The London Fire Brigade Welfare Fund – Western Area AGM
Friday 8th May 2015 at 10:45am
Held at The Coach and Horses, Greek Street, London W1.
Present
Stuart Crispin - Area Secretary A24 Soho
Adam Shepherd - Area Treasurer A24 Soho
Antony Bucksey Retired Members
John Reynolds G30 Wembley
Oliver Desforges A24 Soho
Georgia Kirke Soho Borough Team
Mandeep Singh G26 Acton
Sonny McGowan G23 Hillingdon
Sonja Hoeben G22 Stanmore
Rob Townsend G21 Harrow
Dave Davies G36 Hammersmith
Samantha Franks A40 Hendon
Jason Douglas G25 Ealing
Ajay Mistry G35 Fulham
Niki Mitchell A23 Euston
Patrick Lam G29 Park Royal
Thomas Connolly G29 Park Royal
Adam Pocock G40 Hayes
Chris Andrews H42 Richmond
Spencer Bardill H43 Twickenham
Tom Abell G27 North Kensington
Mark Smith G38 Heston
1.
Apologies
Carole Connolly WF BMD
Rene Street G34 Southall
Apologies for absence
See above
Adam Shepherd introduced the meeting and minutes of the last meeting were
distributed.
2. Secretary’s Report
Stuart Crispin said that there are certain items that can’t be ordered through the
Welfare Fund. If anyone needed clarification as to what they are, they should
contact either himself or Adam Shepherd.
The number of Watch trips had increased and requests from station were not evenly
distributed. It is because of this that it has been decided to limit the number of trips to
two per person. For Watch trips, either 50% or a £40.00 maximum can be claimed per
person and pay numbers of all involved would be needed so their membership can
be checked. Money will be paid back after the event has taken place. A minimum
of 8 people are needed for an event, along with representation from at least two
different watches or stations. Also, someone will need to do a short article, preferably
with some photos, for the Welfare Fund Magazine to encourage others to get
involved.
3. Treasurer’s Report
AS said there was no Financial Report but although Western Command spend their
money, there was still money available. He said people had organised lots of trips
and events e.g. Ascot, golf, football, paintballing and white water rafting to name but
a few.
He also reminded people that members can claim £120.00 towards the cost of their
retirement “do’s”; all that is needed is a receipt for hall hire.
AS said that people contacted him about leaving the Welfare Fund as they thought
they weren’t getting any benefits of membership. In fact, the Welfare Fund supplies
people and stations with many things. He said he would supply Station Reps with a
quarterly statement for each station’s spending and this can then be put on the
notice board for all to see.
4. Gym Equipment
AS said that other Commands did not supply gym equipment at all. Western
Command will NOT give out any cardio equipment, Smith machines, cable cross-over
machines or anything that needs maintenance. However, an email is needed from
your Station manager to say it is ok to order equipment. Paula Taylor is happy for the
Welfare Fund to buy equipment but some can be ordered through the LFB. You can
email Paula Taylor to ask for equipment, stating why you need it and the more people
that do this the better. John Reynolds suggested inviting her to one of the meetings.
A discussion continued regarding gym equipment and some Reps were concerned
that multigyms were being taken away. AS said that gyms were changing and the
equipment supplied couldn’t always cover all aspects of everyone’s training.
Stuart Crispin said that it was important that requests for equipment were sent prior to
the meeting, although they can be added to later. A maximum amount for the
following had been agreed: Stereos (£170.00), DAB Radios (£50.00), ipod Docks
(£75.00), TVs (£600.00) and a second TV (£300.00). However, these amounts are not
set in stone.
5. Retired Members
Retired Member’s Representative Antony Bucksey addressed the meeting.
Nothing significant to report since the last meeting of this Committee and I continue
to distribute information via email to all those Retired Members who are able to use
this form of communication and provide them with information regarding deaths,
funerals, social events, organised trips and retirement functions that I am informed of.
Since my last report in December I have distributed 88 messages1 compared to 54 in
my last report. These being:
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


38 (19) notices of the death of personnel and/or their funeral arrangements
16 (1) notices of retirement functions
24 (23) notices of sports or social events and organised trips
11 (11) notices providing general assistance or enquiries
However I have obtained this information from the Welfare Funds Facebook page,
the LFB Retirees Facebook page or correspondence received from the LFB Retired
Members Association.
I have received very few items in direct communication from our Stations or Welfare
Fund Representatives. Please can I ask those present to provide me with information
on any events being advertised or arranged by their stations, especially retirements or
social events that they would like distributed.
Members may also have seen that I am now providing a summary of this information
distributed within the articles I submit to the welfare fund magazine. This way at least
those Retired Members who do not have email access will get to see the news and
the offers they have missed and this may encourage them to consider using email.
As usual I would also like to encourage our Station Representatives to establish if their
colleagues who are retiring are planning to continue their membership of the Welfare
Fund as Retired Members. Ensure they are aware of the benefits of Retired Membership which include:
 the monthly Lottery
 access to over 25 sporting sections,
 keeping in touch with friends and ex-colleagues, via our website & magazine
 for those under the age of 65yrs a death benefit policy of £2,500,
 hundreds of theatre ticket offers,
 access to discounted holidays and trips - both within the UK and abroad,
 a variety of subsidised tickets to shows, theme parks and places of interest,
 your regular copy of the Welfare Fund magazine delivered to your home
 and recently access to the Blue Light Card
All this for only £3.00 per month (the new subscription rate from 1st July) and I can provide membership application forms or they can be obtained from the Fund’s Central
Office or downloaded from our website.
Likewise if they are planning a social or sporting event that is open to anyone please
let me know so I can advertise the event.
1
6. Sports Sections
Walking & Mountaineering Section Report
AB briefly explained the organisation of the W&M Section. The Brigade W&M Section
provided support to the team entering the 3 Peaks Challenge and the Winter Skills
training courses at Aviemore. The Western Command W&M Section provides support
to its members who are participating on the other FSSAA Challenge events organised
by Brigades around the country.
The Committee will be aware from my previous reports that 2014 was a very quiet
year for the Section. However the Christmas walk took place on 29th December following our usual route starting at Fingest, Buckinghamshire. 16 attended, one of the
smallest groups for many years, possibly due to the date which was a normal working
day for many of our usual attendees.
Our activities have been included in the regular reports to the Welfare Fund magazine
and our accounts for the year have been submitted to our Treasurer.
Looking ahead the calendar of events for 2015 has been finalised and is advertised
on our Hotwire page. Our first event of the year was the annual Winter Skills event at
Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore which took place between 22nd to 28th March. A very low
turnout this year with only 24 attendees from the Fire Service across the UK, and only 5
attending from London who are all affiliated to our W&M Section. We believe this low
turnout is primarily due to the industrial action and the impact this has had on individual’s finances and to some extent their willingness to participate in events representing their Brigade.
The other events planned are: Dorset Challenge on 16th May – 5 members attending
 Seven Sisters on 6th June
 6 Summits on 13th June
 3 Peaks Challenge – two events between 21st and 26th June – aware of 5 LFB
teams entered – Walthamstow, FIT, 2 from Homerton and Brixton. Also members
participating in a NWFS mixed brigade team
 Hadrian’s Hike on 4th July – 5 members planning to attend
 Welsh 3,000 on 6th – 8th July
 Tunnel to Towers London – 19th July
 Salisbury 5,4,3,2,1 on 9th August
 Winstanstow Challenge 0n 12th September
 Commando Shuffle on 18th September
 Exmoor Challenge on 10th October
This year the National W&M Section calendar also includes 5 events organised by a
fund-raising company called Action Challenge. Namely the Isle of Wight Challenge,
London to Brighton, Grand Union Challenge, London to Cambridge and Thames Path
Challenge. These events are specifically organised to raise money for charities and by
attending you commit to a certain amount of fundraising. As such these events do
not qualify for any financial assistance from the Walking Section.
We will continue to encourage our members to participate in these events and endeavour to attract new members, especially from serving members.
Golf Section
The next event for the Western Golf Section is due to take place on 20th May 2015.
Please contact Barry Mulder at Acton W/W, who is organising the event, for more details.
7. Election of Officials
Position
Nomination
Proposed by
Secretary:
Stuart Crispin
Treasurer:
Adam Shepherd Stuart Crispin
Asst. Sec
Steve Gilbey
Seconded by
Agreed
Adam Shepherd John Reynolds Unanimously
John Reynolds Unanimously
Adam Shepherd Stuart Crispin
Unanimously
8. AOB
Business Plan – AB said that as part of the business plan, the Welfare Fund was looking
at ways to improve and maintain membership levels.
At a recent RMA meeting, he said that one member had said that he couldn’t be a
member of the Welfare Fund because his pension wasn’t paid by the LFB because he
had worked at the Home Office. This brought up the whole question of Associate
Membership of the Welfare Fund.
People can become Associate Members if the Fund asks the Executive Committee for
permission. If they say yes, a joining fee, monthly subscriptions and benefits can be
discussed. This would affect people who had moved into the Civil Service, old LFB
personnel that had moved to other Brigades and partners of Retired Members who
pass away. AB said he was going to raise the issue at the next Executive Council
meeting, but would like the thoughts of people here before he did.
There followed a discussion regarding who should be allowed to join and what
benefits they should or shouldn’t receive. The consensus of opinion was that people
thought Associate membership was a good idea for partners of Retired and Serving
members, with people paying a separate subscription for their partners.
On the other hand, they weren’t so keen if people had left to join another Brigade.
Reps thought they should have to somehow buy back in to the Welfare Fund and pay
a different subscription and maybe a joining fee.
AGM – SC said it was important to attend the Welfare Fund AGM if you wanted a say
in how things are run. The date is yet to be decided.
Ski Trip – AS said The Welfare Fund Ski Trip has been booked for 28th February 2016
and once again, it will be in La Plagne. Welfare Fund members receive a £100
discount off the price and free child places are available.
Spanish property – AS said a question had been asked about the Spanish property.
He said that it had a great location on a golf course and the apartment itself had a
double and two single beds and free Wi-Fi. Flights were relatively cheap and the
accommodation was good. There is a link to information on the Welfare Fund website
and Welfare Fund members receive a 15% discount.
Station Reps – SC said it was important that if any Station Reps are away on long-term
sick leave either himself or AS should be informed.
The meeting closed at 12:37.