Minutes of the Toddington Branch of The Royal British Legion

Committee Meeting 7:30 pm

Tuesday 17^th September 2024

1. Present

 Lee Stone, Glen Gadsden, Kelly Grumoli, Nigel Washington, Lynda Bryant, Pippa Brazier

2. Apologies

John Wood, Linda Washington, Melanie Parker, Debbie Gibbons, Graeme Kelly, Bil Levinson

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 18^th June 2024

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

Proposed – Pippa Brazier

Seconded – Glen Gadsden

6. Chairmans Report

New Gazebo

At the July meeting it was proposed that the branch buy another large gazebo from the previous supplier in Banbury, The Gazebo Shop, I sent the details to Glen, who has enquired about this and has come back with a quote, I personally think this is a good idea, it can be used to replace the Poppy appeal gazebo that we lost earlier this year, it also gives us the option of joining it to the existing gazebo’s to make either one long one or an “L” shaped one.

Branch funds are more than sufficient to pay for this and we may be able to get a further discount again like last time if we point out again that we are a registered charity.

Everyone who attended the 17^th September meeting agreed we should buy a new gazebo however will discuss at the next meeting when we have investigated options.

Dunstable Rotary Club

Chris Day of the Dunstable Rotary Club contacted me earlier this month to let me know that he has a donation of £300.00 for branch funds from the Dunstable Rotary Club, they raised over £16,000.00 through the year with these monies going to many local charities, Chris has nominated this branch of the legion for this very welcome donation, I have sent Chris a thank you card for the donation.

Village Magazine

The next edition of the Village Magazine will feature a picture from Graeme of the war memorial on the cover, inside will also be other items regarding remembrance, look out for the poppies that can be coloured in and worn and the Remembrance word search. Graeme has also done a fantastic job putting together our RBL page highlighting our Coffee morning next month, the start of the Poppy appeal and the remembrance services that will be held in November.

Gazebo Loan

I have been approached by a lady in the village who is having a large garden party at her home on the afternoon of Sunday 22^nd September, and she has asked if she can borrow both of our large gazebo’s.

I am happy for her to borrow these as long as the committee agree, I am also able to help take them to her on Sunday morning, erect them and then collect them sometime on Monday, but I will need some help with this! I have also mentioned that a donation to the branch would be appropriate, and I will give them a copy of our loan agreement on the day.

7. Reports

7.1 Treasurer – Debbie Gibbons

Accounts

No change for the below accounts since our last meeting.

7.2 Poppy Appeal Update – Melanie Parker

No change for the below accounts since our last meeting.

Recent events raised the following funds:

• Childs all year-round pot - £55.00
• Village Fete - £242.73
• Car Show at Wingfield - £153.14
• Foreign Exchange Currency - £55.00

This makes the figures for this year at:

• Local Figure - £14,781.49
• Luton Schools - £19,449.21

Overall Total - £32,648.51

This will be the final funds before the end of the poppy appeal year at the end of September.

7.3 Membership Secretaries Report – Bil Levinson

Membership Secretaries Report

From the membership list on 16^th September 2024, we have 58 members. Two apparently have moved areas.

Web Site Report

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

• Standard Bearer – Pippa Brazier

Our Standard Bearer, Pippa Brazier, continues to go to various Funerals, events, and parades that she is requested to attend, the most recent of these since the last meeting are set out below.

31^st July 2024 – Funeral for Mr Martin Cullen @ Luton Crematorium

6^th September 2024 - Funeral for Mr Roy Easton @ Bedford Crematorium

10^th September 2024 - Funeral for Mr Derek Temple @ Aylesbury Vale Crematorium

15^th September 2024 – Operation Market Garden Memorial Parade @ Beford Embankment

• Support Officer

BSC Training – Our Support Officer is about to start the training course.

8. Any other Business.

Lynda Bryant has been a great help over this past year helping out at various events with us, with this in mind we are very pleased to say that she will be joining our committee.

Please join me in saying thank you to Lynda so much for this past year and thank you for officially joining us.

9. 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.

10. Future Events – Memorable Dates

• 26^th October – Coffee Morning, Toddington Methodist hall.
• 10^th November – Remembrance Sunday
• 11^th November – Armistice Day (Monday)

11. Next Meeting

 The next meeting will be at 19:30 on Tuesday 15^th October 2024

This will be in the Guide Building, St George’s Close, Toddington.

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 8.23pm