Dear Members,
At the meeting of the Executive on Friday the 30th at the Quorn Lodge Hotel in Melton, Lucy decided to step down as chair of the RMCA due to the dual pressure being Leader of Rutland County Council as well being an overload. She would like me to express her thanks to everybody in her time as chair.
I was then elected unanimously as your new chair, which I will endeavour to fulfil to the best of my ability.
I am sure you will join me in thanking Lucy for all her hard work, as I did at the meeting, but the good news is that as I have vacated my former position as an additional member, Lucy will now take up that post, thereby maintaining consistency in your management team.
Your management team now consists of :
President: Harry Westropp
Chair: Michael Rickman
Finance: Tina Reid
Membership: Vimbi Taruvinga
Young Conservatives: Ben Townley
Fundraising: Pam Baguley
Patrons Club: Anthea Brown
Additional Members: Lucy Stephenson, Christopher Clark
We also welcomed Lewis Foster to the Association as our new contact in the office on a full time basis. This, the management team felt was vital as we head towards probably one of the most challenging elections in 2023 so that the phone is manned, especially with the current situation.
Vimbi is doing a great job with membership and, similarly to the Leicester County Show, we have plans to have a stand to increase membership at some of the smaller shows and she will be looking for volunteers to man it. Please contact the office if you can spare some time.
We now have a very active Chair of the Young Conservatives in Ben Townley and he is planning social get togethers (in a pub) in Oakham and Melton so
watch out for details. If you know anyone that could be interested in attending, please let Ben know, again through the office.
The Carlton club event raised about £3000, so thanks to Pam Baguley for organising it ….again!
As I mentioned at the Executive, we definitely need to increase our fundraising to give all our candidates a chance in May 2023, so if anyone has a penchant to run an event, every penny will count!
I was absolutely dumbfounded when I stood for the County election, the number of people I spoke to - and there were hundreds when I knocked the doors- who said that hadn’t had a candidate speak to them for years, in one case 30! One person cannot possibly canvass a whole ward or division, so my plea is that when an email arrives in your inbox informing you of dates up to May, if you can spare some time, however short, I know our candidates will be most grateful, as will I.
It is so important that we make the point that National politicians make decisions that local politicians try to make the best of for their residents.
We are looking at updating and modernising the website, to include the current Management Committee plus Lewis, Any suggestions are most welcome.
Our sad piece of news, if people aren’t aware, is the sad loss of Mel Steadman of the committee. She recently passed away from cancer and will be sorely missed for her forthright views and humour, not only by the RMCA but also Melton Borough Council. Ben attended the funeral on our behalf and our thoughts and sympathy go to her family and friends.
I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone, it seems to have flown!
I hope that this email finds everyone well, and we look forward to some happy and healthy times going forward.
Kindest regards
Michael Rickman
Chairman
Rutland and Melton Conservatives
