I am delighted to share news of two recent successes involving the Royal Naval Association here in Spalding.
First, we proudly celebrated one of our most dedicated shipmates, Yvonne Crawford. Yvonne is a long-standing Associate Member of the Spalding branch and the wife of our late Chairman, Keith Crawford MBE. Over more than 47 years, she has given remarkable service to the Association at both national and local level.
Yvonne was recently awarded the Associate Lifetime Achievement Award — a tremendous honour not only for Yvonne herself but also for our branch. She is only the second shipmate in the country to receive this Associate award and the first woman ever to be given this prestigious recognition.
The Spalding RNA gathered at Ayscoughfee Hall on Wednesday 25th February to honour Yvonne formally. The Associate Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by the Royal Naval Association’s National Chairman, Andy Christie, who travelled from Leigh-on-Solent especially for the occasion. As you can imagine, the Spalding branch is extremely proud of our Yvonne.
Secondly, at our recent AGM, we elected a new Spalding Royal Naval Association Branch Committee. The new Committee is as follows:
President – Terry Carter
Vice-President – Yvonne Crawford
Chairman – Tony Yoxall
Vice Chairman – Rodney Grocock
Secretary – Steve Greene
Treasurer – Anthony Briggs
Standard Bearer – Malcolm Biron
National Delegate – Terry Day
Welfare – Sue Richardson
Padre – Barbara Hutchinson
I wish every member of the new Committee well as they take up their responsibilities and continue the important work of supporting shipmates, honouring service, and maintaining our proud traditions.
God bless you all.
Rodney Grocock
Vice Chairman, Spalding Royal Naval Association
rodney@rodneygrocock.co.uk