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J ane Sawyer knows from personal experience what it is like to start a Society from scratch – and she enjoyed it so much she decided to join the New Societies Team (NST).“It was just such a lovely experience,” she recounts of her time setting up High Weald DFAS, “that I wanted to share it with other people.” Since 2011 when Jane joined the NST and became its Chairman, she has helped start 18 new Societies and two more are currently in the development stage. Societies have around 150 members on average, so this means over 2,500 people are now benefi tting from what NADFAS has to offer.Jane lives in Kent and has a background in antiques and interior design. Around the time of her retirement she had her fi rst experience of NADFAS – a study day with Peter Medhurst on the subject of opera. “I’ll never forget that,” she says. “It really fi red me up and I thought ‘If this is the standard that we’re going to be able to stick to, it will be wonderful’.” It made her realise that it was possible to enjoy high quality educational events on a regular basis, even in a rural setting.However, Jane was not the only person eager to make the most of NADFAS, as she discovered when she tried to join: “I couldn’t get in! There were three local Societies, but they all had three-year waiting lists. So I thought, ‘well blow that’ Above Jane SawyerOpposite Tim Newcombe with pupils from St Catherine’s School on a Church TrailMAKING A DIFFERENCEJane Sawyer’s work as Chairman of the New Societies Team demonstrates how one person can make a difference. Now retiring from her role, Jane looks back on some of her best moments“Setting up a Society was such a lovely experience, that I wanted to share it with other people” JANE SAWYER CHAIRMAN, NEW SOCIETIES TEAMXXXXX10 — THE ART OF GIVING