WATLINGTON
BRANCH
NEWSLETTER MARCH
2010
Membership News.
Since the turn of the year for various reasons we have sadly
"lost" 9 of our members: One moved to France and transferred his
membership there, two moved into care homes, five failed to renew
their memberships after three reminders, and the Last Post was
sounded for Syd Wilkins. New members who have joined since our last
newsletter was published are Miss C Pearson, James
McConville, and Mike and Penny Boas. A
warm welcome is extended to them all, and our membership now stands
at 225.
Branch Matters.
Meetings: The move to the second Monday for our monthly
meetings in the Memorial club has been well received by most
members although inevitably a few of our regulars are unable to
attend due to other commitments. The January meeting was cancelled
because of the severe weather, and Wing Commander Steve
Molsom, RAF
Benson, who
should have been our guest speaker then will now be visiting us on
10th May. Future speakers already booked areMalcolm
Wills, from Thames Valley Police Crime Prevention Squad on
12th April; Tony Hobbs, retired
Queen's Waterman on 14th June; in July a
serving TA Officer/Pharmacist recently returned from a
tour of duty in Afghanistan will be visiting us; and in
September ex Royal Marine Gavin Stewart who trekked up Mt
Kilimanjaro in December will be talking about his trip.
Welfare: Happily we can report that all requests for
surgery/hospital transport have been met as were all other requests
for help. However we do rely on you to provide information to us
and if you know of any ex Service person who needs the sort of
assistance we can give please do let us know.
Events: In March a small group enjoyed a very pleasant
visit to the REME Museum, Arborfield which was organised
by Alec Powell, and the success of this trip has
encouraged us to consider more such visits to places within easy
car driving distance. (Details will be given out at meetings, if
you are interested but can't get to meetings send the secretary a
note). It's early days yet but we are already thinking
about the Garden Fete which is normally held on August
Bank Holiday Monday; and looking further ahead we are seeking ideas
for a suitable way to mark
the 90th Anniversary of the Legion next
year. Any suggestions would be welcome. Meanwhile, in
July, our member John Green will be trekking the Freedom
Trail across the Pyrenees with the Legion team to raise money for
the Poppy Appeal. This is a 4-day trek which covers 50 miles and
reaches a height of 2,600 metres testing the participant's strength
and resilience in every shape and form, crossing snowfields,
negotiating gigantic granite boulders, in varying climates and
carrying equipment. If anybody would like to sponsor John in this
adventure (and many of you already have) your donations can be sent
to the secretary at the address below, and it will all go to the
Poppy Appeal.
At the County Conference in January, Branch
Chairman Dick Stillwell, collected a certificate awarded
for second place in the Norris Trophy competition for
Branch efficiency. First place went to Woodstock Branch.
Other Matters.
The Legion's Return to Rationing campaign scored an
important victory last November with the passing of the Welfare
Reform Act 2009 enabling the change of name of Council Tax
Benefit to Council Tax Rebate. The Legion lobbied hard
for this change and envisages that many more older members of the
ex-Service community will be encouraged to claim the rebate to
which they are entitled.
The Legion worked successfully with Help for
Heroes last year on three national fund raising projects: Both
charities benefited from the additional income generated
and the Legion took every opportunity to raise public awareness of
the extent of our welfare work. Last year we spent more than
£I million a week helping over 130,000 members of the Armed Forces
Family, including providing financial assistance to 10,000
Service personnel recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. The
Legion also represented a third of all the appeals for higher
compensation payments for injuries suffered in Afghanistan.
And Finally.
Some thoughts on Old Age:
An elderly man had serious hearing problems for a number of
years and finally went to the doctor who fitted him up with a set
of hearing aids allowing him to hear 100%. A month later he
returned to the doctor who told him "your hearing is perfect; your
family must be really pleased". The man replies "oh, I haven't told
my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations;
I've changed my will 3 times already!"
