V ICE V___________________________________________________________________ O I C E Newsletter of the Plymouth City Centre Branch Issue 2 - December 2013 Message from the Branch President I am Edward Dawes and it is a privilege for me to accept the post of Branch President. My first act is to thank my predecessor, Brigadier Martin Smith, whose drive and vision helped to make our new branch a reality. I hope to continue that good work with you all. I am very committed to The RBL, be it the Poppy Appeal, the enormous amount of beneficial work the Legion delivers or the comradeship it supports through its high street branches. We are very lucky to have a branch that contains so many serving member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and their families. My principal aim is to engage with our civic and military leaders to maximise the special energy and commitment of our wonderful membership for the betterment of the Branch and those who need our help: United We Conquer! Lt Col Edward Dawes RA, CO 29 Commando RA Message from the Branch Chairman Dear Branch Members, Welcome to the second edition of the Royal British Legion Plymouth City Centre Branch newsletter. Firstly let me say how delighted and proud I am to have your vote of confidence, having been voted in as the new Branch Chairman at the AGM on Thursday 21 November 2013. I can only promise to do my utmost to continue the sterling work Fiona has delivered in getting the branch off the ground in the last two years. I would, on behalf of all branch members, like to thank Fiona for her hard work; quite simply the Branch would not be here today without her leadership and guidance. So, many thanks Fiona; we’re all delighted that you’re staying on board to continue supporting the branch through your new role as Branch Secretary. On another happy note the human dynamo that is the County’s Community Fundraiser, Carole Arnold, was voted in unanimously as our Vice-Chair; again, great news for our up and coming branch. It has been another busy year for our branch, and the amazing support given on Poppy Saturday and throughout the Remembrance weekend is proof of this. The support from the people of Plymouth, and our Armed Forces, including the Army, Royal Navy, RAF and the Royal Marines, alongside the University of Plymouth team, has been humbling. This, coupled with the Military Wives Choir’s angelic voices in the cold November wind on Plymouth Poppy Day, was awe inspiring. The support received from Plymouth City Bus on Plymouth Poppy Day was outstanding; from uniformed tin rattlers, to exciting abseils from the Treasury roof whilst families and friends watched, gave Plymouth its first ‘Poppy Day’: a fantastic start. O u r C o m m u n i t y Fundraiser, Carole Arnold, has been relentless in her pursuit of collecting: she truly is a force of nature. We’ll take a deep breath before even mentioning next year!!!! Ÿ The Lord Major of Plymouth - Councillor Mrs Vivien Pengelly (first off the abseil, truly leading from the front). Ÿ Brigadier Stuart Birrell DSO, Commander 3 Commando Brigade RM for kindly releasing his ranks to assist with Plymouth Poppy Day during such a busy schedule. Ÿ Plymouth City Council - for the use of Council House during the counting for Plymouth Poppy Day and the endless supplies of tea, coffee and biscuits. Ÿ Crownhill Royal British Legion - for their fantastic support and the use of their facilities and the buffet (United We Conquer guys: the next one’s on us). Ÿ WO1 (RSM) Barry Gray RM and the Mountain Leaders for their fantastic abseil stance. Ÿ The children from HMS Heroes - yes, we know it was a bit below the belt, but who can resist cute kids. Ÿ CityBus - brilliant support from day one, many many thanks. Ÿ The Treasury Cafe Bar, Catherine Street, Royal Parade, Plymouth - Steve Page and his staff. Ÿ Alan Swift - our piper from Plymouth Pipe Band. Ÿ The Plymouth Military Wives Choir. Ÿ John Martyn, our Standard Bearer, and his wife Gwyn. Contact the Branch: Tel: 01752 779616 Email: [email protected] www.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/plymouth-city-afs Editor: Fiona Weekes Follow us on facebook.com at Plymouth-City-Centre-RBL - Follow us at twitter.com @PlymouthAFS POPPY APPEAL Current total £39,221 Exhausting… but worth it! That’s how many of our volunteers might describe the Poppy Appeal this year: including us! 2013 has, so far, been absolutely amazing; we’ve been stunned by the level of support that the people of Plymouth have shown to the military, through the Poppy Appeal. At the beginning of the Poppy Appeal we were aiming to just do as well as we had done in 2012; we had no idea that people would be so generous as to add £10,000 on to the total from 2012. That is down to the hard work of all our volunteers, whether they give up a couple of hours one day, or every day for the whole two weeks, we would simply not raise any money without them. Standing on a street on a cold, dark, November day is not everyone’s idea of fun, and is certainly not the most attractive prospect, but without those willing to do this for us the Royal British Legion would not be able to help those who rely on us. We must, firstly, thank two of our volunteers in particular: John & Gwyn Martyn. John gives up all day, everyday during the Poppy Appeal, to man our stand outside Marks and Spencer; he is ably assisted by his wife Gwyn when she is not on call as a nurse. They both do a tremendous job and raised, this year alone, £15,300! Wow: congratulations to you both. W e would also like to thank our volunteers who gave up days at a time to man stands in Sainsbury’s, the City Market and W H Smiths; they all did amazingly well and helped us to reach an amazing total this year: thank you to you all. We must also thank the shops and businesses who have been so supportive of the Poppy Appeal, whether by allowing us to place a box and tin on their premises, or by giving us space to ‘house’ a volunteer for the two weeks; again, we would not raise the amount that we do without your support: thank you. Every year we are given permission to use space in Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, the City Market and W H Smiths; this gives our volunteers the chance to not only raise lots of money but also to be in a warm environment, and to have a seat occasionally! W e must, again, pay particular attention to Marks and Spencer, who, during the two weeks are so helpful to our volunteers, John and Gwyn; we have run out of superlatives to describe just how helpful the staff are in Marks and Spencer, so we will just say thank you so very much. The Poppy Appeal has been highly successful this year; we have had more phone calls from volunteers asking for more stock than ever before (mostly from John!): most calls are for extra supplies of the, now famous, enamel Poppy pin badge. Unfortunately this year Fiona, our Poppy Appeal Organiser, actually did run out of everything, and that almost included poppies: we think some of the volunteers may have been eating them! Poppy Man, some of our Royal Marines, Kat from HMS Heroes and John and Gwyn Martyn outside Marks and Spencer; John Martyn was taking the photograph! All photos reproduced with permission and are copyright © 2013 LEGIONLINE 0808 802 8080 POPPY APPEAL cont… Of course, we had assistance from the military again this year on Poppy Saturday. Royal Marines from Bickleigh and Stonehouse came into the city centre to collect for us all day, along with representatives from the Royal Navy; with our regular contingent of vehicles from the Military Vehicles Trust. The reaction from the public was, as it always is in Plymouth, fantastic. This year we also had our inaugural Plymouth Poppy Day, where Royal Marines, again from Bickleigh and Stonehouse, along with Army from The Royal Citadel flooded the city to raise money for the Poppy Appeal: more of that later in the newsletter. Poppy Saturday saw children from HMS Heroes, along with their parents, again helping us to collect from Drake Circus. They always do incredibly well and this year was no different with them raising over £600 in the space of an afternoon: incredible. We’ll be continuing our fundraising efforts for the Poppy Appeal throughout the course of 2014, which is, of course, the centenary of the start of the First World War. The branch will be organising events to commemorate this and to raise money for those who are still facing hardship due to their own service or the service of a loved one: look out for more details. Members of HMS Heroes raising money for us at Drake Circus Our Royal Navy representatives from HMS Heroes on Poppy Saturday HMS Ocean and MDHU Derrirord LEGIONLINE: 0808 802 8080 PLYMOUTH POPPY DAY By Fiona Weekes - Poppy Appeal Organiser for the Branch Six o’clock in the morning is far too early to be starting anything, but that’s exactly the time I got up to make sure everything was ready for the inaugural Plymouth Poppy Day. Carole Arnold (the Community Fundraiser, who probably got up earlier than me) and I had spent the past few months organising an event that, we hoped, would raise at least £500 for the Poppy Appeal; and today was the day! I was feeling somewhat nervous, wondering how the day would go, and if things would go according to plan, which, in my experience, they never do: that was the problem! We also had help from the local military; 3 Commando Brigade were providing assistance in the shape of Royal Marines from Bickleigh and Stonehouse, and Army from The Royal Citadel.