Perhaps it was the prospect of one of our famous buffets that did it, but whatever the reason, attendance at our A.G.M. this month exceeded anything yet achieved at any of our past meetings.  We used to look for 30, then 40, but on March 3rd the count was 50, the highest recorded (apart from guest nights) since our records began in 1997. This is highly gratifying to your committee as AGMs are not normally noted for high attendance figures.

The meeting was chaired by Branch President Gp Capt Andy Golledge for which we are most grateful to him.  It is always a pleasure to have Andy at our ordinary meetings whenever he can spare the time.  We were also very pleased to welcome Branch member and National RAFA President Sir John Sutton, another VBM (very busy man) especially at this time.  Another welcome visitor was John Lee from Eastern Area Council, and also a Central Council member; we are grateful to him for journeying up the A1 to see us.

The business of the meeting proceeded in a smooth and orderly fashion with reports from the Branch Officers and Committee all of whom were thanked for their work during the past year which has been one of sustained success.  The election of our new committee brought forth no surprises as all the sitting committee members had offered to serve for a further year if elected and, as there were no nominations from the floor for any of their posts, they were duly re-elected. Nominations for two additional committee members were received, with both Sheila Hunnisett and Jo Tibbott being elected without dissent, so we look forward to working with them also.  (See list of committee members on back page).

Sir John Sutton gave us an interesting update on the improving financial situation of the Association, in particular regarding Sussexdown which has been a severe drain on our resources.  It is now running to a much tighter budget which will allow the hitherto unused facility, the EMI Unit to be brought into use. One advantage of having Sir John as a branch member is that from time to time he gives us an update on HQ matters before they are published in Airmail. (For further details see next column)

John Lee spoke about Area matters, including the ongoing merger plans to reduce the number of areas. The possibility of merging Eastern and North Midland Areas seemed logical to many, but the earlier plan for the Eastern and South Eastern Areas to join together is going ahead during the next year. The Eastern Area Conference later this month will be the last one for the old Eastern Area. He also mentioned some proposed changes to streamline membership that will be circulated to branches in the near future and discussed at the 2004 National Conference in May.

The Branch Chairman was commended on his loyalty to the Branch as 3rd March was his 42nd wedding anniversary. Mrs Diana Toy made no comment!

With the formal business concluded everyone enjoyed the traditional and well presented buffet, our grateful thanks being paid to all who provided the refreshments.

At the end of the meeting the Balmoral garments with our Branch badge, were distributed and the well stocked raffle was called.  This raised a record £80. Many thanks to our generous prize givers who then buy tickets to win them back! L.E.H.

L.E.H.

If you have been reading Air Mail, and I hope you have, then you should be reasonably up to date with what has been happening. The Financial Recovery Team, which I chair, was tasked to find out what went wrong and to put matters right, and has worked to this end over the last two years. I can now tell you that this work will be completed by the time of the National Conference this year and the Financial Recovery Team will cease to exist. My wife will be delighted as it means I shall no longer have the same excuse to put off the growing list of jobs in the house and garden.

The Financial Recovery Team found that, apart from poor financial management, there were widespread shortcomings in management generally. To have a large Council responsible for the management of our affairs was probably appropriate in the early days of the Association when activity was primarily at local level. But as events have shown, it is no longer appropriate now that we are a £10 million a year welfare business with the much more demanding requirements of today.

Your representatives will therefore, be asked at both the Area Conference and later at the National Conference, to approve changes. They are, that in future the Council should continue to represent members’ interests and set out the broad policy of the Association but transfer the demanding trustee responsibilities – those concerning finance and in overseeing day to day management – to a small group of about 8 to 20. A paper setting out precise details will reach each branch shortly. In my view such changes are absolutely essential if the Association is to have sound future.

Secondly, a word on Sussexdown. Up to 2001, we were having to subsidise Sussexdown to the tune of £1.5 million a year – rather a lot you might think for 50 residents, and we wondered if it would have to close. A recent comprehensive review showed that Sussexdown had lost its way and a more caring service could be provided for about one tenth of the £1,500,000. That not only means that Sussexdown has a long term future, but also that the still empty EMI Unit, which is co-located with Sussexdown and cannot be a stand alone facility, can at last be opened, and that is now currently being planned jointly with the RAF Benevolent Fund.

John Sutton

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