Warwickshire County RBL Update
Warwickshire Update
Warwickshire was one of the first to have a County Plan - Towards 2010 and Beyond, launched in Shire Hall, Warwick on the 12th June 1994 - sending a clear message - we intend to continue to do all that is asked of us and much more.
The County remains active as is evidenced by our achievements these past 16 years. 2009 saw the retirement of our County Manager, Alan Mallett who joined us in 1994 and we have much to thank him for. The enclosed Appendix gives an indication of the extent of Warwickshire Legion Activity since October 2008 to date. Our Planner for 2009 is also in this format.
Alan’s replacement Seb Hargreaves is proving to be an excellent appointment. Our Staff Team is functioning well, enhanced by the appointment of Gail Collins, our Community Fund Raiser in 2009.
The growth in the Warwickshire Poppy Appeal from £230.3k in 1993 to a staggering £690k in 2007 is due in part to Alan’s enthusiasm, as well as the effectiveness of our very well attended Annual Poppy Forums thanks to the dedication of our veritable army of Poppy Workers. High profile Annual Poppy Launches within Warwickshire continue to attract the attention of the media. The resultant publicity drawing attention to the Legion’s Poppy Support Services - hence increased requests for Welfare support.
22 Cadet Units took part in The Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet Forces Competition in aid of the Poppy Appeal 2008 raising £31,562 an increase of £3k over 2007.
As at the 1st December 2009 the Warwickshire Poppy figures of £471.8k are £20.4k up – effectively a 6.8% increase over the amount banked at the same time last year.
The funds raised in the name of the Poppy within Warwickshire are matched by expenditure of a welfare nature to those in proven need within the Service and ex-Service Community. In a typical year we now help more than 700 people, thanks to the work of our sizeable voluntary caseworker team, admirably supported by our two County Welfare Officers. We also run an Annual Welfare Awareness Seminar with our partners and this provides a pool of potential new caseworkers.
2009 saw the re-opening of TRBL Studley Branch. One of our smaller Branches Hatton and District took the decision to merge with Warwick in 2009. One small Branch – Amington decided to close, despite efforts to encourage new members.
| Warwickshire Members |
At 1-10-08 |
New Members |
losses |
Total at
1-10-09
|
Variation |
| 11 Branches with Clubs |
4554 |
439 |
(667) |
4326 |
(228) |
| 36 other Branches |
2071 |
133 |
(283) |
1921 |
(150) |
| Youth Members |
4 |
- |
|
4 |
|
| 47 Branches s/total |
6629 |
572 |
(950) |
6251 |
(378) |
| 1 New Branch |
|
27 |
|
27 |
27 |
|
(1 branch Closure)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 47 Branches Total |
6629 |
599 |
(950) |
6278 |
(351) |
Legion Branches with Clubs accounts for 70% of our members. Clubs are not immune from the recession and unfortunately 60% of our net membership loss occurred in Branches with Clubs. The majority of our Branches continue to recruit members; those that don’t are being encouraged to do so. Legion Branches are an integral part of our local communities and those with innovative attractive programmes attract community interest and support. Our oldest surviving Branch Alcester formed on 3 June 1921 organises an exceedingly well supported Annual Remembrance Concert.
Warwickshire has updated its web site to the new format and we produce a quarterly newsletter which is also available on line. click here
Philip Wilson, County Chairman TRBL Warwickshire 15 December 2009
