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6 Region Dinner
held at the Guards’
Museum, Wellington
Barracks, London
Bob McCormack
.
Steeped in military history, 6 Region was privileged to hold a dinner at
Wellington Barracks. Our guests were greeted by two guardsmen in full
uniform at the entrance to the museum. It was an honour to dine whilst
surrounded by the extraordinary exhibits making up the rich history of
the five Regiments of Guards: in order of seniority being the Grenadiers,
Coldstream, Scots, Irish & Welsh. Memorabilia included uniforms,
weapons, trophies of war, as well as medals and decorations awarded
throughout their history: the museum counts some 30 Victoria Crosses
(VC) alone, all proudly displayed in the cabinets alongside us. Each table
was decorated with an amazing centrepiece of regimental silver, as well
as some fine tableware.
Even allowing for the restricted number of people that the museum could
cater for, 6 Region was delighted to entertain friends from 3 Region in the
form of former Chair, Chris Charlton, accompanied by his daughter Joanne,
a serving Major in the Royal Engineers; a delegation from 9 Region led by
its Chair, Sav Kyriakou MBE, himself an officer in HM Reserve Forces; 10
Region, of which more later; and 5 Region, in the person of our newly-
elected Vice-President, Clive Wood, accompanied by his wife Helen. As to
be expected, the cuisine was of a very high standard, with excellent service
synonymous with great military tradition. The evening was enriched by a
most entertaining explanation of the history of all five Regiments of Guards
by Andrew Wallis, Curator of the museum, laced with interesting facts and
anecdotes covering some 4 centuries of military history. A highlight of
the evening saw Clive Wood present 10 Region member, Don Turner, his
certificate marking 40 years continuous membership of the IPA. Ron, a
former Guardsman himself, proudly wearing his medals, was delighted to
receive this accolade.
Vice President (responsible for the professional portfolio) Clive Wood said:
- “This is the first iconic event for Region Six I have attended since being
asked to act as NEC liaison to the region. Well, what a fantastic event. An
amazing venue, excellent food, great company - and more of that in my
separate news article- an extremely informative talk by the curator which
really added to the evening. The opportunity to dine amongst so many
amazing exhibits of the Five Guards’ Regiments made this a truly special
evening. Well done Region Six and particularly well done Bob McCormack”
Meeting the new
Gwent Chief
Denis Hunt
Secretary No 4 (Wales) Region
Following the appointment of Mr Julian Williams as the new Chief
Constable of Gwent Police, a letter of congratulations from Wales
resulted in an invitation to meet Mr Williams.
On 6th September, Ken Davies (Region Chair), myself (Region
Secretary) and Jitka Tomkova-Griffith (Treasurer) met the Chief at
his offices, where we could not have received a more warm and
enthusiastic welcome.
For over an hour we outlined the background of the IPA, with strong
emphasis on the Professional Development opportunities, especially
for his serving officers and staff. In an attempt to allay fears of costs
to any of his budgets, we outlined the various funding opportunities,
including Gimborn fees, Scholarships, Lincoln Awards, plus local
funding from both Wales Region and Branches.
Mr Williams was extremely enthusiastic towards the possibilities of
the ILDEP scheme as regards any officers wishing to consider an
exchange. As regards local Force support for both funding and time
off to attend seminars, this was again met very positively and with
the total understanding as to how it would benefit both
the Police Force and the individual. He has also offered
access to the Force internal information system to
broadcast IPA bulletins, plus the opportunity to meet
with the new ‘Friendship’ groups that are being set up
in Gwent Police in an effort to reinvigorate the old style
social bonding that once existed in Departments and
with members of the shifts.
Mr Williams accepted our invitation to become Joint
Patron to the South Wales Branch.
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POLICE WORLD
Vol 62 No. 4, 2017
IPA News