National Council Members Page
No 4 Area
(The South West Flotilla)
National Council Member’s Report to No 4 Area Meeting at Roche 16th May 2026
We had an NC meeting at the end of April, an AMC meeting a week ago, and a Future Governance WG meeting last Wednesday, so, as usual, I’ll give a very brief précis of the major topics, as I’m sure you will have gleaned most of it from either the Semaphore publications or the very efficient grapevine.
GS Bill Oliphant is leaving to work in Saudi Arabia; Sara Field, who for most of us was the main point of contact in CO, is leaving to join RNRMC; Sarah Bewley, the comms wizard, has left to join SSAFA, although she is being contracted to cover a couple of tasks; and Tracie Brodie, whom many of you won’t know, was engaged as Grants Co‑ordinator but has decided it’s not for her.
The NP and GS attended a Naval Charity Sector workshop hosted by the 2SL. This is a continuation of the RAND report and is looking into ways of sharing functions in order to reduce costs from duplication, etc. Remembering the sea of blank faces the last time I mentioned the RAND report, I’ll leave it there.
Overall, our 75th Anniversary year was quite successful. The investment fund managers’ performance was again poor, and our funds have now been moved to a more stable arrangement. Although we set a budget deficit of £250k for the year, the actual deficit was only £117k. The AvsN 25 rugby match made a £4k loss, but the Charity Concert made a healthy profit of £24.6k.
As those of us who were there can testify, this year’s AvsN was much better, with a fantastic bar right behind our seats, quite capable of coping with the 1,000 RNA members. The ticket allocation was all sold well ahead of the game, and Millie’s raffle made over £6k.
Membership has now passed the 25k mark and continues to grow — 25,358 at the last count.
Jon Everett supported the orphaned trainees at Raleigh over the Easter leave period. You may recall this started a few years ago when one of our Liskeard Mentors, Jerry Fleming, discovered that the overseas trainees and those with no family home to go to were virtually shut in a box, only to be opened when the staff returned from Christmas leave. He and his wife Lynne utilised the minibus and took them out and about over the Christmas period. It is disappointing that the Navy still hasn’t found a way of entertaining them during leave periods.
Looking to the future, I look forward to seeing many of you at this year’s conference at Salford in June. Planning for Durham ’27 is well underway. A motion to conference this year is that the 2028 Conference be held in Plymouth, primarily hosted by Plymouth Branch, and initial investigative work is advancing well. I trust that the whole area will be ready to offer any assistance as and when required. The 2027 Biennial Parade will commemorate Falklands 45.
Branch returns have been significantly better this year, with 90% received and accepted on time. Slight problem with three from our area, now resolved. As many of you know, I have been the Treasurer for Liskeard Branch for the last 25 years. I was horrified to read in the NC minutes that the £2,992.78 error that RNRMC had against Liskeard Branch had now been rectified by GSO and RNRMC. Well, as someone who once spent some 16 hours pouring over accounts in order to find a 1p discrepancy, I am sure I would have spotted an error of that magnitude. Once my blood pressure dropped sufficiently to remove the threat of a whole‑body explosion, and I was able to convince my heart that I hadn’t just broken the one‑minute mile barrier, I managed to email the GSO to say “What the…?” It transpired that RNRMC had incorrectly credited the sum to the general fund as coming from Liskeard on closing; it should, in fact, have been RNA Whitstable, which closed last year.
Congratulations to our two standard bearers from Plymouth Branch, Lee Perry and Cheryl Allen, finishing 1st and 2nd respectively in the novice category.
I know that I asked you to consider fundraising for the RNRMC, but Branch contributions to the RNA are considerably down; therefore, will you please ask your Branches to fundraise for the RNA first and foremost. Additionally, you must have seen the publicity regarding the NSM memorial at the National Arboretum — we desperately need funds for repairs and insurance. Although we are looking at securing grants, we do need to raise around £30k ourselves.
On a sad note, our minibus has been reallocated to Wales. I fought hard to get one for us in the first place and collected it when it was new, subsequently looking after it for many years. In fact, Mark and I had polishing competitions to see who could get the best shine on it. It is worth discussing at future Branch meetings whether we should purchase our own second‑hand one for the area, bearing in mind ongoing tax, insurance, and servicing costs. Perhaps we could then discuss it at the next area meeting in September.
And finally, although Jon Everett has sent his apologies, don’t forget to contact him should you need any support or information regarding shipmates’ funeral arrangements.
National Council Member’s Report to No 4 Area Meeting Bude 17/01/2026
It has been a successful and busy 75th anniversary year.
The Biennial Parade was well attended and the weather was kind, good to see members of the Area there although we couldn’t match the 2 million Tommy Robinson supporters who were marching the same weekend.
The World Uckers Championships took place in the Royal Maritime Hotel, well reported in the semaphore circular, whilst I do enjoy playing, I always think it’s a bit far to go to Portsmouth for a game.
The 75th anniversary Charity Fundraising Concert with the Fishermen’s Friends, the RNA Choir and the Royal Marine Band was a grand occasion attended by a host of dignitaries and raised £30k.
Judging by the numerous reports and photographs I’ve seen on Facebook it was a very successful Trafalgar/Pickle season with most Branches celebrating one or the other. Marie and I were lucky enough to attend two Trafalgar dinners on consecutive weekends.
Also, from the same news source it was gratifying to see that the various commemoration events on Remembrance weekend were well attended.
The RNA was represented at the rededication of the Naval Division Memorial on Horse Guards Parade.
Looking ahead to this year we have the Army v Navy rugby match at Twickenham on the May Bank holiday weekend, by early December we had already sold more tickets than for last years match – marvellous what a win can do for morale.
I look forward to seeing many of you at Conference in Salford in June.
But before all that we have the Liver and Kidney punishing weekend Reunion in Bideford at the beginning of March.
Our Membership is still hovering around 25k but I would remind all Branches to try to engage with those members you don’t see very often and try to entice them to take a more active role, we have too many branches folding because their committees are ageing and they can’t find reliefs. If your Branch is struggling for whatever reason please get in touch with the Area committee, we can’t perform miracles, but we will do all we can to help.
We have been assured that our grant funding is secure, at least in the short term. It is of course dependent on our delivery of Welfare & Wellbeing. All branches have generally been very good at delivering Welfare, whether it’s visiting a sick oppo, sending a get-well card or flowers or supporting families and friends when a shipmate makes their final journey.
What we are not so good at is recording and reporting what we do and this is an area we must improve on if we are to continue getting grant funding. And whilst we are on this subject we are very fortunate to have Jon Everett our Welfare Co-ordinator with us. Jon has moved from Area 3 to Area 4 and is keen to get involved at both Branch and area level.
Once again will you please remind your members about the RNA Lottery at only £1 per week it is a very important source of revenue for us, currently worth around £2000 per month.
The re-write of the Royal Charter is complete as far as the Working Party stage and is now ready for briefing to Areas and Branches prior to seeking approval at a special conference and the Privy council.
Finally, a few words on RAMP, have any branches started planning or discussing it? Ramp is the NHS’s Reception Arrangements for MOD Personnel. You don’t need to be part of the intelligence community to realise that we are now closer to conflict than at any time in our lifetime. With casualties being dispersed throughout the UK’s burns units and trauma centres there will be a need to assist families to be with their injured loved ones. Contingency plans are being drawn up and the Naval Charity section is getting ready to support this. It’s worth spending a few minutes at a branch meeting drawing up lists of those able to drive and help with the national and local effort. It would also be handy to have details of those with enhanced driving licenses such as HGV, PSV or MOD.