Minutes of the Toddington Branch of The Royal British Legion

Committee Meeting 19:30hrs

Tuesday 15^th October 2024

1. Present

 John Wood, Lee Stone, Lynda Bryant, Pippa Brazier, Debbie Gibbons, Graeme Kelly, Bil Levinson

2. Apologies

Nigel Washington, Melanie Parker, Glen Gadsden, Kelly Grumoli,

3. Silent Tribute.

4. Exhortation

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

we will remember them.

5. Previous Meeting – Committee Meeting 17^th September 2024

The minutes were read and agreed to be a true report of the last full committee meeting. 

Proposed – Bil Levinson

Seconded – Pippa Brazier

6. Chairmans Report

Cath Stringer

It is with sadness that I have to report the passing of the Social and Service Club’s Steward, Cath Stringer.

Cath was a Great Supporter of Toddington RBL as well as being a friend and associate of many of us and the people of Toddington, Cath’s funeral will be at 12pm on Thursday 24th October at St Georges Church Toddington .She will be sorely missed.

New Gazebo

The motion was passed at the September meeting to go ahead with the purchase of another Gazebo, from the Gazebo shop in Banbury, we will now start liaising with the supplier to complete the purchase.

Village Magazine

The next edition of the Village Magazine has now been delivered around the village, with our page highlighting the Coffee morning at the end of this month and Remembrance in November, I do feel that we should also continue to advertise through social media and the Toddington events page to ensure as many people as possible are aware of these events.

Gazebo Loan

We recently loaned our gazebo’s out for a 90th Birthday party that many of the Toddington residents attended, we have received a very generous donation to the branch funds, as a thank you from the family.

7. Correspondence

All items of correspondence are now sent out via email to the committee members prior to the meeting taking place, so that they can be read beforehand and discussed as necessary during the meeting. If any member would like a copy of any correspondence item, please contact John Wood or Kelly Grumoli (details at the top of these minutes) and we will get copies to you.

8. Reports

8.1 Treasurer – Debbie Gibbons

Accounts

8.2 Poppy Appeal Update – Melanie Parker

The new Poppy Appeal year has now started with effect from 1^st October and as such, funds collected are £nil.

8.3 Membership Secretaries Report – Bil Levinson

Membership Secretaries Report

From the membership list on 15th October 2024, we have 57 members.  This is 1 lower than reported at September’s meeting.

Web Site Report

The web site is up to date as far as I can tell, including September Minutes.

8.4 Standard Bearer – Pippa Brazier

It has been a quiet period with no attendances since the last meeting.

• Support Officer

BSC Training – No requests for assistance have been received.  Annual refresher training is still outstanding to be completed but nothing heard yet from BCS support team in this regard.

9. Future Events – Memorable Dates

• 26^th October – Coffee Morning, Toddington Methodist Hall.
• 10^th November – Remembrance Sunday
• 11^th November – Armistice Day (Monday)
• 23^rd November – Branch AGM (Saturday)

11. Any other Business.

• Pippa asked when the crosses were to be placed on the war graves in the cemeteries. We believe that Melanie Parker has a stock of crosses.  John and Pippa would liaise together.
• The Coffee Morning timings were confirmed as starting at 10am and finishing at 12pm. The Committee members attending would be there from 9am to set up. Lee would send a separate email to the Committee regarding taskings.
• Debbie suggested that advertising slips be placed on tables at the Coffee Morning to advertise our AGM.
• For the short Remembrance service at Thorn Springs, Houghton Regis on Monday 11^th November 14.00hrs – John, Kelly, Debbie and Pippa were planning to attend.

11. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 19:30hrs on Tuesday 5^th November 2024 (before Remembrance).

If any member would like to attend a committee meeting, please contact John Wood or Kelly Grumoli and we can send you the details.

The meeting was closed at 20.41hrs.