MINUTES of the HMS BULWARK, ALBION & CENTAUR ASSOCIATION
Held on Saturday 10th May in the WO’s, SR & Sgt’s Mess, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth
Those present
Vice-Admiral Sir Patrick Symons KBE - President
Capt Jimmy James RN Rtd - Vice President
Col Mick Reece OBE RM Rtd - Vice President
Mike Noonan - Chairman/Editor
Mick Dunnington - Vice Chairman
Denis Askham - Secretary/Historian/Area Co-ord
Robbie Cowan - Treasurer
Leigh Easton - Membership Sec.
Jackie Truscott (Assoc) - Social Secretary
John Truscott - Committee Member
Alan Yeomans - South East Area Rep
Neil Pearson/Harry Roddis - Yorkshire Area Reps
George Sexton - North West Area Rep
Lt Cdr Mike Pearce (HMS Albion) - Ships Liaison Officer
With 29 members and guests attending.
Apologies received:
Cheyenne Body (1507) Fred Cayton (1998) Jim Smith (1530)
Bill Sheppard (2172) George Somerville (2161)
The meeting was opened at 12:05hrs, with the following items under discussion:
Chairman’s Welcome
Mike Noonan welcomed the President, Committee, members and guests present.
The meeting held a 2-minute silence in memory of members no longer with us, Leigh Easton read out the names of members the committee have been informed about:
Vice-President Captain Robert Franks CBE(150)
Committee Member John Finlay (1612)
Michael McGoldrick (147) Gordon Seager (192) Ernie Harold (253)
Harry Iles (654) Joseph Bell (1424) David Wright (1649)
Harold Thompson (1681) Peter Tweedie (1815) Sandy Sanderson (2023)
Proposed -Alan Yeomans (1836) Seconded –Mick Withington (1935)
Those present were asked if anyone wished to nominate themselves for the post of Secretary, if not we would ratify Denis Askham who has been in post as Designate Sec since October 2007. No objections from the floor so nomination carried anamously. John Truscott presented the Secretary’s badge to Denis saying he has enjoyed the post and thanked everyone for their support. Denis said he was delighted to be following in the footsteps of Ned Parkinson and John as Secretary of an Association with a good history.
Secretary’s Report
Denis reported that we have been able to sponsor 3 Sea cadets on TS Royalist, 2 cadets were able to go for the price on 1 for the first trip, and 1for the second year, all female, the choice of cadets is made by the units themselves. George Sexton (1604) asked if the Assoc got any feedback, this will be in the next RO8.
Historian’s Report
Denis said as he was on his feet he would report on this as well. He has had various requests via e-mails or letters of people wishing to trace relatives or former members of the Assoc, sometimes he is able to help, and he enjoys the challenge being Historian presents.
There is now a purpose built room at Denis & Mary’s house which houses the archives and Assoc Memorabilia, Steve Foster has been for a visit, which he enjoyed. Denis estimates that some 50,000 crew have embarked on the ships over the years.
Treasurers Report
Bob reported that MN and MD had audited the accounts at the end of the financial year. He presented the accounts which are in a healthy state with allowance of funds for the upcoming RO8’s and functions, these are self supporting but there will a cost for the re-dedication of the Association tree in September.
The subscriptions are still coming in, although some members do not renew their subscriptions for various reasons, also some members are paid for a few years ahead.
Bob displayed the Association shield which will be used as donations, they were also on sale at a cost of £35, and a few were sold at the AGM.
Membership Secretary
Leigh reported that the membership stood at 613 members compared to 586 members last year. 84 new members have been recruited, unfortunately there were 56 defaulters who did not renew for various reasons.
Leigh expressed his thanks to Bob for his continual reminders to members to renew their subscriptions. Thanks also to Jax Truscott, Navy News, and Warship World and of the 274 local newspapers who have run free adverts. New members are requested to enter on their form as to where they heard of the Association.
Web site – Leigh reported that this is successful and continues to be of interest to all our members and attracts visitors.
National Memorial Arboretum
JT outlined the details for September, he reported that the Assoc tree was replaced due to contamination, the NMA moved it to put up a marquee and the tree has been replaced and re-located at no cost. A letter if apology was sent from the NMA.
A new memorial plinth is to be dedicated which will be made of Portland stone and will have the original tree plaque inserted along with a new rededication plate for the occasion. DA will organise Sea Cadets and standards to be paraded along with our own. Details of the event were in the RO8 and will be sent to all new members to see if they wish to attend.
Area Reps
Denis Askham (Scotland & Overseas) - reported that he gets a good response to the newsletters he sends out and thoroughly enjoys the queries he gets as Area Co-ordinator. Denis reported that Dave Macleod (1822) has volunteered to be the South West area rep.
George Sexton – George reported that he does not get much response but will keep going. The feed back he has received indicates that a lot of members feel the RO8 is enough.
Alan Yeomans – also reported not a lot of feed back but he does get a small amount of response from members so will keep trying.
Neil Pearson & Harry Roddis – reported that response in their area is good. Neil talked about Remembrance Sunday 2009 in London and wondered if a contingent from the Assoc. would be interested in marching past the Cenotaph. DA had sent of a letter to the organiser Alan Purdey but had no response as yet, he will keep Neil and the committee updated and this may be an agenda item
Committee Elections
The following positions were unopposed and carried unanimously
Chairman - Mike Noonan
Vice-Chairman - Mick Dunnington
Historian - Denis Askham
Membership Sec - Leigh Easton
Committee Members - Jim Ure
HMS Albion
Lt Cdr Mike Pearce thanked those present for the invitation to attend AGM. Mike said it is a privilege to be serving on HMS Albion and they are having a very busy year. The ship went to Norway where they had an enjoyable time but temperatures were recorded below -20 whilst they were on exercise.
During the year several of the ships company and of course the RM have been deployed to Afghanistan on various important tasks. Mike stresses that although the media present personnel as “Army” in newspapers and on the TV; the military effort is very much tri-service or “purple” and they are very much playing their part.
Mike then outlined the programme for the coming months including a deployment to W Africa and later a period of time alongside in Devonport for a 10 month refit and in the new year a major deployment is planned.
AGM 2009
This will the Association’s 30th Anniversary year. DA asked those present if the date could be changed to 30th May, the reason being he has looked into a weekend package deal Fri-Mon at a cost of £99pp at Sandy Bay, Weston Super Mare. The Assoc has members in the South West who maybe would be interested, those present were a in agreement for the weekend to go ahead and for the date to be changed.
Jackie asked those present if they would still wish to have a black tie dinner for Trafalgar Night 2009, as she felt the weekend away with its gala dinner may be enough expense for one year. Neil Person said the stalwart members would wish to attend both events. A flyer will be put into the Xmas RO8 to canvas members opinions, a £10 non refundable deposit would be sought to ensure enough members and guests would attend to make it self funding.
AGM 2010
Discussion was held about the date for 2010 and it was agreed that Saturday 8th May
would be chosen.
TS Bulwark (SCC)
Ron Day & John Bagley had visited Buxton for TS Bulwarks Annual Inspection. It was an excellent event and great to see the cadets putting in so much work. On the visit they were told that up until recently the units boats were able to be varnished inside the drill hall, but now due to the dreaded Health & Safety rules this must now be completed outside. The unit is very well organised and attended and all the cadets that they met were well turned out and polite. Ron Day said that the unit is trying to raise funds to pay for a purpose built boathouse and wondered if the Assoc could make a donation. This was agreed and a donation of £100 was proposed by Ron Day (1394) and seconded by John Bagley (1996), carried unanimously.
Presidents Closing Address
Sir Patrick thanked John for his work as Association Secretary; this post was taken up by John in 2001 when the Association was at a very low ebb. JT has been a moving spirit in the committee. Sir Patrick presented JT with a shield with grateful thanks. Those present gave JT a round of applause.
Sir Patrick thanked also the rest of the committee for their work over the past year.
He went on to thank Mike Pearce for the update on HMS Albion and said it was good to know they are doing well, the silent service not always appreciated by the general population and it is important that those who are in contact with the fleet remember that is a tough job done well.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 13:50hrs.