A.G.M. Tuesday 22 April 2009
Chairman's Report.
Commander Chris Cole RN
I am happy to report that the flotilla has had another very successful and busy year.
The lecture programme has been excellent and our thanks go to Nigel Broadhurst for all the effort he has put into arranging them. We have had near record attendances at our lectures and we have covered a wide range of subjects from the historical to present day and the future. Nigel also arranged a very successful visit to HMS OCEAN which incidentally also raised over £280 for SSAFA.
On the subject of charitable donations it is also noteworthy that the Flotilla has again given £300 to the Devon Sea Cadets and £150 to the Royal Marine Benevolent Fund.
Our links with HMS EXETER have now sadly nearly come to an end as she will decommission at the end of May. A limited number of members of the Flotilla have been invited to attend the Decommissioning Service on 27th May and members have recently been canvassed for volunteers to attend. We are hoping that we will be allocated another ship, preferably a Plymouth based one, but we await the outcome of deliberations by the Naval Regional Commander and the MOD
The annual summer party was a very enjoyable evening once again culminating in the ceremony of sunset performed by the Exeter Sea Cadet Corps. This year's party will take place at Lympstone on Friday 10th July.
Our traditional golf day at the East Devon golf club went very well and we again had a very good turnout for the dinner in the evening. Thanks to Robert Harland for organising the event and we look forward to this year's event, which takes place on Thursday 30th July. We are hoping to increase the number of golfers taking part this year and guests, both male and female are most welcome both to play and attend the dinner in the evening.
Five members of the Flotilla plus 2 wives enjoyed a visit to Rennes last year, hosted by members of ACORAM. They had hoped to make a return visit to Exeter to coincide with the Twinning visit arranged by the city. However, the dates coincide with the late Spring Bank Holiday and it was not possible to find sufficient hosts from the Flotilla to manage a visit at that time, as many of our members are either on holiday themselves or they already have visitors booked in for the weekend. We have asked the ACORAM Chairman to suggest alternative dates for a visit later in the year. Incidentally, we are looking for someone to take on the role of ACORAM liaison officer, preferably a French speaker and someone who enjoys Brittany. So if you wish to volunteer please contact the General Secretary.
October saw our traditional Trafalgar Day service at the cathedral, which this year was rather special as it was preceded by the exercising of the Freedom of the City of Exeter by the ship's company of HMS EXETER. This gave the organisers an additional headache but they coped very well and the event was a great success, despite the Chairman going sick minutes before the start of the service. Our thanks go to Rory Jackson and Martin Sowman for all the hard work that goes into arranging the event. At this year's service, which takes place on Sunday 18th October, Rory has managed to secure the services of former First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Ben Bathurst to read the lesson and the address will be given by the Lord Bishop of Exeter. This will be Rory's last year as Trafalgar Day service organiser as he will be standing down and moving on to greater things in the City of London.
November saw our annual dinner with guest of honour Commander Paul Brown, the former Commanding officer of HMS EXETER. The CTCRM Corps of Drums and their string quartet provided the music and I am pleased to announce that the Corps of Drums and a woodwind quartet have been booked again for this year's event which will take place on Friday 27 November.
We have managed to maintain our links with the Amphibious Task Group through
a visit by the Chairman and 4 members of the committee to COMATG's headquarters
in Stonehouse where we received a presentation on current activities followed
by lunch with the Commodore and an afternoon visit to HMS BULWARK. We also enjoyed
a presentation by Commodore Hudson in January which was extremely well attended
despite the fact that we had to meet in a pub. The Task Group is currently deployed
but we hope to make contact again when they return later this year.
On the membership front, numbers are steady and we currently have a membership
of 209. One hundred and nineteen have given us their e-mail address which helps
to cut down on the cost of administration. So if there is anyone out there who
is on e-mail but has not yet given us their address we would be very grateful
if you could do so.
Thanks to the Membership Secretary, Andy Quick, for continuing to do a splendid
job as well as managing and maintaining our web site.
Despite the financial pressures on the Mess and therefore the increased charges we face for use of the facility, I am delighted that we have been able to negotiate manageable terms which will allow us to continue to use the Mess and maintain our historical links with Lympstone. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Commanding Officer as PMC and all the Mess staff for continuing to look after us at what I believe is still a very reasonable rate for the facilities we enjoy.
Thanks go to Gerald Newton as our general secretary, to Chris Seaton as our departing treasurer and to Angus Atherton for taking over the role of Treasurer. Chris Seaton has done a great job during his tenure as Treasurer and we are very grateful to him. I have already thanked Rory for his work as Trafalgar Day secretary and we are very grateful to Chris Seaton for volunteering to relieve Rory after this year's service. My thanks also to Patrick Collis for his work on the Committee and I will assume you will be formally electing them all in the next item on the agenda.
Finally, I am very sorry that health problems and family business have prevented me from attending one or two of the lectures in the last couple of months and I am especially sad that I have had to miss this, my last AGM as Chairman. I have already thanked the Committee for their support, without which this organisation would founder. However the strength of an organisation is only as good as its membership and I am extremely grateful to all the members for continuing to support the Flotilla and particularly to those who regularly attend the meetings. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Chairman. Hopefully you will be electing a new Chairman in the next item of the agenda and I wish Ian Brannam every success and hope that he finds it as enjoyable as I have.