Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 3rd July 2008

Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 3rd July at The Woodmead Hall, Lyme Regis, commencing 19:00 hrs.

(These minutes have been edited to protect the privacy of members and beneficiaries. A full copy is available to members on request from the Secretary

Present: Mr C Quick, President; Mr K Whetlor, Chairman; Mr M Kirkby, Secretary; Mr M Jones, Treasurer; Mr W Reed, Welfare Secretary; Mr D Humphrey, Membership Secretary; Mrs A Manners, Poppy Organiser; Mr D Manners, Events Organiser; Mr K Austin.
Branch Members: Lt Col Taggart and Wing Cdr Orr

1) Apologies: Lt Col R Bennett, Vice Chairman; Rev J Harrisson; Mr N Hampton-Rumbold.

2) Exhortation: The President.
All present were asked to remember, in silence, our former Vice President, Major Stuart Buckland who passed away recently.
Following the Exhortation, the President addressed the meeting with a request that we appoint a new Vice President to succeed Major Buckland. He suggested that Mr W Reed be appointed. This was proposed by the Chairman and agreed unanimously by all present.

3) Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 1st May 2008. The Minutes were presented on the night agreed as a true record and signed by The President.

4) Matters Arising: None

5) Chairman’s Report: None

6) Secretary’s Report: The National Branch Management Course, at Bracknell, was attended by both the Secretary and the Membership Secretary between 20th and 22nd June 2008. Both found the course extremely useful and interesting and strongly recommend that more Committee members attend future courses as they become available.

7) Treasurer’s Report: The Welfare Secretary requested another £100.

8) Membership Report: despite the sad loss of Major Buckland, membership has increased from 129 to 130 Members.
43 members pay by Direct Debit
79 are cash.
There are 2 Life Members and 6 Excused payment.

9) Welfare Secretary’s Report: (Edited)The Welfare fund statement was given to the Committee.
One Beneficiary received a petrol allowance.
The invoice for the Taxi Service has been received.
The welfare Secretary requested an additional amount for the Welfare Fund from the Treasurer.

10) Poppy Organiser’s Report: The Poppy Appeal National total for 2007/2008 has been confirmed to be in excess of £30,000,000. Lyme Regis Branch has contributed £5906 to that total, compared with £4415 for the previous year.
The Poppy Appeal Organiser requested that the minutes show that the “men’s section” had not made a donation to last years appeal but would be expected to do so this year.
The 2008/2009 appeal starts early this year with shop collections between 25th October and 10th November. The Street Collection has been booked for 31st October and 1st November.
A new addition to the poppy range is a self adhesive poppy which should be available in limited amounts this year. This is not to be confused with the peel off labels that are usually given to children.
The raffle on Veterans night raised a total of £47.80 once the cost of prizes (£26.43) had been deducted.
The Poppy Appeal Organiser informed the Committee that the Secretary had located some blank cards with Legion logos available through Supply Lines. She asked that the Secretary order 50 to be sent to hospital patients when required. Action: Secretary.
The Membership Secretary queried the dates allowed for Poppy sales, reminding the Committee that the Legions Closed period (where all donations to the Legion are automatically given to the Poppy Appeal) runs from 14th October to 14th November. The Poppy Appeal Organiser replied that the rules were local rules applied by the District Council so as not to clash with other charities collections.

11) Events Organiser’s Report: The Veterans evening on the 26th June was a success although areas for improvement have been noted by the Events Organiser. There were approximately 50 people in attendance. The Events Organiser is committed to ensuring that Veterans Day events should not take on a memorial role as has been seen on some of the national news coverage. It should instead be a celebration by surviving Veterans as the Veterans Agency intended it to be.
Tuesday 5th August is the Barbeque Evening to be held at The Nag’s Head at 19:00 Hrs. The landlord is supplying the food but donations will be sought from those attending.

12) Standard Bearer’s Report: None. Absent

13) Branch Funds Initiative: The Secretary referred to the letter from Head Office entitled “Branch Funds –The Way Forward” and other documents published with the Agenda.
October 2008 is the date set by the Board of Trustees for Branch Funds to be transferred to a central account system. Branches will be allowed to hold up to £1000, an increase on the previous proposal which would have only allowed £200 to be held by each Branch. Anything above that is to be transferred to the central account where it will earn interest at the Bank of England Base Rate. The amount of money deposited by Branches will still be available for use by the branch for any purpose permitted by the Royal Charter.
At this year’s Annual Conference delegates voted to urge the Board of Trustees to rescind this decision however the Board is not legally bound to obey that instruction. It is unclear at present what action Branches should take however, the Secretary reminded the Committee that whatever Lyme Regis Branch decide they should bear in mind that any money collected by the Branch is public money donated for the use of beneficiaries in accordance with the objects of the Royal Charter.
The Events Organiser commented that the RNLI conducted a similar exercise to centralise funding and despite initial resistance the system is now running very well.The Welfare Secretary asked if Head Office had access to individual Branch Accounts but the Secretary replied that Head Office would only administer the account and would not have authority to draw on the funds or allocate them to another Branch.The Membership Secretary mentioned that although some Branches manage their funds well others were quite content to deposit funds into a low earning savings account and this was costing the Legion more than £500000 in lost interest.
The Treasurer stated that our Branch Funds could not be transferred at present as there is a minimum investment period before the money could be withdrawn from its existing account. The Secretary replied that branches can make a request to hold in excess of £1000 and this would be a valid reason. The Membership Secretary drew attention to the fact that the central fund would be available for use almost immediately which is better for our beneficiaries.
The Welfare Secretary asked if money would still be available to him as it is at present. The Secretary replied that so long as money was being used in accordance with the Objects in the Charter then there shouldn’t be a problem.
The Secretary had e-mailed Head Office to enquire what would contingency plan had been made in the, albeit, unlikely event of a Bank failure and had received the reply that the funds although administered centrally would be spread around the four major banks to minimise risk. The credit rating of these banks is only slightly less than that of the Government.The Committee decided to await further instruction from County and Head office before committing the funds to the Central account.

14) The Future of the Western Area Group: The Chairman hasn’t heard from the President of the group for approximately 2 years. He has had discussions with the Treasurer of the group and it was decided that the funds held by the group be donated to the County fund. The Group has not been closed yet but each Branch should be asked whether to continue with the group or request to County that it be closed.
The Membership Secretary asked what the purpose of the group was and the Chairman replied that he felt that it was formed with the purpose of one day becoming a Branch if individual branches became too small.
The Committee recommended that the Western Area Group be disbanded. The Chairman will inform other members of the group of Lyme Regis Branch’s decision. Action: Chairman

15) Discuss changing the post of Standard Bearer from Committee Member to an appointed post in accordance with Branch Model Bye-laws November – 2007: The Membership Secretary opened the discussion by assuring the Committee that he fully supported the current Standard Bearer and that what was to follow should not be interpreted as an attempt to remove him.
Under current Branch rules and practice the Standard Bearer is a member of the Committee and is expected to report to the Committee at Branch meetings. Due to the Standard Bearers work commitments this has not been happening and apologies for non attendance have not always been received. The Minutes of any meeting are legal documents and may be audited by County or Head Office and questions may be raised as to why the Standard Bearers report is always left blank. The issue of non attendance also leaves the Standard Bearer in an awkward situation as under current Branch Rule 16 any member of the Committee who absents himself for 3 consecutive meetings without sufficient reason is deemed to have resigned.
The Secretary commented that under the Model By-Laws authorised by the Membership Council the Standard Bearer does not have to be a Committee post but may be appointed by the Committee. He would not have to appear at meetings in person but details of his engagements would be handled by the Events Coordinator. As an interim measure his report could be removed from future agendas until the new Branch Rules have been presented and approved.
The Poppy Appeal Organiser asked if he could still be sent minutes of meetings so that he would know what events he would need to appear at. The Secretary assured that he would still continue to send the minutes to him.
The Chairman was concerned that the Standard Bearer might feel that he had a suffered a loss of status by not being a Committee member and wished to speak to him personally to gauge his reaction before any further decision was made. The Secretary stressed that there was no intention that the importance of the Standard Bearers position was in any way reduced by this but it would ensure that the Standard Bearer could continue doing the job he does best without the hassle of attending meetings. In any case the decision to change the post would not take place until the new Rules were agreed, probably at the next AGM. The immediate concern was to remove the need for a report at Committee meetings.The Chairman proposed that this be postponed until the next meeting to allow for consultation and that the full proposal to change the Standard Bearers post to an appointed position be carried to the next AGM.
Action: Chairman, to discuss this item with the Standard Bearer.

16) Correspondence: Royal British Legion Industries Price List. The administration forms have now been moved to the Poppy Appeals department and requests for replacement literature should now be made to them.
Legion NewsletterBranch Funds Initiative – The Way Forward, explains how the Centralisation of Branch Funds will be managed.
Remembrance Weekend Special Circular, contains dates and timings for buying tickets for the Annual Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall.2007 Royal British Legion Annual Accounts.
Dorset County Newsletter
Follow in their Footsteps and A Trip to Remember, Legion Travel information containing details of battlefield tours for this year including educational tours for schools.

17) AOB: The President presented a request from Mr Bob Emmett to grant some form of official thanks or recognition to the person who tends his brother’s grave in The Netherlands. The President suggested a Branch Certificate of Appreciation might be appropriate.
The Secretary added that he had spoken to the County Chairman and had been told to complete the citation form requesting such a certificate. Action: Secretary
The Events Organiser reminded the Committee that the Lyme Regis Festival of Remembrance would take place on Sunday 26th October 2008.
Wing Cdr Orr mentioned that there had not been sufficient advertising of the Veterans Day event. The Events Organiser replied that details had been posted around the town, on the notice board, the web site and in the local newspaper. The Membership Secretary added we might be able to request an entry in the Parish magazine to publicise future events. The Events Organiser explained that to advertise events in the local newspaper cost money unless it was reported as a news article in which case it was subject to editorial control and not guaranteed to appear. The Secretary also suggested that a folder could be placed in the library and items of interest added on a regular basis.

Meeting Closed: 20:03hrs.

Please note. The next meeting will be held on Thursday 4th September 2008 at 19:00