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St Edmundsbury Branch
Our headline photo features - St Edmundsbury Learning Week held in May 2010 with Craig Young & Diane James both branch lifelong learning reps together with Phil Kemp from Region
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Latest - St Eds Lifelong Learning Bulletin - see our publication here
Branch AGM - Report from Howard Cook - Branch Chair
Like many UNISON members ours are going through a period of continuous change. This has been going on for some time - and will be for some time to come. It is therefore important that we keep our members fully briefed and with as up to date information as possible and we feel that the AGM should not only be the execution of branch business but an opportunity to brief and involve members to as high a level as possible.
Initially we greet our AGM attending members with three free drinks tickets as they sign in from 5.30 ready for a 6pm meeting start. Last year I asked the Chief Executive of St,Edmundsbury Borough Council Geoff Rivers to brief members at the AGM on what lay ahead and this went very well, particularly the assurance that there would be no compulsory redundancies. We asked Geoff to open this years AGM as well which again was appreciated by members to have information very hot off the press so to speak, complete with a Q & A session afterwards. This year the Chief Exec's slot was followed by Noel Glover, Regional UNISON Organiser providing a reality check on various proposals particularly relating to Shared Services and this also went down very well.
Branch Steward (and now Secretary) Mark Johnson had negotiated a loyalty discount card for Members and this was presented as a benefit to members and were distributed at the AGM. We then have our branch reports and the election of officials which we carry out quickly and efficiently.
We regard our AGM as not just a place for Branch business but also as a get-together and therefore after branch business we finish with our Annual prize Draw with a top prize of £150 - this really brings our members along! - followed by a Chilli dinner where we all sit and chat after the meeting whilst head-scratching working through member Kev Gaught's famous quiz.
The meeting location is the Athenaeum, Bury St.Edmunds where we use one room for meeting and one room for the food and social and formula works well and we shall be looking to do similar with a couple of enhancements for next year.
Learning at St Edmundsbury B.C. Branch 6 – 8 October
• Learning was top of the agenda for members at St Edmundsbury Borough Council Branch during 6 – 8 October 2009 and UNISON were in the forefront of this initiative. I went along to support the Branch at their recruitment stand at West Suffolk House and accompanied Craig Young on one of his depot visits!
• Craig , the Branch’s Life Long Learning Representative organised a very successful event, in conjunction with the employer, providing various learning events at the new West Suffolk House, Bury St Edmunds, from ballroom dancing to the history of the Abbey Gardens! All staff were encouraged to be involved in this learning initiative, with Craig making sure that all the council depots were visited. These visits encouraged a number of our members to give thought to the training and education available, and what would benefit them, both inside and outside work, which resulted in many signing up for training courses.
• This event gave the UNISON Branch the opportunity to promote training but also the benefits of being a member of UNISON. Further recruitment events are to be organised early in the New Year, again supported by the N&S Team.
Mark Johnson, branch secretary & Diane James, rep, seen here endorsing "a million voices for public services"
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Related Documents
- St Eds Newsletter May 2010 (PDF, 602Kb)