Scotland & Northern Ireland Area

Scotland & Northern Ireland Area Royal Air Forces Association Scotland & Northern Ireland Area Headquarters and Scotland Office 20 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JX Tel: 0131 225 5221 Email: scotland@rafa.org.uk www.rafa.org.uk Newsletter August 2015 THIS NEWSLETTER SHOULD BE DISPLAYED FOR THE USE OF ALL MEMBERS I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : Scotland s National Airshow Scottish Airshow Brew for the Few Area Golf Tournament 2 2 Rewards for Forces Cinema Discount Membership Event - Regional Barbeques Battle of Britain 75 Events Wembley Event 3 3 4 5 Membership 5 Volunteer Spotlight Volunteer Update Scotland's National Airshow Ctnd. Contact Details Branch Notices 6 7 7 8 8 We were once again represented at Scotland s National Airshow, which took place at the National Museum of Flight in East Fortune on Saturday the 25th Diary Dates Aug 8 Aug 9 Aug 15 Aug 16 Aug 29 Sep 5-6 Sep 5-6 Sep 13 Sep 13 Sep 13 Sep 15 Sep 17 Sep 19 Sep 20 Sep 24 Sep 30 Oct 21 Nov 8 Apr 1-3 of July. The Area Mobile Exhibition Trailer (MET) was there, along with one of the Event Team METs from Leicester. Area and Events staff worked with the team from Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Branch throughout the busy and successful day. Big thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work. Newcastle Festival of Flight, County Down Aden Pipe Band Competition, Mintlaw VJ Day Commemorations, London Scotland Southern Region Barbeque, Greenock Northern Ireland Region Barbeque, Belfast Airwaves Airshow Portrush, County Antrim Scottish Airshow, Ayr/Prestwick Battle of Britain Parade & Service, Carrickfergus Battle of Britain Service, Londonderry Battle of Britain Service, Glasgow Battle of Britain 75 Service, London Area Golf Tournament, Falkirk Battle of Britain Ball, Glasgow Battle of Britain Service, London Battle of Britain 75 Service, Edinburgh Northern Region Meeting & Welfare Seminar, Lossiemouth Southern Region Meeting & Welfare Seminar, Glasgow Cenotaph Ceremony, London Area Conference, Portrush Continued on Page 7

P a g e 2 Scottish Airshow Brew for the Few This year, the RAF Association is once again supporting the Scottish Airshow, which will take place at Ayr Low Green on Saturday the 5th of September and at Prestwick Airport on Sunday the 6th of September. The 2015 event promises to be even bigger and better than last year s, with the RAF Red Arrows being scheduled to perform. The event will also see the return of the Vulcan, which will be flying for the very last time in Scotland on the Saturday an occasion not to be missed. The Scotland & Northern Ireland Area team will be running a Brew for the Few on the Saturday at Ayr Low Green. This will be a place for our older RAF Veterans, those with restricted mobilty and other invited guests to relax and recharge, away from the hustle of the main event. Veterans may be accompanied by a carer or guest. Light refreshments will be provided free of charge, courtesy of the RAF Association, Tunnock s and Pathhead Bakery. Our team of friendly volunteers will be on hand to serve the Veterans and have a chat while they relax. If you or anyone you know would benefit from this, please get in touch as soon as possible with Assistant Area Welfare Officer Shiela Laramore (details on back page), who will take details for the guest list and send out invitations. We are particularly keen to invite as many Battle of Britain Veterans as possible, so we would really appreciate it if you could pass this information on to any such people as you may know. Area Golf Tournament The 2015 RAF Association Scotland and Northern Ireland Area Golf Tournament will take place on Thursday the 17th of September at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. This is a historical competition which Is laid on every year for the benefit of the RAFA Members. The event is open to all members and there is no fundraising carried out. We hope for participating Members to have an enjoyable day out, and get the chance to meet Members from other Branches in the Area. Participants are invited to join together for a coffee and rolls before tee off at 10:00am 11.00am. On completion of the tournament, there will be a high tea. The cost of participating in this event, inclusive of refreshments as detailed above, will be 32 per person.

Rewards For Forces Cinema Discount P a g e 3 This brand new offer entitles Serving personnel and their partners, Veterans, Service Widows/ Widowers, Reservists, Cadets, MOD Civil Servants and the Royal British Legion up to 40% off tickets at over 380 cinemas throughout the UK. All you need to do is sign up (free of charge) to www.rewardsforforces.co.uk and you can then click through to access the Cinema Rewards. It costs 5.50 to purchase the cinema rewards discounted pass, but families can easily make the money back on their first trip to the cinema! The website also provides thousands of others national and local discounts, so it is well worth a look if you haven t already done so. Membership Events - Regional Barbeques On Sunday the 16th of August, a free barbeque will be held at the RAF Association Greenock Club. All members of Scotland s south west Branches are invited. This event is a thank you from the Area to all members and RAF Association supporters for their loyalty and dedication. The Club will be open from 1pm, and you are invited to relax, socialise and have a drink before the food is ready at around 3pm. Once again, the food will be prepared by Branch Support Officer Dave Mowatt, who is a fully qualified chef. The bar will remain open until 11pm. On Saturday the 29th of August, another free barbeque will be held at the RAF Association Branch Club in Belfast. This will run similarly to the event in Greenock; however, the Club will be open from 3.30pm and the Barbeque will be available at about 5.30pm, followed by evening entertainment. These events follow on from last year s barbeques at the RAF Association Ayr & Prestwick Club for members in the south west and at RAF Leuchars for members in the south east. Both events were hugely successful, and we hope that this one will be even more so. Last year, many people brought along their partners and children to enjoy the excellent food and company. If you would like to attend either barbecue, please contact Sophie Bruce by Sunday the 9th of August (for Greenock) or Sunday the 22nd of August (for Belfast) to register yourself and any guest(s) you plan to bring.

P a g e 4 Battle of Britain 75 Events At 11.00 am on Thursday the 24th of September 2015, a service will be held at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. This is being organised by the RAF Association Scotland & Northern Ireland Area and will be part of the wider RAF Association Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary commemorative events. Anyone who would like to come is very welcome, and we urge members to spread the word, particularly to anybody with a strong connection to or memories of the Battle of Britain. Of course we would be delighted for those who were personally involved in the Battle of Britain to join us - not only pilots, but also ground crew, air raid wardens, members of the ambulance and fire services and so on. be sent out in due course. A Service is also being held at St Paul s Cathedral in London on Tuesday the 15th of September. This is open to all RAF Association members and tickets are also being made available to the public. You can register your interest in attending the service at St Paul s on the webpage. The Battle of Britain webpages are now live at www.rafa.org.uk/ battleofbritain and here you can find more information about Battle of Britain commemorative events around the country and stories from those that remember this important time in history. The closing date has been extended to Monday the 24th of August, and names and contact details are required for each individual who wishes to attend. We are hoping for a good turnout of Branch Standards at the St Paul s service and are inviting Branch Standard Bearers to participate in this event. Any Standard Bearers who wish to be involved should contact Branch Support Officer Mick Larkman at mick.larkman@rafa.org.u k or on 0208 286 6667. Any other queries can be directed to battleofbritain@rafa.org.uk or by post to: Battle of Britain Commemorations RAF Association 117 ½ Loughborough Road Leicester LE4 5ND There will be no charge for tickets for the event, but numbers are limited, so we do ask that you contact Sophie Bruce at the Edinburgh office if you are interested in attending. She will be taking names and contact details so that tickets can

Wembley Event P a g e 5 The Football Association (FA) is happy to be paying tribute to the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Neil Hope and the RAF FA President (Air Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier) will be hosting in the Wembley Suite and Royal Box at Wembley Stadium on behalf of the FA at the England v. Switzerland match on the 8th of September 2015. We have been given the opportunity to invite 2 Battle of Britain veterans as special guests. They will be VIP hosted, travel costs will be funded, and a carer may accompany them if needed. Please forward any names of proposed invitees, along with a short bio and photo to Kate Stride at: kate.stride@rafa.org.uk, or contact her on 0116 268 8796 These details will be given to the FA Chairman, Greg Dyke, for his speech and also for the match programme. There will also be a short space to talk about the RAF Association. Membership We currently have 3,873 active members in the Scotland and Northern Ireland Area. By the start of July, all of our 38 Branches had achieved at least 80% membership renewals. 24 of our Branches had achieved at least 95% membership renewals, which means that each of them earn an extra 25 points towards the 2015 Membership Competition. 3 of our Branches have managed to achieve 100% renewals this year. Across the Area, we have gained 149 new members so far this year and have achieved a 94% renewal rate. Well done to all the Branches who have been working hard to encourage renewals and new memberships, and thank you to all the individuals who have renewed their memberships or signed up for new ones. Points are awarded for any new members the Branch is able to recruit. At this stage in the competition, the top five spots are very close, The winner of the membership competition will be decided this month and will be announced shortly thereafter. As always, the Jim Nicholl Cup will be presented to a representative from the winning Branch at the next Area Conference and a certificate will be presented to a representative from the runner -up Branch. As previously announced, the next Area Conference will take place from Friday the 1st to Sunday the 3rd of April 2015 at the Magherabuoy House Hotel in Portrush, Northern Ireland. As the competition draws to a close, we ask you to remember that there are many reasons why members may not renew they could be unwell or be struggling with money or another issue so it s still worthwhile for Branches to check in to see why members haven t renewed and to ascertain whether there s anything we can do to help them. Of course the competition may provide some extra motivation, but this is really all about offering support to members of the RAF Family. Branch Membership Secretaries will be sent membership listings at the end of each month to help with this and can request an up-to-date list from Sophie at any time.

P a g e 6 Volunteer Spotlight Kit Hayman is the new Treasurer for the Hythe and Romney Branch. Kit joined us after a call for support from the Branch Chair, John Wild, came through to the Volunteering Team at Leicester. Kit s father was in the RAF for 25 years, which is why she has always had an interest in the RAF. Kit s son found the advert we had placed on a free and local volunteering forum, detailing some key information about the Treasurer position. He then told his mother about it and she gave us a call to find out more. When I spoke to Kit, she told me that her father was an air gunner in World War 2, became a Sergeant and finally came out of the Air Force in 1965. During his time in the RAF her father was also a prisoner of war and had many stories to tell Kit about his varied experiences before he sadly passed away. Kit and her family have been fascinated with her father s career and this is why she has been so keen to get involved with the Association and keep his memory alive. I asked Kit what her experience in getting involved with the Hythe and Romney Branch has been like so far. She replied, They are an absolutely lovely bunch of people and have been so welcoming. The Association is about comradeship and I couldn t have been more welcomed when I went to the Brew for the Few event that the Branch organised on Saturday. John Wild, Chair of the Branch said, It has been a great success in welcoming Kit to the Branch. She is very enthusiastic and is a delight to work with. Kit has had a handover with the outgoing Treasurer and is quite happy to take everything in her stride. At our next committee meeting, she will be the Treasurer. Kit has met the members of the committee as well as other Branch Members and she has fitted in really well. It s important not only to have the ability to carry out the role but to have the personality to get along with everyone involved. Kit has both. We have sent off Kit s membership application and she will shortly become a member and has mentioned her husband is interested in becoming a member as well. Talking about what Kit is most looking forward to about being involved in the Branch in the next year, she told me she is most looking forward to Getting it right and getting everything in place. Kit went on to say that, With the help of the Branch it will come and I am looking forward to being able to cope with everything and get it right. Branches are encouraged to let us know if they have a vacancy for a volunteer, using the Branch Volunteer Vacancy Details Form, which is on the Member Portal or can be obtained by contacting volunteers@rafa.org.uk.

Volunteering Update P a g e 7 We have started recruitment for ten Fundraising Team Leaders, in key areas where it has been identified by the Fundraising and Membership Teams that we have no Branches carrying out collections. In order to maximise our Wing s Appeal fundraising, we are going to be asking small teams of fundraisers, led by the Fundraising Team Leader volunteers, to undertake both street and premises collections on behalf of the Association. The ten locations have been identified as: Blackburn, Burnley, Crewe, Brighton, Hemel Hempsted, Southend on Sea, Great Malvern, Hereford, Newport and Falkirk. If you would like to help with any collections in these areas, please let us know by emailing volunteers@rafa.org.uk or calling 0116 268 8794. Katharine Montgomery, Volunteer Manager volunteers@rafa.org.uk Scotland s National Airshow continued from page 1 The fantastic team of enthusiastic Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Branch volunteers were hugely helpful with the Events Team MET and the Area MET as well as running their own Branch stall. Between the Branch, the Area and the Events Team, we raised around 9K - a fantastic result. As always, raising awareness of the RAF Association and the work we do was high on the agenda, and all those in attendance were keen to chat to members of the public, including one amazing RAF Veteran who is almost 100 years old! We even managed to sign up three new members on the day.

Registered Charity No. 226686 (England & Wales), SC037673 (Scotland) AREA STAFF CONTACT DETAILS Edinburgh Office 0131 225 5221 Sophie Bruce, Area Admin Assistant sophie.bruce@rafa.org.uk 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 email. 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 email address by sending a quick note to Sophie using the details on the right. Follow us on: Shiela Laramore, Assistant Area Welfare Officer shiela.laramore@rafa.org.uk Mike McCourt, Area Welfare Officer: 07462 474 777 mike.mccourt@rafa.org.uk Leuchars Office 01334 838 812 Dave Mowatt, Branch Support Officer: 07419 295 454 dave.mowatt@rafa.org.uk Joe Stanfield, Area Director: 07585 508 016 joe.stanfield@rafa.org.uk Belfast Office WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Let Sophie know what your Branch is up to, so that it can be included in next month s newsletter. You can contact Sophie by calling the office, or you can email your updates and photographs to her using the details to the right 028 9032 5718 Carol Titterington, NI Regional Support Officer carol.titterington@rafa.org.uk Sarah Waugh, NI Regional Manager sarah.waugh@rafa.org.uk Branch & Area Supporters We would like to express our thanks to Pathhead Bakery and Tunnock s for their generous donations towards our Brew for the Few marquee at the Scottish Airshow. NOTE FOR ALL BRANCHES Would you like the opportunity to thank your Branch s supporters? If so, get in touch with Sophie at the office, and we can do just that in the next Area Newsletter.