Members's Monthly Bulletin April 2023

Here is our progress report for April 2023.

 Engineering

 Following completion of testing reported in the March Bulletin the hornguides and now the brake hanger brackets have been temporarily refitted to the frames using volunteers. 

Preparation for the main frame rectification work has been completed, with metal ‘bullets’ produced and inserted in the frame holes where needed.  The rectification work itself did not happen this month as intended, because of key staff availability problems. 

On the new driving wheels, William Cook Cast Products reported in April that two wheels should be completed at the end of April and the remaining four by the end of May.  At the time of writing this bulletin, no further information was available.                   

Fitted bolts have been ordered and are in production for use in the frame component reassembly.   

Finance

The results for 2022/2023 are in and were presented to the Board at its meeting on Saturday 29^th April. The budget for 2023/2024 was also agreed and a full report on both will appear in Warrior 57. In the meantime, here are some income peripherals to whet your appetite.

Amazon Smile update We received a donation of £27.96 from Amazon in February. It represented Smile purchases between October and December. The remaining donations due are as follows:-

   * In late April to early May, one payment for the funds accrued from
      January 1 to February 20, 2023.
    * In May, a final, one-off payment equivalent to an estimated six
       months of payments based on what we accrued in 2022.

Easyfundraising. An even better substitute is to enrol with them. To quote a member:-

‘I recently booked a hotel via the website www.booking.com and was amazed that Easyfundraising has donated £4.97 from my booking to The LMS-PATRIOT PROJECT.

I really recommend Booking.com as a website if you are booking hotels etc. as the project gets a good % donation from your booking from Easyfundraising'.

 Recycle for charity. We received £4.75 for recycled ink cartridges in March. Although this is small, ‘Every little helps’ as the total funds raised for us so far amounts to £3243.41.

All of these options cost you nothing. 

Call for West Shed volunteers

Monday has now been identified as volunteers day at West Shed. Contact Neil Kinsey via the Volunteering page on our website or by email n.kinsey@uwclub.net.  Whatever you can do will be greatly appreciated.

 Sales

We ventured south to the Midhants Railway gala at the end of the month for the first time in five years, having created a small stand stored at our Chairman’s house. We will look carefully at the results.    

Dates for your diary 

We are planning a Members Day at West Shed on Saturday 9^th September 2023. There will be more on this in the next Warrior Magazine.

Our 2023 AGM will be held on Saturday 11^th November. We are currently looking at potential venue options, taking account of member feedback, and we would welcome any suggestions that members might have on reasonably-priced accessible options. 

Thank you for your continuing support and interest in our project.