Message from the Chairman

Update.

Update by the Chairman.

It seems sometime time now since my last update and things have calmed down a little since Isabel the office administrator has retuned from maternity leave, the time just seems to fly by we are already into March and things are really starting to happen. The first thing I must inform you of is the David Jones/Joe Green memorial lecture which takes place on the 15th March at 10am at the Barnsley offices, this year the
lecture will be given by Denis Murphy MP for Wansbeck in the North East it is well worth a visit and an extremely moving ceremony.

I am in the process of sorting the next journal; hopefully it will be out by the 19th March at the latest so look out for that coming through the door.

On March 28th from 10am to 3pm the Association committee will be visiting Bolsover with the mining artefacts we have accumulated, to put on a show for the examiners in Bolsover and to sign any who haven’t yet joined the Association, I have the help of a Bolsover District Councillor who is sorting out a venue, there will be more information on this in the next journal.

A very important meeting is taking place at the John Godber Centre in Hucknall on the 5th April from 10am to 4pm, the “United Campaign” is visiting Nottingham with some very high profile Union leaders and MPs, after ten years of a Labour Government we are still trying to get them to repeal the anti trades Union laws the Thatcher government introduced in the eighties. We are appealing for as many people to attend as possible as this is the first time the campaign has held a meeting outside London.
Also on the 5th April a social to remember the closure of Linby colliery 20 years ago, all friends welcome, it takes place again in the John Godber Centre in Hucknal. 7-11pm.

I am in the process of organising a day out at Southwell races, it will be sometime in April, again hopefully I will have more information for the journal.

I have asked Ron Cluro to organise the golf competition again this year it will take place in the second week of September, Ron is already looking for a new venue, more on this as time passes. If there are any fisher-men out there who would like a days fishing let us know and this could be arranged, I would like to run a fishing competition on the same lines as the golf but we don’t seem to have many fisher men out there.

We attended the TUC Midlands Regional Conference in Chesterfield on the 23rd February with some of the mining artefacts and a little of the stall items, there was great interest and we sold over one hundred pounds of merchandise not a bad day out.

Hear are a few dates for your diaries; David Jones/Joe Green memorial Saturday 15th March, Bolsover 28th March, United Campaign Saturday 5th April, Launch Notts LRC Mansfield library Saturday 26th April, Race Day sometime in April, Nottingham May Day Saturday 3rd May taking stall, guided tours of Pleasley pit 24th May taking stall, Pleasley pit mini open weekend Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June, taking stall, Saturday 12th July Durham Gala taking stall, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20th July NUM Conference Blackpool, I sure there will be many more I will let you know when I have confirmation.

Eric Eaton Chairman.

2007!!!!! Nottinghamshire Ex and Retired Miners Association Gaining Strength.

I am absolutely delighted that the Notts NUM Ex and Retired Miners Association has joined the world wide web, we can now keep members right up to date on all the things that are happening in the Association.

The first thing I should tell members and non-members is a bit of background of how we were formed and why.

It all started at the NUM arranged 20th anniversary celebrations we held in the Mansfield Leisure Centre, people were asking Keith Stanley the General Secretary of the Notts NUM, “why has it taken 20 years to have a celebration (it was an enormous success with over a thousand people there) and why do we only meet at Funerals”, well this started Keith and myself thinking, (at that time I was the Area President of the Notts Area NUM, I officially retired in September of this year).

The NUM set up a committee, comprised of prominent people in the strike, to run and oversee the 20th anniversary celebrations, we recalled this committee and put to them the idea of organising an Ex and Retired Miners Association, to a man they agreed we should go ahead, that was the start of what we have today, we held other meetings some in the Mansfield library to write a constitution and to set up a new Officials and Committee to run the Association.

The Association was launched on the 12th November 2005 and the NUM Notts Area kindly donated £1000 to kick start the Association, we have had some changes to the committee and I believe we now have a dedicated bunch of volunteers who are willing to work their socks off to make this work and to carry it forward. I work in the Notts Area office (the Notts Area NUM have kindly allowed us to use their building for the Association) two or three days a week (Mon/Tues/Wed) on Association business, other officials and committee men come in one or two days a week as required.

We have been successful in gaining benefits from various sources such as OH Parsons solicitors who provide cover for accidents and a 24-hour phone line for members who need the help of a solicitor in an emergency. The Association also provides through Martin Lee & Co, a Mansfield based firm of solicitors, Free wills, Conveyancing at a cheap rate, advice on Pension Miss-Selling, Probate advice in the event of the death of a member and advice on landlord/tenant disputes. The Association has also been able to gain for its members a good deal from leading Opticians D.I.Blow. We are also actively seeking other benefits for members.

Benefits are not the only thing we aim to provide, the Association is looking at trips out, social evenings, seminars, a museum for mining memorabilia, resurrecting the Miners Gala all manner of things we can do, there is nothing we can’t do, there are some great ideas coming from the committee, so much so we are having to prioritise what we are doing, some things we have put on the back burner but given time the intention is to carry the Association forward, it is a very exciting time.

At the moment our concentration is on the next issue of “The Ex Miner” which will be sent out to members before the end of October. “The Ex Miner” is printed by outside firms which is a drain on our funds, the photocopier fund is a fund set up to buy our own copier, we have already had donations from some of our County Council friends, I will be writing out to other friends in the Labour and Trade Union movement asking if they will support our aim to buy a copier for the Association. It would make it possible for us to produce “The Ex Miner” in house, thereby saving on costs. Members receive a copy of “The Ex Miner” free, the cost to others is £1.00

If you are an ex-miner who left the mining industry as an NUM member, you should consider joining the Association, I have outlined the benefits to members that are provided. The committee at a very early meeting agonised over whether to charge a subscription for membership, the decision of the committee was to keep this charge as low as possible and agreed on, just 50p per week, or £2.17 per month, or £26 per year. If you take into account what a new member told me that prior to joining the Association he had paid a solicitor the sum of £175 for a will, then our free wills service is a very good deal indeed.

If you need any more information on any subject then we would be please to hear from you, contact us on 01623 621611.

Eric Eaton
Chairman.

Nottinghamshire NUM
Ex & Retired Miners Association
c/o 42 St John Street, Mansfield,Notts,NG18 1QJ
Telephone: 01623 621 611