Newsletter. April 2018 LAPSED MEMBERS Overseas Area. Membership cards. Wings Appeal items. Inside this issue:

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1 Overseas Area Newsletter April 2018 LAPSED MEMBERS Inside this issue: Membership cards Wings Appeal insurance Annual Conference 2018 European Area Annual Conference European Area Autumn Conference The Air Force chapel Brussels RAF Association gin and vodka Membership cards The RAF Association uses what is known as a fulfilment house for the processing of membership cards following membership renewal. Over the past few weeks we have learned that some members may have received more than one membership card in error, and some with membership end dates two years ahead. We are discussing these issues with the fulfilment house and we can confirm that such errors on their part do not incur any additionals. We would be grateful if any members who have received more than one card, or if the date is wrong, could let us know and we will investigate and resolve. Thank you for your continued support. Wings Appeal insurance Please find the RAF Association s Public Liability Insurance attached to this newsletter. Please pass this document to your branch s Wings Appeal Organiser as it may be requested by businesses and organisations when securing collection locations for the Wings Appeal this year. Wings Appeal items We are pleased to announce that two new pin badges will be available to support fundraising for the Wings Appeal in The first is the RAF100 Appeal pin badge, this will be extremely recognisable with the national media coverage of RAF100 events. The second pin also commemorates the RAF centenary with it being a badge of the World War I Sopwith Camel. They both come in packs of 20 and can be ordered via your branch s Wings Appeal Organiser by calling RAFATRAD on In the last area newsletter, we advised that the 2018 Wings Appeal order form would be sent to Wings Appeal Organisers in their February newsletter. Unfortunately, due to a production issue with our supplier s factory, our 2018 Wings Appeal ducks have been delayed. We wish to include images of these ducks in the order form so branches can see what they are ordering, we will send the order form out to Wings Appeal Organisers in April. Branches can continue to order all Wings Appeal collecting equipment and donation items by visiting and logging into your account or calling If you need further support with your fundraising, please contact the Wings Appeal team by ing wings@rafa.org.uk or call Ian Wright on

2 Annual Conference 2018 The 2018 Annual Conference will be held at the Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre from 11 to 13 May This is your conference and your chance to contribute to important debates on the future plans for the Association. It is also an excellent opportunity to catch up with friends. As one of the largest conference and training centres in the UK, Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre is situated in the heart of the midlands in Stone, Staffordshire. Please visit their website for full details on the venue s facilities. Registering your attendance: Registration is now open, you can register delegate details for yourself and all guests who would like to attend through Eventbrite: rafa.org.uk/annualconference. In order to use Eventbrite, you do need an account. Therefore, if you do not have an account, please contact our reception team on They will happily take your booking details over the phone. Once you have registered, you may receive an automated from Eventbrite asking you to create a password in order to login and print your tickets. To clarify, you do not need tickets to attend Conference. Once registered, we will have all the information we need and therefore please disregard this . Accommodation: We are pleased to inform you that we have secured the same accommodation rate for you at the same rate as in 2017, which provides excellent value for money. This is priced at 55 a night for a single room or 75 a night for a double/twin room based on two people sharing. This price includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and each room offers an en-suite bathroom, TV, hairdryer, unlimited tea/coffee and biscuits and wi-fi. Your accommodation can be booked through our reception team on Please do not contact Yarnfield Park directly as all the accommodation has been allocated to the Association for this event and must be booked directly through our reception team. Please note, fully accessible rooms are limited and we would advise booking early to avoid disappointment. Car parking: There are over 600 car parking spaces available on site at Yarnfield Park and parking is free for all those attending Conference. Although they are limited disabled parking spaces are available, but we can also allocate normal car parking spaces for blue badge holders. In addition we will provide transport and support for you/ your luggage on arrival and departure. Conference documents: Closer to the date, all the Conference documents will be available online and further links and details will follow. Conference 2018 live streaming: Following the success of the live streaming in 2017, we are pleased to announce that we will again be live streaming Conference in This enables anyone unable to attend to watch the main business of Conference. A schedule of the live streaming will be published soon.

3 European Area Conference 2018 The European Area Conference will take place at the Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre on Friday 11 May at 1000hrs. Registering your attendance Please inform the Area Director if you are attending the European Area Conference as a delegate, this does not need to be booked through Eventbrite, Eventbrite is for booking the accommodation only. Contact details: sarah.waugh@rafa.org.uk or call Accommodation Accommodation is the same as for Annual Conference. Accommodation bookings are not done through the Area office. Please note, fully accessible rooms are limited and we would advise booking early to avoid disappointment. Again, please telephone our reception team on and they will be happy to assist. European Area drinks The European Area Drinks will take place as normal on the Friday at around 1630hrs, full details will be sent out to branches very soon. Please can I also encourage any branches who have not as yet allocated a Delegate to attend the European Area Annual Conference and Annual Conference please do so as soon as possible and those not attending send apologies. European Area Autumn Conference The European Area Autumn Conference will take place over the weekend of 2 to 4 November 2018 at the Bedford Hotel in Brussels. The weekend will include a meet and greet on the Friday evening followed by a buffet dinner. After the Conference on the Saturday morning there will be the opportunity to visit sights in the local area, the day will finish with a gala dinner in the evening. To round off the weekends activities, on the Sunday there will be a service of remembrance in the RAF Chapel in Brussels Basilica. For further information and an application form to attend the weekend please contact the Area Director at: sarah.waugh@rafa.org.uk. Please note that the deadline for booking a place for the European Area Autumn Conference is 20 August Please can I encourage branches to consider hosting the 2019 Autumn Conference? As yet there have been no proposals put forward, the Autumn Conference is important to the Area business wise as this is where any Resolutions that branches want to go forward to Annual Conference in the following spring would be considered and voted on. If any branch would like any assistance with a proposal please do not hesitate to contact me.

4 The Air Force Chapel - The National Basilica Brussels The History of the Chapel 1987 The Chapel was the result of result of an initiative in late 1987 by the Royal Air Forces Association Belgian Branch under the Chairmanship of Bob Walkden. This initiative resulted in the commissioning of the beautiful Anglo- Belgian Air Forces Stained Glass Memorial Windows that adorn the Chapel in memory of Belgian Members of the Royal Air Force and those who died in the cause of liberty and freedom. The initial aim for the project was to raise 400,000 BF. However over 1.500,000 BF was raised enabling the creation of the special Air Force Chapel with stained-glass windows, memorial glass panels, the RAF blue carpet, an illuminated Golden Book (the Roll of Honour) with the names of those Belgian airmen who died in the service of the Royal Air Force, as well the plaques of 23 RAF Squadrons on which Belgians served in WW The Chapel was then dedicated in the presence of King Baudouin in September 1988 as commemorated on a plaque on the right hand wall of the Chapel On the 25th Anniversary of the Chapel in September 2013, a commemorative service was held in the presence of the Senior Belgian Officer, General Van Caelenberge and Royal Air Force representative in Belgium at that time Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper. At this very moving ceremony wreaths were laid in commemoration to Belgians who served and died while in the Royal Air Force. At this event it was noted that only 23 of the many RAF squadrons on which Belgians served, were represented by shields in the Chapel, and that the full history of those who served was relatively unknown A further dedication was held on 29 April 2014 to reflect research that 141 RAF squadrons at one time or another had Belgian aircrew serving on them during World War II. The Committee therefore decided to expand the representations of Squadrons by a further 12, to a total of 35, capturing those Squadrons who had five or more Belgians serving on them. In addition a further plaque on the outside of the Chapel (as the Chapel is often locked) was commissioned to detail some of the history to visitors, further information is available from the website at:

5 RAFA Spitfire Heritage gin and Supermarine vodka Special limited edition collectable bottles of Spitfire Heritage Gin and Supermarine Vodka will proudly gift a proportion of profits to the charity that supports the RAF family - the RAF Association. Spitfire Heritage s flagship brand a small batch, single estate 1930s botanical gin pays tribute to the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary who flew wartime aircraft. Spitfire Heritage Distillers chose to work with world champion gin maker and master distiller John Walters to create a spirit that, like the Spitfire, was built to be the best. The company also has a deeply ingrained philosophy of giving back and doing the right thing, so was keen to sign up to a real-value relationship for the Association. Ian Hewitt at Spitfire Heritage Distillers, said: Wherever possible we want to do something better than best; we want, wherever possible, to do something good too. Now Supermarine Vodka and Spitfire Heritage Gin will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Association with their special bottles gifting funds and celebrating the work, dedication, professionalism and bravery that set apart the service s people and their families. The limited edition gin and vodka will attend a number of high profile RAF centenary events together with the Association from spring to autumn. Numbered bottles will also be available to order to commemorate particular RAF Squadrons. The gin and the vodka are available to purchase through the RAF Association website and via the Spitfire Heritage Distillers website WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE CREATED SPECIALLY LIVERIED BOTTLES FOR THE RAF ASSOCIATION TO HELP CELEBRATE THE RAF'S CENTENARY. For every bottle sold, we're gifting 3.50 of our profits to the Charity.

6 Registered Charity No (England and Wales), SC (Scotland) Follow us on: HELP US TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOU By far, the quickest and easiest way for us to get in contact with our members is through . This method of communication also saves money on postage money that we can instead spend on providing welfare support to members of the RAF family. Please update us on your current address by sending a quick note using the details on the right. Branch notices WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Let us know what your branch is up to, so that it can be included in next month s newsletter. You can contact us by calling the office, or you can your updates and photographs to: sarah.waugh@rafa.org.uk AREA EMPLOYEE CONTACT DETAILS Overseas Area Director Sarah Waugh 21 Talbot Street Belfast BT1 2LD Northern Ireland (m) (w) sarah.waugh@rafa.org.uk Area Welfare Manager Marie Crombie marie.crombie@rafa.org.uk Deputy Area Welfare Manager Anna Lawton anna.lawton@rafa.org.uk 20 Queen Street Edinburgh EH2 1JX Scotland (m) (w) Diary Dates 11 May 2018 European Area Annual Conference, Yarnfield, Staffordshire 11 to 13 May 2018 Annual Conference, Yarnfield, Staffordshire 10 July 2018 RAF100 celebrations, London 2 to 4 November 2018 European Area Autumn Conference, Brussels