Edition 2/2015October 2015

Legion Helpline

The Legion General Helpline on 0808 802 8080 is free from UK landlines and open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. Enquirers are recommended to ring later in the day, as the lines do become overwhelmed earlier. It covers enquiries on the following subjects:-

  • War pensions and compensation claims
  • Inquest advice
  • Benevolent / welfare help
  • Benefits and money advice
  • Independent living
  • Care homes
  • Poppy Breaks, Family Holiday Breaks and Adventure Breaks
  • Remembrance travel (pilgrimages, school & group tours)
  • Legion membership, but try the Branch first!
  • Poppy Appeal
  • Fundraising events
  • Tracing advice

The Legion receives 450,000 calls each year, half of them asking for practical help. The ex-Service community totals 6,200,000 (not just WWII). Half of adults are over 75; 630,000 are likely to experience problems getting around the home; 720,000 experience problems with self-care, including exhaustion, pain and difficulty looking after themselves.

Poppy Appeal 2015

Last year we forwarded £22,033 to the appeal. This year’s appeal runs from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 8 November. The majority of businesses in the town will have a collecting box, and a team of volunteers will be collecting house-to-house around the town and outlying villages. There will be manned collections at four strategic points in the town (Tesco, Co-op, GPO and Town Hall) on Thursday 5 November and Saturday 7 November. At the War Memorial the Field of Remembrance will be available from (date) with proper turf, in which to stick poppy crosses. We are extremely grateful to all the businesses and volunteers who make our consistently high performance possible. Their support to the appeal enables practical help and aid to to be provided where needed to the whole Service community and its dependants. We are particularly indebted to Virginia Hayward Limited for providing a large hamper each year as the major raffle prize. For every £1 raised in funds for the Legion, 78p is spent on beneficiaries, 21p on fundraising and 1p on administration.

Poppy Collector’s Thank You Lunch

This buffet lunch will be in the Legion Hall on Thursday 26 November 2015, after the usual coffee morning. Invitations will be sent out to Poppy Collectors.

Christmas Sherry and Mince Pies

At the usual coffee morning on Thursday 17 December 2015 there will be sherry or port and hot mince pies.

Remembrance Parade, Sunday 8 November 2015

The programme is as usual as follows (all times a.m.):-

1030Form up in Bell Street (Co-op) car park

1048Parade marches off to the War Memorial

1053-1105Ceremony at Park Walk Memorial

1100Two minutes silence

1105Parade re-forms in Abbey Walk

1108Parade marches to St Peter’s Church

1120Remembrance Service at St Peter’s Church

Those going directly to the church are asked to be seated by 1110. All members are welcome to march in the parade. We thank the Marshals without whose help the parade could not be held. We are also grateful to the Town Band, which turns out every year, whatever the weather, to support us in the supreme act of remembrance.

Gold Hill Fair Results

At Gold Hill Fair on Sunday 5 July 2015 we raised £257.81. Well done to all our helpers and supporters! We are indebted to all those members who turned out to man the stall. In addition we kept the RBL and the Shaftesbury and District Branch in the public eye.

2015 AGM

This will be held in the Legion Hall at 1030 on Thursday 19 November 2015 after which coffee/tea and mince pies will be available. The agenda will include:-

The Exhortation, opening prayers, welcome and apologies

President’s Address

Chairman’s Report

Minutes of 2014 AGM and Matters Arising

Reports from Hon Treasurer, Membership Secretary and Chairman of Welfare Committee

Election of Officers and Committee

Any Other Business- items already notified

Date of Next AGM - 17 November 2016

Important information for the AGM - if any member wishes to join the committee, propose someone else for the committee, has any item for “Any Other Business”, or wishes to give apologies in advance, please inform the Honorary Secretary, Barry Brown, on (01747) 855739, on or before Thursday 12 November 2015.

Vacancies on Branch Committee

At the forthcoming 19 November AGM (at 1030) we seek volunteers to serve on the Branch Committee:-

 A Membership Secretary, able to attend on most coffee mornings and who is IT literate.

 A Publicity/PR member to issue Press Releases and a monthly input to four local publications (Shaftesbury Matters, Blackmore Vale Magazine, Contact, and Valley News

Progress on Solar Panels

All preparations are now finished and full approvals have been given. We have the money earmarked from our HQ-held branch funds. With the Commercial Energy Performance survey now completed, we expect the panels to be installed in October, in time for the worst weather months of the year in January and February.

Health & Safety

We remain fully certified and compliant with all aspects of Health & Safety in the Hall, including fire hazard, emergency evacuation plans, first aid, electrical fittings and appliances, and gas appliances. Annual reviews are carried out to keep us up to date.

Welfare

Welfare, the main reason for the Legion’s existence remains the Branch Strategy top priority. Practical help is available in the form of counselling; business start-up advice and grants; stays at Break Centres for families reunited after operational tours; supporting families through harrowing inquests; helping elderly beneficiaries maintain independent living in their own homes; providing dementia care in our residential homes; placing homeless beneficiaries from the streets into proper shelter; providing financial support and advice on benefits; and helping wounded and sick personnel recover from their injuries. If you are a serving or ex-Serviceman or Servicewoman or dependant who needs help of any kind, or you know of someone else who does, please ring the Branch Chairman on (01747) 854765. Do leave a contact telephone number if he is not in. We also arrange hospital and/or home visits for those needing them.

Membership

Renewal subscriptions of £16 are now due, but under the new system Branches have been withdrawn from the process. All existing members should have received a letter from Legion HQ by now. The 60% of our membership paying by Direct Debit (DD) should have been told the date when the subscription will be withdrawn from their bank.

The 40% of the membership who pay by cash rather than DD have been invited to pay by cash by 16 November please (after which a reminder letter will be sent by HQ), at one of the five Pay Points in the town, taking their letter (containing their individual bar code):-

The Shaftesbury Tourist Information Centre at 8 Bell Street; Co-Op Stores Bell Street; Co-Op Stores Beaufoy Close; Central Stores Ivy Cross (behind the Service Station); and Ivy Cross Service Station.

Once the DD payment is made, or the cash paid at the Paypoint, your membership card will be sent to you. If any existing member has not received their renewal letter, or if they have moved house in the period since last year’s membership renewal, they should ring the Membership Helpline on 0808 8028080 to enquire. In the event of further problems, members should ring the Branch Membership Secretary on 01747 854765 for assistance.

Serving or retired Servicemen and women and their dependants are eligible to join, as is anyone (even those with no Service connections) who subscribes to the aims and objectives of the Legion. Anyone wishing to join should contact the Membership Secretary on (01747) 854765. We now have 148 members. The existing membership is asked to help with recruitment. Any boy or girl aged 12-16 can join the Legion as a Youth Member, paying a one-off fee of £5 to retain membership until the age of 17, after which the full rate of subscription of £16 applies.

Morning Coffee Every Thursday

The Branch has a regular coffee morning in the Coppice Street Legion Hall every Thursday morning from 1000 to 1130. Anyone, including non-members, is welcome to attend for some warm company and refreshment. Branch occurrences and forthcoming events are publicised at the meetings.

Presentation Programme

We run a programme of short presentations on selected Thursday mornings after coffee. These talks, of which there are five in each of the next few years between October and May (that is, omitting the summer holiday period), are followed by free lunches for members attending - usually something modest but wholesome. For details of the programme watch the local Press (Blackmore Vale Magazine, Shaftesbury Matters, Valley News and Contact) and announcements on the two Legion noticeboards in the town - one opposite the Rose Café, and the other opposite the Post Office. The future programme is as follows:-

Thursday 22 October 2015 - Barry Brown “Scott of the Antarctic”. Followed by fish and chips. Talk starts at 11.30.

Thursday 21 January 2016 - Rodney Atwood will talk on “Heroic Hearts: the British Army's Victory in Afghanistan in 1880”. Starts at 11.30. Followed by lasagne and coleslaw lunch.

Thursday 25 February 2016 - To be announced. Watch for notices.

Thursday 24 March 2016 - To be announced. Watch for notices.

The Rifles Monument

The Rifles have offered to home the monument in their barracks, either at Chepstow (where the First Battalion is based), or at Topsham Barracks, Exeter, where the Devon & Dorset HQ is based. The Town Council is clearing some legal matters with solicitors before a final determination of the siting.

Legion Hall Bookings

The Legion Hall was designed to hold 60 seated and 70 standing, and has full disabled access. Our present suggested donation for a booking remains at £25 per session (a session is a morning, afternoon or evening) which is not only highly competitive in Shaftesbury, but maintains an edge over the very few similar quality venues in the town. Members are asked to assist us to increase the use of the Hall by promoting more bookings. Contact Michael Hill on 01747 850082.

Diary Dates

Thursday 22 October 2015 - Second of the five seasonal presentations. Barry Brown on Scott of the Antarctic, followed by fish & chips. Starts 11.30 a.m. after coffee morning.

Saturday 24 October 2015 - Poppy Appeal collection fortnight begins. Volunteer collectors are always needed.

Sunday 8 November 2015 - Remembrance Sunday. Service 11 a.m. (muster 10.30 at the Co-op car park).

Morning Thursday 19 November 2015 - Branch AGM 10.30 a.m.

Saturday 21 November 2015 - RAFA Bazaar 1000-1230, Bell Street Church Hall.

Thursday 26 November 2015 - Legion Hall Poppy Collector’s Thank You Lunch.

Thursday 10 December 2015 - Christmas Photo Fun during coffee morning.

Thursday 17 December 2015 - Christmas sherry, mince pies and sing-song.

Thursday 21 January 2016 - Rodney Atwood: “Heroic Hearts: the British Army's Victory in Afghanistan in 1880”. Starts at 11.30. Followed by free lunch.

Thursday 25 February 2016 - Fourth presentation of the season after coffee - topic later - followed by lunch.

Thursday 24 March 2016 - Final presentation of the season before the summer break. After the Coffee Morning (starts 11.30) with free lunch afterwards. Watch notice boards for presentation details.

Our Recommended Contractors

(Repeated from the last edition)

Roofer/Tiler/Guttering Stephen Crane07752 252298

Porch ManufactureN J Gregory07912 581537

Porch FittingKen Burfitt07540 947823

Floor RenovationNatural Woodflooring07957 891952

PainterBen Dukes07799 027002

ElectricianAndrew Donnelly07980 919950

PlumberDavid Luxton07976 906634

Blinds Sewards Blinds01747 822724

Fire Doors replacementValecraft01747 826888

Carpenter/JoinerAndy Heads07850 235476

Curtains Dry CleaningStalbridge Linen Services01747 851585

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