County Central (Holding Branch) Newsletter
Holding Branch Newsletter
Warwickshire County Holding Branch
Newsletter June 2009
Welcome to your Quarterly newsletter. We will try and keep you informed of what has happened in recent months and what is happening in the near future in Warwickshire.
Our 2009 County Conference was held in January at Shire Hall, Warwick and was well attended, the proceedings being recorded in the January 2009 County Newsletter - The Warwick which can be seen at
www.warwickshire.britishlegion.org.uk
The 2010 County Conference will be held in the same venue on the 9 January 2010 – the Guest Speaker is the National Chairman Peter Cleminson. All members of the Holding Branch are welcome to attend.
Highlights of the past six months are as follows:
11.February - Welfare Awareness Forum for Our Partners, at Nuneaton which despite the snow and icy roads was well attended.
18 February – Welfare Updating Course for Case Workers.
18 March – Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet Award’s Evening – 22 Cadet Units raised £31,562 in 2008 an increase of £3k on previous year.
25 March – formation of New Legion Branch at Studley - the inaugural meeting was very well attended.
30 April - Warwickshire Annual Poppy Forum at Bedworth was well attended providing an ideal opportunity to thank and update PAO’s following the Legion’s National Fundraising Conference at Warwick University 27/28 March,
3 May - TRBL Warwickshire Annual 10k & Fun Run in aid of the Poppy Appeal proved yet again to be popular with competitors from athletics clubs taking part – photos can be seen on our website.
16-17.May - Legion National Conference at Eastbourne - nine delegates from Warwickshire being present The decisions of Conference are well documented in the in the June Legion Extra and can also be seen at www.britishlegion.org.uk/
The Legion needs to do more to promote itself, Conference decided, as two motions that called upon the Legion to actively promote itself within the wider community were passed. During the debate Ian Read from Warwickshire said that Branches and Counties need more funds for promotion: “The Legion is the best kept secret since 1921 .We don’t promote ourselves as we should. Give us the tools and we will do the job”
The following motion of urgency was placed before Conference on the second day:
This Conference is concerned at recent reports that almost obsolete equipment is being issued to our Armed Forces and requests the Board of Trustees to pressure HM Government to ensure our Armed Forces receive only the most up to date and modern equipment available
Conference was reminded article 3c of the Legion’s Charter is ‘to relieve suffering, hardship and distress to spouses, children and dependants caused by the absence of those serving in the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force on regular, reserve or auxiliary engagements.' Reference was made to the physical and mental well being of loved ones at home linked to obsolete equipment and if this was not a motion of urgency then what was?
Well history is littered with examples over the paucity of good equipment and so really nothing new – however the delegates voted in an overwhelming majority to debate the motion. It is of course the Legion’s policy not to comment in any way on the deployment of troops in theatre or on any issue to do with their equipment. This motion, which was passed with an overwhelming majority, asks the Legion Trustees to put pressure on HM Government so that our Armed Forces receive only the most up to date and modern equipment.
It was a well attended Conference with motions being well debated, interspersed with humour from the Court Jester from Norfolk.
Ian’s comprehensive National Conference Report can be seen at
www.warwickshire.britishlegion.org.uk
19 June - Warwickshire RBL Dinner to Commemorate Armed Forces Day was held in the Officer’s Mess, Gamecock Barracks, Bramcote – guest speaker
Rt.Hon Bob Ainsworth, Minister of State for the Armed Forces who acknowledges that ”what our troops are doing in Helmund is as hard as anything that the British Army has faced in history,” You can read the exclusive interview with him in the Summer 2009 Legion.
22 June – saw Armed Forces Flags being raised on local authority buildings across Warwickshire at the commencement of Armed Forces Week across the United Kingdom.
Warwickshire has its fair share of Armed Forces Day events on the 27 June and these include:
An Armed Forces and Veteran’s Day Parade at Alcester – hosted by TRBL Alcester Branch - assemble in Bleachfield Street at 10.20am.for 11am Service in St Nicholas Church, Alcester.
An Armed Forces Day Parade and Drum Head Service on the Recreation Ground at Bulkington - hosted by TRBL Bulkington Branch commencing at 6pm.
Living History Groups will be visiting the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum in Warwick on the 27 June. For those interested in Military History then Warwick is also the Home of the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum and the Queens Own Hussars Museum see
www.armymuseums.org.uk
Armed Forces Day provides a timely reminder to all in the United Kingdom of the value of our armed forces and the extent of their deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan which is impacting on the Legion’s case load. Over the past year the number of beneficiaries aged 35 or under has increased by 30%. This points to the growing need for the Legion’s Services.
The Legion County of Warwickshire which includes Coventry, Solihull and parts of South Staffordshire raised £690k last year for the Poppy Appeal, by far the largest amount in the Midlands.
I thank those members of the County Holding Branch who give freely of their time as Poppy Workers or Accredited Caseworkers.
More volunteers are always welcome either as Poppy People or Accreditated Caseworkers for further details please contact the County Manager Sebastian Hargreaves on 0247 316533.
The very substantial public turn out for the return of Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who marched in Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford on Avon and Leamington Spa in early May is evidence enough of the support that our Armed Forces currently enjoy.
Likewise the 65th Anniversary of D-Day
on the 6 June attracted considerable public support.
The Queens Royal Hussars will be marching in Warwick on 9 July - those wishing to attend should be in the town centre by 10.30am. Its an opportunity for members of the County Holding Branch to meet up at the War Memorial in Church Street, Warwick.
Before then we have the:
Warwickshire Royal British Legion
Annual County Parade and Service
Sunday 5th July 2009
At the Church of St Wilfrids, Old Arley on commencing at 2pm.
The Church is fairly small – best to bring an umbrella should it rain.
Those wishing to participate in the Parade both before and after should arrive by 1.30pm. Following the Service there will be a Reception and Gathering with musical entertainment in the grounds of the Wagon Load of Lime, Ansley Lane, Arley, hosted by the Arley Branch of the Royal British Legion.
All members of the County Holding Branch are welcome to attend.
Annual County Standard Bearer Competition 2009
This year’s competition will take place on Saturday 10th October 2009 commencing at 2pm at Hatton Village Hall.
Warwickshire Poppy Launch
This year’s Poppy Launch is being hosted by TRBL Royal Leamington Spa Branch in the Royal Priors on the morning of the 23 October 2009 – the detailed planning has commenced and it promises to be a good opportunity to continue to raise awareness as the continued significance of the Annual Appeal. Timings will follow,
The Challenges which face the Legion are many, not least of which is the gradual reduction in Legion Membership, part of which is due to those who are simply not prepared to go out and recruit additional members or play an active part in the life of their Legion Branch.
Less than 1% of the total Legion Membership responded to the recent Membership Survey. Why you may ask did so few people respond to the survey and why is the Legion loosing some 20,000 members per annum? Each of us will have our own answers to these two questions.
What concerns me is that the Legion County has a population of some 1.4 million people and if 86% of them aligned themselves in some way with the Legion and its Poppy Appeal than that figure would exceed the Legion’s current supporter base of some 1.2 million people nationally.
The challenge which faces us all is how do we reach out, recruit and retain those who are sufficiently motivated to want to join us, as well as encourage those who are prepared to help but do not wish to be Legion members.
Clearly as a County we cannot afford to sit back and wait for the long awaited Membership Review Report, with its action plan to help reverse the decline in membership.
What is needed are sufficiently attractive Branch programmes and to this end I ask you whether you as holding Branch Members would wish to meet periodically with a Guest Speaker?
We have a considerable number of members in the County Holding Branch not all of whom live in the UK. Ideally we ought to meet at least quarterly – or would you prefer simply to receive a quarterly newsletter by email or post – if so please respond direct to me at the County Office. If you have not visited the National Memorial Arboretum, at Alrewas in Staffordshire then I recommend you do. They have a very full all year round programme of events see www.thenma.org.uk/
British Legion Memorabilia Collectors Club
http://www.legion-memorabilia.org.uk/
This website contains a wealth of history relating to the origins of the Royal British Legion and is rapidly being acknowledged by others as an exceptionally useful resource for researchers, historians as well as those interested in social history.
Expressions of interest for those interested in joining the B.L.M.C.C should be sent to the Secretary Bob Rankin, 36 Albert Street, Newcastle under Lyme, ST5 1JR. Tel 01782 444246.
Contributions are welcomed for the next Quarterly Newsletter and should be sent to Mrs L Richardson, Secretary County Holding Branch C/O of TRBL Warwickshire Legion County Office, Top Floor, White Lion Chambers, Rye Piece Ringway, Bedworth CV12 8NY
