Editors Notes
Welcome to any new members and all current members. I hope this Newsletter is the usual standard as Sue Munro is unfortunately currently feeling unwell and has therefore asked me (Harry Brett) to send this one out to you.
The main reasons for sending this is to invite you to join us at our Christmas meal, which will be held at the Lime Street Central on 9th December at 12-30. Anyone who would like to attend together with their friends and/or partners should let me know as soon as possible, by either email at h_brett@sky.com or telephone or text on 07999 874864. Alternatively, you can write to me at 46 Severn Way Holmes Chapel Crewe CW4 8FT. If you email me then I will send you a copy of the menu which has a selection of both Christmas meals as well as more traditional pub fare. Alternatively, if you google Lime Street Central then you will be able to download their Christmas Menu and you can then let me now your choice of meal.
Change of Headquarters Address
Members should be aware that the CSPA will be moving to 3rd Floor, 160 Falcon Road Clapham Junction SW11 2LN in November as their current landlord is selling the building in East Croydon. Obviously, both telephone and freepost address will change but the email should remain the same. We will let you know the new contact details as soon as available.
Recent Events
Monday 30th September 2024 at 11am
The last meeting was held at the Central Library, William Brown Street, with the intention of mandating those members (Gillian and Sue) who were to attend the AGM on 9th and 10th October as the delegates representing the Liverpool Group. We also discussed the Christmas lunch which will now take place at 12-30 at Lime Street Central, 51 Lime Street which will be proceeded by a short meeting, if felt necessary.
The Treasurer reported that our Balance was now £403-30p. I would like to thank very much to those who have made a voluntary contribution to the Group Funds, a total of £145 has been received. You will be aware that the funds required to run the Group (meeting rooms, delegate to the AGM, committee expenses, affiliation fees etc) all have to be raised locally. I would therefore ask members to make a donation, if possible (suggested amount £5 per member), but of course this is entirely voluntary. Donations can either be sent to the Treasurer, Harry Brett at 46 Severn Way, Holmes Chapel, Crewe, CW4 8FT or direct to the Bank Account – CSPA Account at Lloyds Bank – Sort Code 30-99-50, Account number 16487962.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting took place at Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth on 9th/10th October. Gillian and I as your regional representative were present. A full report of the proceedings will be provided with the December edition of the Pensioner. It was suggested by the EC that future elections would be undertaken based on one person one vote, as opposed to the current system where Groups and Branches vote as a bloc vote. It is felt that the CSPA has a democratic void, as a direct result of Groups closing and the Branches counting all their members in their totals. There are currently 32,000 members of the CSPA but only 22,000 were represented at conference due to closed Groups and some non-attendance of Groups. Also, the Branches who count all their members accounted for 6288 of those totals. By use of the Pensioner to inform members of the candidates and the website to reduce the amount of postal voting, then the cost should be minimal. Those members who do not have access to the digital format, will be able to use the freepost system, so no member will be disenfranchised. Full details will be included in December’s Pensioner and Groups, Branches as well as individual members will be consulted before any constitutional changes made at the 2025 AGM. The new election procedure would therefore commence if approved, for the 2026 election process.
The elections that took place (under the old voting system) brought changes to the Chair, now Les Priestley and the five open posts on the EC. New members were Pam Flynn from Manchester and Linda Ridgers-Waite from Inner London and Mike Buckley from Sheffield. Charlie Cochrane and Richard West were again re-elected. Roisin Lilley was re-elected as vice Chair. The only new Regional Representative elected was John Clarke for Wessex. I again will be the Northwest Regional Representative, thank you for your support.
Future Events
The Northwest Pensioners Association, a campaigning group which are part of the National Pensioners Convention were represented by me and Pam Flynn at the Labour Party Conference on Monday 7th October in Liverpool, where we joined the Unite union in their very lively and noisy protest regarding the abolition of the winter fuel for over 10 million pensioners. Photographs taken of the event are at the beginning of this Newsletter.
It would greatly assist the committee and allow members to be better and more efficiently informed if they were willing to provide an email address. This would allow the committee to distribute Group Circulars and other information which is currently only seen by those who can attend meetings. If you are willing to provide your Email address, then please send it to the Treasurer, Harry Brett at h_brett@sky.com.
The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday 9th December which will be a short meeting followed by a Xmas lunch at the Lime Street Central. We need to know numbers, as soon as possible, and so anyone who would be interested in joining us for Xmas lunch then please email one of the officers (Emails below).
The meeting schedule for 2025 is Monday 3rd March (AGM), Monday 2nd June, Monday 15th September and Monday 8th December. All meetings will take place at the Central Library Willima Brown Street Liverpool, commencing at 11-00am.
We hope you will come to our meetings as you are all very welcome.
Contacts – Gillian Hill – 07746 036797, gmhill42@gmail.com
Harry Brett – 07999 874864 h_brett@sky.com
Sue Munro – 07790 933326 munroofseaforth@blueyonder.co.uk
Sue Munro, Editor
