County website: www.britishlegion.org.uk/counties/kent

BRANCH SECRETARIES: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ITEMS IN THIS MONTHLY

CIRCULAR SHOULD FORM PART OF THE REPORT TO YOUR BRANCH COMMITTEE

COUNTY CHAIRMAN`S REMARKS

I congratulate and thank all the Delegates that braved the arctic conditions and attended

Conference. It was a good turn out considering the weather with around 90 people present.

I also thank the visitors as well. I was however very surprised that no questions on the

Pathway for Growth were put to the Director General. From that I take it that all Branches

are happy with the changes within the organisation. A selection of photographs are attached

to this newsletter.

There are still Branches that are not answering letters that are being sent out from County.

You expect County to answer yours so please have the courtesy to respond if requested.

I note that there are still 12 branches that have not submitted either their MS1 or their

branch accounts or both. This is quite unacceptable and I am not happy that these branches

failed to send their returns in by 31st December. With a couple of exceptions there is no

excuse for this. If you are one of them please forward to County Office a.s.a.p. as this

requirement is laid down within our rules.

I would like to make an appeal for donations to the County General Fund. The Welfare Fund

is quite healthy at present but I know from the R&P accounts that there is a lot of money

sitting in Branch bank accounts and County would appreciate some of it in order to keep

running efficiently. Just so you’re aware of how this money is used the General Fund pays for:

• County Conference

• Travel expenses for the County Chairman and members of County Committee

• County Parade

• Standard Bearer training

• County seminars and training sessions

• Tickets for recruiting team members to take their stall to major events

• Partly for County News

• Other administration costs

Any donations to the General Fund are therefore more than welcome as without them County

couldn’t function properly.

Aussie Walker

KENT COUNTY NEWS

Royal British Legion, Kent County Office,

Hermitage Court, Hermitage Lane,

Maidstone, Kent ME16 9NT

Welfare: 01622 722 292

Fundraising: 01622 722 296

County Secretary: 01622 722 293

Fax: 020 3207 2171

General e-mail: kent@britishlegion.org.uk

County Secretary e-mail: twest@britishlegion.org.uk

February 2013

DONATIONS TO COUNTY FUNDS

The following donations have been gratefully received:

£300 Mr G P Redman

£164 Major T J Oyler

£1,000 Gillingham Branch

£1,718.05 Leeds, Hollingbourne & District Branch

£500 Ramsgate Branch

£330 Sevenoaks Branch (two cheques)

£1,000 Whitstable Branch

IN MEMORIAM

Donations have been gratefully received in memory of:

£110 Mr P J Hammond

CHEQUES TO COUNTY OFFICE

Can I please remind Branch Treasurers that all cheques coming to County Office should be

made payable to “Royal British Legion” with nothing after it - no Kent County, no Welfare, no

Membership, no nothing. Cheques are still coming through with the wrong payee, and I’m

afraid that any made out to anything other than the correct payee will be returned to the

branch concerned.

BRANCH MS1s AND ACCOUNTS RETURNS

Out of the 73 branches required to submit both MS1s and R&P forms by 31st

December, as at

today’s date (30th January) only 61 have done so - just five more from the number that I

quoted in the January newsletter. Of the remaining 12 Branches the following have yet to

submit their returns or the returns were incomplete when submitted:

MS1 R&P

- Ashford

Edenbridge Edenbridge

- Folkestone

- Greenhithe & Swanscombe

Hildenborough * Hildenborough *

Minster in Sheppey * Minster in Sheppey *

Paddock Wood Paddock Wood

Queenborough -

Rolvenden -

Seal * Seal *

Southborough & High Brooms # - NB: # = Return incomplete

Whitstable - * = Branch closing

If any Secretary or Treasurer needs help to complete their forms then please contact the

County Secretary without delay.

ANNUAL COUNTY CONFERENCE

Headcorn Village Hall provided the venue for another excellent Conference on 19th January

with around 90 in the hall including 26 delegates from 23 branches. Unfortunately nine

delegates and a number of visitors were hindered by the bad snowfall and sent their

apologies. Amongst the guests were His Worship the Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Rod Nelson-

Gracie, and the Chairman of Headcorn Parish Council, Mrs Lynn Selby. Guest speaker Chris

Simpkins, the Legion’s Director General, said how pleased he was with Conference. His

speech is attached for your information. John Partridge and Brian Sharpe stepped down as

County President and County Padre respectively and Conference welcomed Cllr Leyland

Ridings and Canon Paul Kerr as their successors. Richard Bunyan handed over the role of

County Standard Bearer to Geoff Lees.

One member of the County Committee was re-elected and two new members were elected.

The County Officers and Committee for this year are:

County President Cllr L B Ridings MBE JP

County Chairman Mr A W S Walker

County Vice Chairman Mr R C Cast

County Treasurer Mr R M Mann

County Secretary Mr A J West BEM

Committee Mr R P Bunyan Mr A E Clarke MBE

Mrs V B Dunger Mr G L Haisell

Mr R M Mann Mrs A J Austen

Mrs R H Bark Mr M K Britton

Mrs P A Butcher Mr R J Lamb

Mr J E Sibun Mrs C A Austen

Mr N E Williams

The Awards presented at Conference were:

Newport Cup Halstead Branch (Branch showing largest increase in membership)

Moore Trophy Swanley, Crockenhill & Hextable Branch (Branch Efficiency)

Skinner Rose Bowl Mr Jim & Mrs Rosemary Butcher (Person doing most in the interest of Welfare)

Brian Lyons Shield Mrs Christine Arnold (Caseworker of the year)

Mungeam Cup Mr Geoff Lees

(Standard Bearers Competition Winner) - Swanley, Crockenhill & Hextable Branch

1945-1995 Anniversary Shield Mr Mike Goodwin

(Standard Bearers Competition Runner Up) - Gillingham Branch

Banger Cup Mr Mike Goodwin

(Standard Bearers Competition Novice Winner) - Gillingham Branch

John Partridge Shield Mr Julian De-Zille

(Standard Bearer showing most progress in the year) - Downs Branch Branch

Charles Stevens Trophy Mr Michael Golding

(Person raising most on the Poppy Walk) - Swanley, Crockenhill & Hextable Branch

Tom Asprey Cup Shoreham Branch (Branch raising most on the Poppy Walk)

Tom Styles Shield Whitstable Branch (Branch with a Club raising most on the Poppy Walk)

MESSAGE FROM THE REVEREND BRIAN SHARP

I write to say ‘thank you and farewell’ - farewell to you all after my years as your County

Chaplain and thank you to you for your most generous gift and your friendship over the years

that we have shared. It has been a great privilege for me to act in service to you and I hope

that you will show the same warmth and welcome to Canon Paul Kerr as takes over as your

County Chaplain. I understand that he is already well known to many of you and therefore

will be able to ‘hit the ground running’! Life can be a little difficult for many people -

especially in the present climate so hang on to that sense of humour, fun and love of life that

so many of you have shown me. God bless you all and all those whom you serve.

Brian Sharp

COUNTY NEWS

Branch recipients are reminded that the information in County News must be passed to

members of your branch committee, in particular the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and

Membership Secretary, and should be communicated to your members if possible. One hard

copy of this monthly newsletter with all the attachments automatically goes to all Branches

and Clubs. Hard copies can be sent to members for a donation of just £5 per year and

electronic copies without certain attachments can be e-mailed on request.

COUNTY CEREMONIAL PARTY

Branches requesting that the County Ceremonial Party attend a parade or ceremony should

be aware that the Party in full consists of the County Chairman, the Women’s Section County

Chairman, the County Parade Marshal, the County Standard Bearer and the Women’s Section

County Standard Bearer or their deputies. The latest version of the form is attached.

Any Branch holding a parade may ask for the County Standard, always accompanied by the

County Chairman or Vice Chairman, and other Branch Standards to join them on parade but

there is no requirement to request the full County Ceremonial Party.

COUNTY RECRUITING EVENTS

During the months of June to September this year, the County Recruiting Team will be at six

major events within Kent County. The team headed by Anne Hill and assisted by Norman

Williams will between them have to cover 17 days at the events. The team desperately

requires some helpers and also new members who can be given training as Recruiting

Assistants to help on the Legion stand at these events.

This year we shall be covering Hell Fire Corner at Dover, War & Peace at Folkestone, Thanet

at War, Combined Operations at Headcorn and Salute to the 40’s at the Historic Dockyard at

Chatham. If you can assist at any of these events please contact Anne Hill on 01227 770217.

You must have an ability and confidence to talk to members of the public about the Legion

and its Welfare and Membership needs and the Poppy Appeal although a great deal of the

information is in the leaflets on the stand.

Anne and Norman also cover a number of one day local events and are always in need of

assistance. If you would like to assist, your help would be appreciated. Why not consider

taking up a Recruiting Assistants role. It is an important job to help build our membership

numbers, which in turn enhances the Poppy and Welfare Work.

In order for the Legion membership to grow and not fade it is important that all Branches

consider appointing a Recruiting Assistant/Officer to develop recruiting and attend local

events. Each year the Legion runs a number of Recruiting Courses and these can be held in

the County if numbers permit.

COUNTY TRAINING COURSES

There is to be a Simple Bookkeeping Course at County Office on Saturday 9th March for

Branch Treasurers. Those interested in attending should contact me by e-mail or phone by

1st March.

I am also holding a Newly Elected Officers & Committee Seminar at County Office on

Saturday 16th March. Those interested in attending should contact me by 8th March.

My telephone number is 01795 474179 and my e-mail is richardcast@btinternet.com. Details of

other courses to be held at County Office and elsewhere are attached to this newsletter.

Richard Cast County Training Officer

BIRCHINGTON BRANCH

Two members of the Birchington Branch plus the Standard Bearer accepted the invitation

from the Mayor of Margate and the Greek Community to the Annual Ceremony of Blessing of

the Seas on Sunday 6th January. This was followed by a reception and lunch in the Winter

Gardens. It was a great experience and very well attended.

ROBERT WOLFE CONCERT

This year’s Robert Wolfe Concert will take place at the Charter Hall, Smarden on Sunday 3rd

March commencing at 2.30 pm. Tickets are £10 on the door or £8 if pre-booked. As the

concert is in aid of Legion funds there is an additional discount for RBL members.

COLONEL ALBERT EDWARD VAUGHAN - KOYLI

The following message has been received at County Office. Should anyone have knowledge

of Colonel Vaughan please respond direct to Mr Rex at ken@mybungalow.me.uk:

This officer was the grandfather of a relative in New Zealand, Mrs Linda Brown, nee

Vaughan. He was born in Chelsea in 1896 and died in Dover 30th July 1973, living at

that time at 4 The Paddock, Dover and was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Linda and

the immediate family know very little of their grandfather other than that he was a

Colonel, had lost an eye and was in some way involved in training commandos in

Scotland in WW2. It occurred to me that he may have been known to members of

your association, as he lived in Kent (High Halden, Folkestone, Dover) between about

1950 and his death. I am aware of Colonel Charles Edward Vaughan of the Commando

Training School and have taken care not to confuse the two. Any information you can

give me about the gentleman would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes,

Kenneth Rex

Regards to you all

Tony West

County Secretary

Email: twest@britishlegion.org.uk

LEST WE FORGET

Notification has been received that the following members have passed on:

Mr Roy Penfold

Sutton Valence Branch

County Vice President & Life Member

Mrs Jenny Wells Canterbury - Life Member

Mr Dick Jarrett Downs

Mr Derek Nash Dymchurch & District

Mr Derek Martin Gillingham

Mr Godfrey Baker Gravesham & Ebbsfleet

Mrs Patricia Willmott Kemsing

Mrs Ivy Hewlett Leigh & District

Mr Frederick Bennett Littlebourne & District - Vice President & Life Member

Mr George Fisher Marden

Mr Michael Hughes “

Mr John Savage “

Mr Tony Regan Margate

Mr John Gidley Sandgate

Mr Anthony Gale Swanley, Crockenhill & Hextable

Mr Norman McCombe Tonbridge

Our deepest sympathies go to their families and friends

KENT COUNTY DIARY OF EVENTS - 2013

FEBRUARY

Sun 10th South East Regional Standard Bearer Competition - Cobham (10 am)

MARCH

Sun 3rd Robert Wolfe Concert - Charter Hall, Smarden (2.30 pm)

Sat 9th Simple Bookkeeping Course - County Office

Sat 16th Branch Officers Seminar - County Office

APRIL

Sat 13th-14th Welfare Seminar for Branch Welfare Officers - County Office

Sun 14th National Standard Bearer Competition - Bulwell, Notts

MAY

Thu 2nd-3rd Branch Treasurer Course - County Office

Sat 11th Women's Section Rally

Sun 12th Poppy Walk

Mon 13th-14th Branch Management Course - Hampshire County

Wed 15th-16th Independent Examiner Course - County Office

Sat 18th-19th Annual Conference - Llandudno

JUNE

Sat 29th Armed Forces Day

JULY

Sat 20th-21st County Management Course - County Office

AUGUST

Sun 18th County Parade

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

Sun 6th County Standard Bearer Competition - Ditton

Thu 24th Poppy Launch - Maidstone

Fri 25th Thanet Festival of Remembrance - Winter Gardens, Margate (7 pm)

NOVEMBER

Sat 2nd-3rd Branch Management Course - London District

Sat 9th Festival of Remembrance - Royal Albert Hall

Sun 10th Remembrance Sunday

Sat 16th Women's Section County Conference - Headcorn Village Hall

DECEMBER

Sat 14th Carol Service - Capel Morris Centre (3 pm)

JANUARY 2014

Sat 18th County Conference - Headcorn Village Hall

Updated: 23rd January 2013

Training Matters

Please bring to the attention of your Officers Committee and Branch Members

County Courses

This year we are running the following seminars which are listed below and you need to contact the

County Training Officer on 01795 474179 or by Email richardcast@btinternet.com to book places

for your branch members by 1st

March 2013 for all three seminars.

1. Book Keeping for Branch Treasurers Saturday 8th

March 2013 in the County Office, The day will

look at how to keep the Branch Accounts and will cover both manual and simple computerised

accounts. A useful day for all who find difficulty in this field.

2. Newly Elected Officers & Committee Saturday 16th

March 2013 in the County Office, This

seminar is designed to give all members who have taken or changed roles in the Branch an

insight into the duties they need to be carrying out and an update on the Legion Today.

3. Branch Welfare Committee Course Saturday 13th

April 2013 Currently planned to be held in the

County Office. This day is one we have waiting for, The day will cover what the role of the

Branch Welfare Committee or Representative entails in the new way forward, it will lay down

the links and areas of responsibility between Committee, Caseworkers and Welfare Staff as well

as giving ideas for the local activities the actual Committee should be involved in. Presentations

will be given by Volunteer Officers, County/Area Welfare Staff and also Headquarters Staff. This

will be an interesting day and it is important that you notify the number attending from your

branch welfare committee to the CTO (details above) by 1st

March 2013, in order that a suitable

venue can be sourced should the numbers be over the capacity for the County Office.

National Courses

1. Branch Treasurers Course Thur 2nd

& Fri 3rd

May 2013. This course is at national course that all

Branch Treasurers and Potential Treasurers should attend in order that they can be fully trained in

the Legions financial provision as laid down in the Royal Charter and Charity Law. Also be able to

understand the reasoning of and for the completion of the Annual Accounts. This course over two

days will be held at the county office and applicants need to contact the CTO by the 22nd

March

2013 on 01795 474179 or email richardcast@btinternet.com for an application form.

2. Independent Examiners’ Course Wed 15th

& Thur 16th

May 2013. Currently in Kent County we

have no authorised Independent Examiners who can audit branch accounts and thereby save

branches the additional cost of paying for audit fees. This course which needs to be attended by

people who have completed a Branch Treasurers Course will qualify them to audit accounts of

Branches other than their own, The qualification is one that needs to be updated every few years.

Attendees will be entered onto a Register of Independent Examiners. This course over two days will

be held at the county office and applicants need to contact the CTO by the 22nd

March 2013 on

01795 474179 or email richardcast@btinternet.com for an application form.

Other National Courses held outside Kent

There are other courses being run in Local Counties this year, some were bid for to be run in Kent

but were not allocated this year, Bids can still be made by Kent Members to attend these courses

and again they need to be applied for through the CTO Richard Cast. Details of the Local ones are

on the Legion Training Courses List 2013 which is attached to the newsletter and also shows other

National specialist courses that are being run.

LEGION TRAINING COURSES 2013

County Led Courses/Seminars

9th March Simple Bookkeeping Course for Branch Treasurers Kent County Office

16th March Newly Elected Officers & Committee Seminar Kent County Office

13th April Welfare Seminar for Branch Welfare Committee

Members Kent County Office

TBA

Recruiting Workshop & Seminar for Branch

recruiters and anyone interested in carrying out

Recruitment and Retention

Kent County Office

TBA

Branch or Vice Chairman's Briefings - two Seminars

to be held with differing Subjects & Updates Kent County Office

National Led Courses

Booked in Kent County Office

2nd/3rd May Branch Treasurers Kent County Office

15th/16th May Independent Examiners Kent County Office

20th/21st July County Management Kent County Office

National Courses in Local Counties

13th/14th March Branch Management Hampshire

16th April Recruiting Advisors Surrey

16th May Recruiting Advisors Surrey

2nd/3rd November Branch Management Greater London

National Led Courses - Other Subjects

16th/17th February County Recruiting Officers Haig House

22nd/24th March Parade Marshal Haig House

22nd/23rd March Youth Officers Haig House

12th/14th April National Leadership Haig House

27th/28th April PCRO and CRO Update Haig House

12th/13th May County Conference Committee Haig House

2nd August QPM Refresher Haig House

3rd/4th August QPM Course Haig House

17th/18th August Skills Based Ceremonial Course Haig House

10th/11th September National Conference Comm Haig House

11th/13th October County Training Officers Haig House

19th/20th October CTO Update Haig House

All Applications to County Training Officer Richard Cast on 01795 474179

or email richardcast@btinternet.com

KENT COUNTY CONFERENCE

HEADCORN - 19TH JANUARY 2013

Opening of

Conference

Chris Simpkins, the

Director General,

speaking about

Pathway for Growth

The County President

charging the new

County Standard

Bearer, Geoff Lees of

Swanley, Crockenhill

& Hextable Branch

The outgoing

County President,

John Partridge MBE

congratulating his successor,

Cllr Leyland Ridings MBE JP

The retiring County Padre,

Rev. Brian Sharpe,

the County Chairman,

Austin Walker and

the new County Padre,

Rev. Canon Paul Kerr

The 2013 County

Award Winners

DIRECTOR GENERAL’S MESSAGE FOR COUNTY CONFERENCE

Mr President, Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to attend and address

your County Conference this year – it’s a real pleasure to be here and to have the privilege of telling

you about some of the exciting things we’re doing to achieve our mission of being the organisation

that is, and is recognised as, the No. 1 provider of welfare, comradeship, representation and

Remembrance for the Armed Forces community.

During the next few minutes I’m going to talk about four things – firstly, a very brief update on our

welfare activity; secondly, to report on progress being made by the Membership Council; thirdly,

some changes the Board of Trustees is recommending should be made to the Royal Charter; and

finally, a brief update on our Pathway for Growth.

We’re often thought of as an old man’s organisation. In fact, the average age of the people we’re

helping is reducing. 25% of those who seek our help are now under 45 and we believe that figure will

continue to increase. We help every age group and generation – providing life long care to those who

serve today and we’ll be there for them for the rest of their lives.

We’ve been spending £1.7m every week on these services so we need to raise around £90m every

year just to stand still - and we can’t stand still because the demands on our services are,

unsurprisingly, increasing.

We don’t build Gucci buildings, most of our welfare work is not high profile but is undertaken directly

with individuals in need and changes their lives.

Last year, we made 165,000 casework interventions. Every one of these represents real, practical

help for a member of the armed forces community. Whether it be providing counselling, business

start-up advice and grants, bucket and spade holidays at one of our Break Centres for families

reunited following operational duty, supporting bereaved families through harrowing inquests,

helping elderly beneficiaries maintain independent living in their own homes with the assistance of

our Handy-van service, providing dementia care in our residential homes, getting homeless

beneficiaries off the streets, providing financial support and advice on benefits, helping wounded,

injured and sick personnel recover from devastating life changing injuries at our Battle Back Centre,

supporting other charities provide specialist services or one of many more services, the Legion

changes the lives of members of the armed forces community every day of the week.

When he assumed office in May 2010, the National Chairman stated that one of his objectives was to,

in his words, “give membership back to the members”.

Four months later, on 30th

September 2010, the National Chairman and the Director General launched

the Pathway for Growth. They listed a number of reasons why we needed to change:

• Huge public support for the Armed Forces

• The planned withdrawal from Afghanistan

• Reductions in public expenditure

• Changes in the regulatory frameworks

• Changing beneficiary needs

• Crowded sector and competition for funding

• Declining membership

• The need to change perceptions, raise our profile and up-date our image

• A need to make sure our governance arrangements are fit for purpose

Since then, the Membership Council has been getting to grips with a whole range of membership

issues including:

• Changing the process for elections to the Membership Council to make it easier for branches

to vote for a member to represent their region.

• Improving communication from HQ - we are now able to digitally communicate with all of our

Counties and Districts and more than 65% of our Branches which helps us drive down the cost

of administration.

• Introducing a new digitally-based accounting system to counties and districts has been hugely

successful and will now be extended to selected branches with the objective of significantly

reducing the late submission of accounts.

• Encouraging mediation as the first step in dealing with complaints. This has significantly

reduced the number of cases needing to be heard by the Complaints Committee thus saving

time and cost and enabling complaints to be dealt with at the most appropriate level.

• As requested by the National Chairman, the Membership Council is developing a new

leadership course which will offer an opportunity for members who are keen to take a more

strategic role to gain knowledge and expertise of all aspects of the Legion.

A particular theme of activity for the Membership Council is the issue of engagement with the armed

forces. The intent is to develop a relationship based on trust that not only raises the profile of the

Legion amongst the serving community but that also demonstrates our relevance to them in both

what we currently offer and our willingness to listen and respond.

For the Legion’s engagement strategy to be considered truly effective we must have an intimate

understanding of the differing challenges faced by each of the 3 Services, and reservists - and that can

only come from meaningful and sustained dialogue at every level.

Going forward, and in line with our commitment to Stand Shoulder to shoulder with all who serve, all

those currently Serving will be considered as Military Members of the Legion. This will provide those

holding a military ID Card with digital access to the Legion and, subject to local rules and costs, access

to Legion Clubs but stops short of awarding them any rights in terms of Governance. By encouraging

the Serving community to engage more closely with the Legion family, we hope to encourage their

greater commitment over time.

However, further development is hampered by our Royal Charter which imposes a degree of

bureaucracy which is not now necessary and does not give the level of authority to the Membership

Council that the Board of Trustees would wish. In addition, there is one element in our current

Charter that, though perfectly legal, the Charity Commission thinks could create difficulty for the

Board of Trustees - the capacity for Annual Conference, which has no responsibility under Charity

Law, to reject changes to the Articles proposed by the Board of Trustees, which has complete

responsibility under Charity Law.

So the Board of Trustees asked the Governance Committee to review the Royal Charter, our Rules and

Governing Regulations and, over the last few months, a great deal of work has been undertaken and,

where necessary, external legal advice has also been obtained.

The Board considers that it is vitally important that our Annual Conference this year considers a

motion recommending the adoption of a new Royal Charter. Work is still on-going, particularly in

terms of seeking advice from the Charity Commission without whose support the necessary approval

of the Privy Council will not be achieved. We will obviously need to brief all formations very soon so

that branches have an opportunity to express their views and, hopefully, appoint delegates to attend

Conference in Llandudno to support the changes. So this will be a vitally important conference for the

next phase of development of The Legion and I would urge all those branches that do not traditionally

send delegates to Conference to give serious consideration to doing so this year.

Our Charter is a fairly ‘dry’, unnecessarily long and somewhat confusing document so we’ve taken the

opportunity to simplify it wherever possible. The principal changes proposed reflect the National

Chairman’s commitment to return membership to the members so it is proposed that:

1. The Membership Council, made up of elected regional representatives, will be formally

identified in the Rules as a Committee of the Board of Trustees and will be given the

responsibility and authority for running membership.

2. There will be an Annual Conference under Membership Council control and named the

"Annual Membership Conference".

3. Decisions on Membership Fees will be taken by the Annual Membership Conference.

4. It is proposed that the Royal Charter should comprise Articles and Rules. In order to reflect

the legal responsibilities of the Board of Trustees which was overwhelmingly acknowledged

by Conference in 2011, Articles may be changed by the Board of Trustees with a two thirds

majority in favour but the Annual Membership Conference and other formations will be able

to propose changes to the Board. Future changes to Rules will, as now, require the approval

of Conference and the Board of Trustees by special resolution.

5. There will be no Governing Regulations. These are largely concerned with procedural and

administrative matters which are not appropriate for inclusion in the charity’s governing

document. These will instead be transferred to a new and enlarged Management Handbook

which will be re-named the Membership Handbook.

6. We are currently in discussion with the Charity Commission with the intention of including

Comradeship as an additional charitable object or power.

7. Funding research, for example the Centre for Blast Injury Studies, will be specifically included

as an additional power.

Taken together, these proposals have the effect of removing some of our bureaucracy, although more

will need to be done through a review of the management handbook, strengthening the ability of

membership, through the Membership Council, to manage its own affairs and reflecting the

importance of comradeship to our beneficiary community. Through this process of rationalisation

and simplification, the Royal Charter will be reduced from 35 pages to 14.

This is a package of proposals. The motion will be so worded to avoid the chaos which ‘cherry picking’

proposals will introduce. So it’ll be an ‘all or nothing’ motion.

Before I close, I just want to address a few remarks to the Pathway for Growth Programme. We’ve

made significant progress along the path but there’s still some way to go before we reach our

destination and I’m sure we’ll meet, but overcome, some obstacles. Over the next few months we’ll

open our three new combined regional and area offices in Birmingham, Manchester and Swindon.

The three Assistant Directors of Operations and sixteen Area Managers have been appointed and are

now in the final stages of preparing their Area Plans that will set out how we’re going to improve our

services and make us more visible to the public and more accessible to our beneficiaries. We’re also

working hard to

Improve all our systems and processes, critically our IT systems, to improve our efficiency and enable

the armed forces community to access our services through the internet far more effectively than is

possible at the moment. There are four themes that will guide our work:

1. Welfare must be at the heart of everything we do;

2. We are a national organisation with local delivery;

3. Everything we do must be evidence based - we won’t commit resources on a whim; and

4. We will collaborate with other service-related charities, and other like-minded organisations,

to improve efficiency and remove duplication.

Pathway for Growth is perhaps the biggest process of change in the Legion’s history and it’s long

overdue. It’s absolutely the right path to follow to reach our destination of being the organisation

that is, and importantly, is recognised as, the No. 1 provider of welfare, comradeship, representation

and Remembrance for the Armed Forces community.

Ladies and gentlemen, service in the Armed Forces changes lives, and not just of those who wear the

uniforms. The Legion changes lives too – for the better and every day of the week.

Thank you.

REQUEST FOR COUNTY CEREMONIAL PARTY

Before completing the proforma below, branches/organisations are advised to contact the County Secretary to determine that the proposed date of their parade or ceremony does not clash with a previously arranged event. Branches requesting that the County Ceremonial Party attend a parade or ceremony should be aware that the Party in full consists of the County Chairman, the Women’s Section County Chairman, the County Parade Marshal, the County Standard Bearer and the Women’s Section County Standard Bearer or their deputies. Early in the planning stage of any ceremonial event it is advisable for the organisers to invite the County Parade Marshal or his representative to attend a planning meeting so that his advice can be sought, thereby preventing any embarrassing situations arising on the day.

-o0o-

Branch: ……………………..………………………………………….

Event: ……………………..………………………………………….

Day, date and time: ……………………..………………………………………….

Time parade forms up: ……………………..…………………………………………. &

Location: ……………………..………………………………………….

Names of additional ……………………..…………………………………………. County Officers required

to attend parade: ……………………..…………………………………………. (see paragraph above)

……………………..………………………………………….

Name of branch contact: ……………………..…………………………………………. Appointment: .….………………..………….… Tel: ……….……………...…………….

Approved County Chairman: ………….…………………………………………….. Date: …………………… Approved Parade Marshal: …………….…………………………………………… Date: …………………… Approved W/S County Chairman: …………………………………………………… Date: ………………..…..

Please return form to: County Secretary RBL Kent County Office Hermitage Court Hermitage Lane Maidstone Kent ME16 9NT

A copy of this form will be sent to the Women’s Section County Secretary.