{"id":64,"date":"2016-12-28T09:55:07","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T09:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/no4area.atwebpages.com\/?page_id=64"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:59:53","slug":"ncm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/no4arearna.co.uk\/index.php\/ncm\/","title":{"rendered":"NCM"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Council Members Page<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No 4 Area
\n<\/strong>(The South West Flotilla)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

National Council Member\u2019s Report to No. 4 Area Meeting Bude 17\/01\/2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been a successful and busy 75th anniversary year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Biennial Parade was well attended and the weather was kind, good to see members of the Area there although we couldn\u2019t match the 2 million Tommy Robinson supporters who were marching the same weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s a bit far to go to Portsmouth for a game.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 75th anniversary Charity Fundraising Concert with the Fishermen\u2019s Friends, the RNA Choir and the Royal Marine Band was a grand occasion attended by a host of dignitaries and raised \u00a330k.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judging by the numerous reports and photographs I\u2019ve 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, from the same news source it was gratifying to see that the various commemoration events on Remembrance weekend were well attended.<\/span><\/p>\n

The RNA was represented at the rededication of the Naval Division Memorial on Horse Guards Parade.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

I look forward to seeing many of you at Conference in Salford in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

But before all that we have the Liver and Kidney punishing weekend Reunion in Bideford at the beginning of March.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Membership is still hovering around 25k but I would remind all Branches to try to engage with those members you don\u2019t 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\u2019t find reliefs. If your Branch is struggling for whatever reason please get in touch with the Area committee, we can\u2019t perform miracles, but we will do all we can to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s visiting a sick oppo, sending a get-well card or flowers or supporting families and friends when a shipmate makes their final journey.
\nWhat 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again will you please remind your members about the RNA Lottery at only \u00a31 per week it is a very important source of revenue for us, currently worth around \u00a32000 per month.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, a few words on RAMP, have any branches started planning or discussing it? Ramp is the NHS\u2019s Reception Arrangements for MOD Personnel. You don\u2019t 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

National Council Member\u2019s Report to No. 4 Area Meeting Plymouth 21\/01\/2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Good afternoon shipmates and welcome to the third consecutive Area Meeting in Cornwall, just for a change the next meeting is in Bodmin in May so you might wish to hang on to your Visa\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Council meeting of the 9th December due to be held at Central Office was switched to a Zoom meeting at the last minute due to members of the office staff contracting Covid. I know that we have discussed the use of Zoom frequently but the more of them that I attend the less I like them. They tend to stifle debate and become little more than a rubber-stamping exercise in my opinion. In addition, we lose the all-important personal interaction before, during and after meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new Chief of Staff Chris Trevethan (whose late Father was a member of Liskeard Branch) has taken over from Andy Christie upon his retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recruitment of the new Comms Manager is progressing well and we expect an announcement shortly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Membership now stands at over 16,000 \u2013 the target for the end of last year was 12,000, and it is hoped to raise this to 19,000 by the end of this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

2022 was not a particularly good year Financially, the value of our investments took quite a dive, and we did not receive any sizeable legacy income. Donations are not rising in line with increased membership. Increasing donations is a priority this year, whereas the focus has been on recruitment for the last 2 years. RNRMC have changed their grant in lieu of subs for next year which is much better for us. They are giving us the complete \u00a3147k and any money we raise in lieu of subs will be kept and not deducted from that sum. We are therefore incentivized to raise more donations internally.<\/span>
\n
\nWe received a grant of \u00a340k from the RNRMC for the Wellbeing Delivery Manager who will be focused on tackling loneliness and isolation and where we hope to do better in the area of bereavement. Preliminary investigative work has taken place with the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Widows Association with a commitment to closer partnership and the production of an RNA Bereavement Handbook\/toolkit this year.<\/span>
\n
\nWellbeing Workshop. Significant energies have been invested in the planning, preparation, and engagement of welfare officers for the Wellbeing Workshop taking place in February. There has been an excellent response and 105 delegates are attending and have responded to a set of three questions around the trends and needs they are experiencing in welfare.<\/span><\/p>\n

HMS RALEIGH<\/strong> Mentoring. DBS checks for the mentors is now an RN requirement and these are progressing. Unfortunately, Kate Hughes has had a bad experience with the mentors and has withdrawn herself from RNA activity. This means that we are not capturing the families as was hoped on POP days. The complete change of Training Staff during Lockdown has thrown the Mentoring Project into some disarray with many of our Mentors feeling that they could not continue. Things are beginning to improve and hopefully will continue to do so. I have asked for the Minibus to be returned to our custody now that Kate has severed her connections with us, and have also been informed that it requires some very expensive work on the Add Blue system.<\/span>
\nThe World Uckers Championships were a great success and there is a suggestion that it becomes an annual event rather than bi-annual.<\/span>
\n25-28 May is the Annual Conference in Liverpool.<\/span>
\n10th September Biennial Parade in London.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yours Aye<\/p>\n

S\/m Warwick Belfitt
\n<\/span>NCM No 4 Area
\n<\/span>email: warwickbelfitt@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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