County Manager Sebastian Hargreaves Speech
Good afternoon. I would like to introduce myself as your new County Manager. My name is Sebastian Hargreaves and I took over from Alan Mallett in September 2009 following his retirement. My previous roles have mainly been with the Royal Air Force where I completed a Short Service Commission. I worked as a Stn Adjutant, Deputy Chief of support of a NATO organisation and as an Officer Commanding Accounts Flight. Following my service in the RAF, I worked as an Events Manager for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in the West Midlands.
I hope to broaden the appeal of the Royal British Legion in Warwickshire, reaching out to the younger generation, both in terms of the beneficiaries that we help and our supporters that volunteer for the charity. I am aware of the challenges surrounding membership and clubs within the county and I hope that the membership review will bring some useful outcomes in assisting us all with maintaining and indeed developing our supporter base.
We continue to be an office committed to our welfare work, spending approx £400k in 2009. This figure does not include all the welfare breaks and other support services that we offer to our clients. Having joined the Legion at the very start of the Poppy Appeal, I am grateful to all the support and time our volunteers have given to ensure a successful collection in the County this year. Figures this year currently show a 6.8% increase on last year and although we do not have the final figures for this years poppy appeal, the signs are encouraging.
I’m looking forward to working with you all in the months ahead and I would be more than willing to come and visit you all in the branches as and when I can. I can only do this if I receive an invite to attend a branch meeting or social occasion. Please bear this in mind as we enter 2010 and I hope to visit as many of you as possible.
I would like to thank the county staff for supporting me in my first few months in the job. Their commitment to the RBL is unquestionable and they do a fantastic job in their specific roles. Many thanks also to all the volunteer caseworkers and poppy appeal collectors for their hard work during 2009, and finally I would like to thank all of you as members for assisting and supporting the charity. If we are to service the needs of a modern armed forces community then we need to be a modern armed forces charity. I hope that you will embrace this concept as we move towards our 90th anniversary and support us in the national and county plan in the coming years.
