Newsletter NOVEMBER 2017

Transcription

1 The Royal Air Forces Association Wales, Midland & South West Area Headquarters & South Western Office RAFA House, Chancel Lane Pinhoe, Exeter, EX4 8JU Tel: Wales, Midland & South Western Area Newsletter NOVEMBER 2017 AREA CONFERENCE AND REUNION 2018 CHELTENHAM CHASE HOTEL, BROCKWORTH, GLOUCESTER Area Council is delighted to advise that accommodation bookings can now be made for next year s Area Conference and Reunion which will take place over the weekend Friday 23 March to Sunday 25 March 2018 at the Cheltenham Chase Hotel, Shurdington Road, Brockworth, Gloucester, GL3 4PB. The Chase proved to be a popular venue in 2016 please don t be disappointed by leaving your booking too late rooms will be taken up on a first come first served basis. Here are the details you need for your booking: Please call and quote the date of your arrival followed by RAF Association preferential rate. The following rates have been agreed: 130 per person for 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast when sharing a double or twin room. Both evening meals will be a 3-course dinner. A single supplement of 30 per room per night will apply. For those wishing to stay for just the Saturday night (24 March) dinner, bed and breakfast rate sharing a double/twin room - 80 per person. You will be asked to make a 25% deposit at the time of booking. For those planning to attend Conference as non-residents and looking to have the Saturday evening dinner - 35 per person. Please call the Hotel direct on and ask for Hayley Cannock who will maintain a list of Saturday evening dinner requests. For those who are considering attendance for the first time at the Chase, you ll find plentiful parking on flat and level ground, with very few steps inside the hotel and with elevators that work! Council will come out to branches and members in due course with more detail regarding the content of the weekend; suffice to say, there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss plans for next year s RAF Centenary, to receive updates on business and governance aspects, to hear from today s Royal Air Force, to meet members of the local Branch at Gloucester and, most importantly, to catch up with old friends and have fun!

2 AREA MEMBERSHIP UPDATE One last push this year will see us achieve the target of 12 per cent net growth in membership a fantastic effort let s see who wins the membership trophies at next year s Area Conference! If you want some branch silverware then now s your chance RETURNING BRANCH WINGS APPEAL MONIES Thank you to all our Wings Appeal organisers, branch members and their families and friends for all the support which has been shown towards the Wings Appeal this year. We have seen a multitude of events taking place across the country such as collections, quizzes, dinners and concerts, with all of them raising funds for the Wings Appeal. We are so appreciative for all these activities as we are acutely aware of how much effort goes into running a successful event. Please have your branch final Wings monies returned to the Wings Appeal team at Headquarters by Friday 10 November This will enable them to process all 2017 income and close your branch Wings account for the year in preparation for producing the annual Wings statement. Any monies raised specifically from street collections should be submitted 14 days after the date the collection took place, in order for the Wings Appeal team to make the relevant returns to your local council. You can return Wings monies by using the Wings Returns (WR) paper packs which were sent to your branch s nominated Wings Appeal Organiser in their September newsletter. WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST BRANCH IN THE AREA! RAF Association Falmouth Branch Battle of Britain Service Sunday 8 October Our Falmouth Branch held a Service at the Parish Church of King Charles the Martyr to mark the 77 th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. During the Service a ceremony was also carried out to Dedicate a Standard to the newly formed RAF Association Sailing Branch, based in Falmouth. Among those attending were: Town Mayor Grenville Chappel, Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller, Air Commodore John Bessel, Captain Dan Stembridge, Station Commander RNAS Culdrose and Regional Naval Officer Lieutenant Commander Trevor Brooks. Wing Commander Reis Commanding Officer of Plymouth and Cornwall Wing together with RAF Air Cadets from Falmouth s 1157 Squadron and 730 City of Truro Squadron attended and also provided invaluable support for the occasion. It was wonderful to have Veterans and serving members from all three Services present. Historically all the Armed Forces provided pilots for the Battle of Britain said Lance Smale, County and Falmouth branch chairman.

3 RAF Association Standards representing the eight Cornwall Region Branches and Standards from other Veteran Associations were magnificent and provide a colourful and fitting tribute to the Few. WELL DONE JOANNE! Joanne Ginnelly, a new member of the Association at our Wolverhampton & District Branch, was the recent lucky winner of a new i-pad air tablet which was drawn at the end of September as part of a regional membership recruitment drive. Joanne is pictured with Branch Committee Members Paul Nicholls, Stan Onions, Marjorie Parton, Graham Corns, Chairman and Mike Logue, BSO.

4 LAST CALL FOR BRANCH OFFICERS AUTUMN WORKSHOPS We ve had a pretty good response from branches to attend one of three upcoming workshops that are aimed specifically at providing further advice and guidance to branch officers, that is to say those in positions of responsibility. It s not too late to register for one of the following workshops so please try and come along if you can and let Debbie Byam know in the Exeter Office. Tuesday 7 November RAF Association Taunton Deane Branch HQ, 68 Cheddon Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 7DW. A few minutes off the M5 at Junction 25, limited parking but the mainline train station is just a 5/10 minute walk. Saturday 11 November Hardwicke & District Royal British Legion Club, Green Lane, Hardwicke, Gloucester, GL2 4QA. A few minutes off the M5 at Junction 12 with ample parking. Wednesday 29 November Royal Air Force Station Shawbury, Shropshire, SY4 4DZ. INVICTUS GAMES TORONTO, ONTARIO 2017 This is a good read - our thanks go to Edna Hilditch, President, WRAF (Virtual) Branch, who got stuck into Invictus Games in a big way. Edna s own words: On the 18th September 2017, myself, and 4 other members of the WRAF Branch of RAFA, Briony Czornookyj, Christine Thorpe, Michelle Ouzman and Karen Smith embarked on what was to be a most amazing experience. We had all applied to become a volunteer on the Invictus Games website last November after one of our members, Amanda Meehan, who lives in Toronto had worked as a volunteer at the Orlando Invictus Games in 2016 had encouraged us to come Over the Pond as they call it. In February after all the preliminaries were completed and we were accepted, we set about booking flights and accommodation. As we were all self-funded we decided to rent a house on the outskirts of Toronto to keep costs down. All training was done online which included Health and Safety along with how to deal with people with disabilities. Amanda met us at our house on our first day with a special t-shirt she had organised for us with EX WRAF s on Tour logo. On Wednesday 20th September everyone reported to the Sheraton Hotel which was to be the Village for all the athletes and their friends and families. We made our way to the accreditation desk for our passes and uniform, yellow polo shirts, yellow jacket and the compulsory baseball cap! The shifts started on Thursday, working for 10 days doing a variety of jobs including controlling access to restricted areas, taking in meal ticket's, working the Help Desks for athletes as well as the friends and families and distributing medal boxes to those who had won either of the 3-medal s awarded. It was a different job each day which kept everyone on their toes. We stayed after our shift to meet the UK team arriving at the hotel on the Friday which was brilliant. Seeing the surprise on their faces when we held up the Union Flag and the RAF Ensign was a sight to behold. We had one day off where we organised a trip to Niagara Falls for those ladies who had not visited before. The weather was unseasonably warm during our stay which wasn't quite what was expected but enjoyed nevertheless with temperatures in the high 90 s impacting the outdoor sports. We only managed to get to see the athletics at the Fort York Centre because of our shift system which was a disappointment but to be able to meet and chat to all the athletes in the hotel was a most humbling experience, they couldn t believe we had paid for our trip from the UK. We did manage to catch up with some of the games on the big screens they had sited around the hotel. A newly recruited member of the WRAF Branch whilst there Nicola Willis Jones and Amanda Meehan went to the rugby, both prelims and the medal games which were electric; Team UK were looking to avenge a loss to Denmark from 2016 but were pipped again and took silver medal, better than bronze in 2016 but disappointing to them nonetheless. All games were exceptionally hard fought with many spills and thrills! We met many of the athletes, I was especially keen to meet Mark Ormrod, whom I had been following on Facebook and had also seen him on the Alan Titchmarsh Gardening programme some weeks beforehand. Luckily enough Mark came to collect his medal cases, 2 silver and 2 bronze, whilst I was on duty, he kindly agreed to have his photograph taken with me. It was great to be able to support the UK team although every team member was very friendly and thanked us for our support. The Opening and

5 Closing Ceremonies were absolutely wonderful and we all agreed, it was an absolute privilege to be part of something so special. Edna Hilditch BEM. President WRAF (Virtual) Branch BATTLE OF BRITAIN PARADE AND SERVICE RAF COSFORD 2017 Standard Bearers and Branch members from across Wales, Midlands and the South West Area joined serving personnel, Cadets and Veterans from the Boy Entrants, to take part in this year s RAF Cosford Battle of Britain Parade and Service, which is held in one of the Station Training Hangars. Paul Baker, Area Director, said the Service was very well attended and helps greatly to strengthen relations between the Station and RAF Association. Work is underway to support RAF Cosford with new wifi provision and to enhance the Contact Houses. The RAFALO Committee is working extremely hard in support of adjacent branches.

6 HONOURING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AT TEIGNMOUTH The Battle of Britain - when the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the RAF saw off the might of the Luftwaffe, was commemorated at Teignmouth on Sunday, 17th September During the weekend more than 1,000 was raised through bucket collections for the Wings Appeal including Cllr Vince Fusco and Trish Flory gathering 175 on Saturday night in public houses in Teignmouth. The RAF Association Concert Band was in attendance who played the Last Post and the Armed Forces Bikers did a ride-past to rapturous applause. Many congratulations to Mick Flory, Chairman, Teignmouth Branch (pictured above with Cadet Isaac O Brien) for his dedication and hard work in keeping the light blue in the public eye! Photographs by Alan Craig. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY The RAF Association Concert Band present an Armistice Concert on Saturday 11 November 2017, venue is Banwell Village Hall, Banwell, Near Weston s Mare. Starts at 5.30pm - finishes at 9.30pm. Tel for info. Concert by The Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment Wednesday 13 December at Millfield School, Concert Hall, Street, Mid-Somerset. Doors open at 7pm, seated by 7.30pm. Tickets available from the following; Millfield School , Wells ATC 1955@aircadets.org and Street Tourist Information Centre Plymouth Branch Members Christmas Lunch at 12.30pm on 16 th December at Raffles Club, Ermington Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth.

7 PLEASE NOTE EXETER AHQ TEAM S DIRECT DIAL TELEPHONE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED TO THE FOLLOWING: Name Tel. No. Alan Goudge BSO South (South West) Debbie Byam Area Administrator Paul Baker Area Director Sally Hall Assistant Area Welfare Officer Chris Francis War Pensions/AFCS Manager Glenford Bishop Area Welfare Manager Mike Logue BSO North (Midland & Mid/North Wales) Ian Campbell BSO Central (Midland & South Wales) Debbie Byam Area Administrator Enclosure: 1. RAF Association Concert Band Newsletter.