Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 4th September 2008 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; Lt Col R Bennett , Vice Chairman; 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; Mr E Bignall; Mrs A Driver; Mr N Hampton-Rumbold; Mr M Lloyd.
Branch Members: Lt Col Taggart, Mr T Rice, Mr J Gratton, Mr J Baddeley.
1) Apologies: Mr M Kirkby, Secretary; Rev J Harrisson.
The Membership Secretary asked those present to remember Albert Curtis a young Lyme Regis man from the Dorset Regiment, who laid down his life this day in 1915 after being wounded at Gallipoli and is buried in the Pieta Military Cemetery Malta
2) Exhortation: The President
3) Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 3rd July 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: A letter has been received from Mrs Diana Cross from Flat 2 Coverdale voicing her support for the branch funds initiative providing the money can be accessed within the four days stated by Pall Mall.The Chairman also has received a letter from the National Vice President outlining the start of the campaign “Return To Rationing” beginning 1st October 2008.
6) Secretary’s Report: The following was read out by the Membership Secretary in the secretary’s absence: "I acquired a copy of the Branch Model By-laws recently as I had discovered that these should form the template for the branch’s own by-laws that I will be updating. These by-laws are based on the contents of the Royal Charter and I discovered at the County seminar that these will be amended and should be available by October. Once I have been able to study the changes I will be in a position to draft a copy of the new branch rules for approval by the Branch and County.I have placed a folder, containing information on the Branch, in the Lyme Regis Library and will keep it updated on a regular basis.There is a copy of the current Branch By-laws as well as a copy of the Royal Charter in the folder for those who don’t have a copy".
7) Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer began by describing the background behind the Branch Funds Initiative and the way that the Lyme Regis Branch invests funds. He felt that the scheme was good for the Legion overall but that Lyme Regis Branch may receive less interest from it than at present. A letter detailing this has been sent to all members. Members were concerned that there would be a loss of local control of funds raised by the branch but the Treasurer assured them that this would not be the case. The branch would still have access to its own funds. Another concern was that money raised by the Branch would be given to other branches but the Board of Trustees have stated that this will not happen. Money deposited in the name of Lyme Regis Branch would only be available to Lyme Regis Branch and nobody else. The Branch Funds Initiative will still begin on 1st October but on a voluntary basis for the time being. The Treasurer has written a letter to the County Treasurer expressing concerns about the Branch Funds Initiative and how Lyme Regis achieves a better return on its investment than that proposed.
8) Membership Report: Despite the sad loss of another member, Mr James Hogg, the membership has risen from 130 to 134.
47 members pay by Direct Debit
80 are cash.
There are 2 Life Members and 5 are excused payment.
The Membership secretary passed an envelope to the Treasurer containing the proceeds of a collection held in the Volunteer Inn following the funeral of Major Buckland.
9) Welfare Secretary’s Report: No money has been received since the last meeting.
£44.40 has been paid to the Taxi service. The Taxi service has cost £374.50 this year.
There is £18.78 remaining in the Welfare account.
£100 was requested from the Treasurer to replenish the Welfare account.
10) Poppy Organiser’s Report: The Poppy organiser was unable to attend the County’s Poppy Organiser event held on the 16th September.
A request to the Town Council has been made for the removal of the crosses and wreaths from the War memorial. The wreaths at the Polish memorial have already been removed.
West Dorset District Council has sent the licence for the Poppy collection. The collection boxes at commercial premises will be displayed between 25th October and 10th November 2008. The street collections will be held on 31st October and 1st November.
11) Events Organiser’s Report: The barbeque took place on 5th August at the Nag’s Head. It was not a fund raising event and costs were met by those attending and the generosity of the Landlord.
Forthcoming Events:
Festival of Remembrance, 26th October at 19:30 in the Marine Theatre.
Remembrance ceremony at the Formidable War grave, 8th November at 10:30 followed by the laying of the wreath on the Polish Airmen’s memorial in Anning road at 11:00. The meeting place for the Formidable ceremony will be in the cemetery just above the Kingsway entrance.
Mrs Driver commented that she would ask Mrs Lavery if she would like her to speak on her behalf at the Polish memorial.
The Remembrance Day Parade will be held on 9th November, leaving Langmoor Gardens at 14:30.
The Two minutes silence will be held at the Cat’s Park memorial on Tuesday 11th November at 11:00. Those attending should aim to get there in plenty of time.
12) Standard Bearer’s Report: None.The question of changing the Standard bearer from a Committee member to an appointed post was raised. The Chairman has not managed to contact the Standard Bearer but both the Membership Secretary and the Secretary have spoken with him and he was happy to go with the Committee decision.
Proposal. To Discuss at the AGM, changing the post of Standard Bearer from Committee Member to an appointed post in accordance with Branch Model Bye-laws November – 2007:
Proposed: Chairman
Seconded: Welfare Secretary
13) Order a stock of Legion Membership Badges to be issued to new members on joining. (Royal Charter – Rule 48):The membership Secretary proposed that the Treasurer purchase and hold 20 Legion Membership badges at a cost of £69.15 (inc p&p). The badges will be offered to members at a cost of £5.00 each making an overall profit of £30.85 to assist in administration costs for the branch. The Events organiser seconded the proposal. There were no objections.
14) Discuss the arrangements for reviewing the status of Excused Payment Members: The Membership Secretary reminded the Committee that excused members cost the branch £55.00 per year and as the Branch does not have an administration surcharge that sum is lost each year. He asked that the Welfare Committee review the arrangements for eligibility of excused payment status before the end of October. The Committee were aware that such a discussion was not proper for a general Committee meeting as confidentiality of beneficiaries had to be maintained. The Membership Secretary agreed with this but had raised the subject so that the Welfare Committee would consider it when they next met.
15) Recommend that the Branch make a donation to the Lyme Regis Town Band’s “Name removed for privacy reasons” Benefit Concert which is due to take place on 27th September at 19:30 hours:
Proposed by the Secretary.
The Committee felt that this shouldn’t be discussed at an open meeting as it was a welfare decision. The Membership Secretary pointed out that the concert was already public knowledge as it had been published in a newspaper article. The President and the Welfare Secretary both stated that such a donation would be illegal. The Vice chairman asked for clarification about the person being debated. This was given by the Membership Secretary from the Secretary’s Report.The Secretary had also asked that all branch members be encouraged to attend the concert to ensure its success.
Further investigation required.
16) Newsletter Update: The Treasurer proposed a newsletter to be published 3 times a year and distributed to all members. An example was displayed to the Committee. It will be published on 2 sheets of A4, printed on both sides. The first issue will be published as soon as possible.
Proposed: Treasurer
seconded: Events Organiser
The Treasurer also mentioned that he would like to see regular monthly get togethers in the Nag’s Head (where the Legion Seal is held), possibly on the first Tuesday of each month. There were no objections to this idea so the dates would be published in the newsletter. The Poppy organiser suggested a book could be held in the Nag’s so that people attending the get togethers could record messages for those absent. The Membership Secretary agreed and informed the meeting that the Secretary had placed a Branch Information pack in the Library and he would suggest to him that the same information be placed in the Nag’s Head.
Mrs Driver asked if there was a remembrance book for local servicemen and women who had died but was informed that the only one in existence was for those who had died in action. This is held in St Michaels Church.
17) Correspondence: The Secretary has written to Bob Emmett for further details about the War Grave tender of Leslie Emmett’s grave. The letter was dated 9th August. To date he has received no reply. He will need further details to complete the application for the Branch Certificate.We received an application for a standard bearer to attend the laying up and rededication ceremony of the Axminster Branch and Women’s Section standards. Unfortunately our standard bearers are both unavailable so the invitation was declined.The Secretary has received a small number of County Handbooks from the County TreasurerA letter has been sent to the son of Major Buckland to thank him for the donation from the church collection at his father’s funeral. A receipt was also sent to Wakely and Sons.
18) AOB:The Membership Secretary requested that the Chairman draws up a 3 year plan prior to the next AGM. Plan to include a review of what we have achieved so far, what we are good at, what we need to improve on and our objectives for the future.The Chairman was willing to produce this.
The Secretary asked when the invitations for the Lyme Regis Festival of Remembrance be will be sent? Will we have a different procedure for entry this year to avoid confusion at the door?
The Events organiser will attend to the invitations. Tickets will be issued with the invitations and they must be produced at the door or the full entrance fee will be requested.
The Welfare Secretary requested that the branch consider recognition for members, who have made contributions to the running of the Legion, in the form of Branch and County certificates.This will be an agenda item at the AGM.
The Membership Secretary requested a date for the AGM.This will be held on Thursday 27th November at 19:00.
The Membership Secretary presented a copy of the Legion Course Dates for 2009.
Meeting Closed: 20:21 hrs.
Please note. The next meeting will be held on Thursday 9th October at 19:00
