Minutes Of The General Meeting Of The Lyme Regis Branch. Held At The Woodmead Halls, Lyme Regis, Thursday The 3rd Of July 2014 At 19:00 Hrs.

Minutes Of The General Meeting Of The Lyme Regis Branch. Held At The Woodmead Halls, Lyme Regis,
Thursday The 3rd Of July 2014 At 19:00 Hrs.

Present:

Mr Tony Smith	Honorary Secretary
Mr Martin Jones	Honorary Treasurer
Mr David Humphrey	Membership Secretary
Lt Col Ross Bennett	Welfare Chairman
Mrs Ania Driver	Welfare Secretary
Mrs Sylvia Marler	Poppy Appeal Organiser
Mr Kevin Taylor	Member/Parade Marshal
Mr Peter Ward	Member
Mrs Jacqueline Ward	Member

01. Exhortation:

The Secretary.

02. Apologies:

Mr Cecil Quick	President
Mr David Manners	Vice Chairman
Mr Jon Hunt	Member/Std Bearer
Mrs Angela Manners.	Member

As The Vice Chairman is unable to attend, due to a family illness, I will be chairing the meeting this evening.

03. Minutes of the Last Meeting:

The Minutes of the last Meeting held on the 5th of June were agreed as a true record and signed by The Chairman.

Proposed: Sylvia Marler.  Seconded: Jacqueline Ward.  Carried: Unanimously.

04. Matters Arising:

None.

05. Additions to the Agenda.

None.

07. Vice Chairman’s Report.

Not present.

08. Honorary Secretary’s Report.

The County update from The Vice Chairman will have to wait until the next GM.

County Committee Meeting. This meeting will be held here on Wednesday the 10th  of September 2014. Dave Humphrey attended the one held at Ferndown and gave a suggested layout for the small room, the large hall is not available. Volunteers should arrive at 18:15 hours to organise the room. The bar will be open from 18:30 and the meeting is due to start at 19:30 hours and expected to last from three to four hours.

The Vice Chairman should introduce the County Committee and cover health and safety.

Centenary WW1. The Centenary will fall on Monday the 4th of August 2014. After some discussion it was decided to hold a service at the War Memorial to commence at 19:14 hours. The Secretary will contact Rev Jane Skinner to check her availability.

Proposed: Kevin Taylor Seconded: Ania Driver   Carried: Unanimously

Town Notice Board.

There are now four keys to the Notice Board. I hold one and Martin has three: one for himself, one for Dave Humphrey and one for David Manners. In future, any one of us can be approached to post information.

Branch Committee 2014 – 2015. The following Members have volunteered to stand on the Committee in the appointments as shown:

Chairman	Mr David Manners
Vice Chairman	Mr David Humphrey	Note 1.
Honorary Secretary	Mr Tony Smith
Honorary Treasurer	Mr Martin Jones
Membership Secretary	Mr David Humphrey
Welfare Representative	Lt.Col. Ross Bennett	Note 2.
Poppy Appeal Organiser	Mrs Jacqueline Ward
Parade Marshal	Mr Kevin Taylor
Standard Bearer	Mr Jon Hunt

Note 1.

David Humphrey stated that due to work commitments at the moment he does not believe he is in a position to take on the Chairmanship as The Chairman needs to be around at short notice to attend functions on behalf of the branch.

This is the opportunity this branch needs to start a new and improved structure. By this he meant not having the same Chairman sat in the chair for years on end getting stale.

After three years as being Chairman, if another member of The Committee who has done the relevant Branch Management or County/District management course within the last five years, and wishes to be the next Chairman than that should be the case. Trained people in the correct position within the committee structure.

Note 2.

The Welfare Committee has been dissolved.

The former Secretary,  Mrs. Ania Driver, will volunteer to stay on The Committee to assist with The Poppy Appeal.

All nominations were unopposed and so no formal election procedures are required, other than a vote at The AGM.

Dave Humphrey made the point that a strongly worded letter needs to be sent to all members emphasising: the need for attendance at the AGM; meet the new Committee; and offer support during the year to help achieve The Branch's aims.

The Executive Committee will meet to formulate this and arrange distribution.

09. Honorary Treasurer’s Report.

		Last Report	This Report
		01 May 2014	03 Jul 2014
The Branch holds	Current Account	£412.94	£402.44
	Branch Funds at Head Office	£14,250.86	£13,505.42
	Total	£14,663.80	£13,907.86

Notes:

1. The BFI has been debited with £814.00 to pay our membership subscriptions and credited with £68.56 interest.

2. We have two trust funds at Head Office (Nos. TA31 and TL43) amounting to £33,638. The interest on these two trusts amounted to £372.00 last year.

I have spoken with Gareeb Osman at the trust department of Head Office and he has told me that there are no particular restrictions. They can be used for general purpose in line with Legion policy.

I have also got him to send me the forms that we would need to complete to request such a payment to the branch.

In view of the cash position detailed above there seems to be no immediate need for us to call upon these funds. "However it is important that the existence, extent and restrictions applicable to these trusts is properly minuted " and that this information is available to the branch committee members.

3. The new bank account with Natwest is now open and the chequebook has been received.

4. Following Ken Whetlor standing down as chairman it now seems sensible for David Manners to be a bank signatory.

The bank requires that this motion should be minuted and a copy of the minute enclosed with the new mandate form.

Proposed: Martin Jones.  Seconded: Ross Bennett.  Passed: Unanimously.

10. Welfare Chairman’s Report.

No new cases; routine visits continue. Please advise me if any new cases arise.

11. Welfare Secretary’s Report.

Nothing to report.

12. Poppy Appeal Organiser’s Report.

Everything is in place for this year's orders.

I have banked £184.54p from the two D-Day Shows. David Manners has the details of the rest of the money raised that weekend. The raffle from the Dinner raised £121.00 and there was a donation of £20.00.

13. Membership Secretary’s Report.

Since the last meeting in May I have recruited two new members and they have both opted to pay by Direct Debit. Unfortunately this has been off set by the death of one member, and the loss of a Direct Debit payer through a failed collection.

The Membership remains at: 156 members

103 Pay by Direct Debit, an increase of one from May.

48 Pay by Cash, a decrease by one from May (I am very glad to say.)

2 are Life Members. 3 are Youth Members.

Can I just give you a date for the calendar: the County Standard Bearers Competition this year will take place PM on Saturday 11th October, at the Memorial Hall Bovington. I hope, as a branch, we can show support for this event.

Another date for the diary, The Annual Dinner at The Golf Club, is booked for Saturday the 25th of April 2015.

14. Parade Marshal's Report.

There will be training held for the Standard Bearer and Deputy during October, dates and venue to be advised, in preparation for Remembrance Day.

15. Future Meetings:

The next General Committee Meeting will be held at 19:00 hours, in The Woodmead Halls, on Thursday the 4th of September 2014.

Meeting Closed: at 19:35 hours.