THE CATENIAN ASSOCIATION - PROVINCE 1

The National Public Speaking Competition Finals 2015
Once again the extraordinary talents of the next generation were showcased at the National Finals, when regional competition winners from across the UK (16 from as far afield as the Isle of Wight, Plymouth and York) came together for the finals held at the Weston Theatre at the University of Manchester on the 13th of September.

The choice of topics available to competitors was certainly wide ranging with 16 options varying from What does feminism mean today?”, “University Fees are stifling education”to “Cheer up! The worst is yet to come”.
The adjudicators, to whom we are extremely grateful for their time and impressive skills, and the audience  commented on the outstanding quality of the speeches and generally felt that the standard this year was the best ever.

The competitors are pictured here with the adjudicators and GP.
(L to R) Karen Carter, Joe James, Wendy Sutcliffe, GP Peter Woodford, Paul McCarthy and Marie Dixon

This year the standards were outstanding once more and  Emily Harry of Notre Dame RC High School in Plymouth, speaking on the theme that “Technology is not necessarily improving the quality of our lives”, was the overall winner. She is pictured here being presented with the Winners Trophy and cheque by Bro. Grand President Peter Woodford.
She also accepted a Trophy and cheque awarded to her School to mark her success.

Pictured left are the three prize winners.
(L to R) Joseph Higham (Leicester) 2nd, Emily Harry (Plymouth) Winner and Edmund Burton (Weybridge) 3rd

We thank all of the competitors for their highly impressive and entertaining talks and wish them every success in their chosen careers.

We will add more pictures from the event to the Provincial Photos Page

PROVINCIAL MASS AT SALFORD CATHEDRAL
This Annual Provincial Mass is celebrated every September and once again was extremely well attended in Salford Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist

Our celebrant was Fr. Michael Jones and Martin Barry led the choir encouraging the congregation swelled by the large Catenian presence in raising the roof at times.  .

Pictured (L to R) are Director Phil Brown and Linda,  Provincial President Peter Purdue and Frances with  Provincial Vice-President Graham Winnard and Hilda.

                                              THE CATENIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AT CARDEN PARK APRIL  2015
We are very short of photographs of this years event but Province 1 was gain well represented with a team very determined to continue their exceptional run of success in recent years. As well as the success in retaining the Provincial Trophy,  Rochdale Circle once again took the Circle Trophy; after 40 years of trying they have managed 3 in a row.   Only one other team from Province 1 – Bro. Gerry O'Rorke and the late Ron Cain from Middleton and North Manchester - has managed to win this trophy since the competition began about 40 years ago.

Congratulations to Brendan Williams and his team, who deserve considerable praise for their success in ensuring the smooth running of the event.

CATENA
The monthly magazine of the Association is available on it’s own dedicated website at http://www.catenamagazine.com/
Congratulations on an excellent site to all involved!
The site includes an excellent reader and an archive of previous editions is also available on the same site.

Benemerenti medal award
Bernard Gagan of City of Salford Circle (102) was awarded this prestigious Papal Honour in recognition of the exceptional work undertaken by him over many years in the Parish of St. Mary’s, Swinton now combined with St. Mark’s, Pendlebury

Bro President Keith Hanrahan is pictured right congratulating Bernard at the July Circle Meeting. In his speech he expressed his considerable satisfaction that, through the example of brothers like Bernard, the Association could demonstrate the spirit of the Catenians in active parish works to brothers, wives, guests and prospective candidates for enrolment

One of the basic aims of the Association is to encourage members to participate in Catholic Action. It is no surprise that many brothers throughout the world have been presented with awards in recognition of their considerable voluntary, charitable works.

The Catenian Association Official Website is at  http://www.thecatenians.com/ and it has a considerable amount of information and further contact addresses. It also has a members area for the mundane parts of the administration of the Association. A welcome addition is the chat area, which is open to all Catenians.

Newsgroup
Due to the difficulties of managing the dissemination of announcements and messages throughout Province 1 via this site, we have set up a separate Newsgroup on Yahoo. It is limited to members of the Association as we do not have the resources to manage unlimited numbers.
The Newsgroup gives all members the facility to add / amend information regarding Provincial events, send out reminders, add photos and upload files, to make them available to all.
We would hope to incorporate the features of the Newsgroup into this site in the future. In the meantime, to read the latest Province1 messages or to apply to join the Newsgroup, please Click Here.