Longhope and District Branch in Gloucestershire held a Members’ Dinner on 14th June in honour of its longest-serving member, Harold Gurney, at which he was presented with the prestigious Legion Life Membership.
Picture: Harold receiving his award from Anny Reid
The presentation was made by Anny Reid, Member of the Board of Trustees and currently County President, accompanied by her husband David, Garry Mills, member of the Membership Council for the South West and Midlands, Brian Hewitt, County Chairman and Ian Corbitt, Anny’s predecessor as County President and a member of Longhope and District Branch.
Harold joined the Legion in 1960, shortly after completing National Service with the Somerset Light Infantry and, along with his wife Fay who he married in 1961, he has made the Legion a major part of his life for the past 59 years and is still an active Vice President of the Branch. During all those years and despite demanding family and work commitments, Harold’s dedication and willingness to take on responsibilities soon led to his becoming the Branch’s Poppy Appeal Organizer, a position he held for a number of years.
From left to right: George Watkins (Branch Patron), Garry Mills, Roger Acland (Branch Chairman), Harold Gurney, Anny Reid, Ian Corbitt, Brian Hewitt
A strong sense of duty, coupled with a naturally sociable and caring disposition, meant that Harold had become an ever-present attendee at both formal and informal events across the county by the time he became Branch Chairman in 1989. Therefore, it came as no surprise, given the high profile he had established by then, that his dedication was rewarded in 1996, when he was elected County Vice Chairman. Harold’s prime interest has long been the Legion’s welfare role in the Armed Forces’ Community and, therefore, he was pleased to qualify as a Caseworker in 1995. Despite taking his new County responsibilities seriously, he has never been happier than when he was acting on behalf of our beneficiaries, making calls, filling forms, delivering hampers and bags of coal, sorting out pension issues and – the activity he is most proud of – procuring and handing over mobility scooters.
Always willing to attend training courses to enhance his already significant credentials, Harold was trained in Conference Committee and County Management in 1996 and was later, in 2000, to become a County instructor. In the meantime, in 1999 he was elected County Chairman for three years and was particularly proud to be the first County Chairman from the Forest of Dean. Many enduring friendships were made as Harold and Fay made a point of visiting as many Branches and RBL events across the county as possible, but the highlights of his three years have to be attending a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and attending services in Westminster Abbey and St.Paul’s Cathedral.
As acknowledgement of his many contributions to the Legion in his six years’ service to Gloucestershire, he was awarded a richly-deserved County Certificate of Appreciation in January 2002 and in 2005 he was presented to Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal in Gloucester Cathedral, in recognition of all his hard work and dedication to the Legion’s welfare activities. After 27 years as Branch Chairman, Harold finally stepped aside in 2016, but continues to serve the Branch as its Vice President and to deploy his vast experience and wise counsel to its proceedings.
His successor as Branch Chairman, Roger Acland, says of him, “Harold is essentially a modest and unassuming man, but his record speaks for itself. I know he will be extremely proud and delighted to have become a Life Member, for his many years of dedicated service and for the example he has set for those of us who follow him”.
