Plans are well underway

for our 2015 Area Confer-

ence (see page 2) and our

events schedule is quickly

filling up. Social events are

being planned to thank our

members in the north of

Scotland and in Northern

Ireland, and Branch Sup-

port Officer Dave Mowatt

will continue his visits to

branches. We are looking

forward to revealing the

exhibition trailer to the pub-

lic and are sure it will help

to raise awareness of the

RAF Association and the

important work we do.

From all the staff of the

RAF Association Scotland

and Northern Ireland Area

to all members, we wish

you a prosperous and hap-

py new year. We hope to

see you all soon!

Once again, the past year

was a busy and productive

one for the RAF Associa-

tion in Scotland and North-

ern Ireland. We held anoth-

er successful Area Confer-

ence in Perth in March.

Staff and volunteers repre-

sented the Association at a

range of large-scale public

events, including National

Armed Forces Day in Stir-

ling, Scotland’s National

Airshow at East Fortune,

The Newcastle Festival of

Flight in County Down and

The Scottish Airshow in

Ayr/Prestwick. We held

barbecues to thank mem-

bers in the south-east and

the south-west of Scotland.

Members who attended the

barbecue at RAF Leuchars

had the first sight of our

new exhibition trailer!

Our branches have all

been busy providing friend-

ship, help and support to

members of the RAF Fami-

ly. Many of the branches

have maintained impres-

sive social calendars while

also raising funds, repre-

senting the RAF Associa-

tion at important local and

national events and offer-

ing essential welfare ser-

vices to current and ex-

serving RAF personnel and

their families. Volunteers

have supported hundreds

of individuals in a variety of

ways, from paying them

regular friendship visits to

helping them to secure

financial support during

times of need.

As we look forward to

2015, we can see it is go-

ing to be even busier!

New Year Greetings

Ins ide th i s

i ssue :

Area Confer-

ence

2

Membership 3

Website 3

CCF Christ-

mas Dinner

4

Lord Mayor’s

Show

5

Spitfire Doc-

umentary

5

Contact De-

tails

6

Area &

Branch Sup-

porters

6

Diary Dates

Scotland & Northern Ireland Area

Newsletter

THIS NEWSLETTER SHOULD BE DISPLAYED FOR THE USE OF ALL MEMBERS

Royal Air Forces Association Scotland & Northern Ireland

Area Headquarters and Scotland Office 20 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JX

Tel: 0131 225 5221 Email: scotland@rafa.org.uk

www.rafa.org.uk

January 2015

Feb 5 Scotland and Northern Ireland Area Council Meeting, Edinburgh

Mar 4 Northern Region Meeting and Welfare Meeting, Lossiemouth

Mar 27-29 Scotland and Northern Ireland Area Conference, Perth

Apr 22 Southern Region Welfare Meeting, Glasgow

May 15-17 National Conference, Eastbourne

July 2-5 Tall Ships Races, Belfast

July 25 Scotland’s National Airshow, East Fortune

August 8 Newcastle Festival of Flight, County Down

Sep 5-6 Airwaves Airshow Portrush, County Antrim

Sep 5-6 Scottish Airshow, Ayr/Prestwick

P a g e 2

Area Conference

As we announced in the

last Area Newsletter, the

2015 RAF Association

Scotland and Northern

Ireland Area Conference

will be held at the

Queen’s Hotel in Perth

from Friday the 27th to

Sunday the 29th of

March 2015.

This is a great opportuni-

ty for all members to so-

cialise and to get the lat-

est news about the Asso-

ciation. Secretary Gen-

eral Nick Bunting will

present on the future of

the Association and Di-

rector of Welfare Rory

O’Connor will present the

welfare update. The

weekend will also include

the Area Standard Bear-

er’s Competition, Service

of Remembrance,

Wreath Laying Ceremony

and Parade.

We have secured some

fantastic donations for

the raffle this year as

well, including VIP brew-

ery tours and tastings at

Eden Mill Distillery &

Brewery, an IKEA gift

card, a football signed by

Glasgow Rangers FC

First Team, a two night

stay for two at the Malin

Court Hotel in Ayrshire,

two boxes of Tunnock’s

biscuits and a two night

stay for two at the

Queen’s or Lovat Hotels

in Perth.

We encourage you to

stay for the whole week-

end if you can in order to

really experience every-

thing on offer; however,

you are also welcome to

attend individual events,

such as the mess style

function on the Saturday

evening, if preferred. To

reserve your room and/or

place for dinner, please

complete and return the

enclosed booking form to

Shiela by the 30th of

January 2015.

Membership

P a g e 3

All members should by now

have been invited to renew

their membership for 2015.

Please remember that all

membership processing is

now carried out at Leicester,

so it would be very much

appreciated if you could re-

turn any forms and cheques

there.

Remember that any branch

achieving an 80% renewal by

the 1st of April will be given

100 points towards the

Branch Membership Compe-

tition; furthermore, any

branch achieving a 95% re-

newal any time up to the 1st

of August receives an addi-

tional 25 points.

The membership subscrip-

tions presented below were

agreed by the Central Coun-

cil and are published for your

information. The increases

are aligned to the RPI aver-

age of 5.8% for the two years

from December 2011 to De-

cember 2013, in compliance

with Resolution 7 of 2006.

The new membership form is

available from RAFATRAD

and it can also be download-

ed from the Members’ Re-

sources area on the website.

It is also possible to renew

your membership on the

RAF Association website.

Website

The RAF Association web-

site’s Members’ Area has

recently been updated. You

can access the Members’

Area of the website by go-

ing to http://

www.rafa.org.uk/members-

area/

Two new buttons have

been added, titled “Central

Council” and “Areas”. You

will find these on the right

hand side of the page. The-

se link to minutes of Central

Council and Area Council

meetings which can be

downloaded and/or printed

if required. You can also

access back issues of the

Area Newsletter in the

“Areas” section. Hopefully

these additions will help to

keep you up to date with all

the business of the Associ-

ation, both on a national

level and within the Area.

The Members’ Area also

allows you to take part in

discussions with other mem-

bers, access branch and

member resources, find

branch contact details and

much more.

Category 2015/16 Mem-

bership Fee 2015/16 Branch

Rebate Ordinary Member – 1 Year 20.50 4.70

Ordinary Member – 4 Year 78.00

Associate Member – 1 year – Air Mail 14.50

Associate Member – 1 year – no Air Mail 8.50 2.70

Associate Member – 4 year – Air Mail 55.50

Associate member – 4 year – no Air Mail 30.50

Give As You Earn (GAYE) 25.68

(gross payment before basic tax relief)

Photo Permission: Gabe Laramore

P a g e 4

CCF Christmas Dinner

Although the festive sea-

son is much anticipated

and enjoyed by many, it

can also be a time of

loneliness for many oth-

ers. The Comradeship

and Comfort Fund (CCF)

finances the Christmas

dinner every year for el-

derly members of the Ayr

& Prestwick Branch of

the Royal Air Forces As-

sociation. This is primari-

ly an opportunity to bring

together those members

who are living alone, alt-

hough some members

also bring with them part-

ners who give them com-

panionship in their every-

day lives.

The branch aims to get

forty or more members to

attend each year, alt-

hough sometimes age

and health lowers attend-

ance. This year, thirty-

nine members attended

as well as six ATC ca-

dets, who assisted the

CCF committee in ensur-

ing all members felt part

of the occasion by enter-

ing into conversation with

them and helping where

required during the meal.

Ayr & Prestwick Branch

Vice-President and

Treasurer Mr Derek

Granger was in attend-

ance and supplied these

photos. Derek comment-

ed that “Christmas carols

rang out during the meal,

which prompted an un-

planned carol service -

sung, I might add, with

gusto and correct lyrics!”

Following the meal,

members retired to a

lounge where tea, coffee

and mince pies were

served. This provided

those in attendance with

the time and atmosphere

to enable them to remi-

nisce on past memories

and make some happy

new ones.

Photo Permission: Derek Granger

Photo Permission: Derek Granger

Lord Mayor’s Show

P a g e 5

Our replica Spitfire has been

attracting attention from out-

with the Area! In November,

it was collected by members

of 2 Mechanical Transport

Sqn for use on a float cele-

brating the 90th anniversary

of the Royal Auxiliary Air

Force. This was then fea-

tured as part of the Lord

Mayor’s Show in London, as

pictured here.

If you haven’t already seen

our Spitfire, which was dis-

played at events around the

Area in 2014, you’re missing

out! This amazing model,

which is a one-third scale

replica, will be at even more

events this year, including

our Area Conference in

March (see page 2 for more

details). You can also ar-

range to borrow the Spitfire

for branch events. Just get

in touch with Dave as soon

as possible to reserve or for

more details.

Spitfire Documentary

A production company is

looking for Spitfire pilots

and groundcrew for a cine-

ma documentary. Please

see the attached docu-

ments and contact RAF

Association Media and PR

Manager Emma Reed if you

can help track down any of

the people being sought or

have your own story to tell.

You can email em-

ma.reed@rafa.org.uk or call

0116 268 8760.

Area & Branch Supporters

20 Queen Street

EDINBURGH

EH2 1JX

Follow us on:

Royal Air Forces Association

0131 225 5221

21 Talbot Street

BELFAST

BT1 2LDX

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Let Area Administrator Shiela Laramore know what your branch is up to, so that it can be included in next month’s newsletter. You can contact Shiela by calling the office, or you can email your updates and photographs to: shiela.laramore@rafa.org.uk

HELP US TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOU

By far, the quickest and easiest way for us to get in contact with our members is through email. This method of communication also saves money on postage – money that we can instead spend on providing welfare support to members of the RAF Family. Please update us on your current email ad-dress by sending a quick note to Shiela using the details above.

USEFUL CONTACT DETAILS

Mike McCourt, Area Welfare Officer:

07462 474 777 │ mike.mccourt@rafa.org.uk

Dave Mowatt, Branch Support Officer:

07419 295 454 │ dave.mowatt@rafa.org.uk

Joe Stanfield, Area Director:

07585 508 016 │ joe.stanfield@rafa.org.uk

028 9032 5718

Registered Charity No. 226686 (England &

Wales), SC037673 (Scotland)

We’ve received another fantastic

prize for our Area Conference

raffle! Best Western have gener-

ously offered two nights dinner,

bed and breakfast for two at the

Lovat or Queen’s Hotels in Perth.

Thanks again to Eden Mill Distill-

ery & Brewery in St Andrews,

IKEA in Edinburgh, Rangers

Charity Foundation in Glasgow

and Tunnock’s in Uddingston,

who have also donated some

fantastic prizes.

NOTE FOR ALL BRANCHES

Would you like the opportunity to

thank your branch’s supporters?

If so, get in touch with Shiela at

the office, and we can do just

that in the next Area Newsletter.