NEWS & EVENTS LETTER
7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) Thetford Forest Memorial Association
______________________________________________________________________
2011
With this newsletter come the committee's wishes for a happy and successful 2011 to all our members. Last year was a good year for the association, open day was our most successful to date, although not the most well attended, we made over £1000.00 for association funds. Our thanks go out to all who attended and those who helped make the day so wonderful.
The Orwell Park reunion was not without its problems in the organizing. The late date of the event was out of the associations hands. Been held late in November we were lucky to have a dry but cold day, but with the attendance of our patron HRH the Duchess of Cornwall at the reunion made it a day to remember. The Duchess spent a lot of time talking to the veterans which made it a such a special day for them. After a small service the Duchess laid a wreath at the remembrance plaque in the school grounds.
At this point in time we are still unable to say that this reunion at Orwell Park will continue to be part of our calendar. But we will let you know as soon as possible. Once again it is time for your membership renewals, please send your fees to our treasurer, address below, or contact Mrs. Scott (Treasurer) on 01359-270490. Anyone who has not paid the fees by the date of the AGM will be sent a reminder after that meeting. Should you have decided to relinquish your membership, could you please let us know? So that we can adjust our mailing list, we automatically remove people from our mailing list if we do not hear from them for 2 years
Other than the open day, membership fees are our main source of income. Dates for your diary The next association meeting will be held at 10.00am on Tuesday February 22nd 2011 at The schoolroom Forest Enterprise HQ, Santon Downham, Suffolk. There will be no other reminder of this meeting.
Open day this year will be held on Sunday June 19th.
The date for the AGM will be set at the February meeting.
Mrs. Scotts address: 8 Thurston Road, Beyton, Bury-St-Edmunds, Suffolk, IP30 9AE.
Notice to all members
Please note that the A.G.M. will be held on
Tuesday April 26th 2011
And will be held in the Schoolroom at
Forest Enterprise Headquarters
Santon Downham
Brandon
Suffolk
As there is a light lunch served at this meeting would all members who are planning to attend please reply to the secretary before April 15th to allow for the correct numbers to be catered for
Address: 21 Main Street
Hockwold
Norfolk
IP26 4LB
Telephone 01842 827719
email: Secretary
Patricia Raburn
Secretary
After what seemed to be a slow start to open day, it turned in to our most successful to date. We cannot
thank everyone who gave up their day to help enough. The weather played into our hands and the rain held
off until we were home. We would like to thank all the people who donated to the hospitality tent, whether
it was with cakes, raffle items, or just helping serve the teas, any 5 minutes help donated, frees up the
committee to do other things.
The hot food again was a huge success along with. The Clover Sisters, who entertained us so well with their
lovely singing. Again the service was wonderful, along with the flyover and with the weather being nice it
was nice to see people hang around a bit longer. We made over £1000-00 profit; Mrs. Scott will have a full
breakdown of open day expenses included within the financial statement which will be available at the next
association meeting.
The date for the next years open day will be announced after the next association meeting.
The next date on the associations calendar will be the Remembrance service on Sunday 13th of November
As usual there will be a committee member on site at 11.00am to meet with those who wish pay their
respects at that time. Our annual remembrance Service will be conducted at the usual time of 2.00pm.
Anyone wishing to lay a wreath at this service is advised to contact a committee member on arrival, so that
you are included in the service. We would hate to miss anyone out on such an important day.
The next Association meeting will be held at 10-00am on Tuesday 20th September 2011, in The School Room, Forest Enterprise HQ, Santon Downham, Brandon, Suffolk.
As I will be away from the 2nd of September until the day before the meeting any enquiries regarding the
meeting will need to be addressed to Rod Scott 01359-270490.
Patricia Raburn
Secretary
As stated in the previous newsletter this year's open day was wonderful, at the time the last newsletter went
out we did not have the full totals, I am pleased to inform you that we made a profit of
£1020.87. Well done
to everybody involved. The date for next year's open day is still to be announced.
We are pleased to announce the new list of trustees for the association, is as
follows:-
Lieutenant General Adrian J Bradshaw CB, OBE,
Brigadier Paul A.E. Nanson MBE
Major Simon P Coply-Smith,Elizabeth Truss MP.
and Mr. Rodney Scott.
Mr. David Fursman has very kindly agreed to take over from Johnny Cracknel! in caring for the Nissan hut, We cannot thank Johnny enough for all his work over the last 10 years, Johnny has had to step aside as failing health makes it impossible for him to be out in all weathers, and spend as much time as he used to at the site.
With Remembrance Day fast approaching just a reminder that the annual Service will take place at
2.00pm at the Memorial, There will be a committee member on site for 11.00am for anyone wishing to lay a
wreath at that time.
Due to circumstances beyond our control the association meeting due to be held on Tuesday
22nd of
November has had to be cancelled. This meeting will now take place at 10.00am on Tuesday 29th of
November, At the Schoolroom, Forest Center, Santon Downham, Brandon Suffolk
Please note, that where we have more than one association member, with the same name living at one
address. I will only send out only 1 newsletter or information letter. In the interest of keeping postage costs
down.
At this time the committee wish you all the very best for the upcoming festive season, and hope you have a
happy and safe time.
Take good care of yourselves and we look forward to seeing you all in 2012.
Patricia Raburn
Secretary