WATLINGTON BRANCH
NEWSLETTER MARCH 2010
Membership
News.
Since the
turn of the year for various reasons we have sadly “lost” 9 of our members: One
moved to France and transferred his membership there, two moved into care homes,
five failed to renew their memberships after three reminders, and the Last Post
was sounded for Syd Wilkins. New members who have joined since our last
newsletter was published are Miss C
Pearson, James McConville, and Mike and
Penny Boas. A warm welcome is extended to them all, and our
membership now stands at 225.
Branch Matters.
Meetings: The move to the second
Monday for our monthly meetings in the Memorial club has been well received by
most members although inevitably a few of our regulars are unable to attend due
to other commitments. The January meeting was cancelled because of the severe
weather, and Wing Commander Steve
Molsom, RAF Benson, who should
have been our guest speaker then will now be visiting us on 10th
May. Future speakers already booked are Malcolm
Wills, from Thames Valley Police Crime Prevention Squad on 12th
April; Tony Hobbs, retired Queen’s Waterman on 14th June; in
July a serving TA Officer/Pharmacist recently
returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan will be visiting us; and in
September ex Royal Marine Gavin Stewart who
trekked up Mt Kilimanjaro in December will be talking about his trip.
Welfare: Happily we can report
that all requests for surgery/hospital transport have been met as were all
other requests for help. However we do rely on you to provide information to us
and if you know of any ex Service person who needs the sort of assistance we
can give please do let us know.
Events: In March a small group
enjoyed a very pleasant visit to the REME
Museum, Arborfield which was organised by Alec Powell, and the
success of this trip has encouraged us to consider more such visits to places
within easy car driving distance. (Details will be given out at meetings, if
you are interested but can’t get to meetings send the secretary a note). It’s
early days yet but we are already thinking about the Garden Fete which is normally held on August Bank Holiday Monday;
and looking further ahead we are seeking ideas for a suitable way to mark the 90th Anniversary of the Legion next year. Any suggestions would be
welcome. Meanwhile, in July, our member
John Green will be trekking the
Freedom Trail across the Pyrenees with the Legion team to raise money for the
Poppy Appeal. This is a 4-day trek which covers 50 miles and reaches a height
of 2,600 metres testing the participant’s strength and resilience in every
shape and form, crossing snowfields, negotiating gigantic granite boulders, in
varying climates and carrying equipment. If anybody would like to sponsor John
in this adventure (and many of you already have) your donations can be sent to
the secretary at the address below, and it will all go to the Poppy Appeal.
At the County Conference in January, Branch
Chairman Dick Stillwell, collected a
certificate awarded for second place in the Norris Trophy competition for Branch efficiency. First place went
to Woodstock Branch.
Other Matters.
The Legion’s Return to Rationing campaign scored an
important victory last November with the passing of the Welfare Reform Act 2009
enabling the change of name of Council
Tax Benefit to Council Tax Rebate.
The Legion lobbied hard for this change and envisages that many more older
members of the ex-Service community will be encouraged to claim the rebate to
which they are entitled.
The Legion
worked successfully with Help for Heroes
last year on three national fund raising projects: Both charities
benefited from the additional income
generated and the Legion took every opportunity to raise public awareness of
the extent of our welfare work. Last year we spent more than £I million a week helping over 130,000 members of the Armed
Forces Family, including providing financial assistance to 10,000 Service
personnel recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Legion also
represented a third of all the appeals for higher compensation payments for
injuries suffered in Afghanistan.
And Finally.
Some thoughts on Old
Age:
An elderly man had
serious hearing problems for a number of years and finally went to the doctor
who fitted him up with a set of hearing aids allowing him to hear 100%. A month
later he returned to the doctor who told him “your hearing is perfect; your
family must be really pleased”. The man replies “oh, I haven’t told my family
yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations; I’ve changed my will
3 times already!”
Derek
Elliott. Hon Branch Secretary
35 Chapel Street
Watlington
tel:01491-612288. E-mail:keredsiri@tiscali.co.uk