AGM Minutes of the Toddington Branch of The Royal British Legion
Held at Toddington Social and Services Club.
At 12p.m. on Saturday 16th November 2019.
- Present.
John Bryant, Harvey Silver, John Wood, Debbie Gibbons Bil Levinson, Melanie Parker, Lee Stone, Glen Gadsden, Shaun Prior, Pippa Brazier, John Morris.
Catherine Peddar, Jacky Levinson, John Townley, Phil Parry, Colin Chittleburgh,
Dave Stewart, Maureen Stewart, P. Chittleburgh, Lynda Bryant, Kate Massink,
S.P. Alexander.
Terry Whenham (Presentation, Speaker)
1a Apologies.
Ian Darby, Ray Aldous, Bob Ellis, Dennis Ward, Pat Smith,
- Silent Tribute. - Held at 12:15 pm.
- Exhortation. - Read by Harvey Silver
- Adoption of the minutes of the previous AGM 17th November 2018
The minutes were read and agreed to be a true report of the last AGM
Proposed – Pippa Brazier
Seconded – Debbie Gibbons
- Matters arising from the Previous AGM on 17th November 2018
No Matters were discussed regarding the last AGM of 17th November 2018.
- Presidents Annual Report.
At the end of the remembrance service, last Sunday, the people of Toddington showed their appreciation with a spontaneous round of applause. I believe that applause was to thank everybody that took part in the service, but particularly the members of this branch that made it all happen. It is a well-deserved accolade for all the hard work that goes into making the service such a success.
And this accolade follows on from the fact that the branch received the pride of Toddington award from the Parish Council in recognition of their achievements.
Whilst the remembrance service is our high-profile event, the branch also took the lead in the D-Day commemorations in June.
All these things plus the ongoing success of the poppy appeal, continues to raise the profile of the branch in the community.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the officers of the branch, the committee, the members, and the poppy appeal team for all their efforts
And I am proud to be the president.
Finally, I was pleased to be involved in the production of the Men of Toddington World War 2 book, which as well as raising funds for the branch, will I be sure be very well received in the village.
Thank you all.
John Bryant
16 November, 2019.
Chairmans Annual Report.
May I welcome all guests, members and committee members.
I have completed 2 years as chairman of the Toddington branch of the Royal British Legion and I have to say that the continued support we receive from the people of Toddington and surrounding area, never ceases to amaze.
This past year has again been a busy one for the branch which started with preparations for the commemorations of the D-Day landings 75th anniversary. The commissioning and unveiling of the memorial bench in April were a highlight which has received only positive feedback.
In June we held a 1940’s night which was so successful, we have decided to hold a WW2 night as part of our VE Day celebrations, with the Ashby little Big band. The planning of events for the May bank holiday are in full swing and notification of these events will be unveiled in the near future.
Poppy appeal events in Toddington in the spring and summer were hit by some bad weather but the committee rallied and attended Toddington, Dunstable and Luton Fire service open days and Toddington Rovers open day as well. We also sold poppies at Toddington services on the M1 again this year. A big thank you to the committee again for stepping up when required.
To be chairman of any branch of the Royal British Legion is a great privilege and I am truly humbled to have been chairman of the Toddington branch for these past two years and look forward to a further year as chairman. Of course, my role is made so much easier by having a committee who are all so passionate about raising money to assist our service men and women, past and present in a time of need.
Our President, John Bryant is always on hand to offer advice and support in all situations. I thank him for his continued contribution.
My thanks to Toddington Services and Social Club for allowing the committee the use of their facilities for our meetings and events.
My sincere thanks go to all of our committee members but a special mention to our secretary John Wood who makes everything run so smoothly.
Finally, my appreciation to all residents of Toddington for their continued support in our great cause.
Harvey Silver.
Chairman Toddington RBL.
- Treasures Annual Report.
Presentation and Adoption of Accounts.
I hope everyone has managed to read the branch accounts.
Receipts for 2018-2019 were £2633.20 way up on the previous year. This was due to our D-Day event and the ‘Men of Toddington who fell in the Great War’ book sales.
Although the D-Day event was a non-profitable event, you can see that after expenses from the ‘Ashby Little Big Band’ and the admin costs, a profit of £430.22 was then passed onto the Poppy Appeal.
The sales of the books raised £1328.00
Over the year we also had various donations including those from knitted Poppies and the loan of our gazebo.
Payments made were as shown for the D-Day event, the food for last year’s AGM and the admin and stationary costs of running the branch.
This has given us a surplus of £1026.80 this year. Leaving us with a current balance of £2867.29
Mrs Debbie Gibbons
Treasurer Toddington RBL.
The branch accounts were adopted by a show of hands.
- Nomination of members to join the committee.
None of the members in attendance were nominated or wished to join the committee.
- Presentation by Mr Terry Whenham.
Terry entertained us with a fabulous presentation of the history and personal details of some of the men involved in the fighting around Ypres and Passchendaele during the first World War.
We were shown some of the personal items of both the British and German soldiers that continues to be recovered from Flanders fields, along with the remnants of some of the shrapnel shells that were used during the conflict.
Terry’s presentation was then followed by Lunch.
- NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be the Committee Annual General Meeting at Toddington Social and Services Club at 7:40pm on Tuesday 19th of November 2019, in the Top Bar
The meeting was closed at 1:40pm
