Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 7th May 2009

Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 7th May 2009 at The Woodmead Hall, Lyme Regis, commencing 19:00 hrs.

Present: Mr K Whetlor, Chairman; Mr D Manners, Vice Chairman; Mr M Kirkby, Secretary; Mrs A Driver, Welfare Secretary; Mr D Humphrey, Membership Secretary; Mr K Austin; Mr E Bignall; Lt Col R Bennett.Mr N Hampton Rumbold; Mr M Lloyd; Mrs A Manners

1) Exhortation: Lt Col Bennett

2) Chairman’s Opening Remarks: nil

3) Apologies: Mr C Quick, President; Mr W Reed, Vice President; Ms T Hodder, Poppy Appeal Organiser

4) Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 5th March 2009. The Minutes were presented on the night, agreed as a true record and signed by The Chairman.

5) Matters Arising: The Vice Chairman asked why the Standard Bearers report had become his responsibility. The Secretary replied that since the post of Standard Bearer had been changed to an appointment rather than a Committee position the best person to give the Standard Bearer’s report would be the Events Organiser as the Standard Bearer attends events. The Vice Chairman at present carries out the role of Events Organiser. The Chairman stated that he was willing to give the Standard Bearers report as he lived nearby.

6) Additions to the Agenda: i) To waive the entrance fee for the 2009 Festival of Remembrance.
Proposed: Chairman.
Proposal defeated.
Lt Col Bennett made a proposal that the entrance fee be reduced to £3 per head with a voluntary collection taken during the festival.
Seconded: Vice Chairman
Proposal Carried

ii) a. The Welfare Secretary requested the committee to provide feedback from any assistance given to beneficiaries so that should further help be required from the branch then she would have some knowledge of the case. The Committee was also requested to inform the Welfare Secretary of any beneficiary that was suffering serious illness or had been hospitalised so that she could arrange a visit. The combined local knowledge of the Branch would be greater than that of the Welfare Secretary working in isolation.
b. The Welfare Secretary had obtained some youth information packs from Headquarters and these have been passed to the Secretary.
c. The Over 50’s Forum has invited Lt Col Fairman from County to give a talk on the work of The Legion on 27th Mayat 15:00 in the Masonic Hall. The Welfare Secretary has already posted notices around the town and placed adverts in some of the free publications. She asked the Committee if there was anywhere else where the meeting could be publicised. The Membership Secretary suggested the Parish Magazine.

7) Secretary’s Report and Correspondence:
i) 27th April. Enquiry made to County Training Officer to arrange a place on the December Branch Management course for Lt Col Bennett. The County Training Officer will contact Col Bennett directly. The Treasurer has also spoken with the County Training Officer and he has confirmed that Lt Col Bennett has been booked on the 6th December course at Basingstoke.
ii) Terry Vine has been booked to address the Committee about youth affiliation at the next meeting on 2nd July.
Correspondence Received:
i) Final Agenda for the 2009 Annual Conference. Charter Motion 5, Motion 10, and Motion 16 may be of particular interest to the Branch.
ii) Annual Reports and Accounts for 2008
iii) The Branch Rules have been approved by the County Chairman and returned to the Secretary. The Secretary asked how best to make the rules available. The Committee decided that a copy should be made available in the information pack in the Town Library and published on the internet.

8) Treasurer’s Report: The Branch won £5 in the 500 Club draw.A Branch donation of £300 was made to the Poppy Appeal (A copy of the Treasurers financial report may be obtained on request from the Secretary).

9) Welfare Secretary’s Report: One Welfare case, reported by the Chairman, has been successfully concluded.
An investigation into the geographical boundaries for welfare has discovered that Bridport Branch boundary extends up to and includes Charmouth but Bridport are happy to discuss any borderline cases.
All Welfare accounts signatories are now up to date and the Welfare balance is in the black.
The Welfare telephone number has been publicised at various locations within the town.
County are currently dealing with one referred Welfare case and there is another ongoing case with hospital transport.
The Vice Chairman reminded all present that the Taxi service was solely for medical reasons and was only for the use of beneficiaries ie Servicemen, Veterans or dependants in need.
The Vice Chairman asked if it would be possible for all members of the Committee to have a list of members and beneficiaries. The Secretary and Membership Secretary were of the opinion that it wouldn’t be helpful as members are not necessarily beneficiaries and vice versa. In fact nationally beneficiaries far outnumber the Legion membership. Lt Col Bennett proposed that the County Secretary be asked how other branches deal with this question. (Action Secretary)

10) Poppy Organiser’s Report: A wreath has been ordered for Rogation Sunday (Blessing of the Boats) on 17th May. The Vice Chairman and Mrs Mannners are unable to attend.Prizes for the quiz raffle on 18th May were requested.
Mrs Manners, Poppy Appeal Organiser for the last 15 years, had originally intended to stand down as Poppy Appeal Organiser at the end of May but will instead hand over to Ms Hodder with immediate effect following communication from Aylesford.

11) Membership Report: Since the last meeting we have lost one member through non payment of Direct Debit (HQ could not collect it after several attempts), and the person concerned cannot be contacted as he has moved away. So after consulting HQ that person has been removed from the register. The good news is another six members have been recruited since the last meeting in March, taking the total membership of the branch to 157.
84 pay by cash
68 pay by direct debit
2 are life members
3 members are excused payment.
Membership Badges:
A third batch of twenty has been purchased. There are 17 remaining at a cost of £5.00 each. All profits from badges already sold have been handed to the Treasurer.
Monthly Draw:
48 People have responded
29 Cheques and £108 have already been received. The Treasurer expected to be able to get 50 people involved this year.If approved the first draw will take place on Armed Forces Day, 27th June 2009 and 11 subsequent draws will take place at the Committee meetings. There will be a first prize of £10 and a second prize of £5 each month.
To Host the draw as detailed.
Proposed: Membership Secretary
Seconded: The Chairman
Proposal Carried.

12) Events Organiser’s Report and Standard Bearers Activities:
Quiz Night this year will take place at the Nag’s Head at 19:30. The Committee are requested to bring prizes for the raffle.
Veteran’s Day has now sadly been renamed as Armed Forces Day. The Events Organiser has tried hard to think of something to commemorate this event but neither he nor the Committee were able to find anything fitting. The Membership Secretary reminded the Committee that he had planned the first draw on this day and hoped that something could take place even if informal.
A sponsored walk had been planned in conjunction with another charity where the funds raised would have been shared, however money was needed by the other charity for an urgent and potentially life saving purpose. The walk will still take place but funds will not now be raised for the Legion.

13) The next meeting will be held on 2nd July at 19:00 in the Woodmead Hall.

Meeting Closed: 20:00hrs.