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The Royal British Legion
The Royal County of Berkshire
and Vale of White Horse
COUNTY CIRCULAR
APRIL 2015
LEST WE FORGET
Mr R C Bailey
Vice Chairman Cold Ash & Hermitage Branch
Our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends
BRANCH SECRETARIES:
Please bring these items to your members’ attention and display this circular where your
members can read it.
HARWELL POPPY WALK - SUNDAY 10 MAY 2015.
This year's Poppy Walk will take place, once again, at the Harwell RBL Club on Sunday 10 May.
There will be three routes of five, ten or fifteen miles, all starting and finishing at the Club.
A poster and sponsorship form are attached to this newsletter. Anyone who would like to walk, or
can assist in the organisation in any way, is asked to contact Samantha Hickton or Anne-Marie as
soon as possible:
Samantha Hickton
Anne-Marie Duffin
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07788 457311
Tel: 07776 227768
Please remember that money raised will go into your local PAO account and Samantha should be
informed after the event of the amount raised.
We are also looking for volunteers to help check walkers in at the start and end of the event, man
check-points, run the BBQ and the raffle and also help with setting up and, at the end, clearing up
the venue.
BRANCH WELFARE
Branch Secretaries have been sent details separately about the new Branch Visitor Volunteer
scheme. An important outcome of the scheme is to enable Head Office to try to capture the
breadth of welfare that is delivered by Charity. Local welfare, delivered by Branches, has never
previously been recorded. The scheme requires Branches to send monthly returns to the
Memberships Support Officer (MSO) for collation, prior to onward transmission to the Operations
Department. The first monthly return is to be submitted to the MSO by 13 April 2015.
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EVENT FUNDING
Branches can apply for funding for their local events which take place after 1 July. Any
activities/events designed to inform the wider public of the Legion, help the public gain a greater
understanding of the work that the Charity carries out, raise awareness of the importance of
Remembrance, recruit new Legion members, raise funds, attract volunteers and provide potential
beneficiaries with contact information, might get a grant. The deadline to submit applications to the
County is 24 April. If your Branch would like to submit a bid please contact the County Office for
an application form.
VE DAY
There is a lot of information beginning to come out from Head Office about VE Day activities over
the weekend 8 to 10 May.
Branch Chairmen were sent a letter from the National Chairman at the end of February, which
explained that the RBL would be providing organisational support for National events over the 3
days and encouraging Branches to organise and participate in local events. It invited Branches to
apply to Head Office for a small commemorative pack. A copy of the letter is enclosed.
The main centrally organised events are:



8 May – A day of remembrance. Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, including a
National 2 Minute Silence at 3 pm to mark Churchill’s speech announcing the end of the
War.
At 9.30 pm a chain of 100 Beacons will be lit across the Country. Presently we are unsure
of the locations within Wiltshire but Barbary Castle and the Westbury White Horse have
been mentioned.
9 May – A day of celebration. At about 11 am Cathedrals across the Country will be invited
to ring their Bells (sadly Salisbury Cathedral has no bells!). A concert will be held in Horse
Guards which will be broadcast on BBC1.
10 May Service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey. Followed by a parade from the
Abbey along Whitehall. The RBL will host a reception for veterans in St James’ Park.
There is a Government website which provides more details on the main events that are taking
place:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/victory-in-europe-ve-day-celebrations
Do please let the County Chairman or MSO know of any VE Day events your Branch is
planning.
WW2 VETERANS
There is also a section on the RBL website for WW2 veterans to apply to join in with the VE Day 70
Commemorations. To be eligible veterans must be 85 years or over and each veteran may bring
one nominated carer with them. To register veterans can call 0808 802 8080 or go to the following
link: Veterans and carers should use this link to register for VE Day 70. For those not
receiving this electronically go to the Legion website and follow VE Day from there
www.britishlegion.org.uk
The closing date for registration is Friday 10 April (registrations is likely to be extended by a
week until Friday 17 April, awaiting confirmation at time of publishing). Places are available
for the following events:


Friday 8 May. Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph.
Sunday 10 May. Service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey followed by a march from
the Abbey to Horse Guards Parade and into St James’s Park, where the Legion will host a
lunch reception.
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VE DAY CASE STUDIES REQUEST
We have received the following request from our Regional PR Officer, Ellie Rance. Please contact
her direct if you can help.
With VE Day (8th May) fast approaching I am now on the hunt for as many Legion VE case
studies as possible from across the Midlands region.
These case studies simply need to be someone that has a connection to the Legion and
has lived through VE day (they could have been serving or could have been a child). This
means VE Day case studies could be a member, a beneficiary, a Poppy Appeal
collector, a member of staff or a volunteer.
If there is anyone you can think of that
a) Lived through VE Day and
b) would be willing to speak to the media,
Please could you pass on their name, age, address, a brief description and contact details
ASAP? I will then make contact with them and see whether they would like to share their
stories as part of our national VE Day campaign across print, broadcast and online media.
We are particularly keen on securing photos from people of the street parties that took
place on VE Day, so if you know of anyone at all let me know!
I look forward to receiving any suggestions.
Many thanks,
Ellie Rance
PR Officer (Midlands)
Direct: 0333 011 4189
Mobile: 07826910266
Email: [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
The first phase of implementing the new membership database has now begun. In future, the
membership renewal date for all new joiners will be on the anniversary of their joining. Current
members will renew as usual in October. More details about the various work streams are given
below:

Cut Off Dates and Final Invoice. The MS4, Membership Application Forms, are now
redundant and are no longer being processed. This is necessary to allow time for Head
Office to prepare the final Branch Invoices so that closing statements can be sent to
Branches in early April. Collection of outstanding balances from Branches by direct debit is
scheduled for early May. Once the balances have been brought to zero, the data can be
transferred into the new system. The on-line joining facility has also been put on hold.

New Application Form. Head Office plan to have a PDF version of the new membership
application form available in early April. This will be emailed to Branches as soon as we
receive it. A printed version should be available to be ordered from Aylesford by early May.
Unfortunately, new applications cannot be processed until the new database is fully
operational which will be approximately the third week of May. The new application forms
will be processed through Head Office; cash payer’s application forms must be
accompanied by an individual cheque.

Letter to Members. All members will receive a letter from Head Office in May explaining the
new renewal process and the new payment options available. Members will be asked to
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tell Head Office of their preferred payment method for the new system. All direct debit
paying members, including current direct debit paying members, will be asked to
complete a new DD mandate. This is necessary because the new process has required a
change of the Membership bank details.

E-Newsletter to Members. Please continue to encourage your members to send their email addresses to Head Office. Currently Head Office holds just over 65,000 valid e-mail
addresses and they are planning to send a regular update to members on events and
campaigns but, importantly, also on the new payment processes and how they can renew
their membership. For members who are happy to go on-line, it will be possible to renew
their membership and amend their own details via a secure member self service area on
the RBL website.

Membership Administration Portal (MAP). Branch Secretaries have been contacted about
the new MAP. It will provide Microsoft Office applications which will allow Branch
Committee members to view the relevant spreadsheets and reports. The plan is to have
the MAP operation in mid-May.
APPLICATIONS FOR RBL NATIONAL AWARDS AND COUNTY CERTIFICATES
Please can Branches continue to look to submit applications for RBL national awards to County by
30 June? Although there is a shorter process for County Certificates it would be appreciated if
Branches can adhere to the same deadline of 30 June.
BANK GUARANTEE DOES NOT APPLY TO BRANCHES
John Graham, Deputy Director General, has advised Counties that there is concern that some
Branches may have the misconception that if they hold under £85,000 in an account they will be
protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The protection agreed by the Government is aimed at individuals and small organisations only. It
does not apply to larger organisations.
Branches operate under the charity number of the Legion and therefore do not qualify for the
£85,000 protection as they are part of the bigger Legion which has funds well over the limits set by
the Government. Consequently if the branch has money invested in a bank that fails, they will lose
the lot.
The Board of Trustees has ultimate responsibility for the protection of the Legion’s funds and
investments and the current head office position is that where branches willingly refuse to follow
Trustee instructions with regard to moving any balance over £5000 to the central BFI and should
the bank they are with fail, the branch committee could be personally liable for the loss.
If your Branch does have large sums held outside the Legion Branch Funds Initiative (BFI) scheme
please ensure that your committees are aware that they may not be meeting their responsibilities
regarding the security and protection of Legion funds.
TAKING STANDARDS ABROAD
The County has been asked to contact head office if we receive any requests for Branches to take
their Standard abroad, in particular to attend a March over the John Frost Bridge in Arnhem which
takes place each September. There was a problem last year in that many Standard Bearers
attended without the prior knowledge of the event organisers. May I take this opportunity to remind
Branches of section 5.2 in the Ceremonial Handbook regarding taking Standards abroad?
5.2 Taking Standards Abroad
5.2.1 If a Branch wishes to take its Standard abroad it must apply to the County for permission and
the decision of the County Committee must be minute for the Branch Standard to travel abroad.
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For the Women’s Section, only the National Chairman can give Branches permission to take the
Branch Standard abroad.
5.2.2 Should a Branch/County/District wish to take their Union Flag in addition to their Standard
additional, special, permission is required from Head Office. It should be remembered that there
should only ever be one Union Flag on any parade.
NB: Failure to gain the requisite permission will invalidate the insurance cover.
LIVE ON UPDATE – MARCH/APRIL 2015
Reminder
In October 2014 we launched ‘Live On: To the memory of the fallen and the future of the living’ – a
fresh expression of the Legion’s brand.
Live On Guidelines and materials
We’ve been busy behind the scenes preparing Live On guidelines and a range of Live On
materials. We’re now ready to tell you more about the sentiment of Live On and about some of the
new and exciting Live On branded materials, literature and digital resources which you’ll be
pleased to know you can access. The enclosed Live On information for Branches gives full
information.
INSULT TO INJURY CAMPAIGN UPDATE – IS IT JUST US, OR ARE THEY NOT ANSWERING
THE QUESTION?
Thank you for supporting The Royal British Legion’s Insult to Injury campaign. So far, thanks to you
and many others, over 2700 letters have been sent to MPs.
Now let’s maintain the pressure.
You may have received a standard letter back from the Government about this campaign. The
Department of Health has also issued a statement
We don’t think the Government’s responses properly address the points that we’ve all been raising.
So we have written another template letter, challenging the Government’s arguments. It would be
great if you could download the letter and send it to your MP and ask them to look again at the
issue. (letter is also enclosed).
Remember, your campaigning is helping veterans like Fred Cannon, who was injured on D-Day
and has to use his military compensation to pay his care home fees.
The Government knows that we have made a convincing case. That’s why they have chosen to
talk about administrative differences rather than address the fundamental unfairness of treating
some injured veterans differently. We need to make it impossible for them not to act.
Please email this letter to your MP today and help all injured veterans to keep the compensation
they deserve (personalising it can make it even more persuasive).
Thank you once again for your much valued support.
Laura and the Public Affairs team
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DATA PROTECTION
Please ensure that any records which include personal data, either paper or electronic, held by
Branches is secured appropriately, reviewed on a periodic basis and destroyed or safely archived.
Any former Caseworkers who may be holding records can bring these into the County Office for
safe disposal if they are not able to destroy the records themselves. Please ring first to make sure
the office will be attended.
MEMBERSHIP COUNCIL ELECTION
Following the ballot by Branches David Swann has been elected to the Membership Council for the
East Region, which includes Berkshire. Our local nominee, Helen Picken, was unsuccessful on
this occasion.
FUNDED TOURS FOR NORMANDY VETERANS
If you know of any Normandy Veterans do let them know about funded tours to Normandy that
Remembrance Travel are running in May, September and October 2015.
All veterans who served in Normandy are eligible for funding, along with a carer and family
member to accompany the veteran. The tours will depart from the Union Jack Club in London and
will take the veterans by coach through to Calais and on to various locations in Normandy.
HUNGERFORD LAYING UP AND DEDICATION OF A NEW STANDARD 26 APRIL
Hungerford Branch invites Standards, Branch Officers, Committees and Members to a service on
26 April to Lay Up their old standard and Dedicate their new standard. The service starts at 3pm in
St Lawrence’s Church, Parsonage Lane, Hungerford. A poster is attached with the full details.
Please contact Derek Loft by 22nd April if you will be attending: email [email protected] or
07799 660584
NEWBURY AFD FLAG RAISING AND VE AND VJ DAY CELEBRATIONS 28 JUNE
Newbury Branch invites Standards, Branch Officers and Members to a Parade and Service for
Armed Forces Day Flag Raising and the 70th Anniversary of VE and VJ Day.
The parade will form up in Wharf Road at 10.15am and those not taking part in the parade will
assemble in Market Place. There will be a flag raising ceremony and service in the Market Place.
After the service the parade will march out of the Market Place to the RBL Club in Pelican Lane.
Everyone is invited back to the Newbury RBL Club where there will be refreshments with a paying
Barbecue.. Entertainment will by the Silhouette Show which is a female trio playing tribute to the
music of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s
MAIDENHEAD VJ SERVICE 15 AUGUST
Maidenhead Branch is holding a Church Service to mark the 70th Anniversary of VJ Day and they
have invited Branch Standards to attend.
The service is at 11.00a.m. on Saturday, August 15th and will be held at All Saints Church, Church
Close, Boyn Hill Road, Maidenhead SL6 4HE.
Branch Enclosures
Hungerford Invitation to Branches
Insult to Injury second letter
Live On Letterhead Template
Live on Guidelines
Live on Information for Branches
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Membership Support Officer:
Jennifer Strange
T: 0118 9762362
E: [email protected]
Community Fundraisers: (Tues, Wed & Thurs)
Anne-Marie Duffin
E: [email protected]
T: 07776 227768
Welfare
Rodger Cartwright, Case Officer
Ann Bethell, Advice & Information Officer
Victoria Gornall-King, Advice & Information
Officer
T: 0808 8028080
E: [email protected]
Knowledge base:
http://support.britishlegion.org.uk/
Samantha Hickton
E: [email protected]
T: 07788 457311
Regional Clubs Relationship Manager, Midlands
Pauline Swann,
T: 07970 375421
E: [email protected]
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2015 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
April
15-16
W/S Annual Conference
Bournemouth
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Hungerford Laying Up & Dedication of
New Standard Service
St Lawrence’s Church,
Parsonage Close, Hungerford
3.00pm
8 – 10
VE Day 70th Anniversary
commemorations
Nationwide
10
County Poppy Walk
Harwell RBL Club,Registration
9.00am
16-17
Annual Conference
Southport
27
Armed Forces Day
28
Newbury AFD Flag Raising and VE
and VJ Day Celebrations
Parade forms up in Wharf
Street, Newbury 10.15am or
gather in Market Place
10.15am
15
VJ Day 70th Anniversary
Nationwide
15
Maidenhead VJ Service
All Saints Church, Boyn Hill
Road, Maidenhead. 11.00am
September
26/27
Around the Edge Walk
County Boundary
October
18
County Standard Bearers Competition
Hungerford Town Hall 10am
24
County Poppy Launch and Armed
Forces Raceday
Newbury Racecourse
31
County Festival of Remembrance
Bearwood College 7.30pm
7
Festival of Remembrance
Albert Hall, London
8
Remembrance Sunday
8
Salvation Army Festival of
Remembrance
May
June
August
November
Standard Bearer Drill Sessions are on the following page
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Salvation Army, Anstey Road,
Reading. 6.15pm
STANDARD BEARER DRILL SESSIONS
Standard Bearer Practices will be held on the following dates at Tilehurst RBL Club,
Downing Road, Tilehurst, Reading RG31 5BB:
12 and 26 April
10 and 31 May
14 and 28 June
12 and 26 July
9 and 23 August
6 and 20 September
4 October
All practices will start at 10.15am and are open to all Standard Bearers in the County
regardless of experience. These sessions are there to help Standard Bearers and it is not
a requirement to attend all sessions.
Please note that practice sessions on rare occasions may be liable to cancellation due to
parades and hall availability. If you are not a regular attendee then you may wish to
telephone to check the drill has not been cancelled.
Regards
Tony McClements County Ceremonial Officer, Tel. 0118 9760112
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