This year’s Report begins on a sad note, with the death in May 2007 of Professor John Henry who had served Netherhall House from the 1960s onwards and had been a charity trustee of the Netherhall Educational Association for several decades.  A special article will cover his life and achievements, but I feel it only fitting that I should add a few words, as the end-date of this Report would have marked exactly four decades since I first met John. 

My first full day at Netherhall coincided with the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei, and over coffee a cheerful man in his mid-twenties started chatting to me. On my asking his role, he told me he ‘oiled the hinges’. Thinking he was the handyman, I was very surprised to see him a few moments later addressing all the residents.  It was, of course, John who had just become Director of Netherhall House, taking time out from a flourishing medical career; it was a mark of his self-effacement. 

His contagious good spirits continued throughout his years on dialysis, when residents would regularly visit him in the first-floor room whose bathroom had been converted into a dialysis room.  Philip Sherrington – who also gave his all to Netherhall and who died in 1995 – was his right-hand man.  Very many former residents from that era have been writing in with their condolences, a clear demonstration of the impact he and Netherhall House have had on so many lives. 

John continued living in Netherhall until his kidney transplant in 1976. It was about this time that he became a trustee of Netherhall Educational Association and we have valued all his generous input and time.  John – thank you; and we now rely on your overseeing things from up above!

John saw NEA grow from strength to strength, as the various projects were completed, not least Netherhall House itself, but also the start of our venture in Scotland, the acquisition of the neighbouring property to Kelston, and the significant enlargement of Orme Court with its neighbouring properties.  All of these have ensured a solid foundation for the future.

This year alone has seen a good deal of preparatory work for the launch of the definitive Kelston project, works on which will commence next year, as will works to extend Dunreath in Glasgow, and the refurbishing of the Netherhall House Chapel. 

To broaden the scope of the Charity, we have sought ways of supporting overseas charitable projects, albeit in as yet a relatively modest manner.  This, again, will be covered at length later in the Report, but we have been keen to open up this field of action which has never been easy because of NEA’s own weighty financial commitment to projects in Britain over the years.

We look to 2008 with a great deal of optimism, as it also marks the 50th anniversary of the first visit of the Founder of Opus Dei to Great Britain.  The encourage-ment he gave us produced many of the projects we have since undertaken – but there remains still a great deal to undertake in the decades ahead.

Neil Pickering
Chairman
March 2008