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Membership Secretary:- 24 Park Road, Alrewas, Staffs, DE13 7AG
Tel No 01283 791218. Email: arboretum@dlaproduction.co.uk
Please note new email address
Newsletter Editor: Anne Smith
41 Bradgate Drive, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands, B74 4XG
Tel/Fax: 0121-352-0273
E-mail: twocats@btinternet.com
Website address: http://www.friendsofnma.org.uk
It was suggested that CBJ was in a position to insist on this but he felt that a volunteer could not be forced to join the Friends.
A member from the National Trust pointed out that all the local groups of the NT are locally organised and are autonomous and he couldn't see why we could not operate in the same way. CBJ was adamant that he saw the Friends as part of the NMA structure.
In answer to another question CBJ indicated that as he was in charge of the Arboretum he would see that the process went the way he wanted it to and that he wanted to be free to get rid of any element with which he disagreed such as the Committee.
It appears that some of the reasons for the changes are because the old Trustees will change to take into account the Armed Forces Memorial. "London" is apparently insisting that with the joint involvement of the RBL, the AFM and the NMA and with the numbers which are anticipated, huge extra funding will be necessary to enable the NMA to function effectively. To receive this funding from the Government via the AFM the NMA must become be re-organised.
It is now a fait accompli that the volunteer work of the Friends has been and will continue to be managed by the NMA. A large number of volunteers have been recruited and are in the process of being vetted and commencing work.
A group has been set up to work out how the volunteering will be organised and this group is made up of Helen Overton (staff) Ann Nolan (Guide Co-ordinater,Friends) Derek van Arkadie and Robbie Middlemiss (Friends).
A second group has met to discuss how the Friends will converge into the NMA operation. This group consists of Charlie (staff) Roger Davies-Lee (Membership Secretary) Ken Pilgrim (Treasurer and Vice Chairman Friends) and Ann Middlemiss (Friend). They will be visiting other venues to see how they manage their "Friends".
As far as the AGM is concerned Charlie did not feel that enough progress had yet been made to enable the Friends to become part of the NMA. He suggested that we hold a further EGM to take proposals forward. This seems to your Committee to be the most sensible course of action. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes and we are still hoping that The Friends will be able to continue in a meaningful way but although co-operation is the buzz word the original ideas put forward in my previous letter still appear to be the NMA's choice of action.
I will keep you informed.
Yours in Friendship
Carol Davies-Lee
If you have already received your Membership Badge for the present year please ignore this note. If however you have not received your Membership Badge, please return the renewal form with your remittance or call the Membership Secretary, Roger Davies-Lee, on 01283-791218.
Members of the Friends unable to show a current Membership card will not be able to attend the A.G.M.
Epiphany Service
November: Photographic Exhibition and Presentation of Awards for the Photographic Competition. For more information about the Competition please click here.
Once again there will be an early morning Bird Walk on May 17th led by Lichfield RSPB. This will be the usual 7.30 am start and hot drinks and bacon/sausage butties will be provided at the finish.
Sponsored Walk
I would like to end this newsletter by thanking all those who have congratulated us on the Winter Newsletter. It was so nice to hear from you all with your positive comments and we hope you will continue to enjoy them in the future.
Spring Newsletter 2008
I am writing you once more following the EGM which was held at the Arboretum on February 6th. We had roughly 75 people in attendance and we started with a very detailed talk by Charles Bagott-Jewitt on how he sees the future of the NMA as a whole and how the Friends will fit into that new plan. There were a number of questions. Q. How can you tell a volunteer from a Friend. A. By their uniform, although the hope is that all volunteers will become Friends.
(Click on the small photos to see much larger pictures in a separate window.)
On the 14th of November 2007 the Coastal Forces Veterans Association added yet another Memorial to join the many others at the NMA. Their 'Rock of the Sea' was dedicated on this day and 120 members, families and friends attended the event, including their National Chairman, Mr. Reg Ellis. The service was conducted by Rev'd Graham Berridge and Rev'd Margaret Lunt and the 'Rock' with its inset granite plaque was unveiled by 4 ex-Wrens. It commemorates the 30,000 Naval personnel who served on, or supported, Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Gunboats and Motor Launches during WWII.
They fought 980 actions from Norway to the Aegean plus, even further away, Burma. 300 of these 'little ships' were sunk or destroyed and 1,200 Naval personnel were killed. An even larger number were wounded. An MTB was the last warship to leave Dunkirk in 1940 and ML's were the Fleet Navigation Leaders for the invasion of Normandy in 1944. 'Last to leave, first to return'. All now have a 'Memorial' in what must become the 'Centre for Dedication & Memorials in England'.
With the increase in numbers attending the NMA, it is ever more apparent that there should be easier public access to the site. At the moment, due to its isolated nature, the only way to access the Arboretum is by road using car or coach, though some intrepid cyclists can be seen from time to time. It has not been possible so far to persuade a bus company to put the Arboretum on its route, though approaches to them are continuing. In the same way strenuous efforts are being made to attract the attention and support of those who have influence over the matter of reopening the Lichfield to Burton railway line with a station at Alrewas. The reopening process is both complex and complicated and, as can be expected, involves considerable sums of money. The financial hurdle is one of the difficult ones to negotiate. However it is important to keep the whole project fully in the minds of those who make the final decisions, and to that end, raising the matter with anyone who is prepared to listen. The constant dripping wears away the stone. At the last count there were 146 signatures on the petition to the Prime Minister over the reopening of the rail link. If you would like to add your own name to the petition then contact the government on http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Fradley
Renewal of Friends Membership fell due on the 1st of January 2008. To avoid having to implement paragraph 4.2 of the New Constitution, where by non-renewing members are deemed to have resigned, I have enclosed a renewal form with this copy of the Magazine for your convenience to renew your Membership.
David Childs is the Founder and first Chief Executive of the National Memorial Arboretum and has now written a book entitled "Growing Remembrance" about the history and struggles of the early years of the NMA. The book will be published at the end of June and the price will be £19.99 but to you, 'my Friends', we have a special price of £15 plus p & p of £2.50 for a personally signed copy. What a bargain! If you would like to purchase a copy then please send a cheque for £17.50 made payable to Friends of the NMA to either Anne Smith - Magazine Editor or Roger Davies-Lee - Membership Secretary, 24 Park Road, Alrewas, Staffs DE13 7AG.
New releases:
The Armed Forces Memorial Dedication in the presence of HM The Queen
Armistice Day at the A.F.M. 2007
Also available in the series: The Early Years.
A Trip round the Chapel with David Childs
FEPOW — COFEPOW hand over
The Queen's visit to the Arboretum
9/11 Service
Suez 50 years Dedication
Stalag Gates Dedication
Shot at Dawn Dedication
National Service Annual Re-Dedication
War Widows Memorial Garden
Merchant Navy Memorial Dedication
RNLI Dedication
Ulster Ash Grove Dedication
Gallipoli Memorial Dedication
Burma Star
D.Day Memorial Service
Korean Veterans Memorial Dedication
All available in VHS or DVD. Apply at the Arboretum Shop or to the Membership Secretary on 01283-791218 or roger@dlaproduction.co.uk
Christmas Walk 2007
Once again the Christmas Walk was a resounding success and enjoyed by all who took part. Twenty six Friends set off from the Terrace car park in Brownhills to walk along the canal to Chasewater and back, a round trip of about 4 miles. Excellent coffee, homemade mince pies and jam tarts were again supplied by Jane and Ken Vaughan supplemented with various Christmas goodies. Roger Lee-Davies and Ann Middlemiss provided the back up first aid (which thankfully wasn‘t needed) and organised the 'pit-stop' at the grounds of the rugby club just over half way round the walk. On our return we enjoyed a three course lunch at the Terrace Restaurant which all agreed was excellent value for money. Many thanks to the organisers Robbie Middlemiss, Graham Woodcock and Ken Vaughan, our walkers and helpers for making the day so enjoyable. It is hoped the 2008 walk will be around Blithfield reservoir but more about that later in the year.
We held our Friends Epiphany Service on Saturday 7th January and we had a really good turn out. I think this was because we put up notices to say that anyone was welcome and certainly there were quite a few people there who we did not recognise as regulars. This is certainly something to carry on for the future. David Ault took the Service. David has an MSc in Astrophysics and is now training for the Methodist Ministry. He has taken part in our Epiphany Service for a number of years and started by playing his cello for us when he was still at school. We are also most fortunate to have had the Sutton Coldfield Chamber Choir to join us and they really do add something special to this service which we have been holding every since the Chapel was first built. After the Service people congregated for a shared tea - and what a spread! With a Raffle and a few games it was a really enjoyable afternoon.
We would, of course, still like to hear from you if you know of any other associations or parish magazines which would welcome news about us. So please let Lawrie Walford have a contact name and e-mail address. His details are Tel: 01283-791857 E-mail: lawriew@globalnet.co.uk
It has been wonderful over the last few months to see a number of new Friend'‘ joining us for our working weekends and they must be congratulated on donning wellies and paddling through floods to go litter picking and tree pruning, all of which needs to be done to keep the Arboretum looking neat and tidy. I am sure when they came the first time they were not expecting to be 'thrown in at the deep end', literally!! Well done! So, please get your diaries out and put in the following dates - 12th/13th April, 10th/11th May, 14th/15th June, 12th/13th July. There will be plenty to do in order to get the Arboretum up to scratch for the busy time with many dedications, etc., in the coming months. The more the merrier and I do mean that, we are a happy bunch, it‘s not all mud and grotty jobs, so please continue coming along to join us.
Some brief words from me at this time! Visitor numbers have continued to exceed expectations and were 11,852 for January and 15,432 for February, well above even our revised predictions! My thanks to all of you who have assisted in keeping these visitors so well looked after and welcome. We have had some magnificent feedback including one letter from a serving Colonel which read '...and what a pleasure it was to meet so many dedicated members of staff (and he was including volunteers in this) who were all, to a man and women, welcoming, helpful, happy and clearly enjoying what they were about. If only the rest of the UK was run on such lines!' As mentioned in the last newsletter, we are still working very hard in collaboration with the British Legion, The Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces Memorial Trust to place both the Armed Forces Memorial and the National Memorial Arboretum on a sound financial and future footing. Those of you who attended the EGM in February will have heard my full brief and will appreciate that this is a very complex process and one which will almost certainly result in a full 'restructure' of the Arboretum, of which changes to the Friends and Volunteering organisation are a part. It is excellent that the appeal for volunteers attracted over 200 applications which we are now processing, interviewing and will shortly be commencing full inductions in accordance with best practise elsewhere. The Future Friends group is now up and running too, comprising Roger Davies-Lee, Ken Pilgrim, Anne Middlemiss and myself. We are going to examine other Friends organisations in April from which we hope to identify the best ways to take our Friends organisation forward with confidence into the future. Exciting times indeed, and all with a programme of functions and events that looks as busy as last year and a huge number of coaches and tours booked too! All good wishes.
Dates and other details of future dedicatations can be found on the Forthcoming Events Page (See links at the left top of the page).
To book, or simply find out more about events and dedications at the NMA, please contact the Arboretum direct on Tel: 01283-792333 Email: info @ thenma.org.uk www.thenma.org.uk
Tuesday 18th March 2008: Annual General Meeting: 7.30 pm The Conference Room, Visitor Centre, National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas
We are going ahead with preparations for the Friends Photo Competition which will now tie in with Remembrance events next November. There are two classes for children, under 11, and 11 - 16 (Any item at the NMA) a special class for Friends (Wildlife at the NMA) and an Open class (Remembrance at the NMA) so get snapping every time you visit the Arboretum so that you can enter your best photos. For more information about the Competition please click here.
Spring has come early and nesting activity has started already at the Arboretum and we have our Robins back in the Cloisters area. There is some bad news for the Barn Owls, Squirrels have decided that the box by the River Tame makes a very good home for their new offspring.
In May this year Richard is completing his Land's End to John O'Groats walk and the final leg will be just south of Glasgow, via the West Highland Way and Great Glen Way through to Inverness and then up to the top! By the end he will have walked a total of 1,200 miles since his start in Cornwall. Richard is raising money for the NMA Flood Damage Fund for the overall challenge, so if anyone would like to sponsor him they can send cheques to Mrs. J. Thorpe, The National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas, Staffordshire, DE13 7AR (made payable to the National Memorial Arboretum - Richard's Walk)
The Arboretum are keen for Friends to help with fundraising. If you would like to hold an event or have a novel idea of how to raise some much needed funds please contact: Ken Pilgrim on 01827-383050 or ken.pilgrim@homecall.co.uk
Anne Smith
Editor
15.3.08