Thursday 4 September 2014

Minutes Of The General Meeting Of The Lyme Regis Branch.Held At The Woodmead Halls, Lyme Regis, Thursday The 4th Of September 2014 At 19:00 Hrs.

Minutes Of The General Meeting Of The Lyme Regis Branch.Held At The Woodmead Halls, Lyme Regis,
Thursday The 4th Of September 2014  At 19:00 Hrs.

Present:

Mr Cecil Quick
President
Mr David Manners
Chairman
Mr Tony Smith
Honorary Secretary
Mr Martin Jones
Honorary Treasurer
Mr David Humphrey
Membership Secretary
Lt Col Ross Bennett
Welfare Chairman
Mrs Angela Manners.
Member

01. Exhortation:

The President

02. Apologies:

Mrs Sylvia Marler
Poppy Appeal Organiser

Absent:

Mrs Ania Driver
Welfare Secretary
Mr Kevin Taylor
Member/Parade Marshal
Mr Jon Hunt
Member/Std Bearer
Mr Peter Ward
Member
Mrs Jacqueline Ward
Member

The Chairman stated that apologies are only acceptable if they go through the Secretary.

03. Minutes of the Last Meeting:

The Minutes of the last GM held on the 3rd of July and The EGM on the 31st of July  were agreed as a true record and signed by The Chairman.

3 Jul 14
Proposed
Ross Bennett
Seconded
Martin Jones
Carried:
Unanimously.

31 Jul 14
Proposed
David Humphrey
Seconded
Ross Bennett
Carried:
Unanimously.

04. Matters Arising:

3 Jul 14
Martin pointed out that the Welfare Committee has been dissolved but no resolution has been passed concerning the Account. This will be covered in his report tonight.

31 Jul 14
Martin said that expenditure should be agreed at meetings prior to the event rather than retrospectively. This was agreed as future policy.

05. Additions to the Agenda.

None.

06. Chairman’s Report.

The County Chairman has told me that I am The Chairman of The Branch until The AGM. This should have been an automatic result following the resignation of the previous Chairman.

The Chairman wished it to be Minuted that he is really disappointed by the turnout this evening. One formal, recorded apology: but five absentees.

There was the first Meeting here of the six Branches of West Dorset on the 28th of August, which was attended by The County Chairman and half the Branches. I have called another Meeting with those six Branches on the 22nd of October, but the venue is still to be decided. It is my intention that we go ahead in accordance with The Royal Charter and make this work according to the rules.

Remembrance Day Road Closures. I am attending a meeting tomorrow with TRBL County, Dorset County Council and The Dorset Police concerning new procedures. Control of these closures has passed from the police to local authorities.

The County Committee Meeting will be held in Lyme Regis on Wednesday the 10th of September at 19:00 hours. All are welcome; it is an opportunity to see the County Committee in action.

Use of The Poppy as a logo. It has been noted, and commented upon by members, that a local cleaning firm is using the name “Poppies” and using images of poppies as their logo. This information has been passed to County.

Draft letter to Members. It has been discussed in previous meetings that it would be an advantage if more Members became involved in Branch affairs. This a draft letter addressing this point:

Dear Branch Members,
The Annual General Meeting of The Lyme Regis Branch of The Royal British Legion will be held in The Woodmead Halls on Thursday the 27th of November 2014.
This is your chance to meet the newly elected Committee and voice any concerns, suggestions or ideas you have for The Branch. All The Committee Members have been nominated, you will not be asked to stand so do not be afraid to attend!
What we would like you to do is support the various events that are to take place in 2015.
Annual Dinner at The Lyme Regis Golf Club on Saturday the 25th of April;
Blessing of The Boats on Sunday the 10th of May;
Quiz Night at The Nags' on Wednesday the 20th May;
Fun Run on Armed Forces Day, on Saturday the 27th of June;
Poppy Collections in October and November – please give one hour of your life for those that gave their lives.
Remembrance Sunday - morning Parade. Help to swell our numbers.
Remember, this is YOUR Branch and YOUR contribution can help to keep it alive for YOU.

The Chairman suggested one change: the Fun Run to be on Sunday the 28th of June. Martin agreed to print the final version and members will hand deliver copies.

Dave Humphrey added that it would be a good idea to place a list of Committee Members, with contact details, in The Town Notice Board.

08. Honorary Secretary’s Report.

Everyone has now received the Diary of Events for 2015, the change of date for the Fun Run is the only amendment, so this can now be used as our blue print for next year's events.
Andrew Nicholson has kindly agreed, as he did last year, to sound the Last Post and Reveille at the service in St Michael's Church on Remembrance Sunday

09. Honorary Treasurer’s Report.



Last Report
This Report


03 Jul 2014
04 Sep 2014
The Branch holds
Current Account [NatWest]
£402.44
£398.89

Branch Funds at Head Office
£13,505.42
£13,122.97

Total
£13,907.86
£13,521.86

A copy of The Annual Financial Report was handed to each Committee Member. The HSBC Account has now been closed and The NatWest Account opened. Please peruse the report and ask any questions or raise observations at the next meeting.

The Welfare Account is to be closed and moved to The Main Account, where there will be a dedicated column for transactions. This needs to be agreed at Committee – that The Welfare Account with Lloyd’s is closed and the funds transferred to our General Account.
Proposed
Martin Jones
Seconded
Ross Bennett
Carried:
Unanimously.

D-Day Weekend. There was a charge of £42 for the hire of The Woodmead Halls for The D-Day Dance. I propose that this expenditure, which resulted in donations of over a thousand pounds, be authorised by The Committee.
Proposed
Martin Jones
Seconded
Angela Manners
Carried:
Unanimously.

10. Welfare Chairman’s Report.

NTR. Welfare visits continue.

11. Welfare Secretary’s Report.

Not present.

12. Poppy Appeal Organiser’s Report.

The Chairman passed on a report that everything is in hand and organised for this year. The same number of wreaths as last year have been ordered.
Martin pointed out that the expenditure for the wreathes should be authorised by The Committee so that the subsequent donations can be accounted for correctly.
Proposed
Martin Jones
Seconded
Angela Manners
Carried:
Unanimously.

13. Membership Secretary's Report.

Membership.
I have recruited three new members since the meeting in July and they have all chosen to pay by Direct Debit; this has taken the membership from 156 to 159.
106 pay by Direct Debit.
48 pay by Cash.
2 Life Members.
3 Youth Members

Those of you who pay by Direct Debit should have received cards through the post by now. I am hoping to pick up the cash cards tomorrow when I go to the County Office.

HMS Formidable

1st January 2015
Some relatives of the survivors from the Formidable are planning to visit the town and look at the information in the museum, visit the grave, possibly lay a wreath and then attend a small function and display at the Pilot Boat arranged by the landlord. I think there should be a Legion presence at the function.

6th January 2015
The service took place at 1400 hrs in 1915 followed by the burial in the cemetery. It is my proposal that we have a service at the graveside at 1400 hrs on 6th January 2015. I have been in contact with David Write, the President of the South West Royal Naval Association, who is keen to attend with up to 30 standards; (I informed him that this will be a Legion event). It is hoped that a relation of one of the officers who was lost is going to attend from Australia.
The way I see the event taking shape is: Standards muster Charmouth Road end of the Cemetery at 1345; march off 1350; travel down the cemetery, turn right and march up to the grave. Personnel not carrying standards will be at the grave waiting. A short service to start at 1400 hrs followed by: wreath laying; Exhortation; Last Post; two minutes silence; Reveille; Standards march off. I think the County Office should be informed of this event and the County Chairman and the County Standard Bearer be invited to attend.
After the event there will be a reception at the Inn Place in the Pilot Boat. I have asked the landlord if he could give me a price on sandwiches for up to 30 Standard bearers and he said he would be willing to cover the cost. I have spoken to the Chairman of the football club and he has agreed to let visitors use their parking.
Proposed
David Humphrey
Seconded
Martin Jones
Carried:
Unanimously.

14. Parade Marshal's Report.

Not present.

15. Future Meetings:

The next General Committee Meeting will be held at 19:00hours, in The Woodmead Halls, on the Thursday October the 2nd  2014.


Meeting Closed: at 20:03 hours.