THE ROYAL BRITISH
LEGION
WATLINGTON BRANCH
NEWS
May 2012
"When you go home tomorrow, don't
expect anyone to know what you've been
through. Even if they did know, most people probably
wouldn't care anyway."
Lt Col Matthew Maer
1st Bn. Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
(Afghanistan 2003)
Branch Matters.
Since the last issue of the Newsletter, membership of the
Branch has fallen to the current total of 195: this drop was
largely the result of a number of members not renewing their
membership for the current year, together with the sad passing of
Mrs Cecilia Leighton, RogerBelson, HenryWitney and Terry Tappin,
may they Rest in Peace. Only two new members joined during this
period, they are Mr D Plumridge, and Dr J Galley. The Branch
committee sends sincere condolences to the bereaved, and extends a
warm welcome to the new members. We also "lost" the youngest member
of our committee; Alex Hicks, serving with the RAF at Benson was
posted away when the RAF decided he would be more useful somewhere
else!
It must be said that our recent efforts at recruitment have not
met with much success, and it is now firmly felt that personal
contact is the most likely method to bring in new members: Each one
of us should endeavour to become a local recruiting agent and try
to recruit at least one new member whether they be friend, family
or total stranger, and don't forget to emphasise that a Service
connection is not a prerequisite to becoming a Legion
member.
Attendance at monthly meetings has also seen a significant
drop in numbers, the average for the last 6 months being only 19,
with the worst in March only 12. This in spite of guest speakers
giving talks on a wide range of subjects both military and
non-military. We are fortunate in that the majority of our speakers
give their time voluntarily, and it would be re-warding to see a
larger audience for their generosity.
On a more optimistic note our Poppy Appeal was a huge
success last autumn when the sum raised was a record £8092.95which
is £734 more than the previous year. The Appeal was launched at The
Cross by Sqn Ldr Aspinall, a helicopter pilot from RAF Benson and
thanks go to him and to our PAO, Penny Boas for all her hard work
organising the collections, and to all the sellers and others who
helped in any way. We were able to add another£3000 from our Branch
funds making our final contribution£11,092.95.The County collection
was over £479,000,and the National total at the time of writing is
approaching£40m,
Garden Fete. We will not be holding a Fete on
August Bank Holiday this year. This decision by the committee has
not been taken lightly, and in fact several lengthy discussions of
the pros and cons took place before we made our decision. The
reasons are many and varied but the following relevant facts were
taken into account before a vote was taken
1. For reasons beyond our control it would have been necessary to
change either the date of the event, or the venue, or both. None of
these options was deemed acceptable
2. We know that a significant number of our team of younger
helpers will not be available this year, and that, coupled with the
advancing years and lack of mobility of some of the old brigade,
would throw a very heavy burden on the few. This situation is
likely to remain in place until we are able to recruit more younger
volunteers.
3. Other events taking place this year, i.e., the Jubilee
celebrations and the Olympics and the Church Fete will be
attracting people's time and money.
Having briefly explained the reasons behind our decision
we would like to apologise to all our supporters for any
disappointment this may cause. You will however still be able to
show your support later in the year when we plan to hold a Bumper
Xmas Raffle....more details of this later.
Other News
Once again the Branch was awarded The Norris Trophy which
was presented to the Chairman at the County Conference in January.
This cup is awarded annually for Branch Efficiency and entries are
judged by the County Conference Committee. Watlington has won it 13
times.
There will be vacancies for the posts of Branch Secretary
and Branch Treasurer at the AGM in November. The current
holders of both these offices have confirmed that they will
definitely be retiring from post, and since the AGM is only a
few months away now would be a good time for prospective
candidates to come forward and start getting involved. Neither task
could be called onerous but there are certain procedures to be
learned and followed. Any interested members should contact either
GeorgePreston on 01844-214287, or Derek Elliott
01491-612288.
Many thanks to Gwen Bishop who kindly decorated a Xmas
tree in our name for the Festival in St Leonard's Church last year:
There were many favourable comments about Jack & The Beanstalk.
We are pleased to announce that Gwen has volunteered to decorate
our tree for this year's festival and we look forward to another
eye-catching result.
A report on the National Conference, and lots of other
information about the Legion, is available for all to see on the
Legion's web site: www.britishlegion.org.uk.
Diary Dates
June 11th.LtCol David Steele; "Combat
Stress".
July9th. Hugh Hinde; "Firearms of the
17th to19th.Century".
August 13th. Andy Russell, "Medal Collecting
as a Hobby"
Sept 10th.Tba.
Oct 8th.Tba.
Nov 12th.Branch AGM.
Dec 1st. Xmas Social.
