Royal British Legion Ashwell & District Branch Chairman’s Report 2025/2026

‘In honour of those who fought, in memory of those who fell’

It has been a busy year for us in the Branch. Last year, we held our usual Poppy Appeal collections at points along the High Street and at Carters Pond on the three Saturdays before Remembrance Sunday. The service on Remembrance Sunday was held at the Parish Church led by the Rector, Revd Chris Campbell, followed by the Act of Remembrance led by the URC Minister Revd Stan at the village War Memorial. It was good to have the Uniformed groups joining in both the service and the Remembrance. Many gathered with us to take part in the laying of wreaths and the Silence as we honoured those named from this village who died. Thank you to all who took part. It is so important that even though we don’t personally know the people whose names are inscribed on the Memorial and read out at the ceremony that we still remember them and the sacrifice they made to win the gift of peace. The carpet of poppies was introduced last year and we thank Sharon for leading the team of knitters for putting this together. Also Andrew G arranged for our school children to come and place the wooden crosses around the WM. It is really good to have wider community contact to enable these projects to happen.

The work of the Committee continued throughout the year – meetings were held on occasions, and the year ends with our AGM today. I must mention and thank Jo Huggins, who stood down. We were sorry to lose her and offer our thanks for all that she did especially as our Poppy Appeal Coordinator. It was a pleasure to present her with a Branch Appreciation Certificate.

Our Branch membership stands at 46.

We were sad to hear of the death of Mr Fred Bryant – Fred was our Branch President and had been an active Branch member since he returned home from Korea in the early 1950s. He was a great advocate for the RBL and worked hard to support our Branch and Committee. He was delighted to be asked to become Branch President and at each Committee meeting he led the Act of Homage. Hs funeral was a truly village service and many came to attend to remember him and to say thank you. May he rest in peace.

The work of the Committee focussed on the various fund-raising events through the year. Starting with an afternoon with Ashwell Museum with a Talk & Tea & Cake. The talk was given about the War Gaves Commission and the Museum invited us to run a raffle and gave a percentage of the ticket money for our Poppy Appeal fundraising. We held Coffee Mornings on May 30^th and August 15^th commemorating VE and VJ Days respectively.

The highlight of the year has been to take delivery of the Remembrance Bench and then to see it in position at the front of the WM. Our thanks to Mick and Paul for their work on this.

My thanks to all members of the Branch Committee for the huge amount of work they do to make the Branch such a success – their ongoing support and organising of events is very much appreciated. For small village community we do very well when compared to Branches in larger towns in the County. My especial thanks to our Officers, our Treasurer, Rita Lewis, and our Poppy Appeal Organisers, Sharon Dawson and Paul Miller, our Secretary Katie Cripps, and our Vice Chairman & Membership Officer Andrew Gillborn for their commitment in supporting the work of our Branch. 

Our thanks also go to Chris Pack who raises the Union Flag when needed. Thank you too to Craig Langford who looks after the War Memorial and always makes sure that the grass is cut and plants are kept fresh and beautiful – a fitting tribute to all we remember. 

Finally, a huge thank you to those who volunteer through the year to collect for the Poppy Appeal at various points in the village, as well as supporting the coffee mornings and fund raising events we hold. We always welcome new volunteers who offer to take part in our activities and if you would like to help please get in touch.

Revd Canon Lindsay Dew (Chairman)