It has been my privilege and an honour to have served you as President for five years but the time has come to move on – not through any misguided notion that I have been in post for too many years or that I am holding up the election of someone else on whom to bestow the honour as that would only demean the Office. I stand down for personal and professional reasons which require my attention and considerable commitment.

In the choice of a new President of the Centurions I express the following observations:

	The President does not compare to that of a Club or National body. It is in my view unique.
	The President should be for Life as was agreed at the Centurions meeting of January 1973 at Imber Court
	A President when elected should be aware of his/her popularity and respect without having to seek re-election every year. Should he/she be ill or otherwise incapacitated I am sure he/she would either stand down or the Committee would take appropriate action eg. the Past President or a Vice-President would officiate in his/her absence.
	If the Committee realise that the President does not measure up to the stature of the Office or is consistently absent they would take action.

It is interesting to note that in the Lancashire Walking Club programme for the 2001 Manchester to Blackpool race, the Centurion President was referred to as the President of the World Centurions.

I suggest that as the UK were the first Centurions and there are now many other countries with Centurions we should revert to having a Life President who is well known and respected. It is a matter of regret for me that in 1997 a motion that the Presidency should be for Life was defeated.

Yes, it is true that there are many good Centurions worthy of consideration and I recollect that when I discussed the matter with the late Harry Taylor C178 he said, "Centurions do not seek honour" I think this applies as much today as it did then.

I wish the Centurions well in the future and I thank them for putting their trust in me as President. It has been a most rewarding time.

John Eddershaw
C299

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