be involved.
As the role title indicates, Gary and Noreen will not be joining the Directors with a specific remit, but instead will be contributing to a range of activities as need and their interests direct. The breadth of their previous experience makes them ideally suited to such a role and I’m sure you will all join me is wishing them success.
Gary and Noreen say:
We became involved with a small BN group in Northern Ireland in 2017 and have enjoyed finding out more about the activities available to naturists in NI and beyond.
We volunteered to help in the SANER region and to progress the naturist lifestyle in NI. We have started a monthly Naked Yoga class and have identified a local opportunity for naturist camping in Co. Down, which is really exciting and hope to help make this a permanent facility. We have been running a Virtual Quiz Night for Naturists across the UK each Friday night since the beginning of the pandemic and are working with BHF in Northern Ireland and National Trust to organise an event for the Great British Skinny Dip it Portstewart.
We’ve been naked Hiking in the Highlands of Scotland, spent holidays in Vera Playa and Acorns Naturist Retreat and are looking forward to many more visits. We also won a holiday to Fuerteventura and hope to attend our first Nudefest Alton Towers this year - lets hope it can go ahead! We’ve been married for nearly 30 years and have two adult sons.
As Directors, we hope to add a different perspective to the issues faced by the members of BN and the organisation itself in the next few years. The acquisition of BN Sunfolk and the rise of online events makes it an exciting time to be involved with BN and we look forward to progressing the reach of naturism however we can.
One aspiration we have is to try and establish an recognised Naturist Beach somewhere here in Northern Ireland, the only region of the British Isles not to have one!