The Royal British Legion
Cumberland & Westmorland
Patron: HM Lord Lieutenant Mrs Claire Hensman
President: Mr N Howard OBE

Acting Chairman
Jane Brown
Membership Council
TRBL, Eden Rural Foyer,
Old London Road,
Penrith. CA11 8ET
jbrown@britishlegion.org.uk

Membership Support Officer
Clive Sumpter MSO
TRBL Eden Rural Foyer
Old London Road
Merlin Suite
Penrith
CA11 8ET
csumpter@britishlegion.org.uk

Treasurer
Robert Gordon
TRBL, Eden Rural Foyer,
Old London Road,
Penrith. CA11 8ET
robert@gordonconsultancy.co.uk

April 15th 2019

Cumberland and Westmorland Royal British Legion County Meeting Minutes 13th April 2019 - Penrith Methodist Church. Beacon Room, Penrith

In Attendance:
J Brown (Acting County Chairman), I Fisher (County Vice Chairman), R Gordon (County Treasurer) C Sumpter (County MSO) M Wadsworth, Carlisle . P Holden, L Harrison, (Appleby Branch) E Willacy, (Arnside Branch). B Pease, (Brampton
Branch). K Rishworth, (Egremont Branch), N Cross (Sedbergh Branch), R Eglin Bransty Branch CSB, G Edwards Egremont Branch, J Henderson Carlisle Branch, P Burns Wathbrow Branch Rep. J Reay CFR.

Apologies for Absence:
J Train (Kendal Branch), D Ballantyne, Carlisle Branch) J Couling, Carlisle and Stanwix Branch, R Glenister Windermere Branch, N Meredith Area manager D Cradduck Bransty Branch

10 00 am The Acting County Chair; Jane Brown opened the meeting and invited everyone to stand for the Marching in of the County Standard and Exhortation.
Minutes of the County Committee meeting February 23rd 2019.

The Chair asked if anyone had any matters to raise from the emailed February 23rd County Meeting minutes. No matters were raised so the minutes were accepted as a true reflection by the Committee.

Correspondence:

The MSO has received information that one of our Branch members is due to celebrate their 100 th Birthday in early May and a Birthday card would be sent to him from the RBL County Committee.

MSO has been in discussions with the Training Department and the following dates and courses have been organised.
22nd and 23rd June - County Management Penrith
3rd and 4th August  - Treasurers Course Penrith
6th of July 2019  - Standard Bearer Training

Acting County Chairs report:

J Brown reported that due to a discussion she had recently with Haig House and the sterling work carried out by the new County Committee that it would be sooner than expected for Cumberland and Westmorland to be taken out of the current
state of Administration. She went on to thank all those new and old County members who had been willing to put themselves forward to make the County Committee a strong one and one that can move forward.

The Acting Chairman thanked G Edwards and K Rishworth for their fantastic efforts in attending 4 EGMs recently and this has resulted in saving one branch from closure at Keswick however unfortunately two other branches Cockermouth
and Great Broughton have decided to close.

As this would be her last meeting as Acting Chairman she personally thanked everyone for their work in the past weeks
and wanted to wish Cumberland and Westmorland County all the very best for the future.

County Treasurer’s Report:

No report as yet as the County Treasurer is still to take up the running of the County Accounts however he is now registered on LOMAS and has been able to access the accounts to reconcile balances etc.

Membership Support Officers Report:
Please see Attached

Judith Reay Community Fund Raiser – Report:

CFR Report is attached - link

J Reay Also gave out the dates for “Legit4theLegion that being the 7th July 2019 in Carlisle and announced that the Poppy Roadshow this year would be held in Windermere for CFR and PAO to attend on the 27th July 2019

Q J Brown “Do potential PAO get an invite to the Poppy Appeal Roadshow”
A J Reay not at this time but it is a good idea.
Q from N Cross Sedbergh “Are there any D Day poppy pins available”
A Yes but they are only to be used in conjunction with a D Day commemorative Event
Q L Harrison Ladies Section Rep “Do the RBL reuse the old issue of Poppy Pins”
A No they can not be melted down etc but can still be sold at anytime
Q I Fisher Vice Chairman “Is J Reay aware that the PAO for Seascale is coming back online this year.
A J Reay said she was aware of this.

AOB:

County Specialist Roles
Following the discussion at the last meeting re the above I am pleased to say that MR Brian Pease Brampton Branch has put his name forward as the CRO for County. He was nominated and a vote was taken and carried unanimously and as
such Mr Brian Pease will be the CRO for Cumberland and Westmorland until the Next AGM.

With regards to the post of County Training Officer the MSO C Sumpter who has a background in training has volunteered to become the CTO pro tem however both G Edwards and K Rishworth (Egremont Branch) County Committee members have agreed to undertake the role as a shared responsibility in the future but will need to attend a two day CTO course in London. C Sumpter has discussed this with the Training Department and he can be put forward as the CTO on this basis as it is allowable under the terms and conditions.

Therefore C Sumpter MSO has been nominated as the County Training Officer on a Temporary basis until G Edwards K Rishworth and R Eglin can be booked on a suitable course to gain the necessary training. This was voted on by the meeting and carried unanimously.

Mr R Eglin has put himself forward as potentially the County Parade Marshall but  will need to be regraded for B to A to take up post and he will be attending a regrading course this year but in the meantime he will be running Standard Bearer
Training with suitable direction from the National Parade Team and can be contacted re Ceremonial Advice.

A suitable candidate has yet to be found for the position of CYO however it was agreed at the meeting that as the County is so big maybe there could be a CYO South and a CYO North. MSO informed the group that there is someone currently
considering the position of CYO South.

County Accounts:

Due to Lt Col M Rowney stepping down from his role as County Treasurer and MR Robert Gordon becoming the New County Treasurer the names of those will need to be changed at the Nat West Bank where the County Account is held.
This was voted on by the meeting and carried unanimously therefore MR R Gordon will complete the necessary forms to become the new Cumberland and Westmorland County Account Treasurer.

It was also proposed that the following County Committee members Mr K Rishworth, Mr G Edwards and Mr N Cook be added to the account at signatories. This was voted on and carried unanimously.

MSO Asked those present as to how many of them had received their expense claims from HQ and up to date only 1 person has received any money. Therefore MSO suggested that contact be made with the finance department and that
cheques for those outstanding volunteer expenses be paid via the County Cheque book rather than continuing to wait for HQ to settle accounts. This was agreed and MSO will contact HQ and as soon as the bank account treasurer’s name is
changed cheques will be issued.

The subject of BCS was raised and MSO will contact Area manager to organise another meeting of the BCS committee as soon as possible.

MSO has asked for CC members to run 2 further EGMs those being Milnthorpe Branch and Kirkby Lonsdale Branch.
County Member Mr N Cross has agreed to chair both meeting with help from Mr J Train of Kendal. MSO will organise the EGMs as soon as possible.
The Closures of Cockermouth Branch and Great Broughton Branch were discussed and after a discussion around the possibility of trying to keep both branches open was discussed it was felt that reluctantly the County Committee would agree with the branch closures as all options had been already discussed and tried by the branches.

Mr I Fisher raised the issue of Branch Social Media pages and requested that every branch that has a Social media presence should read and abide by the new Social Media Policy available from the MSO.

Mr Ian Fisher Vice Chairman had attended the recent Chairman’s Conference and a brief report from that meeting is attached.

Acting Chairman J Brown said that she was officially stepping down from this meeting as the County Chair and I Fisher, the current Vice Chair has offered to undertake the role of Acting Chair until this year’s AGM when a new County Chair
will have been elected, whilst Mr Nick Cross has offered to undertake the role of acting Vice Chair on the same basis.

The MSO will be commencing the Election Process for both roles in accordance with the Membership Handbook timetable, which would in all likelihood be in June 2019.
The branches will also be written to for nominations for County Committee Members and Jane Brown urged all those considering standing for any positions to ensure that the Branch nominating them is fully compliant.

A vote was taken and it was agreed Ian Fisher and Nick Cross be co-opted into the roles of Acting Chairman and Acting Vice Chairman respectively.

Meeting Closed 1205pm

DATE OF NEXT COUNTY MEETING is yet to be set and MSO will inform all as soon as possible. VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED