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Weymouth, Portland and District Branch. Monthly Meeting. Monday 9 th June 2025. At the Admiral Hardy Public House,Weymouth. Commencing at 1930. Apologies:- Chrissie Payne, Stan Berry, Ann Weaving, Chris Carr, David Hearn, Clive & Lois Edwards Obituaries:- None March Meeting: Acceptance of March minutes proposed by Paul Cooper, seconded by Christina Payne .and agreed unanimously. Chairman:- Minutes of the last meeting were brought up, Michelle commented that they are being distributed far too late in the month and people not present at any of the meetings may not be getting all or any of the information of forthcoming events. Nigel sends them the same week. We will talk to David Hearn at the next meeting. We need to get Facebook up and running so members that use it can see when the next meeting is and where. The Chairman stated that he had visited Portland Port to see Bill Reeves to thank him for the donation for the memorial. He suggested we have a casual get together instead of a meeting every month, it was deemed that the next meeting was too soon so we will be holding this for our August meeting details TBC. Vice Chairman:- Paul advised French Trip went well, we were proud of Hannah Doble stepping into her dad’s shoes and standard bearing on behalf of the branch and the deposit for the vehicle should be back in the bank 5-7 days. Treasurer:- Report as at 9th June 2025 Main Account. £3,504.45 Refundable Deposit: £1000.00 To recap, a loan was given to the Vice Chairman for a hire vehicle deposit to facilitate the trip to France to represent the Merchant Navy in the annual D Day remembrance period. Subs for Branch are now £10 a year, please settle up if you haven’t already as the subs are vital to keep the branch going. The Memorial and Celebration of Life for Lyndon Ludlow (Standard Bearer) was held at All Saints Church Wyke Regis, Donations in memory raised a fantastic sum of £221.00 for the branch. James would like to advise all members that our Vice Chairman and Logistics Officer Mr Paul Cooper is now a second signatory for the branch banking. James also suggested all current officers operate a ‘round robin’ system between the team either by WhatsApp or email to keep all officers in the loop before each meeting. Raffle this week raised £55 thank you. Welfare:- Unfortunately Chrissie was not present due to illness so there was no welfare report, we wish Chrissie a speedy recovery. Future Events:- Armed Forces Day, Sunday 22 nd June Weymouth seafront. Muster at Astrid Way 10.30am for parade and service at 11.00am. Dorchester Armed Forces Day takes place on Monday 23 rd June at 10.00 am. Muster at Colliton Perk 09.30 am. A.O.B:- We have a new Branch Standard on order, hopefully it will be with us before Armed Forces Day. VE Day service in London, there was no Merchant Navy Standard carried or separate segment for service men and women! It was bought up that the Merchant Navy Head Office has a substantial amount of money given to them from Legacies, we feel this money should be distributed amongst branches to help with travel costs to ceremonies and other events. And finally, There will be a bell ringing ceremony performed by Alvin Hopper 11.45am at The Royal Oak, Weymouth (Quayside) on Monday 23 rd June, all welcome to attend. Please, if you know of a member that is not receiving any email communications, ask them to contact anyone of us to give us their email details as we seem to not have some on our radar. Next Meeting:- Proposed informal get-together Monday 14 th July 2025 (tbc) Next formal meeting Monday 11 th August 2025 (tbc). Meeting Closed: 20.15