Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 2nd July 2009

Minutes of the General Meeting of the Lyme Regis Branch held on 2nd July 2009 at The Woodmead Hall, Lyme Regis, commencing 19:00 hrs.

Present: The President, Mr C Quick; The Chairman, M K Whetlor; The Vice Chairman, Mr D Manners; The Secretary, Mr M Kirkby; The Treasurer, Mr M Jones; The Welfare Secretary, Mrs A Driver; The Poppy Appeal Organiser, Ms T Hodder; The Membership Secretary, Mr D Humphrey; Mr K Austin; Mr E Bignall; Mr N Hampton - Rumbold; Mrs A Manners
Branch Members: Lt Col Taggart and Wing Cdr Orr.
Guest Speaker: Mr Terry Vine, County Youth Officer.

1) Exhortation: The President

2) Chairman’s Opening Remarks: The Chairman welcomed Guest Speaker Mr Terry Vine, Dorset Youth Officer.
The President has been invited by the RNLI to represent the Royal British Legion at the Lifeboat week Red Arrow's display at 18:30 on 22nd July.
The Chairman informed the Committee about how the Agenda works. The meeting is an official meeting of the Royal British Legion, Lyme Regis Branch. The Agenda is the Chairman’s responsibility to compile and he is assisted by the Secretary who seeks the chairman’s approval for the inclusion of any submitted item. The Chairman wished to ensure that any member of the committee, wishing to say anything beneficial to the Branch, is heard. If anything is required to be added to the Agenda it should be submitted to the Chairman or the Secretary, for the Chairman's approval, in advance of the meeting. The Chairman will then give permission for the Secretary to publish and distribute the Agenda.

3) Apologies: The Vice President, Mr W Reed; Lt Col R Bennett.

• Guest Speaker: Mr Terry Vine, Dorset County Youth Officer, gave a speech on youth affiliation and the mutual benefits to branches and youth organisations.

4) Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 7th May 2009. The Minutes were presented on the night, agreed as a true record and signed by The President.

5) Matters Arising: Corrections to the minutes of the last meeting:
Under “Present”: Add - The Treasurer, Remove - Mr E Bignall.
Under “Absent”: Add - Mr E Bignall.
Under “Item 11: Monthly Draw”. Line 2. Change "The Treasurer" to "The Membership Secretary".

6) Additions to the Agenda: None

7) Secretary’s Report and Correspondence:
a) Item 5 of the last meeting was addressed and answered in a letter sent to committee members.
b) The New Branch Rules have been published to the blog and a hard copy is available for viewing in the library.
c) The latest Legion Letter instructs branches to use headed notepaper purchased from Buckland Press. The County Secretary was informed by the Secretary that paper is usually donated by the Committee members and templates are made using the guidance on the corporate branding CD. Having to buy special paper would be costly and wasteful to branches (if address details change for example).
Correspondence:
Legion Letter containing Remembrance Weekend 2009 Special Circular.
Note that some dates have now passed.
Key dates:
30th June - Applications for Standard Bearers to be with the County Office.
1st July to 31st Aug - Afternoon performance tickets for Legion members available by post from Royal Albert Hall Booking Office.
17th July - Application for evening performance tickets to be with the County Office.
1st Sept - Afternoon performance tickets available to the general public by post, telephone or visit.
ASAP - applications to march with the service contingent of the RBL, if unable to march with your ex service association, to be with the County Office.
Further instructions to Special Circular from County Secretary.
County Newsletter mailing instructions. Returns by 31st July.
June County Newsletter - Note the instructions regarding joint fundraising, for example “Help for Heroes”.

8) Treasurer’s Report: A Copy of the Treasurer's report may be obtained on application from the Secretary.
Total Funds Held: £10,450.69
Large transactions since the last report:
Out: £979 to Head Office for membership subscriptions
£300 donation to the Poppy Appeal
In: £600 entry fees for the branch monthly draw

9) Welfare Secretary’s Report: (edited)2 cases have been dealt with.

The Membership Secretary had noticed that the Welfare contact notices on the Council Notice boards have been covered by out of date council notices. The Chairman will organise the removal of the offending notices.

10) Poppy Organiser’s Report: The PAO has introduced herself to local businesses. Letters of introduction/Phone calls are in the process of being sent to Poppy Collectors. Tesco will allow a collection box on their premises and they are happy for a manned collection to take place outside the store during the Poppy Appeal collection days. The larger businesses will also be contacted.
A parachute jump has been organised by Kerry Humphrey and she will be donating a percentage of the amount raised to the Poppy Appeal.
The golf club has been contacted and they have agreed to allow a day on the new pitch and putt course where the Legion can hold a competition and family day with all money raised going to the poppy appeal. A barbeque will also be provided. The start time would be around 16:00. The club just confirmation of the date from us.
The Welfare Secretary asked if Poppy boxes could be provided for businesses, in particular The Beach House Cafe, that are not open during the winter. Mrs Manners informed the committee that an all year box could be provided but most people were reluctant to have them for fear of theft. The Poppy Appeal Organiser will contact the Cafe to arrange an all year box if they still wished to proceed.
The PAO is concerned that the Lyme Regis Festival of Remembrance is taking place on the same weekend as the Poppy Collection and called for assistance from members to man the door and generally assist her during the evening.

11) Membership Report:
Since the last meeting one member of the Branch has died, Mr Albert Pearson who passed away on 8th of May aged 92.
Four people have joined the Branch increasing the membership from 157, in May, to a total of 160 as of today.

85 pay by Direct Debit
70 pay by Cash
2 are Life members
3 are Excused.

The Branch still holds 17 Legion badges at a cost of £5:00 each.

There are 51 people taking part in the monthly draw, so that means since the last meeting the Treasurer has received a total of £612:00. Of that, £180:00 will go back out over the year as prize money. The remainder of £432:00 is profit for the branch.

Draw Winners
June: £10:00 Tracy Hodder, £5:00 Neil Hampton-Rumbold
July: £10:00 William Kenely, £5:00 Cecil Quick
August: £10:00 Steve Rattenbury, £5:00 William Kenely

12) Events Organiser’s Report: Armed Forces Day was quite successful although numbers weren't as high as had been hoped for. Just over £100 was raised in the raffle and by donations. The Vice Chairman was disappointed by the lack of support from the Committee and hoped that at future events more help would be given such as helping out with raffles etc. The Vice Chairman was also concerned about advertising events. Despite notices being posted around the town and information given on the internet as well as articles written in the local press, the Vice Chairman is aware that information is still not getting through to Branch members. Other forms of advertising must be found. The Chairman suggested contacting the town's paper sellers to see if notices could be delivered with newspapers or with the town council's newsletter. The Welfare Secretary suggested entries in the yellow Diary that is delivered monthly.
16 Members will be attending the Air Day at RNAS Yeovilton on 12th July. The Vice chairman had spent considerable effort organising wheel chairs for mobility impaired guests but the event had stripped the area of available wheelchairs. In future those with mobility problems should arrange wheelchairs themselves in advance.

13) Standard Bearers Activities: None

• The Committee agreed that a letter be sent from The President to the Vice President, on behalf of the Branch, congratulating him on the award of his MBE.
Action: The Secretary.

14) The next meeting will be held on 3rd September 2009 at 19:00 hrs in The Woodmead Hall

Meeting Closed: 20:00 hrs.