COUNTY CIRCULAR MARCH 2016

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1 The Royal British Legion The Royal County of Berkshire and Vale of White Horse COUNTY CIRCULAR MARCH 2016 BRANCH SECRETARIES: Please bring these items to your members attention and display this circular where your members can read it. REGIONAL STANDARD BEARERS COMPETITION The South East Regional Standard Bearers Competition was held on Sunday 14 February at Cobham Village Hall. Our three County Standard Bearers; RBL, Youth and Women s Section, all competed in the competition and the results are: RBL 1 st Mike Foster Greater London District 2 nd Steve Lenard Sussex 3 rd Andy Gale Berkshire 4 th Jean Fawley Surrey 5 th Geoff Lees Kent Youth 1 st Miss Emily Lander Berkshire Women s Section SE 1 st Miss Victoria Moxon Berkshire 2 nd Mrs Elisabeth Woolley Sussex Women s Section Metropolitan 1 st Rita Orange SW Metropolitan Well done to all the competitors, it was a particularly close finish in the RBL competition NATIONAL CONFERENCE National Conference is being held in Eastbourne over the weekend 21/22 May Delegate applications from the following Branches have currently been received at head office: Bracknell & District Newbury (2) Thatcham Winnersh & District (2) If your Branch is planning to send a Delegate to Annual Conference please ensure the application is submitted to the Conference Administrator in Head Office by 24 March at the latest. WELFARE The next quarterly Visitor Volunteer form (VV3) for the quarterly January to March 2016 will be due on 7 April. As mentioned we will include late returns in the following quarter so we do not lose a record of the many visits that are being carried out by Branches. 1

2 HARWELL POPPY WALK - SUNDAY 8 MAY This year's Poppy Walk will take place, once again, at the Harwell RBL Club on Sunday 8 May. There will be three routes of five, ten or fifteen miles, all starting and finishing at the Club. A poster and sponsorship form are attached to this newsletter. Anyone who would like to walk, or can assist in the organisation in any way, is asked to contact Samantha Hickton as soon as possible. Samantha Hickton shickton@britishlegion.org.uk Tel: Please remember that money raised will go into your local PAO account and Samantha should be informed after the event of the amount raised. We are also looking for volunteers to help check walkers in at the start and end of the event, man check-points, run the BBQ and the raffle and also help with setting up and, at the end, clearing up the venue. MEMBERSHIP COUNCIL (MC) ELECTION The MC is responsible to the Board of Trustees for all membership matters. Branches will now have received Ballot Papers for the South East Midlands Area MC representative. There are two nominees: Mike Barry, from Buckinghamshire and Helen Picken from Berkshire. Please do make sure that your Branch votes. Ballot papers must be returned by 25 March. The successful candidate will take office at the close of Annual Conference NATIONAL VICE CHAIRMEN (NVC) AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES (BOT) ELECTIONS These papers should now have arrived with branch secretaries for the elections of National Vice Chairman (NVC) and Board of Trustees (BOT). Branches should hold a full Branch Meeting (rather than a Committee Meeting) to consider the candidates. The Chairman of the Meeting is to complete and mark with a cross (X) on the ballot paper (one for the post of National Vice Chairman and up to three candidates for the Board of Trustees) and return the papers to the Electoral Reform Services, using the envelope provided for that purpose, to arrive not later than 5pm, Tuesday 5 April Please do make sure you comply with the instructions for completing the ballot papers. MEMBERSHIP Members who have not renewed by 31 March will be lapsed by Membership. Payment by cheque is still taking a long time to be recorded on the database; only when this happens is the new membership card ordered and it can take up to two weeks for the card then to arrive with the member. The impact of this on the lapsing process has been raised with Head Office. Meanwhile please continue to do your best to encourage your branch members to renew. The County Committee knows that branches are working hard in very frustrating circumstances to retain members and they are very grateful for your efforts. The easiest and quickest way for a member to renew is to call the Contact Centre on quoting their new membership number (which will be on their renewal letter) and to pay by debit or credit card. MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATION PORTAL (MAP) AND OFFICE 365 The last remaining Branches were set up and given access to the Portal last week. Please use the Portal to check on remaining unpaid members. Branches and Clubs were repaid the Branch/Club fees collected from members and the list of Branch disbursements paid is in the archived reports on MAP. If Clubs require a list please contact the MSO. 2

3 CLUB LICENCES If your branch has an associated Club, please remind the Club Committee that the RBL Licence Application (C4/C5) must be submitted within one month of the Club AGM date as laid down in the Club rules and by 31 March Clubs whose applications are received after this date will pay the full licence fee and those not received by 1 st June will be in danger of no longer being able to trade as an RBL Club. To date just one Club Licence application from Berkshire has been received by Clubs Administration at Head Office. That is from Tilehurst Club. CLUB RENT PAYMENTS A letter should have been received by Clubs in RBL owned properties that GVA have changed their bank account. Rent will be required to be paid into the new Nat West account. DATA PROTECTION GUIDELINES Data Protection guidelines have been issued for staff and volunteers who may access personal information outside of an RBL office (e.g. Membership and Welfare information). Please see the enclose sheet of guidelines. POSTAGE Please check any mail to the County Office has the correct rate of postage for the size of the envelope as detailed in the enclosed guide. ANZAC COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE An annual ANZAC Commemorative Service takes place at the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Brockton in Staffordshire. The Service will take place this year at 10.30am on Sunday 24 April. If member from your Branch would like to attend please complete and return the form on the attached letter as directed. GULF 25 CAMPAIGN The PR team are looking for Legion staff, volunteers and beneficiaries who may have served in the first Gulf War to support The Royal British Legion with media work for one of its current campaigns. The campaign: The Legion is asking the UK government to commit to investing in research to improve the lives of veterans suffering from Gulf War Illnesses. This is because there has never been any published research in the UK into treatment or best practice which would improve the symptoms of this group of veterans and the Legion estimates that there are tens of thousands of veterans who could benefit from such research. Who would we like to hear from? We are looking for anyone from any Service who considers any of the following to apply to their experiences: Has an illness related to their pre-deployment to and/or service in the Gulf during 1990/91 Is claiming a War Pension due to health problems related to their pre-deployment to and/or service in the Gulf during 1990/91 Has completed the Legion s current Gulf War survey Is a close family member of a veteran affected by their service in the first Gulf War 3

4 What s involved? Those who are interested in supporting us will receive a call from someone from the Legion s PR team who will explain the campaign and how we work with the media in more detail. There is no obligation to support us after this call, but if they decide it s something they would like to do, the member of the PR team will record their story and discuss media opportunities, including what they would or wouldn t like to do (for example TV, radio or newspaper interviews). Media volunteers will be fully supported throughout all interviews. They can also decide at any time that they would not like to take part in any more media work. The PR team would like to hear from people as soon as possible. Please contact: Gina Edwards PR Officer (Midlands) Direct: Mobile: gedwards@britishlegion.org.uk COUNTY OFFICE MANNING Jennifer Strange, MSO, will be on holiday from Friday 4 March until Monday 21 March. During this time the County Office will be staffed part time by the Welfare Team and messages left on the answerphone will be noted and re-directed if necessary. If your enquiry is urgent please direct it to the following: For County related matters: County Chairman: Angela Logue a.logue1@btinternet.com tel Other enquiries to: Area Manager: southeastmidlands@britishlegion.org.uk or the Contact Centre tel info@britishlegion.org.uk Branch Enclosures Poppy Walk ANZAC Commemorative Service letter Visitor Volunteer Return Form (VV3) Data Protection Guidelines Postage guide Membership Support Officer: Jennifer Strange T: E: jstrange@britishlegion.org.uk Welfare Rodger Cartwright, Case Officer Ann Bethell & Victoria Gornall-King Advice & Information Officers T: E: Southeastmidlands@britishlegion.org.uk Knowledge base: Community Fundraiser: Samantha Hickton (Mon, Tue, Thurs am) E: shickton@britishlegion.org.uk T: Regional Clubs Relationship Manager, Midlands Pauline Swann, T: E: pswann@britishlegion.org.uk 4

5 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2016 May 8 County Poppy Walk Harwell RBL Club 9am to 10am registration 14 Women s Section Handicraft Day Newbury RBL Club June 1 & 2 RBL Central Band Concert. 12 Windsor Triathlon 25 Armed Forces Day National event is in Cleethorpes, Lincs. St George s Chapel, Windsor Castle Register with Sam Hickton CFR Nationwide September 10 & 11 tbc Thames Path Challenge Around the Edge Walk Register with Mark Garwood CFR Oxon October 2 Blenheim Palace Half Marathon Register with Mark Garwood CFR Oxon 9 Henley Half Marathon Register with Mark Garwood CFR Oxon 22 Armed Forces Raceday Newbury Racecourse Dates of County Committee meetings held at 7.00pm at the County Office, Eversley Road, Arborfield. Reading RB2 9PR 17 March (not 15 as previously advised) 12 May 21 July 15 September 17 November If members wish to attend please advise Jennifer Strange, Membership Support Officer. Standard Bearer Training is on next page.

6 Standard Bearer Training All Standard Bearers in the Royal County of Berkshire and Vale of White Horse are invited to attend training sessions on the dates below: April 3, 17 May 8, 15 June 5, 19 July 3, 17, 31 August 14 September 4, 18 October 2 The training is aimed at all standards of competency and is not compulsory. Entering the County Standard Bearers Competition in October is also optional. Training is held at Tilehurst RBL commencing at 11.00hrs and lasts approximately 1 ½ hours. For more information please contact the County Ceremonial Officer, Mr Phil Shaw tel ; philshaw59@gmail.com