Guidance

VAPC London: meeting minutes 23 June 2020

Updated 22 March 2024

Present

• Bill Charles (BC) – Chairman
• Heather Betts (HB)
• Jim Evans(JME)
• Lynne Calame (LC)
• Roger Hood (RH)
• Ken Courtenay (KC)
• Alex Woolgar Toms (AWT)
• Matthew Seward (MS)
• Wendy Morris (WM)
• Paul Clabburn (PC)
• Marion Knight (Secretary)

Apologies

• Nick Sharpe (NS)
• Andrew Ross (AR)

Technical issues prevented joining call:

• Gail Walker-Smith (GWS)
• Jim Blake (JB)
• Alex Jablonowski (AJ)

Welcome and introductions

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Skype call.

Apologies for absence

Apologies were noted from NS &AR. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues AJ, JB and GWS were unable to join the call.

Declaration of interest

The Chairman reminded Committee members that they must declare any interest arising out of their personal/business life which could conflict with VAPC business. LC has joined SSAFA (The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association). BC did not feel there would be an obvious conflict of interest but thanked LC for her declaration and advised her to declare again at future meetings if there is any perceived conflict of interest.

Minutes of 12 May meeting

The minutes had been ratified following the meeting of the 12th May 2020 and were now published by the MOD.

Update from meeting of chairs’ committee on 16 June 2020

BC had provided a written report and some comments on the meeting and mentioned that a recording of it was to be published. BC felt that recruitment was likely to be an ongoing problem for VA&PC’s. BC explained that he would appreciate knowing Committee members intentions with regards applications in the future, specifically PC, KC and AJ, as their tenures would be the first to run out.

BC also requested that the current co-opted members, JB, GWS and NS, let him know whether they wish to go through application process The Committee had a discussion as to where they might be able to attract future members. The suggestions were from the Armed Forces Covenant partnership, charities and businesses.

The Committee were asked by BC to identify where they perceived gaps in the current Committee’s expertise and consider further where future members may be sourced and ideas to be sent to him following the meeting.

Centenary update from RH

West Midlands are not going to appoint someone to look after the National event and there were no volunteers to do so at the meeting of the Chairs’ committee The Committee had a full discussion on whether London would continue with the events they were planning at local and national level, notably the London Lord Mayor’s show in 2021 and the First Day Cover.

RH explained that the Lord Mayor’s show were keen to have the participation of the London VA&PC but this would require significant funding. The Committee agreed that the funding needed to be assured before agreeing to participate and also there would need to be a specific London VA&PC focus, a stepping- stone, to attract sponsorship. The main consensus of the Committee was that given current conditions, due to COVID-19, that it was unlikely there would be any forthcoming sponsorship. RH requested he be able to speak to Kingsley Donaldson before the Committee agreed to abandon its involvement in the Lord Mayor’s show. This was agreed but, unless that conversation warranted its continued consideration the consensus was that the project should be abandoned.

LC explained that the First Day Cover was due to be launched at the event to be held at the National Arboretum and the London VA&PC would have been required to buy 50% of the covers prior to the launch. The Committee agreed that with the National event at the Arboretum being cancelled that the First Day Cover should be pulled. JME expressed his disappointment that the Centenary events were no longer being pursued and he felt that there was a real need to push for the Chair of Chairs to forge ahead with the House of Commons event which he had proposed to mark the centenary of the VA&PC’s.

Updates from sub-groups

Housing

• PC explained that the Forces in Mind Trust had refused sponsorship for the ongoing project but had agreed to put him in touch with COBSEO Housing Trust (Confederation of Service Charities)
• PC explained Kent University are still keen to carry on with the future research and they have agreed to try and get the money through research councils but think this would need to wait until Autumn 2020 because of COVID-19
• another option is a PHD student to do the research
• PC will go back to local authorities who are keen to support with this work to see whether there is still ongoing interest
• HB said housing and employment is very important as there will be a lot of Veterans requiring support given COVID-19 and those that may be redundant and struggling in these areas.

Health

• HB had sent a comprehensive pack of information to all committee members before the meeting. HB explained that there a lot of veterans who need to be signposted to support that is on offer and she was happy to focus on a particular area
• HB explained that the Committee’s relationships with local authorities and other public bodies were of paramount importance to ensure veterans get the support they require. BC suggested that he and HB discussed the possibility of preparing a toolkit and other approaches to assist local and other public authorities. MS said the Legion had published some recent documents in relation to this and which he would circulate to BC and HB
• BC will also pursue further discussions with HB about the potential for the Committee to pursue constructive discussions with tribunals and from that base directly or indirectly with Veterans UK.

Ideas for specific projects for London

• BC explained that the we need by action to show the purpose for the future of the London VA&PC and was keen to continue to pursue the Employment and Housing initiatives already started
• BC asked all committee members to drop him a note with any good ideas.

The appointment of vice chair for London

• BC explained that JME is happy to undertake this role until April 2021 and then he is thinking of moving to a more local Committee to where he lives. The Committee agreed that JME would act as Vice Chair until April 2021
• BC asked other Committee members contact him if they wished to be considered for post of Vice Chair post April 2021.

Date and venue of the next meeting

• meeting scheduled for Wednesday 23rd September 2020 at RAF Benevolent Fund
• committee will take a view nearer the date as to whether this would be a remote meeting
• JME explained if it was to be a remote meeting NS had agreed to organise via Microsoft teams.

AOB

• BC asked the Committee members were happy to sign up to the National Communication HUB and it was confirmed that they were after a brief discussion on the way in which members should post comments (namely, as individuals or members of London VA&PC ), BC left it to everyone’s individual judgement in the relevant circumstances
• BC asked for commentary and ideas on the new KPI (Key Performance Indicators) document circulated with his paper about the Chairs’ Committee meeting to be sent directly to him.