CLUBLAND’S new national figurehead, from the North-East, hopes to finally take his bow at the Club and Institute (CIU) conference weekend, in the spring.

George Smith, the Durham branch CIU chairman, was voted into office as national president of the club movement in December, last year.

But he was unable to chair his first national conference in Blackpool in April, however, when the big club gathering was among the many event cancellations due to the onset of coronavirus.

The union’s national executive committee has now scheduled the next annual meeting for Saturday April 10, as part of the 2021 conference weekend in Blackpool.

Representatives of clubs nationwide will gather to debate and vote on changes to the CIU constitution, as well as hear addresses from Mr Smith and general secretary, Ken Green.

The event venue in Blackpool, which also hosts the CIU Beer and Trades Show, on Friday April 9, has yet to be confirmed.