Tornado Talk RAF Association Melton Branch & Club Newsletter September 2016 Battle of Britain 2016 September the 18th saw the annual Battle of Britain parade through the town. The parade led by the Melton Toy Soldiers Band consisted of serving personnal from the Defence Animal Centre Royal Air Force Police, members of the Air Training Corps No. 1279 (Melton Mowbray) Squadron, 2248 (Rutland) Squadron and the 1181 (Syston) Squadron and veterans of the RAF Association and Royal British Legion. The parade marched through town to the Egerton Memorial Gardens for a short commemoration and wreath laying service
Branch Members Pay Their Respects On August 16 th Branch Members attended the funeral of the late Keith Glover who had served the Branch for many years. Over this time Keith was an active member fulfilling many roles including Branch and Club Secretary, Chairman and most recently President.
This year s Oktoberfest will be held on Saturday 15 th October and follows the previous year s successful format. There will be a 3 course meal, consisting of soup (with bread), Pork Schnitzel potato salad etc., rounded off with Apfelstrudl and cream. Following the meal Schnapps will be served. Kibworth Band will once again be providing the music and fun with Hans Clappers Oompah Band and compere. A Guest beer will be available from the bar and there will also be a raffle for you to win some superb prizes!!!! The cost for this is 18 per person (the same as last year). We are limited to 50 places so please put your name on the list (in the club) as soon as possible, as 39 people have already done so, a full house creates a brilliant atmosphere. All the monies raised go back into keeping the club viable. Please support the only RAFA club in Leicestershire as it s yours!
Treasure Hunt On the 3 rd of September several teams enjoyed a treasure hunt throughout the town. Each team were giving a question sheet to which that had to find the answers around the town. They also had to collect treasure as they went including 3 beer mats, a piece of lemon, brass rubbings and a selfie in the market place. After the hunt all the teams enjoyed a must welcomed Fish and Chip supper. A big thank you from behalf of all the teams goes out to Laura for organising the event.
Welfare Update - Supporting the RAF Family As you all should already know, the RAF Association is the charity that supports the RAF Family. But what is the RAF Family? The RAF Family consists of anyone who is currently serving or has served in the RAF, Regular or Reserve, their respective partner, spouse and/or dependent children. Parents and close relatives by blood or marriage/civilian registration, whose lives are directly affected by a family member who is serving in the RAF; Contractors and Civil Servants supporting the RAF are also part of the extended RAF Family. The Associations Royal Charter states that: The object for which the Association is established is to promote, through the comradeship engendered by its members, the welfare by charitable means of all serving and former members of Our Air Forces, their spouses and dependants together with the widows and widowers and dependants of those who died whilst serving or subsequently. How many of our 270+ members do we see attending Branch meetings or using the Club facilities? At the time of publication, the Melton Mowbray branch has 272 members, out of which there are 83 members who are aged 70 or older that could well be in need of our support. Is it because of their age or ill health; have they got their own transport or are they struggling with mobility issues which is preventing them getting to the club? Don t forget that you don t have to be old to require our support. If you know of anyone who is part of the of the RAF Family (including Branch Associate members) who are ill or feeling under the weather, please let the welfare team know if you become aware of someone who is ill. As a minimum, we can send a get well card, to make sure that they know they are not forgotten and that we are thinking about them. To quote a recent example, one of our members was ill and was sent a get well card. He told me afterwards that he had never really thought anything about cards as they didn t mean much, but the receipt of a get well card from the welfare team, sent on behalf of all the branch members, really had a positive impact and cheered him up no end. Little things can make all the difference to someone who is feeling down. Right now, there are members of the RAF Family (including Branch Associate members) in the Melton community, including the outlying villages within the Borough, who are lonely and isolated or feeling down. They could be residing in their own properties, residential care homes or the RAF Associations own independent living accommodation on Burton Road and not see a person to talk to for days upon days. Over the past few years, we haven t been very good at keeping in touch with them and if we are to meet our objectives of the Royal Charter, then we need to work harder as a Branch to keep in contact with our members and also to identify those members of the RAF Family, who are not members of the Association, There are things that can be done to make sure our members of the RAF Family are not forgotten. One such thing is to act as the eyes and ears for the Branch welfare team, so if you know of anyone from the RAF Family, or any of our members, who becomes ill or needs our support, then please let the Welfare team (John Jinks or Brian Fare) know by leaving a message at the Club (01664 564 673) or via mobile 07557 363 684.
Wings Appeal A BIG Thank you to those branch volunteers and especially the Staff and Cadets from No. 1279 (Melton Mowbray) Sqn who did the street collections for us on Tuesday and Saturday of Wings week. Your efforts, combined with the takings from the Saturday market stall managed to raise 1,000 for our Wings Appeal, which unfortunately is down by about 20% compared to last years takings. This now brings our total for 2016 to approximately 3,300 to date. Volunteer for the RAF Association Will you help us make a difference? Members of the RAF family could need our help with anything from a visit to help someone who is feeling isolated, to accessing funds to help them buy white goods. Volunteers can help with making those visits or raising the vital funds we require to help a person in need. Right now, there are members of the RAF Family near you who are lonely and isolated. As a volunteer, you could step in to change that. It won t take much of your time and it s a great way to use your skills, give something back and feel good. Naturally, the branch can only provide this support with funds raised from the RAF Associations Wings Appeal fundraising campaign. In 2014, the Melton branch raised over 10,000 for the wings appeal; in 2015 this figure dropped to 6,000 and this year has dropped even further to just over 2,500. There are numerous reasons for this, but one contributing factor is a lack of willing volunteers (and able as some are willing but not able). As a volunteer fundraiser, you could be involved in collecting donations from the public in local supermarkets, or at events; helping to raise awareness of fundraising collections among friends and family, to get them involved and ensuring the public are aware of the work of the Association and what the charity does to support the RAF family. Fundraiser volunteers help to support fundraising activity at large national events or in their local community, as part of the Association s Wings Appeal. If you can spare a couple of hours per month, have you thought about volunteering as a befriender or a fundraiser? If you are interested in helping out and becoming a volunteer to the RAF Family, then please take a look at the attached Befriender and Fundraiser Volunteer Role Profiles (email copies only). Further details can be seen online at https://www.rafa.org.uk/volunteer/roles If you are interested in helping out and becoming a fundraiser or befriender for the Melton Branch, then please let either Brian or Brenda know.
Forthcoming Social Events for 2016 OCTOBER 1 st Bistro Night 9 th Melton Aviation Society Talk on the Guinea Pig Club by Sandi Sanders 15 th Oktoberfest 30 th Kids Halloween party NOVEMBER 5 th Bonfire Night 19 th Melton Now and Then with Arthur Payne 26 th Ukulele Band DECEMBER 10th Kids Christmas Party 16th Christmas Draw
Membership Update We are rapidly fastly approaching the time of year again when you will need to renew your membership for 2017. You should start to receive your renewal reminders during the week commencing 31 st October. You will be pleased to know that the subscriptions price has remained unchanged for 2017/2018. The cost of 1 years membership is as follows: Ordinary Membership - 20.50 Associate Membership - 8.50 (without Airmail magazine) See Note Associate Membership - 14.50 (with Airmail magazine) See Note NOTE: Associate members also have to pay a 6.00 Club membership paid locally at the Club. This will bring your total membership fee to: Associate Membership (without Airmail magazine) 14.50 ( 8.50 RAFA Branch + 6.00 Club) Associate Membership (with Airmail magazine) 20.50 ( 14.50 RAFA Branch + 6.00 Club) Please bring in New Members You may recall at one of our recent meetings, that the Melton Mowbray branch has been tasked by the South East and East Area Chairman to increase our membership by 10%, that s 27 new members we need to get by the end of the year. When you are renewing your membership, why not get your family and friends to sign up and help us to support the RAF Family? To make it easy for you, there is a membership form attached to this newsletter. Just pass it on to those who want to join and get them to hand it in at the Club or post it to FREEPOST Royal Air Forces Association. Please forward this newsletter onto anyone who you know who may be interested in joining.
Calling all Members, Sport Teams & Clubs Have you got anything interesting or any team news you would like to share in your newsletter? If so please share it with us by sending it to amanda.fare@rafa.org.uk Or alternatively leave details in an envelope behind the bar.