COFEPOW - News - Chairman's Report

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2009

Presented on the 15TH AUGUST 2010 at the NATIONAL MEMORIAL ARBORETUM

This is the first AGM to be held here at the Arboretum and the Chairman’s annual report is being read out by Alan Wills on my behalf,as health problems prevents me from being at the AGM today.So please listen to Alan and pretend you are looking at me !!! I would like to welcome everyone and thank you all for getting out of bed early to be here for this AGM Members who are that keen are members worth having. We have with us today our patron Lt.Col Kit Stallard and his wife Elaine and also representing the Dutch Embassy we have (NO NAME AS YET). The number of visitors to the Arboretum continue to increase,which is excellent as a large proportion of visitors find their way to the Fepow Memorial Building and I receive many gratifying letters from people who are very moved by what they find and very grateful to COFEPOW for ensuring the Fepow story has been recorded for all to see and learn by.I think the comments in the visitors book demonstrates the depth of feeling that people experience when visiting the Fepow Building,particularly for the first time.

Visitors to the Building,and our leaflets,have contributed to the growing increase in new members joining COFEPOW every year,although inevitably we do lose a few members annually for whatever reason.We currently have about 1,150 members in the UK and 57 members living in 14 different countries abroad. I would like to thank all members who support COFEPOW in different ways,not least the very generous donations we receive,either separately or those that arrive with membership renewals.These donations are invaluable in maintaining the Fepow Building and the surrounding area.Since the Building has been opened,we have been able to pave the surrounding area with suitable paving slabs,making it more presentable and easier to walk on.We have twice repainted the Changi Lychgate and the roof has been replaced with new tiles.Also work will soon begin on a new landscaped ‘Remembrance Garden” on the piece of land adjacent to the Fepow Building.To be able to carry out work like this is due to your generosity and other donations we receive.So thank you all very much for being wonderful members. Yesterday a team of railway enthusiasts worked on the Thai.Burma Railway by laying a new hard core base under the wooden sleepers.Some of you may have helped,so our grateful thanks go out to the railway team and to anyone who gave them a hand.Receiving the kind of dedication and commitment that supporters give to COFEPOW is very gratifying and makes everything we all do very rewarding.

At the Extraordinary Meeting last August,I asked for volunteers to become area representatives. We now have fourteen members around the country who have been busy this last year contacting other members in their area.This has resulted in many members meeting up for informal gatherings and it is anticipated this trend will increase.To unite more members together we need more members to cover those large areas where we have no volunteering representatives.If you think you can make a contribution in your own area,please give Alan your name and start making contact with other members and begin making new friends.

The Fepow data base project continues moving forward although the work is time consuming and slow. At the 25th June (date of last update)those taking photographs at the National Archives were up to the letter “M’s in the alphabet and 16,000 photographs have been taken which is over half way. This has taken two years and a lot of photographs for the few members working on this project. Obviously many more members would speed things up - so,more volunteers need for this work.

The COFEPOW members who ran the former Fepow Fellowship have now set up a new independent welfare association.Originally the Fellowship was formed following an agreement between the National Federation of Fepows and COFEPOW to ensure we would continue to administer some of their obligations they wanted maintained. COFEPOW will continue with these obligations as promised, while the new association will concentrate on welfare. Their new name is The National Fepow Fellowship Welfare and Remembrance Association.

Overseas contacts keep us updated with their work.This year the Australian Government informed us of maintenance repairs carried out in and around the Hellfire Pass area. Like wise we received feed back from Borneo with updates relating to Sandakan and Labuan,and we receive news of developments in Taiwan.All of this keep us in the picture with Fepow news from far away places.

Several events have taken place over the past year and I am sure those who have been involved, in either organising or just attending,will have found these various functions enjoyable and meeting up with other members can be very worthwhile.I am aware of plans in the pipe line for next year,hopefully they will come about and the request last August for more members to become involved is taking off and hopefully the membership will become more united as people begin to connect and make friends at various venues.Some previous officers are resigning as from today, but new faces and new ideas are coming forward to take their place,So I would like to extend my grateful thanks to all members who have taken an active part in COFEPOW over the years,no matter what it may have been,big or small,your contribution played a part in getting COFEPOW as far as this. Soon we will be welcoming those new members who are now coming on board and picking up the reins to continue taking COFEPOW into the future and whatever it may hold.

I am sure there are many things I could have said or should have said,but we do have a time limit so I will end the Chairman’s report by saying you all joined COFEPOW for a reason,whatever that reason was now take it a little further by volunteering to “do something”.Believe me, you will get more back than you put in”

And finally I want to say a huge “thank you” to Alan and Chris Wills for taking care of all the arrangements today.They stepped in immediately when they knew I had to go into hospital prior to this AGM and I cannot tell them just how much I appreciate everything they have done so today would run smoothly.

Thank you to Alan and Chris.

Carol Cooper - Chairman and Secretary

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