This reporting period has been very quiet in the first month but busy, informative and enjoyable in the second. 

April saw no engagements for me. In May, I, along with our Branch Standard Bearer Gavin Eastwood, attended the RBL National Conference in Brighton. I attended as our Branch Delegate and Gavin paraded our Standard during the Ceremonial acts of Opening and Closing of Conference and on the Grand Parade through the streets of Brighton to an Act of Remembrance at the City War Memorial. It was a great sight to see so many Standards parading along, followed by a marching contingent of members from all over the UK. 

Conference is a very informative gathering. The cross over of knowledge from various parts of the UK is not only interesting but informs of the various events that branches get involved in, some of which I hope we can enjoy here in Northern Ireland too. I was also able to speak to various “experts” from the management of RBL services and departments. 

At the time of writing this report, I look forward to the May Fair and our first involvement in it with us having our RBL gazebo on a stand on May Fair Day. My gratitude goes in advance to those volunteers who have stepped up to man this gazebo during the afternoon and to those walking the streets giving out our brand name leaflets. Hopefully, seeing us out might generate more interest in the work of the RBL locally and boost our membership. 

I will be attending the Memorial Parade in Belfast for the 3 Scottish soldiers, murdered by the PIRA in Ligoniel. I will be accompanied by our Vice-Chair Norman Ramsay and Committee member Deirdre Robinson at this event. Oldpark/Cavehill RBL are our hosts, and I look forward to not only paying respects on behalf of the branch but also networking with other branches too. 

Also, this month, we have our Act of Remembrance for Op Telic, which was conducted in Iraq from March 2003 until the final withdrawal of troops in May 2011. This event will be held on Friday 22 May in the War Memorial Park. I look forward to seeing as many members as possible on parade. 

Our final event this month is our Veteran’s Breakfast on Saturday 23 May. Our guest speaker this time is Laura Watson from Veteran’s Support NI. Laura works for the MOD in this very important aspect of caring for veteran’s and I’d like to see as many members there as possible to listen to her.