All Were Present Except Mr. H S Davies and Mr. S T Waters

Minutes of the Royal British Legion Solihull Branch Committee meeting held at Broomfields Hall on Tuesday 12th Jan 2016 at 8:00pm

All were present except Mr. H S Davies and Mr. S T Waters.

1.0 The Silence

The silence was observed for those comrades who had fallen since the last meeting and in particular Colin Duggan and William Bell.

2.0 Apologies– None received.

3.0 Minutes of the last meeting

The Chairman asked the committee if the minutes of the 13th Oct 2015 meeting reflected an accurate record of the matters discussed.

Proposed SoniaMouzer

SecondedPat ReadCarried

4.0 Matters Arising – there were none.

5.0 Correspondence and Secretary’s report

• The schedule of meeting dates for 2016-17 is on the noticeboard.
• The MS1 committee information has been confirmed as received at County.
• Thanks letter to the Solihull Legion from Kate Wild for help during her year as Mayor.
• Letter from Suk re commemoration for battle of Jutland.
• Letter re compensation for mesothelioma in service.
• Letter re makers of ITV ‘Love your garden’ - looking for worthy people.
• Letter re ‘Freedom Trail’ (escape route) 4 day trek for charity.
• Request for Poppy Box -Solihull Healthcare,JLR, and John Lewis – to Sonia.
• DG letter re Poppy Appeal to helpers – to Sonia.
• Additional Poppy helpers for next year – Paul Bennett and Christopher Shipley – to Sonia.
• Donation from Harry Turton funeral and Solihull Lions – thanks letters sent.
• Invitations to Remembrance Sunday from the Mayor – replied to giving potential numbers.
• Email re Richard Slatcher who died asking for RBL attendance at funeral – George advised.
• Information on the County AGM 30th January 2016 at Knowle RBL at 10am.

6.0 Reports

6.1 Chairman and Vice Chairman

• Ken welcomed Tracey, John and George to their first Branch committee meeting.
• He also thanked everyone for rearranging and managing the AGM.
• The first ‘90th Anniversary of the Club’ committee meeting was held on 11th Jan 2016. The anniversary is the 19th June 2016 and there will be joint celebrations with the Club. There will be a ‘fairground’ on Saturday 18th June with a 40’s evening. There will be a Church service on the 19th which has been booked. Approaches are to be made to the Gurkha or the Shirley pipe band. To date £250 has been raised towards costs. There will be a coffee morning on the 17th Feb and Snowy is to run a bingo event to raise funds.
• It is proposed to buy a new Standard at a cost of £680. George advised that the old standard does not have to be decommissioned and can be kept for practice purposes. This was seconded by Peter and approved by a show of hands.
• Ken is to meet with Solihull Council (2nd Feb) for Remembrance Sunday. The Memorial is to stay in its current position pro tem. It is intended to have a band and march past.
• A report for the County AGM indicates the Poppy Appeal exceeded expectations. It also advised of a coffee morning every 3rd Wednesday in the month for informal discussions with the MSO and County Treasurer. Don intends to go to the next coffee morning.

6.2 Treasurer – Don Green

• LOMAS is not working. Print of the current bank statement was circulated and approved.
• Don advised:
• All cheques have to be signed by two people, one of whom must be the Branch Treasurer. The cheques must show the Legion's Charity Number.
• All payments must be approved by the Branch Committee (BC)in advance and must be minuted. In order to facilitate business, the BCmay authorise the Treasurer to issue a cheque in advanceof approval. This authorisation must be renewed annually.
• The BC may authorise reasonable amounts to pay for non-alcoholic refreshments for guests, for example at Remembrance Events. It is forbidden to purchase alcohol using Branch funds.
• The year end examination (audit to the man in the street)will include the BC Minutes in order to confirmthat all payments have been authorised by the BC.
• Don proposed that the BC authorises the Branch Treasurer to issue cheques up to £250 in advance of approval for the period from 12 January 2016 to 11 January 2017. This was seconded by Roger Waring and all were in favour.

6.3 Poppy Organizer – Sonia and David Mouzer

• Sonia advised that all ‘thank you’ cards have been prepared and distributed.
• She is currently working on the Poppy awards and expects completion in the next two months.
• A cheque for £53,926.90 has been sent to Head Office and an official receipt received.
• All but one payment (Red Cross) received and there is £862 in the Poppy Account at the bank.
• The first Poppy Appeal meeting is scheduled for 15th Feb at 10am.

6.4 Standard Bearer

• George advised a quiet period with few funerals. He will attend on VE and VJ days.
• He advised that every member of the Legion ex-service or not, can have the flag lowered and the exhortation at their funeral.

6.5 Welfare

• Peter advised of a couple in need of someone to visit. John Howden volunteered and Peter will send him the correspondence.

6.6 Subscriptions Secretary and New Members – Roger Waring

• Whilst Roger is not aware of the situation for Branch he has had 405 renewals from 472 members last year. He advised that some still did not have their Legion membership cards and a dozen had not had their letter from the Legion.
• There is 1 new member this meeting
• Annette Eames proposed Val Brian seconded Roger Waring.

As there were no objections the new member was approved.

7.0 Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting is 9th Feb 2016. The meeting closed at 8.45pm.

Signed K. Russell

Branch Chairman Solihull RBL

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