Dear Member,

 Things are still very strange and I hope that you are all coping well with the lockdown restrictions, they are changing again from 1^st June and I will endeavour to give you the run down on these later in this newsletter; with the majority of events for this year being cancelled or postponed  I am relying on branches providing me with articles that show anything that you have been doing, provided it falls within the instructions issued by the Membership Council/Board of Trustees.

 In your newsletter this month we feature:

 Membership

1. • Renewal Information
2. RBL 100^th Birthday Celebrations
3. County Event Calendar
4. Poppy Appeal
   • Calendar of Events
   • CFR Report – Michael Lewis
5. Message from the National Chairman
6. Message from the Chairman of the Membership Council
7. Messages from the County Chairman – Paul Sawford
8. Membership Handbook
9. Almonisation
10. Coronavirus – Covid-19
11. Around the Branches
    • Stotfold and Arlesey
    • Clapham
    • Flitwick and District

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Membership

Renewal Information

Membership Renewal now takes place throughout the year with most of our 

members renewing on 1^st October each year, however members who have joined since 2015 may have a renewal date dictated by the date that they physically joined the Legion.

 The renewal process is no longer controlled by Branches, but centrally.

 Renewal instructions will be sent to you a month or so before your membership is due, this gives you plenty of time to renew before your membership expires; any communications, information, updates etc. that you receive after your expiry date is totally goodwill and may be stopped at any time and after a period, if your membership is not renewed, it will be lapsed (this may be controlled centrally or by the Branch).

 Please do not destroy any paperwork that you receive regarding your renewal as you may need it to effect this.

 If you are unsure of how you can renew, or you have lost your paperwork, please contact Novacroft RBL Membership on 0800 3077773, They will be able to give you all the information you may need and, if required, will renew your membership there and then (by debit or credit card or they can set up direct debits).

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RBL 100^th Birthday Celebrations

Good morning everyone,

As you are all very well aware the Centenary of The Royal British Legion will take place in 2021. This is a milestone which I expect you may already be planning to celebrate within your branches. To help you with your 

preparations we have introduced Branch Guidance on the activities planned and to support generating new and interesting ways to engage your communities.  

 Additionally, we will also be marking the Centenary with events at a National level.  We will be working closely with the Membership Council on how we can manage membership participation in these events.  Because we are planning for the Centenary during these uncertain times it may be necessary for our plans and activities to evolve to adhere to any measures that are put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While we hope that conditions will have improved to enable our plans to go ahead, these may change.  Please bear with us, we will keep you informed.

 To keep in touch with the latest updates on our national Centenary activity, to seek advice on your local plans or to share your ideas with other branches, please join our Legion 100 Yammer Group.

We look forward to hearing about your Legion 100 activity in the near future.

 Kind regards and stay safe,

 Sandra

Sandra Fruish MBA MSc

Assistant Director Membership

Telephone: 0808 802 8080

sfruish@britishlegion.org.uk

The Royal British Legion

Haig House

Borough High Street

London

SE1 1AA

 Should you wish to receive a copy of the Branch Guidance, please contact me at Sandy.Chairman@RBL.Community and I will forward a copy to you.

 Bedfordshire County RBL will be holding a Royal British Legion Centenary Event along the Riverside in Bedford during the day on Saturday 15^th May 2021. This has been 

booked in with Bedford Borough Council for over a year and we will be asking the Branches to participate in that, so please bear that in mind when you plan any Branch events.

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County Event Calendar - 2020

Poppy Appeal

The latest Poppy Appeal news and information will be presented here.

 Calendar of Events

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Poppy Appeal

The latest Poppy Appeal news and information will be presented here.

 Calendar of Events

CFR Report – Michael Lewis

 Bedfordshire Poppy Appeal Totals:

 Bedfordshire 2018/19: £500,993.82

Bedfordshire 2019/20: £380,907.11

National 2018/19: £51,848,645.22

National 2019/20: £43,621,897.00

 POPPY APPEAL CONTINGENCY – Calls to PAOs

The Community Fundraising teams will be asked to undertake a key piece of work to physically call all PAOs over the coming weeks to help Aylesford inform and collate information relating to the contingency work for the PA2020.

I will be required to call the PAOs who have high income generating districts, and selected PAOs from my area that I feel should receive a call from me as your CFR. I have made every effort to ensure that this task is manageable in the timescale provided, and so the maximum number of a call a CFR will make is 55. Our Area Administrator team will support us in calling the remaining PAOs in our areas.

Questionnaires were sent to PAO’s earlier this month and should have been returned to Michael.

If you are a PAO and have not received the questionnaire, please contact Michael.

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Message from the National Chairman

 Good morning,

 Friday 8th May was very different to what had been planned for our veterans, but I know many of them did appreciate what the Legion along with the BBC produced.  So, a big thank you to all who participated in any way.  VE vets you are not forgotten.

 My own VE day was a mixture of pride and sadness. Pride because of the way the Legion adapted to the changes that had to take place because of the virus and sadness because I had been looking forward to thanking our veterans personally for all they had done to make us free men and women today.  Next weekend would have been our annual conference in Southport. The conference brings together members to debate, take decisions and to have fun. I will certainly miss seeing so many of you but will raise a glass to you all on Saturday evening.

 This week I have spoken to members in Kenya, São Paulo, and many European countries via zoom. As you know this was an achievement for me with my lack of technical skills!

 Finally, I would just like to wish you all well. Please take care and keep in touch with each other.

Thinking of you all.

 Una

 Una Cleminson

National Chairman

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Message from the Chairman of the Membership Council

Good afternoon everyone,

 As Chairman of the Membership Council and Trustee of the Legion I just wanted to extend my grateful thanks to all of you who abided by the Legion and Government advice not to come together in acts of commemoration and the VE75 celebrations.  I appreciate that this was upsetting for every one of us as we had all been planning and preparing events for a long time and wanted to do our best for the anniversary.  However, in these times we must think ‘service, not self’ but in a way we may not have done before.  It is our responsibility to ensure the most vulnerable in society are protected from this dreadful pandemic and following the Government guidelines is the least we can do to ‘do our bit’. 

There are more anniversaries and events approaching. I am thinking particularly of VJ75 and Armed Forces Day, but our position remains that we must approach these as we did VE75 and maintain that all non-essential RBL meetings and gatherings should be cancelled or postponed.

 We will be closely monitoring government advice and will adapt our guidance accordingly as and when we feel able. When that happens, we will of course let you know straight away.  

In the meantime, thank you again for your stoicism and support. I hope you and those close to you remain safe and well.

 Jason

 Jason Coward

Trustee

Chairman, Membership Council

Trustee, National Memorial Arboretum

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Messages from the County Chairman – Paul Sawford

General Update
What difficult times we live in, this virus has affected us all and I hope all those who are able are taking exercise and keeping well, many of us have lost friends or relations to this virus and to those I send my sympathy; as Captain, now Colonel, Tom said “good times are coming again”, so we listen every day for more easing of the lockdown, although things will never be the same again.

I urge those with ailments to phone or contact their doctor and not to be put off from seeing them as many people are putting off what could be serious.

I have no news as to when we can resume meetings again, but hope it will not be too long; we all miss the comradeship the Legion brings.

I hope you are all keeping in touch with each other as a couple of minutes on the phone is helpful to both the caller and the called, it helps to keep us sane.

One thing the lockdown hasn't stopped is the grass, it is growing so fast I have used almost 4 gallons of petrol and lots of sweat, but getting lots of exercise; my garden has never looked so good; the flower beds although rather short of plants are well tended and ready for planting; the potatoes are up and the runner beans are growing fast, I am having to cover them at night as we are still getting Frost.

Well enough for now please keep in touch, follow government guidelines, and keep well.

Yours,
Paul Sawford Bedfordshire County

• Chairman
• VE Day 75
  In these difficult times we remember today, 8th May, the many who gave their lives and those who worked together, throughout the world, to defeat the Nazi tyranny during World War Two, many lost their lives needlessly in the pursuit of freedom during the years 1939 – 45; our armed forces strived to defeat those who would enslave others and eventually on the 8th May, 75 years today reap the benefit of their hard work and sacrifice; so today please remember those, our grandparents, who gave their lives to achieve victory in Europe; it would be some time still before the world ceased fighting, but VE Day was a victory celebrated and hard won, so please remember winning is always hard won but worthwhile.
  We are now fighting another hidden foe, but we will win again and defeat this virus
  
  Yours,
  
  Paul Sawford
  RBL County Chairman Bedfordshire
• Message from Helen Nellis

Dear Paul,
Please would you pass on my most sincere thanks to all your colleagues and members of RBL in Bedfordshire, for the sterling effort they made in helping our county commemorate and celebrate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day last weekend.

It was amazing and heartening to see the innovative ways which people found to recognise this important day and I do thank you all for making sure that Bedfordshire recognised the event with the respect it deserved.

I was glad that our VE Day Service of Thanksgiving was able to be seen by so many people which meant that we had a feeling of being together.

Thank you Paul and my good wishes to you and all RBL members for your well- being during this crisis.

Keep your spirits up!

Kind regards

Helen

Helen Nellis
HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire Twitter @LLieutenantBeds

07711289403

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Membership Handbook

On the 21^st January 2020, we released the newly revised Membership Management Handbook. While it was positively received, we also listened to valuable feedback from branches regarding clarifying some of the content. We are very pleased to announce that an updated Version 1.2 is now available.

Kindly note the Membership Management Handbook can be found via one of the links below:

Office 365

https://trbl.sharepoint.com/sites/MembershipResources/Shared%20Documents/Handbooks/Membership%20Management%20Handbook%202020.pdf

Royal British Legion

https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/quick-links/the-royal-charter?seg=WPDW3B

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Almonisation

Each month the County Committee are notified of welfare cases within our area and are asked to contribute towards the cost of these, below are the cases that have been notified this month and I invite you to contact your Branch Committee and suggest to them that they might wish to make a contribution towards the cost of any that are within your Branch area, this is a good use of your Branch funds.

If your Branch would like to contribute to an individual case in your town, you can and the easiest way to do it is to write a cheque out to The Royal British Legion and put the reference number on the back of the cheque. It is entirely up to you how much you contribute. No amount is too little, any contribution would be gratefully accepted.

Send the cheque with a covering letter from the branch to:

Edward Robinson

Central Grants Team

The Royal British Legion

199 Borough High Street

London SE1 1AA

 If you want a receipt for the cheque, you must ask for this to be supplied when you send the cheque off as County cannot supply this for you.

Coronavirus – COVID-19

There cannot be a single member who is not aware of the above global crisis, it is on the news many times a day and there is a plethora of information on the internet, however, please take note of the following information:

• Annual Conference
  In line with all other Legion events this year’s Conference has been cancelled
  
• Branch Community Support (Welfare)
  In order to safeguard our members and the BCS Representatives and Volunteers, there will be no face to face BCS visits during this crisis. Support will still be available via telephone, email, or online messaging services. Remember a two- minute phone call to an elderly or vulnerable member can make all the difference to them, especially if they are self-isolating.
  
• Standard Bearers
  It is well understood that Standard Bearers have a very loyal sense of duty, but they may not attend any mass event
  for the foreseeable future and this includes Funerals or any parade
  
• Events
  These are, or will be, cancelled until the crisis is over.
  
• NHS Advice
  Below you will find the symptoms of the virus and also what to do if you think that you may have it:

Stay at home if you have either:

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• Anosmia – Loss of sense of Taste or smell
  

To protect others, do not go to places like a GP surgery, pharmacy, or hospital. Stay at home.

Use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do.

Use the 111 coronavirus service

Information:

Only call 111 if you cannot get help online.

How long to stay at home

• if you have symptoms of coronavirus, you will need to stay at home for 7 days
• if you live with someone who has symptoms, you will need to stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person in the home started having symptoms

If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.

If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.

Read our advice about staying at home.

There is a lot more information available at:

 https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

for information about the new Test and Trace system being deployed in England please visit:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-for-coronavirus/

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Around the Branches

 Stotfold and Arlesey Branch

Since the Lock down due to COVID-19 virus, our Branch like many others, has been unable to meet, however we  have been in regular contact through our Stotfold /Arlesey Members chat Room site, also we have been in contact with our members by phone to check up on their socialisation and welfare; checks have as yet found no Problems.

For VE Day 75 commemorations our Standard and Bearer was videotaped at our Memorial and sent to RBL Virtual Parade and was used as part of the parade along with 350+ other participants across the RBL nationally and internationally.

 Stotfold like other towns and villages had made the Effort to maintain and uphold VE Day 75 by decorating their properties with flags bunting and 

balloons and sharing their Virtual Tea parties on Social Media.

Andy Fievez

Branch Chairman 

Clapham Branch

It was with much sadness that we have learned of the death of our previous Branch President, Toby Dobson and his lovely wife Ann died of natural courses last month. Toby was a very generous man. For the last
few years of his working life he was a Director of the Charles Wells
brewery and was an escort to Branch members when we paid this place a
visit.

Another of our members was due to visit Moscow to collect a medal for his involvement in the Artic Convoy run, sadly this visit had to be called off, but he has received the medal and a certificate by post.

During the afternoon of 8^th May some of our members had a 'Stay at Home Street Party' on their front lawns.

Members have been able to keep in touch by social media and by telephone during our lockdown; the concern and comradeship has been much appreciated by those living alone.

Ro Haggerwood MBE

Flitwick & District Branch

To keep in touch with Members the Branch Secretary and myself have divided  the Membership list between us and we make ‘buddy’ telephone calls. We are working our way through the list and have been heartened by what we have heard. People welcome being updated about the Branch and were pleased to be called knowing that the Branch was thinking about them at this time.

 Most of our Members are in lockdown but in general people are being supported by  family, friends and neighbours for food and other necessary items. A lot are busy with  their gardens which is a good way to keep occupied and get some exercise. Those who are still able to get out have offered to help other Members, where needed, for which we thank them.

 One Member said she was doing a lot of baking for two reasons. One, this kept her busy and the other was, she had something nice such as sausage rolls and biscuits to   give to people who are helping her.  

 Unfortunately, at the moment we are unable to hire out our HQ building, the income from which we use towards running costs, but on the plus side this has left it empty to arrange some necessary maintenance. To help fund this, in the absence of the income, we have secured a grant from the Co-Op Local Community Fund and have found a contractor who is happy to do this as they are able to work alone there.

 Michael Conley Hook

Chairman

Flitwick and District Branch

 Shefford Branch

A couple of photographs of decorated properties on 8^th May, VE Day 75.

Pictures courtesy of Tony Keo Edwards.