Page 125 - Mercian Eagle 2013

RHQ Notts – Variety is the spice of life
By Ms Cindy Baines, Assistant Regimental Secretary
If variety is the spice of life then life in RHQ Nottingham is never dull. No two days are the same, with even the everyday workload taking on its own lease of life at times.
The main effort of RHQ work is with The Regiment’s wounded and bereaved and their families to ensure a through life care package within The Regimental family. This is in addition to the assistance that they already receive from the Battalions, Personal Recovery Units (PRU) and Visiting Officers, for whom we maintain close links, and we aim to build positive relationships with them to ensure greater contact with those that are discharged.
It is hoped that part of this continued contact will be with the WFRA. With some branches now having Mercian soldiers as members in their fold, it is hoped that all the branches will now offer a warm welcome to all the serving and newly discharged ones.
The launch of the new Eagle finials for Branch Standards being a prime example of uniting the “young uns” and the “old and bold” with the symbol of The Regiment complementing (and in turn, never forgetting) the heritage of its antecedents.
Rarely a day goes by without an invitation to an event within our recruiting counties and beyond and the work of RHQ is intrinsically linked with the battalions, The Regiment and the Association ensure that the Regimental footprint remains as solid as it is. Never more so was this more evident than on the occasions of the Presentation of New Colours and the Laying up of the old Colours, my highlights of the year for which it was a privilege to be part of.
Volunteers are a vital part of RHQ and without them many a
job would just not get done; from all our museum volunteers who provide an “above and beyond” service to the plethora of gardeners and handy men at Crich through to Regimental Friends, I sincerely thank you for your time, efforts and commitment. And of course thanks must go to the rest of my staff, Mr “Tanky” Harrison for all matters Crich, Mrs Angela Tarnowski, for all matters museum and Mr Andy McDougall and Mrs Angela Gutteridge for their continued dedication and commitment to all matters RHQ in our varied and hectic calendar.
RHQ – Lichfield
RHQ MERCIAN, based in the sleepy hollows of Whittington. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” springs instantly to mind. This last year has been hectic with ever increasing work loads coming from every direction............sleepy hollow it definitely is not.
After the Presentation of the New Colours and the laying up of the old Colours of our antecedent regiments focus has now shifted on to MERCIAN 2020, the restructuring of the Regiment from three regular battalions to two and the re-orbat of 4 MERCIAN. Heritage, manning and communication teams were created ensuring that the as
the Regiment moves forward it is done in an organised, fair manner for our serving soldiers and wider Regimental family.
Benevolence has continued with The Mercian Regiment Benevolent Fund dealing with 311 requests for assistance from
serving soldiers, veterans and their families. These requests come from Mercian soldiers (68 cases) and from former members of the Cheshire, WFR and Staffordshire Regiments and also our former TA Battalions. £62k comes in from Days Pay Scheme, from a total of £89.9K. The funding gap of £26K
is raised from charitable contributions. To raise funds for this deficit, numerous charity events have been run by Friends of the Regiment, associations and serving soldiers.
In order to ensure our soldiers have
every chance when moving in to civilian life after serving, we have created a MERCIAN Network. This will enable soldiers who have left the army to have links to top jobs in the civilian network where they resettle. It is at the early development stage at the moment, but it will move forward with gusto as we go in to 2014.
Recruiting continues on both the officer and soldier front, with the Regimental Support Team (RST) under Sergeant Holland (3 MERCIAN) conducting events across
the 5 counties of Mercian. Our inflow of soldiers is low, as with the rest of the Army, but there are signs of improvement and we have filled our ITC allocation for 2013 and the first intake of 2014. The RST is now consolidated at Lichfield, allowing that age old principle of ‘concentration of force’.
If you would like support, speak to the Regimental Adjutant, he will try and fit you in.
Fundraising events, the PRI, Officers Clothing Exchange, wristband sales
and charity boxes, 68 Remembrance Parades, assistance to the Museums and Associations and numerous meetings have kept us busy.
We look forward now to the Christmas break and a prosperous new year.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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