Comrades Association

[Clive Rees (08)]

Can I just point out that this is just an observation by myself and not from the Comrades Association of Mountain Ash. No criticism on anyone except,.... perhaps myself.

For many reasons I have been unable to attend any Comrades meetings over the years because of living in London, and now because I live in the middle of Wales, and the nearest Comrades to me is thirty miles away, and I'm sure everyone has coomittments.

Last Wednesday I was invited by Dave Warner to attend the Mountain Ash AGM Comrades Branch of the RWF. It took me approx two hours to get there from my home in Mid-Wales, approx 70 odd miles. The reason why I chose Mountain Ash and not Brecon or Welspool was because my home town is Aberdare and I feel I have an allegiance to this Branch.

I was there by 7.30pm (RAFA Club) and met some of the Comrades in the Bar, some of whom I knew from the RDOB's 'DO'.

The meeting started at 8.pm and concluded at 9.pm where everyone that attended continued on their way.

There were eight members that attended , nine including myself. All except Dave Warner were members of the Battalion prior to the 1970's.

Mountain Ash is the only RWF Association that covers the Cynon Valley.

The meeting took one hour, on a Wednesday night, once every second Wednesday of the month.

After the meeting I drove home to Mid-Wales. It took me nearly two hours and again almost 70 miles. During my journey home I thought long and hard about the meeting. I was embarrassed that only eight old soldiers were there, where was everyone else?

It was commented that this Branch visits many of the other Branches, others promise to return the visit but no one appears to reciprocate.

For some reason I cannot beleive that there is only eight ex Royal Welchmen in the Cynon Valley. Only Eight that were in the Battalion prior to 1970! Did we not recruit from the Cynon Valley during the 70's, 80's, 90's? I know we did because I was in the Battalion in the 70's.

One of the Comrades said on the night that the Royal Welch was fading away.

It may not be a Regiment in its own right any more but surely we should still support it, or it will fade away forever................ will it?

By the way, I will be going next month!

Regards

Clive

[Gwyn Nicholas]

Clive, reading your post reminded me of a song I was listening to yesterday whilst bumbling along in my van. "Brothers in Arms" Dire Straights.

"These mist covered mountains are home now for me,
but my home is the lowlands and always will be.
Someday you'll return to, your valleys and your farms,
and you'll no longer want to be Brothers in Arms".

Very poigniant and perhaps sadly true in many cases. I wish that I was nearer so that I could attend a comrades branch. Anyway thanks for that Clive it makes me more determined to attend the Comrades reunion in the future.

[jungle1810]

Hello 08,
Your e mail is indicative of the state of the comrades. I believe many soldiers on leaving the army, consider their days of yes sir, no sir to be firmly behind them. Another consideration is the well being of their family, and they have to work for a living, and have less time to get to grips with branch life.I take your point about how many ex RWF men are in a specific area.Cardiff & Swansea must be about a Brigade level strength. yet we are all struggling for members. I must place on record your remarkable effort to get to the meetings, you are to be commended. As a branch sec I can assure all and sundry we all need new members asap.I ask members who are unsure of the welcome they will rec to go and have a shufti at the various branches. to make the effort to join your nearest branch. We have a truly wonderful history and this will be perpetuated at all levels ie the AGM at Wrexham the visit to the 1st when they are in the UK etc.
This years comrades visit to the Dale has been pencilled in for the 4/5th of July. I urge all branches to get to the Dale and show the strength of the R.W.F.C.A.I am sure you will have a wonderful time with the 1st. As a branch sec all I ask is that members pay their subs and go to as many meetings as possible.In my case we meet once a month and not in December. if this rule can be followed then our heritage will be preserved for the for seeable future. Divided we fall united we stand.
Regards RBD

[ap1]

Well done Clive, this is a long overdue subject waiting for debate.

No biting, no scratching and no pulling of hair!!! lol.


I'm from Wrexham, Im an Individual Member, and I choose not be be a branch member. I can only talk about the situation in Wrexham as it pertains to me. I did attend a branch meeting early last year with 4 other guys, but to be honest I gave it up as "not for me". The members who attend clearly enjoy their branch, the location the time/date of the meetings, and the way its managed, change did not appear to be on the cards. There was no way I wanted to interfere with that. So the result, I decided it wasn't for me.

So what happens now in the town is a few ex RWF guys in Wrexham meet up 2-3 times a year..Dai's Day, Xmas and in the summer. They normally pull in 15-30 people, with partners, enjoy a drink and a sit down meal. Self organised, its been a great success, and I suspect will continue, many of them are forum members. I can also see that equally its a great shame these guys are not fully involved in their local branch, they are great people and the association is missing their contribution.

Perhaps I might be putting myself up for some flak by saying that many of the branch members dont like change, and fail to see that's what puts potential members off. I don't think sitting in a TA centre midweek sipping a can of beer is going to attract a young guy working 12 hr shifts mon-fri. For me personally, who at that time had a busy job and long hours, I decided that the branch did'nt offer what I wanted and I didn't have the time or inclination to fight a 1000 battles to engineer the changes. So I didn't join. Selfish perhaps, but that's the way it is.

TAKE COVER!!!!!

[nasher546]

I'm attending my first one next Wednesday and I am looking forward to it. Will come back to this thread after the meeting to give an update.

[Paul Davies 701]

This is a subject that has gone on for years, how do we get more ex-RWF to attend the various branches around Wales. As the new boys on the block (10 years this year) the Bargoed & Blackwood Branch was formed to cover a gap in the Valleys between Merthyr in the North and Mountain Ash in the Cynon Valley. When I left I was told that my nearest Branch was Mountain Ash, I found that because of my circumstances it was proving difficult to get to their meetings and as I didn't want to loose out on the Comradeship that lies within the RWF I decided to become an individual member. This went on for a number of years until I found that I was being approached by a number of likeminded guys all from the Bargoed, Blackwood and Caerphilly areas all saying the same thing. We decided to form our own Branch (with the approval of RHQ Wrexham) and the rest they say is history.

One thing we found was that although our members love being involved with the Comrades they are no longer in the army and do not want to be treated as such. Yes we have some rules and regulations that we abide by but for us we find that being less formal, less ridgit at our meetings works. For us, we do not enforce the wearing of a tie to every meeting (we tried it and found the numbers were going down) AS LONG AS THEY ATTEND THE MEETING EVERY MONTH WHO CARES WHAT THEY WEAR. We find because of this that when there is a need to wear a tie, blazer etc (to functions such as our Xmas function) our members are more than willing to abide by that. We also try and keep the formal side of the meeting as short as possible and because of this we find our most of our members stay to chat and reminise over a few pints well into the pub kicking out time. I also take the time to keep our members constantly updated outside of meetings should anything I think they need to know arise (how long does a text, email or phone call take?)

As I said this works for us and perhaps might not work for all the other Branches but we have over 50 members on our books from all ages WWII, 50's, 60's 70's, 80's to present day and our average turn out at our monthly meetings is around 20 members (last months meeting we had 25 members turn up) with others getting in touch to send their apologies.

We must learn to adapt and overcome to keep the RWFCA alive.

[Rog Ball 01]

I am, like Al Poole, an individual member. My nearest branch is in London, some 70 miles away. I wish I had a branch nearer so that I could attend meetings and functions. I agree that we must keep the RWFCA going cause if we don't, the links to the past will go, and we will become a forgotten regiment.

Roger

[Paul Hinge]

Here's my take on the situation.
In Aberystwyth we have over 80+ members on the books all of whom have quarterly newsletter, information on events both at branch level and as an association yet we have a core of 10 (max) who turn-up to our monthly meetings. The majority of these are lads who served with the 3rd Battalion (TA) and if it was not for their continued support we would be struggling also.
The society that we live in today does not foster the camaraderie that we all enjoyed when serving as regulars or territorials. The youngsters of today when they leave have different values and experiences than those of us who served in the 50', 60's 70's and 80's had, and this has created a different animal to the one we are!
Please keep trying to make the Association as relevant to them as it is to us. I know it's difficult believe me I get a frustrated about attendences as you do and as a Branch Secretary I'm pulling my hair out sometimes...but we still soldier on because the RWFCA means a great deal to us all.
To finish on an upbeat note. This years St David's Day dinner saw 50+ sitting down to a wonderful dinner. There were other attendees from the Welsh Guards, RA's, Royal Navy, Royal Airforce, Para's, Royal Marines and the Royal Welsh. They have all approached the Branch asking if they could attend because at least we are alive and kicking and doing things. Their associations either don't exist in Mid-Wales or have closed down because of lack of interest. So we are there making a mark in the Community!
I for one would be interested to hear of any innovative ideas anyone has to drum up recruitment to branches or even more important get the guy's attending some of the meetings or events.

Cofion

Hingey

[jungle1810]

Hello Al,
Thank you for your reasons for not joining a branch. I know some of your feelings on this subject but I am glad you chose to stay under the umbrella coverage of the individual membership system, as others like you are doing. I applaud your decision to air your views on being a member of a branch and more power to your elbow!!! Bridgend and Swansea hold a joint Saint David's day dinner every year. This year we had some 122 members and guests attending.The RWFCA had 3 branches at this meal, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil , and Bridgend. There were a lot of other antecedent members at this function, SWB Welch Regt and many other members of various Corps with their ladies. As a secretary I welcome new members and any ideas they may wish to be considered for the well being of the branch or even the RWFCA at large.The individual member system has a lot going for it as it keeps members of the Regiment who either do not want to join a branch or are too far away from one to enjoy the company of like minded people. As an organisation we must be ready to face change and or ideas, other wise we face the same fate as the Dodo.In retrospect Swansea joined us on a trip to the new memorial at Staffordshire (Arboretum) all members had a good day out and we took photos of the men who were kia in Malaya etcetera. I am of course an affecianado of all things RWF and the history and espirit de corps that it engenders.Fond regards to all my readers.
RBD

[ap1]

Some interesting stuff guys. I like what Paul and the boys have done in Bargoed, I think that is the way forward. Although in some respects they were lucky in that they started with a blank sheet, and clearly they have put some thought into how their branch will operate, thrown away the "normal template" and it has worked a treat. if that was transposed in my own area, I wouldn't hestitate to support it. Im an Individual Member because I dont feel I have another option.

Friday evening meetings, great. Friday is traditionally a night out, and Pauls boys tap into that. It makes sense, who wants to attend a meeting midweek and a have a few scoops with the boys, when they have to be back in the car at 7am for work the following morning. Its not going to happen, and your attendence figures will reflect that.

Dress and the formal stuff, another good one, leave the tie and stuff for the formal occasions.

The use of text/internet to communicate with the guys is obvious. Both Aber and Bargoed use a mixture of these. Its a simple but effective way of organising the fuctions. We now all know the branch secretarys who use the forum(Benny, Don ect)..their names stick in your head, even if you don't know them personally.

I think that many of these struggling branches can go for years, with good levels of attendence but only if they are prepared to renew themselves. Its possible we havn't seen the last "New Branch", especially with the web, it only takes a couple of like minded individuals with a decent amount of local contacts...and they will be off. Its the age of the internet, tap into it.