21st July 2010 “ The Olde Bell.
In attendance:
Trevor Dobson, Chairman; Rex Baggaley, Secretary; Rob Kelly, Treasurer & Welfare Representative; Pedr Fawkes, Social Secretary
Members: John Burnett, Bob Elkins, David Hardcastle, Derek Higgs, Kari Sirelius.
Act of Remembrance “ The Chairman invited David Hardcastle to lead the Act of Remembrance and the Kohima Epitaph. This was done in due form.
Chairman's Opening Remarks “ the meeting opened at 8.10pm. The Chairman welcomed those attending and had learned that all had enjoyed the first of the Legion Lectures, as everyone had enjoyed the experience more speakers would be invited to future events.
The Secretary was instructed to send a note of thanks and appreciation to Stuart Lloyd, particularly for the donation of 600baht to TRBL General Fund.
The recurring motif during the evening would be good news, much had been achieved in the few short weeks since the EGM and this would be discussed as the evening went on, however more remained to be done and more help would be needed. He advised members that questions would be welcomed, but asked that these be held until the end of each individual report.
Apologies. - Richard Prouse, Membership Secretary, Steve Graham, Charles Gross (to whom best wishes for a speedy recovery were extended) Gary Dewitt.
Minutes of Previous Meeting. - The minutes of the previous meeting having been circulated and no additions or amendments proposed these were taken as read and were approved by those present.
Matters Arising from previous meeting. -
5.1. Visit to Kanchanaburi. Rex Baggaley explained that a party of 3 members (himself, Glenn & Ros Croston) & one guest had visited Kanchanaburi to join the ANZAC Day ceremonies at Hellfire Pass and the two War Cemeteries in the area and a wreath had been laid at the Chungkai Memorial by Rex & Ros.
5.2. Visit to Malaysia. Trevor Dodson gave a summary of the report received on the visit to Ipoh & Penang. The event was a great success with several war sites, museums and memorials visited and plenty of free time.
5.3. 26th June. The Summer Sun Splash event at The Centre of the Universe achieved all our objectives, we had more than 50 attendees, we held our first event outside our home at The Olde Bell and attracted an audience wider than members & families and have raised over 11 thousand baht for RBL funds, the first time this has been done since the Sub Branch formation.
Visit to Myanmar. This is planned for 12th to 18th August, starting from Bangkok and organized by Chonburi branch, any member interested in joining the group should contact Trevor or Rex.
5.5. Golf tournament. This will take place on 30th October and will be held at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club. Any member wishing to play in the competition, or to help with it's arrangements should contact Rob Kelly as soon as possible before the invitation is sent out to other golf clubs and societies.
Update by Chairman. - Overall the committee has made significant progress and will continue to act in the best interests of members and the Sub Branch. It was disappointing therefore to have to start the report by reminding members that should they have any concerns about the way the business of the branch was conducted that the appropriate way to clarify things was to approach a member of the committee or to raise the issue during a meeting. It was sad to learn that the details of our activities were being criticized to non members and without reference to the facts, please let us keep our opinions in house.
This lead to a review of the intended wake for Joseph Laschanja, which was cancelled at the request of his widow, Linda. She sent an email shortly after she, her friend and her friend's husband had been given a dinner by the Chairman & Secretary, & their wives during a visit that Linda's party had made to Chiang Mai. The dinner was paid for jointly by the officers. The email was read by the Secretary and the Chairman went on to explain that the money donated towards the wake had been spent on framing the Ensign that had been presented to the Sub Branch by Josef, with the full agreement of Barry Harris, who had made the donation.
The officer's of the Sub Branch visited Chonburi Branch on a getting to know you visit, combined with meetings to expand the limited knowledge of your current committee. We consider this to have been a useful and successful visit, undertaken at the Officer's own expense. Amongst the advantages gained were:-
* The Acceptance of the post of Branch President by Graham Macdonald, President of Chonburi Branch and the recently appointed Chairman of BCCT, in which capacity he will visit Chiang Mai several times each year. The added advantage is that when Graham visits TRBL UK, he will be able to point out that he is President not of a branch, but of a country!
* The Sub Branch was offered a place on the committee of our sponsoring Branch. The Secretary accepted this post on behalf of the members and will attend all important meetings in Chonburi to represent our views.
* Many details were explained and insight given in the ways and means of successfully managing a RBL branch. Not everything is contained in the Management Handbook and much time has been saved and errors avoided by the knowledge gained.
Help wanted As Rob Kelly has now taken on the position of Welfare Representative he is hoping that another member will step forward to succeed him as Treasurer at the AGM.
It is very important that the Sub Branch appoint someone as Poppy Appeal Coordinator and to assist with the arrangements for the Remembrance Service at the Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery.
Rob Kelly has been duly elected as Chairman of the Golf Day Organizing Committee and as previously mentioned would like some volunteers to assist him.
More details of help wanted will be given in the Secretary's Report.
Report from Secretary. - The Secretary's Report is attached.
Report & Financial Statement from Treasurer. - The Treasurers Financial Statements were reviewed, copies of these will be held at The Olde Bell (within the Minutes Book) for member's inspection on request. The Bank Books were also made available for inspection, it was pointed out that currently there was only one signature for the accounts, it is intended to add a second signatory in the near future, that of the Chairman.
The timing discrepancies are due to settlement of accounts involved in the payment for the transfer of surplus stock from the Summer Sun Splash event to the Olde Bell, and settlement of the account for the General Meeting Buffet to be enjoyed later.
Report from Welfare Representative. - Rob Kelly stood in his new role and gave details in confidence of two recent cases and explained his role as Welfare Representative for Chiang Mai and the Northern Region, as agreed with his opposite numbers in Chonburi Branch.
He also went on to assure that all requests for help and assistance were completely confidential and when discussed in committee were handled anonymously.
Report from Membership Secretary. - In Richard Prouse's absence the Secretary read his report to the members. We now have 46 members and work is ongoing to ensure that everyone gets their membership card this year, with a new form to be completed to help improve the transmission of address data back to Chonburi and on to UK.
We have a target of 50 members by year end, this is modest, but we expect some losses at renewal, so every member will be encouraged to introduce one new member between now and the end of August. Richard will be emailing members shortly to ask for their help, to advise them that 2010-11 subs have been reduced in line with the current sterling exchange rate to 1000baht only. 600 baht will go to UK Affiliation fees and the balance to Sub Branch Administration Funds.
It is intended to revive the In Confidence contact form, possibly with additional benefits to members. Derek Higgs offered to assist in matters relating to Data Protection, on his return to Chiang Mai the Membership Secretary will contact Derek.
Richard will also be advising you on how to renew your membership and pay next years Subscriptions.
In answer to a observation from Bob Elkins the Secretary explained that although the card runs from 1st Oct to 30th September each year the cards are printed in UK during August & September. Cards may only be issued and membership privileges obtained after payment of dues as the card acts as a receipt for fees received. It is now almost August, so not to soon to be asking for renewals as we meet only twice per month.
Report from Social Secretary. - The Social Secretary's Outline Proposal for meetings during the remainder of 2010 is attached.
This met with approval from the meeting, the only change recommended is that the Christmas Dinner is transferred to the date of our usual 3rd Wednesday in December, the 15th.
The Social Secretary will shortly circulate a revised and confirmed list as our official Social Calendar
Points for Next Meeting. - There were no points raised from the floor for inclusion in the next meeting.
David Hardcastle asked that the record should show the appreciation of all present to those members who visited and took part in the meetings at Kanchanaburi and Chonburi and thus aided in the fostering of good relationships between the branches and help secure the future of the Sub Branch.
The date of the next meeting was given as 20th October, which will be the AGM.
Those members of the Committee wishing to stand for office will do so for a period of one year. It will also be proposed that from the AGM of 2011 that the period of office should be three years to allow for continuity.
To Close the Meeting. - The meeting was closed at 9.25 pm.
Rex Baggaley, Secretary. 23th July 2010