FROM IAN FREEGARD – CHAIRMAN
Ladies and Gentlemen
Welcome to the inaugural Newsletter of 2026 and, for me, the first as Chairman – I hope this finds you all on good form. Without any hesitation, I must thank all committee members and volunteers – past and present – who have steered the RNWA sometimes through thick and thin, none more so than Colin Hughes, tireless and dedicated in his leadership over the past 25 years, and who now sits atop the Association most deservedly as Life President.
For those of you who do not know me, I have put a few words by way of introduction on the website; however, I shall remain a co-opted member and seek your support by vote at the AGM later this year, as per our constitution.
My first job is to report that our 139th Reunion Dinner on 9 October 2026 cannot be held at the Royal Maritime Club. Nonetheless, from disappointment comes opportunity of course, and a comparable package at competitive cost has been found at The Village Hotel, Lakeside North Harbour, Portsmouth – Lyn will provide all the details in her report below. I do very much hope that this change does not cause too much inconvenience, and you will be able to enjoy our much-anticipated reunion in fresh surroundings.
In the last Newsletter, reflecting on the discussions at the AGM, you would have read that we need to change tack with our annual Grand National draw, deferring to a more cost-effective process, details below. This is our chief source of income to underpin and conduct our activities of course and, again, may I ask for your strong support please.
Going forwards, I am keen to push one of our primary objectives by promoting possibilities for regular social interaction between members, especially on a regional/local basis – indeed, I am aware that a few of you routinely get together, in Saltash and Portsmouth. I envisage providing the requisite conduit to assist you to coordinate similar gatherings around the country – let me know should you think this has legs in your area. Indeed, should you have any helpful sentiments on your Association, do not hesitate to get in touch.
And finally, many of you [young things] will be on social media and are aware of the RN Writers Facebook page in any case; however, for those of you who are not, you might like to follow https://www.facebook.com/groups/RNWriters/?ref=share with the Administrator’s blessing. It will be great to hear of your achievements.
FROM PAT PRIOR – TREASURER
The 2025 audited fund is on the website.
MERCHANDISE
There is still a stock of these 2 items available.
Sweatshirts (blue with printed RNWA logo) £22.99 inc P&P
Polo shirts (black with embroidered logo) £25.00 inc P&P
Orders to Pat – rnwa.treasurer@gmail.com
LYN GANNON – SECRETARY
RNWA ANNUAL DINNER
After last year’s dinner, a few members asked if we could try somewhere different within Portsmouth for this year. Well – you asked, we listened and here is what is happening!
The 139th dinner will be held on Friday 9th October in 2026, at the Village Hotel, North Harbour Portsmouth PO6 3FR. The AGM will be held at 1830, with the dinner being 1900 for 1930. It is hoped that the slightly later timing of the AGM will provide a better opportunity for more members to attend.
Details of the Guest of Honour will be confirmed in due course.
The dinner will be subsidised for members at £50 per ticket, with guests paying £60 – a better deal than last year.
Accommodation can be booked at special rates (again, a better deal than last year) – see the application form HERE for all the details on the dinner, accommodation and online payment. When making payment, please use the reference Dinner 26.
As usual, there will be a raffle – prizes gratefully received – and a couple of games of Heads and Tails.
RNWA CONTINGENT AT THE CENOTAPH ON SUNDAY 8th NOVEMBER
Awaiting details for tickets for this year’s event – watch this space and the RNWA FB page.
GRAND NATIONAL DRAW 11th APRIL 2026
As voted in at the AGM, the draw will be a little different this year. It takes a lot of time, effort, AND COST to send out 2 books of tickets to all members, over half of which never get returned. So, this year, the tickets will be e:tickets. A letter is attached to give details on how to email me, saying how many books of tickets (£5 per book) are required. Once payment for those tickets has been received in the bank, numbers will be allocated sequentially, starting at 1, and recorded. You can still sell numbers to your relatives/friends, just let me know and I will record their details on the numbers. When it comes to the actual draw on Wednesday 8th April (once the National give their final list of runners), a number generator will select the winners and the horses to go into the prize draw.
This will save on ticket printing costs, envelopes, letters, and postage. If enough enter, the prize money will remain the same or increase, depending on numbers sold.
You have got to be in it to win it!!!!!!!
MEMBERSHIP REPORT – BRENDA RYAN
Membership numbers have reduced due to nonpayment of subs in 2025. So we are now at 314 members as at January 2026.
Please encourage any scribes you may know to join us using the link on the website: https://rnwa.co.uk/join-us/ OR contact me directly on bnr1@btinternet.com.
I wanted to remind you, that as I am still working, I only carry out membership duties on a Monday or a Friday and there are also times when I am away on those days, so if you don’t hear from me immediately, please bear with me, I promise I will get back to you as soon as I am able. I would say, if you have not heard back from me within 3 weeks, then please do not hesitate to contact me on bnr1@btinternet.com.
