VOICE The Newsletter of the Plymouth City Centre

Armed Forces Supporters Branch

Spring 2015

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

VOICE The Newsletter of the Plymouth City Centre Branch

Spring 2015

Registered Charity Number: 219279

Editorial Comment Contents

Welcome to the first issue of the branch newsletter for 2015. It has been very busy since our last issue was ready for publication.

The 2014 Poppy Appeal was massive, with volunteers in the city centre raising far more than ever; more details inside.

We are also in the process of setting up a new affiliation with one of the care homes in the city which we are very much looking forward to formalising.

Just after the Appeal finished we had a very successful, not to mention enjoyable, Xmas Function which saw many of the volunteers who helped during the Poppy Appeal enjoying some good company and good food; our way of saying ‘thank you’ to them for giving up their time for the Appeal.

Our Branch Chairman, Steph, presented a VC plaque to the Sgt’s Mess on Remembrance weekend; the plaque was a gift from Devon County upon their move from Alphington to Exeter/Plymouth.

The Legion Nationally has also had a busy few months. In October a new strapline – Live On – was introduced to replace ‘Shoulder to shoulder’. This ‘catchphrase’ is designed to sum up the work of the Legion; we are not just about the Poppy Appeal and are not simply the ‘Custodians of Remembrance’, we are also involved in helping servicemen and women, veterans and service families when they are in need, providing morale support, comradeship and financial assistance.

Recently the Legion has introduced a new campaign: Insult to Injury. This campaign is designed to try to persuade the UK government, plus the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, to protect the compensation injured service personnel have received as a War Pension; War Pensions were awarded for injuries sustained pre 6

th April 2005.

With the 70th Anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day this year, amongst many other commemorative events, 2015 is shaping up to be another very busy year for the Legion.

Remembrance:

Remembrance Weekend 8-9th November

Representation:

Insult to Injury Campaign

Live On

Fundraising:

Poppy Appeal 2014

Poppy Appeal 2014 Organisation

Other News.

County Poppy Appeal

Diary of Events

© The contents of this newsletter are copyright and

may not be reproduced in whole or in part without

permission.

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Remembrance

Remembrance Weekend

8-9th November 2014

Remembrance weekend is a time when traditionally the Legion is very busy participating in two of the pillars of the Legion: remembrance and comradeship, plus fund-raising. 2014 was no different and involved the first out-ing of the new branch gazebo on ‘Poppy Saturday’ doing lots of fundraising; our branch Standard was on parade at the Hoe (see photo below) as part of remembrance; and, of course camaraderie in the form of a few drinks the Sgt’s Mess at Stonehouse Barracks.

Saturday went very well, with the help of the Military Ve-hicles Trust who, as always, parked their vehicles under the big screen TV making it a focal point for the day.

Not only did we have the gazebo and vintage military ve-hicles in the city centre but we also had our usual stand outside Marks and Spencer, volunteers up at Sainsburys, Plymouth City Market and WH Smiths. In the afternoon our Branch Chairman came in to offer moral support, not

to mention coffee and cake, to some of the volunteers who looked as though they were close to freezing!

Sunday began with the parade on the Hoe. Our Branch Standard was the only Legion one present because the other branches have their own individual parades to mark ‘1100’ whereas our branch prefers to be part of the wider remembrance parade. The turnout at the Hoe was ex-cellent, as usual, and the weather held out.

After the parade on the Hoe many of the volunteers de-scended onto the Stonehouse Sgt’s Mess to see our Branch Chairman make a presentation to WO1(RSM) Baz Gray RM, the President of the Mess Committee of

Stonehouse Sgt’s Mess and one of our branch members.

Remembrance weekend serves as a reminder of the new strapline of the Legion: Live On. To the memory of the fallen and the future of the living.

Military Vehicles under the big screen TV

The branch Gazebo under the big screen TV

Standards marching onto the Hoe

Presentation to WO1(RSM) Baz Gray RM

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Commemoration — 2Lt James Bulmer Johnson VC

Monday 23rd March 1100

Our branch is on a mission to commemorate one of the city’s most decorated war heroes.

James Bulmer Johnson VC (31 December 1889 – 23 March 1943) was an English recipient of the Vic-toria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

According to records, James Bulmer Johnson was born in Widdrington, in Northumberland, on Decem-ber 31, 1889.

He was 25 years old and working as a clerk at the Newcastle Infirmary when the war broke out.

He enlisted on October 13, 1914, and joined the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Military records show he was commissioned in the 2nd Battalion on May 29, 1918.

He became a Second Lieutenant in the Fusiliers, attached to 36th Battalion during the war.

He was a Second Lieutenant attached to 36th Bat-talion during the First World War and 28 years old when on 14 October 1918 south west of Wez Mac-quart, France, he performed the act for which he was awarded the VC.

During operations by strong patrols, Second Lieu-tenant Johnson repelled frequent counter-attacks and for six hours, under heavy fire, he held back the enemy. When at length he was ordered to retire he was the last to leave the advanced position carrying a wounded man. Three times subsequently this of-ficer returned and brought in badly wounded men under intense enemy machine-gun fire.

After World War I, Johnson served in the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary.

He died in Plymouth, Devon, in 1943 aged fifty-

three, and was cremated at Efford Crematorium,

Plymouth.

The commemoration will take place at 1100 on

Monday the 23rd of March 2015 at Efford Cemetery.

The idea of organising this commemoration was

suggested to our Standard Bearer, John Martyn, by

the Federation of Plymouth and District Ex-Service

Associations; we were naturally eager to start ar-

ranging something to acknowledge his bravery.

We are also in the process of trying to trace any

family members of James Bulmer Johnson so that

we can invite them to the occasion.

John told the Plymouth Herald recently that “our aim

is to honour him… from what we have learned he

deserves no less that that’.

Anyone who would like to attend this commemora-

tion, particularly any Standard Bearer, is more than

welcome to join us. Please let the Branch know on

07934 619213 or at plymouth.afs@btinternet.com

With thanks to www.plymouthherald.co.uk and www.wikipedia.com .

John Martyn with representatives of Efford Cemetery

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Representation

New Campaign — Insult to Injury

Veterans injured during Service are having to give up most of their compensation to pay for the costs of their social care.

Military compensation is awarded as recompense for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity experi-enced by injured Service personnel and veterans; it

should not be treated as normal income.

It's unfair and has to change!

Veterans who were injured in Service on or before 5 April 2005 receive a War Disablement Pension, and are known as War Pensioners. Should a War Pen-sioner have social care needs, they will routinely find that their local authority takes all but the first £10 per week of their military compensation to cover the costs of their care. This is despite the fact that a veteran with a similar injury, but who was injured on or after 6 April 2005 and therefore receives com-pensation through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, is able to keep all of their compensation payments.

It is unfair that War Pensioners are treated different-ly to other injured veterans. It is also unacceptable that War Pensioners are treated less favourably than civilians who have been injured in the work place, who are able to place compensation awarded into a trust fund, which is exempt from means tests for social care. This last point is in clear breach of the Armed Forces Covenant, which states that Ser-vice personnel, veterans and their families should face no disadvantage as a result of Service.

The Legion and its sister charity, Poppyscot-land, are calling on the UK, Welsh and Scottish

Governments to address this situation at the earliest opportunity.

Please show your support for our injured veterans by joining our campaign. To help this campaign go to www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us/campaigns/insult-to-injury where you will find a link for you to email your local MP.

If you do not have access to the internet please contact our Branch Secretary who can provide you with the wording of the email that is sent to your lo-cal MP

New Legion Strapline

For the benefit of those of you not well acquainted with what a strapline is, it is a catchphrase or a slogan that a company uses to try to promote its image to the outside world. For the Legion it has been ‘Shoulder to shoulder’ with all who serve for a number of years now.

However, as you may, or may not have noticed, the Le-gion has recently changed its strapline. The new strap-line is: ‘Live On’ to the memory of the fallen and the fu-ture of the living.

According to the Legion website the reason for this change, which came into effect on 23

rd October 2014, is

to promote exactly what the Legion is about. The Legion wanted people to understand that the poppy is not just about Remembrance; it’s also about providing hope for the Armed Forces community of all ages, throughout the year.

Live On is a simple and memorable way to link the twin commitments; to the memory of the fallen and the future of the living. It’s also about presenting the Legion in a lighter, cleaner way.

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Fundraising

Poppy Appeal 2014

The 2014 Poppy Appeal was a huge success, without question.

Our fundraising total, as at the 1st of January 2015 is

standing at

£53,805.45

This total has only been achieved through the hard work and dedication of our very loyal band of volunteers. Here below are just some of them.

Marks & Spencer

Volunteers not pictured above include: David Gaskin, Robin Peadon, Robert Eton, Keith Allen, Chaz Singh, and Jennie Benge: thanks to all.

We’d also like to thank the Military Vehicles Trust, who have volunteered every year for over twenty years, in-cluding: Dick Eva, Andy Roberts, Clive Runnals, Andy Rayfleld, Paul Tavock.and Michael and James Dunbar.

Finally we thank the adults and young people from HMS Heroes who have been volunteering for a number of years in Drake Circus

George Bray at the Market

Sainsbury’s

Paul Tavock Andy Roberts

HMS Heroes Andy Rayfield and Paul Tavock

Sarah Kaur & Gwyn Martyn

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Fundraising

£43,780 £43,780

Poppy Appeal 2014 Organisation By Fiona Weekes, City Centre PAO

It being the centenary of the start of the First World War we, as Poppy Appeal Organisers, all knew that it was quite likely to be busy: I had no idea just how busy it was going to be!

The Poppy Appeal for me started early in the year, with ordering of stock so that I could make sure not to run out of anything – my volunteers are very demanding that way! I was pleasantly surprised that, for a change, I was given all the stock I had ordered (including thousands of the enamel pin badges that are so popular). One of my volunteers was equally surprised when I handed him a box of 1,000. He is usually forced to beg for more sup-plies halfway through the Appeal; a request I pass on to County in an effort to get the odd bag of 100! Not this year. This year I was, quite literally, overwhelmed by the stock I received.

Little did I know that we would need as much stock as we could lay our hands on…

In most year I get phone calls from shops and business-es all over the city who are desperate to have some pop-pies and a collection tin. These requests normally start to filter through about midway through the Appeal, and it’s normally only a handful. Not this year. Even before the Appeal started I was taking phone calls from shops and businesses, some desperate, asking for poppy box-es and collection tins. These requests were coming from all over the city; in fact some of the places asking for col-lection tins weren’t even in the city!

I could tell what kind of a year I was going to have; I con-sidered hiding under the bed for the duration of October and November… Needless to say I didn’t.

So, having managed the delivery of poppies and tins to the city centre I began the process of managing the other deliveries I’d received. Unfortunately the first week of the Appeal was also half term, so my son, who was three at the time, had to come out on deliveries with me. He was, for the most part, very well behaved – as long as he got a cake at the end of the day. As it turned out having Ross with me provide very effective in getting deliveries done smoothly. Not everyone was initially very understanding that they’d been, as they saw it ‘left out’ of a delivery, but when they saw that I was struggling to juggle a small boy with managing the Appeal they became much more un-derstanding. Is Ross a Poppy Appeal Organiser in the making? I hope not!!

As the Appeal went into its second week the phone calls from schools started. Bearing in mind there is one school

in the city centre, so I don’t normally deliver to too many schools. Last year however I was fielding calls from quite a few schools in the city.

Towards the end of the second week things started to finally slow down. Poppy Saturday was just as busy as it normally is, but thanks to one of my volunteers I didn’t have to ‘man the stand’ in the gazebo, so I was able to walk around the city centre to see how things were doing and how my volunteers were managing.

We still had the same issues with stock as we have had in previous years, but this time it was the Buckley brooch-es. National RBL had sent boxes of them down to us to sell (which we were grateful for) but getting our hands on them to sell was difficult. No sooner did my volunteer get his hands on fifty of them, then he had sold them all. So, I had the continual conversation with County “thank you for giving us more; can we have some more please?”

One of the benefits of the Appeal this year, for me at least, was that because I was out and about almost every day it gave me the opportunity to go and see most of my volunteers. I saw just how busy they get and just how difficult it is to be a Poppy Appeal Voluntary Collector. We are all volunteers, but their job, I think, is much more time consuming. I have been told by some of my volun-teers that “all they’ve got to do is stand there”. I don’t see their job as quite that simple. My volunteers stand for hours, often days, most within shops but some outside in the cold. In some shops they are provided with seating, but in others they are required to stand up. Standing for hours, being stared at by strangers (it does happen), be-ing questioned about the Appeal (again, this does hap-pen), being mistaken for other service charities (mentioning no names but, again, it does happen) and carrying a (hopefully) heavy tin back to their car, the bus or a taxi. Most won’t claim any money back for the ex-penses they incur (food and transport). I couldn’t do it. I manage the Appeal from the comfort of my office at home. I tried going onto the streets with a collection tin a few years ago; I got stared at and didn’t get much money! Needless to say I now see my job as more management that worker!!!

When all was finished and we, as volunteers, looked at what we had achieved I think we can all be very proud of ourselves. We don’t get paid and yet sometimes it feels like we put in just as much, if not more energy into raising money for the Poppy Appeal than we would if it was a paid job. But then most of us understand that, either hav-ing served ourselves or just from living in a military rich city like Plymouth, we are very lucky to have an Armed Forces we can be proud of.

Next year I am definitely hiding under the bed, from at least September.

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Other News

Theatre Royal Armed Forces Project

Plymouth’s Theatre Royal are creating a new play based on the experiences of the Armed Forces community in Plymouth. They are looking for people to get involved with the production, either by sharing stories or helping out ‘back stage’.

The project is open to wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and veterans who left the military in the last five years. This in-cludes Reservists and family members, re-gardless of their previ-ous experience.

Those involved need to be over the age of 18.

To register your inter-est visit:

www.theatreroyal.com/bravo22 phone 01752 230379 or email sally.burne@theatreroyal.com

County Poppy Appeal

The challenge this year for County was to break the £1 million mark. Did they do it? Yes, they did!

The Poppy Appeal total for Devon County stands at

£1,003,000.00.

This shows the tremendous effort that has gone into the 2014 Poppy Appeal, not only by those who kindly donat-ed to the Appeal but also from the volunteers who give of their time so that stands can be manned and tins and poppies can be distributed.

In our own city we have Crownhill Branch, Plympton Branch and St Budeaux Branch all putting in the same effort as we do, and of course our Community Fund-raiser who works tirelessly to make sure everything runs (relatively) smoothly.

The branch extends its congratulation to everyone within the County, on a tremendous effort in 2014

For updates on all events for the Branch visit www.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/Plymouth-city-centre-branch

You can also follow our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Plymouth-City-Centre-RBL

© 2014 Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supports Branch The Royal British Legion

Diary of Events

Date Location Event

1930 Thursday 3rd March 2015 RAM, Exeter Simon Weston Talk

1200 19th March 2015 Kingsbridge Charity Fashion Show

1100 Monday 23rd March 2015 Efford Cemetery 2Lt James Bulmer Johnson VC Commemoration

19th April 2015 Okehampton Charity Golf Day

15-17th May 2015 Southport Annual Conference 2015

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Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Spring 2015

Live On

Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch—Committee

Branch President

Lt Col Edward Dawes RA

Branch Chairman

WO1(RSM) Steph Moran RM

Branch Vice Chair

WO1(RSM) Mattt Tomlinson CGC MC RM

Branch Treasurer

Capt Kit Carney AGC(SPS)

Appointed Standard Bearer

John Martyn

Elected Committee Members:

Stephen Legge; Marty Pelling; Paul Youngman;

Andy Rayfield; Sarah Kaur; WO1(RSM) Baz Gray RM

Graham Emond, Carole Arnold.

Welfare Representatives

Kellie Legge; Fiona Weekes; Paul Youngman

Branch Secretary

Fiona Weekes

Tel: 07730 031184

Email: plymouth.afs@btinternet.com

Submission of Articles for Newsletter

Submissions are welcome from any member or volunteer of the Branch but may be subject to editing prior to publication .

We are looking for any Branch members who would like to write an article for the newsletter; interesting, humorous, informa-

tive articles or personal stories that our readers might be interested in are always welcome.

For guidance please contact our Branch Secretary.

Legion Line: 0808 802 8080

Knowledge Base: support.britishlegion.org.uk

Plymouth Pop-In Centre: (Please note that the Pop-In Centre is a Nationwide initiative and is not the Headquarters or ‘club

house’ of the Plymouth City Centre Branch)

157 Armada Way

Plymouth

PL1 1LB

Opening Hours: 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Legal Notice:

Opinions expressed in articles are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect official view of the Royal British Legion.

The materials and information provided in this newsletter is for general information purposes only. Every effort has been made to

ensure the accuracy of the information in this newsletter at the time of publication, but neither The Royal British Legion nor the

Branch can guarantee the accuracy of such information. The Royal British Legion is not liable for any action you may take as a

result of relying on such information or advice within this newsletter, or for any loss or damage suffered by you as a result of tak-

ing any action.

The Royal British Legion is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998, registration no Z5690050. Information on the use of

personal data by The Royal British Legion is available from: Haig House, 199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA. Registered

Charity No 219279.

Branch Website: www.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/plymouth-city-centre-branch

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The Royal British Legion

Patron: Her Majesty The Queen

Registered Charity No: 219279

Produced by Plymouth City Centre Armed Forces Supporters Branch

BR3672