AGM 2008
   

                          
                              Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
                               Of the Royal Artillery Boys, and Artificers
                                          Junior Leaders Association
                                  Held In Coventry at the holiday Inn
                                         On Saturday 26 of April 2008



           The meeting opened at 18:00 hrs and was chaired by Mr D Williams.
There were 33 members present

The Chairman recited the commemoration and asked that special thoughts be given for Col Owen, Brian Clarke, Dave Barry, Rick Taylor, Margaret Nolan, John Cole, Colin Bentley and all other members who had passed away since the last meeting.

Apologies
S Altimus, Chiefy Pettitt, L Pickering, J McGrevy, K Whitehouse, R Marsh, C Pretty, J Jewell, H Sinclair, T Willsher, E Coates, B Morris, B Obbard, B Price, T Moore, M Baguley, J McEvoy, Ron Watts, Bob Watts, B Stevenson, R Kitchener, Jac Bazzard, E Cooper, R Arnold, T Wall, G Davis, A Strong, J LeFeuvre, M House.

Minutes
The minutes of the Annual General Meeting for 2007 were read and it was proposed by T Stimson, seconded by R Shedden and unanimously agreed that they were a true copy.

Matters arising
1.        Re AOB item 1 of 2007 - We are now an Old Comrades Association, affiliated to the RAA, this has cost the Association a 'one off' £10 fee and means that we receive circulars and other information relating to the RAA which will be of interest and benefit to members
2.        Re AOB item 6 of 2007 - Completed
3.        Re AOB item 11 of 2007 - Reminder sent, good response





                               Secretary's report for 2008 AGM



A smooth  handover was achieved between committees  and this helped continuity.

We are still looking for a volunteer Editor of our newsletter, "The Trumpeter" . Tom has stated that if there is a willing volunteer who is prepared to take over the editorship of the Trumpeter he would be happy to step aside - and would of course give help and assistance to the new Editor when asked.

As you are probably aware, the committee carried out an intensive exercise at the beginning of the year, to remind a large number of "members" to submit their annual fee. As a result we lost some members who did not maintain this aspect of their membership. In most cases it was purely an oversight. We now have a standing order system in action which hopefully will sort this out.
Current membership stands at 204 - this includes 24 who joined since last AGM

I ought to again remind you of the benefit of supplying me with an email address if you can. It helps with speedy distribution of membership lists, orders from the shop, update info and of course an easy way to contact and communicate with other members.
We have email addresses for 40% of our current membership.



Footnote; as a result of a very successful raffle we were able to increase the amount donated to Help for Heroes to £300


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                                          Treasurers report


M Williams read and explained the accounts statement.
Lol Lawrence proposed that this report be accepted and Bill Moon seconded - carried
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                                         CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 08.


First of all may I welcome you all to our reunion and AGM, a special welcome to first time attendees, I sincerely hope that its as enjoyable as you expected. I must say that its the largest gathering at the Association AGM for some time. When I wrote my report in June 07 I said that life would be boring without challenges and dreams, well, the last year has given your Committee both challenges and dreams.
Last May we held a Committee meeting at my home to look at our duties, responsibilities and the future of the Association, I believe that this meeting has benefitted all that attended and therefore the Association.
One of the decisions made was that we should change our Bankers from Barclays to Abbey; the main reason for doing this was to benefit from getting interest on the Associations money. The change of bank, an apparently simple job took over 2 months due to the inefficiency of Barclays Regional Office in Birmingham. We are now up and running with Abbey, receiving interest on the two accounts, we opened a Business Account and a Reserve Account, Maureen, our Treasurer and Ted our Secretary are our signatories' We must thank both Ted and Maureen for their efforts in collecting the unpaid Subs, we all acknowledge that without the Subscriptions £5, the Association would not have the finances to run an excellent website, nor would we be publishing regular editions of the Trumpeter.
At Toms suggestion we took the decision earlier this year to have the Trumpeter printed professional, this reduces by about 3 and half days the workload of printing and collating and stapling the Trumpeter which Tom and Diane previously did in their dining room On behalf of the Association I wish to record our thanks to both Tom and Diane for the professional way they carried out their duties..
The next challenge was our website which was built from new by a member, there were a number of issues with this site (.com) so in November we as a committee made the decision that it should be closed down, I then sought advise from a local Web site builder, as a result of his intervention we were, under Roy Arnold leadership were able to re open and update our old site, (co.uk) This as users will know is now being run by Roy to a very high standard. Since it opened it has had over 1700 visitors. Thank you Roy for your efforts.
In June a number of us met up at the National Memorial Arboretum to inspect and dedicate our tree and plaque, the photograph was included in the Summer 07 edition of the Trumpeter.
We now have an Association Polo shirt which was in evident during the Reunion weekend, Andrew is looking at having our logo made into a badge so that it can be sewn onto sweat shirts, blazers etc. He is also looking at having our logo made into a lapel badge, further details will be circulated via our web site and the Trumpeter. 
Certainly the most difficult decision we had to make this year was moving the Reunion from Larkhill to Coventry, I am satisfied that having all the facts we made the correct decision. As you can imagine it certainly took a lot of heart searching because we have been holding our Reunions at Larkhill for so long, we also knew what the reaction of some of our members would be. (and I wasn't wrong.) However the decision was made and the reasons circulated both by letter and email. I do not intend to go over old ground; we must hope that we can return to Larkhill in 09. if that is the desire of members and the accommodation situation has improved.
In connection with the naming of a road(s) on the old Bradbury Lines site at Hereford I have to report that I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel, the matter is now going before the next City Council meeting in May, I have had a meeting with one of the Councillors covering the Ward, she was pleasantly surprised to learn that its not a one man campaign but an Association with over 200 members, she was given a copy of our latest Trumpeter which she found very interesting... It's now the intention of the 3 Ward councillors covering the old Camp to suggest to the meeting that they break with protocol and suggest to the House Builders, George Wimpey Ltd. the names of some of the roads instead of waiting for the builders to present their suggestions. I  await their deliberations with interest.
Members should be aware that the Queen is attending our Regimental Home on the 12th June to open it. and attend the Garden Party. We have put on our web site an application form, at the same time asked members with internet facilities to advise members without this facility. Ted has some application forms if any member requires one.
This brings me on nicely back to Larkhill, as some of you will know, Pete Bailey is now a BK with 16th Regt.RA, towards the end of March I wrote to the new RSM, WO1 Hamlett to ask if he would give permission for our Association to hold a Sunday Lunch in the Sgts Mess later in the year, to date I am waiting for a reply. I of course, understand the pressures and priorities put upon a new incumbent over the first few weeks of being in post, hopefully we should have a positive reply soon.. If he agrees to our request we will circulate the details to members without delay. I know that this will not make up for the disappointment of the Reunion location this year but it will give members a chance to return to our Regimental home and the Boys museum for a short time.
Most of our members here will know that some time ago the Association "found " a 25 Pounder Gun hidden in some remote area of Larkhill, the gun was in a very poor state of repair and looked ready for the scrap heap, so Ossie took charge of refurbishing this piece of our history and over the years it has taken pride of place outside the Sgts Mess at Larkhill. Each year Ossie has gone to Larkhill to ensures that both the gun and the attached equipment is in pristine condition ready for the critical eye of members attending our Reunion, as we know this year we are here in Coventry but Ossie still spent 4 days at Larkhill servicing the gun, whilst we will not see his efforts the RSM's attending their Convention at Larkhill will. Of interest to members, last year I asked Ossie if he knew the history of the gun, his replies was that if we started asking questions the MOD might grab the gun and ship it out to Iraq or Afghanistan. Thank you Ossie for your efforts, they are appreciated.
As members might know, next April will be the 50th Anniversary of the Junior Leaders Regiment RA leaving Bradbury Lines and moving to Bramcote, Nuneaton. I am sure that our trip around Bramcote this afternoon brought back memories to those of us who moved up from Hereford to Nuneaton as well as those who joined at Bramcote. A number of us could only dream all those years ago of having a drink in the Sgts Mess, it proves that dreams can come true! What needs to be considered over the next two months is if we as an Association wish to celebrate this anniversary, if so how? I believe we should and to start the ball rolling, Ted is to apply for a Lottery Grant to assist with the cost of holding an event, time will tell if we are successful, we can but ask. If any member has any ideas or suggestion regarding this anniversary can they please let me know? Further information will be circulated in due course.
Finally I must thank our President and members of the Committee, for their untiring work and loyal support during the past year, we must not forget that their time and efforts, given freely are for the benefit of members of this Association..I must also thank you all for supporting this reunion, without you there would not be a reunion of this Association.
     
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Election of Association Officers

A new Webmaster was elected and All other officers agreed to serve another term and were elected en bloc as follows:
President - R Shedden
Chairman -  D Williams
Secretary - T McKenzie
Treasurer - M Williams
Recruiter - E Docker
Shop - A Prewer
Web Master - R Arnold (proposed E Docker, seconded R Vine)

There was no opposition to this minute



                                                 Charitable Donations

1.        T Stimson stressed to members the importance of raising money for the charity "Help for Heroes". He proposed that the Association donate £250 to the cause, that was seconded by A Harrocks and agreed by all present.
2.        E Docker proposed that the Association donate some money in support of the RBL Fun Run at Nuneaton on 26th April, A Prewer seconded and after some discussion it was agreed that £50.00 be donated

                                                           Reunions

A brief discussion on the format and location of reunions took place and T McKenzie stated that a questionnaire would be made available for comments on the current and future location / format.
R Shedden suggested that if we continued to have accommodation issues at Larkhill, together with Jac Bazzard they would look into the possibility of a similar arrangement at Bramcote.

 
                                                           Celebrations

D Williams announced that 2009 is the 50th Anniversary of the regiment leaving Hereford and moving to Nuneaton, could consideration be given to some way in which we could celebrate this, perhaps in April 2009.


                                                   Any Other Business


1.        On the subject of recruiting, as a result of the Secretary's report, it was clear from comments from the floor that some members thought that we need to consider that there will be a few potential members who would not be able to afford £5.00 annual subscription, however the general feeling was that £5.00 is a good level and should remain. It was also suggested that a recruiting leaflet be produced and sent out with the annual Armed Forces Pension Scheme newsletter
2.        Also as a result of the Secretary's report, R Shedden commented that everyone without an internet email address could get down to their local library where this can be achieved. Libraries have computers for use by the general public to get involved in the internet and most will assist and advise. Therefore it should be within the reach of all members to be able to communicate by email.
3.        Ossie Austin reported on his recent visit to Larkhill to clean and maintain the 25pdr. He told members that there appear to be many issues there which have affected our traditional booking and it would seem that it may take a year or two before they are resolved. He passed on best wishes from Capt Peter bailey RA (previously RSM 14 Regt), Sgt Deano Dean, Elaine and the Mess staff.
He told us that the new RSM was very pleased with the gun and advised Ossie that HM The Queen would undoubtedly see it during her visit.
4.        T Stimson proposed a vote of thanks to the new committee for their hard work, especially considering the difficulties they encountered when making arrangements for this reunion
5.        A Harrocks proposed a vote of thanks to given to the Treasurer for her work transferring the account and settling it down in a new bank, this was seconded by A Prewer


There being no further business to discuss, the meeting closed at 19:05

The date for the next meeting has not yet been agreed

I certify that this is a true record of the above meeting.........................................Chairman
Recorded by T A McKenzie  Secretary  On 26/04/2008