At the last AGM, we saw the standing down of Brian Ireland after 10 years as
Chairman. The members were so
appreciative of his service to the Association in general and the Branch in
particular, that the members presented Brian and his wife Sylvia with appropriate
gifts. The Committee also nominated him
for an Association President’s Commendation.
This was duly granted and on 1st June, Barry Woodward, Area Vice
President, travelled from Yorkshire to present
The Association President’s Commendation to Brian “in recognition of the
outstanding work he has done on behalf of the Branch and his commitment to the
Association”. Although he no longer
serves as a formal committee member, Brian, supported by his wife Sylvia,
continues to serve the Branch in a welfare capacity, maintaining regular
contact with members who have health and other problems, reporting back to the
members via the committee and implementing their directions where
appropriate. Once again, we are indebted
to Brian and Sylvia.
This
would be an appropriate juncture to introduce myself to those who have not met
me. I am Ian Lawrence and was elected as
Chairman to replace Brian. I retired from
the Army as a Major in 2003 after 34 years commissioned service in REME. After working as a contractor for the MOD for
several years, I moved to Newark on Trent and retired
fully. I have now been a branch member
for 4 years.
All
other committee members agreed to stand for a further year and, there being no
alternative nominations, were duly elected.
2010
has been another year when the Branch has performed to the high standards it
set itself in previous years. Our
monthly Branch meetings continue to be well attended by both full members and several
wives and, as ever, we have maintained a good balance between formal business
and a good social atmosphere; this does credit to the ethos of fostering the
esprit de corps of REME.
Apart
from Brian, other committee members have continued their own regular welfare visits. During the year, we were also belatedly made
aware of some new welfare cases. We
realised that it had been possible for a member to have problems and for us to
be unaware of the circumstances until quite late in the day. Therefore, we will now monitor members’
attendance at Branch meetings. If a
member does not attend or send apologies for 3 meetings in a row, a committee
member will get in touch to offer mutual reassurance that the Branch is there
to offer friendship always and assistance where necessary.
As
with any organisation with a predominance of senior citizens, there will be
some members whose health fails them and we have sadly lost several members due
to illness. Branch members attended the
funerals of the following Corps and ex-Corps colleagues: Col
(Retd) Davies; Jack Lund; Glen Else;
Cpl Thomas REME, a serving soldier killed on operations; Cyril Plant;
Bill Andrews ; John Straw. A moment of reflection in their memory would
be appropriate.
To
turn to more upbeat matters, we have had a full social diary. We have had visits to Bletchley
Park, Morgan Motors and Newark Air
Museum. We continue to maintain our relationship with
the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust who kindly invite us to their events and
lectures and more recently we have received invitations to Institute of Mechanical
Engineers lectures at Loughborough University. We have enjoyed the hospitality of our
President and his wife Dorothy to stage our alfresco BBQ and Cheese and Wine
Party in the summer and for the Christmas Party in December, thankfully indoors. Our formal annual dinner in the WO’s and
Sgt’s Mess at Chilwell was well attended with Lt Col Paul Fletcher, Comd ES 5
Div as our principal guest. Our other
guests included the Garrison Adjt and RSM and Fred Brunger, in-pensioner at the
Royal Hospital Chelsea. Feedback from
the official guests, members and personal guests has been excellent and gives
us every incentive to continue this format for the foreseeable future.
We
must give thanks to Eric Chamberlain for managing our social calendar. Eric has now stood down from the Committee
and we are still looking for one or more volunteers to help the other members
of the committee maintain an equally enjoyable programme.
Branch
meetings and the Dinner would not be such a success if it were not for the
hospitality of the RSM Chilwell Garrison and the members of the WO’s and Sgt’s
Mess. We are extremely grateful for this
and I have been reassured by RSM Clarke that the arrangement will continue.
In
June we manned a stall at Wollaton
Park as part of the Armed
Services Weekend. We had great support
from the general public for our “Lucky Dip” and children’s colouring
competition as well as advertising the activities of the Branch and the
Association. We managed to raise just
over £320 clear profit and, following a vote by members, we made a contribution
of £350 to our chosen charity, St Dunstan’s, who support blind and partially
sighted servicemen. Indeed, one of our
new members, Cpl Steve Shepherd, is a member of St Dunstan’s and he attends
most Branch meetings with his guide dog Stanley,
who appropriately wore a REME bow tie for the presentation of the cheque for St
Dunstan’s. Steve and Stanley were on
parade at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday and members heard about their
experiences at the December Branch meeting.
Prior
to our September Branch meeting, many members attended presentations by the CO
of the RTMC and his staff at Chilwell where we learned about the mounting and
rehabilitation activities of the unit.
We were surprised to learn that they prepare politicians, diplomatic
staff and press for visits and duty in foreign theatres as well as ensuring
servicemen are properly equipped and prepared for operational tours. It is also encouraging to know that
servicemen, physically and mentally injured in the line of duty, are well
looked after on their return from theatre.
In
October, Branch members attended the Corps Birthday commemoration at the
National Memorial Arboretum. The weather
was atrocious and we all got very wet, in particular the standard bearers who
did not have the benefit of protective clothing. Despite the weather, the occasion was
rewarding.
Branch
members returned to the National Memorial Arboretum on Armistice Day when a
wreath was laid on behalf of the branch at the REME Memorial.
On
Remembrance Sunday many Branch members attended the ceremony at the memorial
inside the barracks at Chilwell where wreaths were laid and then a service of
remembrance in the surge hangar.
Afterwards, the majority of Branch members retired to the Sgt’s Mess, to
again enjoy their hospitality, for a curry lunch.
At
the formal ceremonies, the funerals and the dedication of new memorial in Clifton, the Branch has
either been represented by our standard bearer, Dave Catling or his stand-in
Keith Woods. Gerrard Wadsworth has also
played the bugle on a number of occasions.
Although Branch members always appreciate the gravitas their presence
brings, there has been feedback from other people confirming this and I would
like to express thanks on behalf of everyone.
Although the Corps has now provided a waterproof cape for the Branch
standard bearer, we wait to test its effectiveness in inclement weather.
At
every Branch meeting and social get together, we have had a raffle in aid of
Branch funds, a good deal of which gets spent on welfare or donations to
benevolent funds. Thanks are due to Tony
Bunce and his assistant Dusty Miller for organizing the raffles and also to
members who have generously donated many suitable prizes.
Jim
Grant has continued to give good Secretarial service, .responding to all mail
efficiently and without delay. I never
cease to be amazed at his ability to record the proceedings of our meetings
without the use of formal shorthand and to produce excellent minutes in such a
prompt manner. Those members who are
unable to attend meetings and other interested parties really appreciate seeing
an account of our activities and to note that we are a thriving Branch.
David
Marshall has again managed our finances in a proficient manner and has
successfully transferred our bank account to one that bears us some interest,
an achievement in the current financial climate. As you will see from his report, you will
agree that we continue to be in sound shape.
Steve
Stephenson has pressed on with improvements to The Website and the photo
gallery provides an excellent record of our activities over the year. However, Steve can only work with the
material he is given and that must come from the members.
It is traditional that the Branch Chairman asks the
President to continue for a further year in office; I am delighted to announce that John has
accepted. It is an appropriate time to again thank
him and Dorothy for their hospitality at the social activities and also Committee
meetings. Our thanks too you both!
Finally,
I must thank our ladies for the assistance they give us, partly for such help
as catering at social functions, but more importantly, the knowledge that they
are at our sides.
We
could not have achieved so much without the efforts of the committee members to provide competent management of funds and the
provision of entertaining and enjoyable social events, plus our ability to deal
swiftly and efficiently with Welfare
issues. We will only maintain
this success if we continue to give our
wholehearted support to the Committee
who, apart from Eric, have agreed to stand again for re-election.