Page updated 24th April 2011

Marching for Erskine June 2011

This year sees a new venture, when at the beginning of June we march along the Speyside Way from Buckie to Aviemore on behalf of Erskine. We have about eight marchers committed already to the whole thing, with extra members, who just can’t get the time off, due to join us for the final weekend. We hope to raise £10,000, and, if the whole thing works, it could herald the start of a fruitful relationship. Erskine was the popular choice of charity of all the members of the group, and it’s particularly heartening that all English members have swung behind this uniquely Scottish charity. Let’s hope we can now raise lots of money for them.

For more information about the Gordon Highlanders Erskine March, go to our Just Giving site at www.justgiving.com/Tom-Greenshields

Trip to the Somme October 2011

This year also sees our first visit to the battlefields of the Western Front, with an intended visit to the Somme in October. Planning is in its early stages. The first concern is to try to arrange the trip if possible so that it allows those with school commitments (Dave, Ailsa, Luke) to attend. Tom will be in touch soon.

Annual Regimental Dinner

We currently intend to hold our Annual Regimental Dinner on Saturday 22 October 2011, when we will be in Edinburgh, for our second event this year at the Castle. Watch this space.

Endeavour Award 2010

At our much delayed Annual Dinner for 2010, postponed from last year due to horrendous weather in November, the Endeavour Award for 2010 was presented to Stewart. This award was well deserved. Stewart’s commitment to the Group through the year has been second to none, and his enthusiasm and energy has been infectious. I think we will all particularly remember the way he threw himself into the work of improving the Trench at Harthill, as well as his commitment to constructing vivid living history scenarios at Beamish. He also took on an organisational role for the Leuchars event, which proved to be particularly challenging. I’m sure that everyone joins me in congratulating Stewart and thanking him for his outstanding commitment to the Group. A hard act to follow!

Membership

Although a few of our early members have become inactive, and have now been offered Associate Membership, our active membership continues to grow in a very healthy manner. Since August last year we have been pleased to welcome the following new members:

Adam Williams, a Weegie currently serving in the RAF, who joined us at Edinburgh Castle

Fraser McLachlan, also a Weegie, who also joined us at Edinburgh Castle

Richard Syme, yet another Weegie, who joined at Leuchars

Trevor Gray, a Durham man, who joined us at Beamish

Mike Gray, Trevor’s dad, and also a Durham man, who joined us at the North East Aircraft Museum

Despite the worrying surfeit of Weegies, with several other potential recruits in the pipeline, things are looking bright for 2011, and of course, the more we grow, and the more we become known, the more recruits we are likely to attract.

Associate Membership

We have introduced a new category of membership, called Associate Membership, for those who have an interest in what we do, but are non-participants, or unable to take part in our activities fully at the moment.

Such folk include:

Former members who can no longer take part with us, but wish to remain in touch

Existing or potential members who'd really like to take part but at present cannot for a multitude of reasons

Members of related units with whom we frequently co-operate

Groupies, fans, supporters and well-wishers

There is no commitment involved as Associate Members. We will simply keep you informed of what is going on, send you our bulletins when they appear (however irregularly!) and you will also be welcome to join us for our Annual Regimental Dinner (though you'll have to pay for that!) You will always be welcome to drop in and say hello at our events.

The response to invitations to be Associate Members has been very positive, and we now have a healthy collection of Associates, all of whom are friends who are keen to follow the progress of the Group.

Membership subscription

Meanwhile, Tom is currently collecting Full Membership subscriptions for 2011, which we are able to keep at the low rate of £11.

Local Events

We have thought it advisable to formulate some basic ground-rules for Local Events, in order to pre-empt any conflicts with the core programme of events. All members have been sent a copy of the ground-rules, and are asked to follow them carefully, in order to ensure we avoid any un-necessary conflicts.

Remember too that only events notified in advance to our Insurers will qualify for Insurance. Therefore if you are invited to any small local affairs and you need to be insured, you must let Tom know in advance.

Web-site

We have received many compliments on the appearance of our web-site, which we will continue to build and improve. However, it is proving something of a challenge to stay on top of admin and keep the web-site updated as well. Tom could do with some help, particularly in writing event reports, which we should really try to keep up-to-date. Any offers of help, please contact Tom.

Tommy’s Pack Fillers

Geoff Carefoot, who runs Tommy’s Pack Fillers, has sent us some sample Scottish-themed labels, to use for ‘show and tell’, for which we are very grateful. You are encouraged to take a look at his web-site on www.tommyspackfillers.com, and prepare to drool and part with your money….. after you’ve got the basics, of course!