FROM COLIN HUGHES – PRESIDENT
I hope you are all enjoying the fine weather, but I expect many of you who are gardeners, like me, would like a rest from watering the garden and hope all the flowers will thrive.
We have had a difficult time this last 6 months, the Membership Secretary resigned, our web person resigned for health reasons, the Bank has decided to levy bank charges on our RNWA Account, postage has again been increased, it’s a good job the sun is shining otherwise we really would be in the doldrums. But it is good to report that many of the above have been fixed or are in the process of being alleviated.
A new Membership Secretary has volunteered, namely Brenda Ryan, who is now well ensconced in post.
The website problem has been sorted at a cost of over £800 in transfer expenses and we have yet another volunteer in the person of Martyn Cornish who has taken up the reins and so far, is doing well.
Our Treasurer is hot on the trail of the bank to see if we can start a savings account that gives us interest to offset the new bank charges, she will report her findings in due course.
We hoped that we would make a good profit on the Grand National Draw but over 1000 tickets were not purchased even though they were posted to members at great expense. Nevertheless, a profit was made but with an unexpected outlay to transfer the website a bigger profit would have been beneficial. Looking forward to next year the Committee will look at alternative methods of running the draw to reduce costs of printing and postage. Several members will attend the unveiling of the RNWA memorial scheduled to take place at Worthy Down on 28th May 2025 after which pictures will be included on the website and in the next newsletter
FROM PAT PRIOR – TREASURER
MERCHANDISE
We have now sourced a new supplier for RNWA polo shirts. These shirts will have an embroidered logo on them, rather than a printed one.
Sizes from Small to 1XL at a cost of £25 (inclusive of UK postage.)
Orders can be placed with rnwa.treasurer@gmail.com
FROM LYN GANNON – SECRETARY
It has been a funny year so far – still trying to get my new knee working well – getting there! As Colin has said, we had a few months without a Membership Secretary or Web Manager, plus other issues to deal with. But we are back on track now.
GRAND NATIONAL 2025
We made a profit of £788 – this is allocated to the cost of the dinner, and we can subsidise members that attend.
Despite asking members to let us know if they did not want tickets sending to them, almost half the tickets sent out were not returned, at a great cost for postage and printing – and mine and Pats time stuffing envelopes. The Committee are now looking at other ways of conducting the Draw – virtual tickets or getting a third party to conduct the draw and we just receive the profit – any ideas from the membership will be greatly appreciated. Let us have your thoughts.
The 4 winners were:
First Place Bob Gelder with Nick Rocket
Second Place Valerie Blackwell with I am Maximus
Third Place Glyn Baldwin with Grangeclare West
Fourth Place Colin Hughes with Iroko
RNWA ANNUAL DINNER ON 10th OCTOBER @ ROYAL MARITIME HOTEL
As of today, there are 40 names for the dinner – would be good to make – or break – last year’s total (109). The deadline for applications is Friday 26th September, which is also the cut-off date for cancellations. The application form is on the website, come along, it was a good dinner last year, lets make this one even better!
Of course, before the dinner, there is the AGM at 1730, it would be lovely to see lots of happy faces there – please come along and have your input into your Association.
There will be a raffle held during this year’s dinner – donations for prizes will be gratefully received (bottles of alcohol tend to go well!). There will also be the obligatory Heads and Tails, make sure you have your £1 coins ready.
After the closing date for applications, I will publish a list of attendees (on the website and FB page). The seating plan will be compiled in accordance with your seating requests and will be on display outside the Ballroom on the evening.
RNWA CONTINGENT AT THE CENOTAPH ON SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER
I have again applied for tickets for the RNWA to march and find out on June 10th what our allocation is. I have asked for more tickets than last year, everyone enjoyed the experience, so they will hopefully come back or encourage others to take part.
If you want to be included, please email me (gannons1@virginmedia.com) so that I can capture your email address – everything is sent out electronically from TRBL. Once the list has closed, I will let you all know who is marching and give some guidance.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
If there are any volunteers to assume a role on the Committee – from President down, please let me know. Our rules and regulations state this this is required to happen at the AGM. We have a committee member standing down in October and would like a replacement to come forward – it is not an arduous role, meetings every other month by Zoom, other little bits of admin throughout the year – please let me know if you are interested.
BANK CHARGES
As reported in the last minutes, the bank now charges for all transactions. Our Treasurer has had a meeting with the bank and once the committee have seen her recommendations, a decision will be made to sort out the best way to run our account, with the least cost. So, it is even more important to pay for subs/dinners/tickets etc online rather than by sending a cheque in.
MEMBERSHIP
The latest figures are in the minutes of the last meeting, which you will have received electronically, and they are also uploaded to the website.