Bntva campaign magazine Summer 2016

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO DID NOT MAKE IT THIS FAR AND IN SUPPORT OF THOSE WHO HAVE

CAMPAIGN The Journal of the BNTVA Registered Charity Number 1131134 TM

AGM & Conference Report 2016

£2.99 where sold ©BH Associates LLP

Summer 2016

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AGM and Conference 2016

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The Chaplain writes

Sowing and reaping One of the best known stories told by Jesus was the Parable of the Sower. The imagery would have been familiar in a largely rural society, but even those who are unfamiliar with agriculture can easily grasp the point.

We are familiar with the saying that whatever a person sows, that shall they also reap; but we also reap what others have sown: we are dependant, one on another. In our democratic country, we reap the fruits of free speech, justice and government elected by the people. The seeds were sown by our forebears, often at the cost of their own liberty and life.

Behind Jesus’s words was an implicit message, that we ought to be careful what seeds we sow, for we will not be the only ones to reap the harvest.

What we sow, others will reap – for good or ill.

What, readers may well ask, can this possibly have to do with our Association? Simply this. Even as numbers of atomic veterans have declined, inevitably, with the passage of time since the Tests, the BNTVA has grown in influence and effectiveness.

It now includes in its membership descendants of those who served, and people of good will who support the Association’s aims and objectives.

The Nuclear Community Charity Fund (NCCF) could not have happened without such people. It is the fruit of an immense amount of hard work and negotiation.

As memories fade, the educational task of the BNTVA becomes ever more important. Put another way, it is our task to sow the seeds which will bear fruit in generations to come, so that lessons may be learnt, and the service and sacrifice of Britain’s Nuclear Veterans, in the cause of peace, will never be forgotten.

I wish all our Members good sowing, and God’s blessing on their labours.

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Conference Report © BH Associates LLP

Jeff Liddiatt - BNTVA Chairman

Jeff Liddiatt’s first Conference as Chairman was held at the stunning Stoke Rochford Hall venue in Lincolnshire continuing our popular decision to move the event around the country every year giving different groups of members who struggle with transport, the opportunity to attend.

Numbers were on par with previous years and it was great to see new faces along with old friends. The new booking system meant that everyone was able to get into the venue well ahead of the proceedings.

BNTVA AGM Chairman’s Opening Remarks - Jeff Liddiatt - Chairman The Chairman opened the meeting reminding those present that although everyone was welcome to attend, only members were allowed to talk and vote in debate. Bob Ireland, Secretary read out the apologies; Nicholas Frayling and Ian Greenhalgh.

In Memoriam A Short service in memoriam of those who had passed since our last meeting was then held. This was followed by a video message from our Chaplain, the Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling, Nicholas apologised for not

being able to attend the meeting and provided a video message which he had recorded the evening before.

Chaplain’s Address - The Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling Nicholas mentioned the hard work of both Nigel and Jeff in developing the projects under the Aged Veterans Fund, he also thanked Nigel for the years of work he had given the Association as Chairman and noted his continued service to the nuclear community through his new role.

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Patrons Address - John Baron MP John Baron MP, BNTVA Patron continued the theme of using video to speak to our conference and a short film he had recorded was played.

John made reference to the work delivered by Nigel and Jeff in securing the Aged Veterans Fund, wishing us a great Conference he closed by saying that we now need to make sure the funding we can get is spent in the best way to benefit our community.

The Chair then told the AGM of two further recognition developments achieved in the past few months: A personal message from the Prime Minister to John Baron on the day of our Nuclear Community Charity Fund Portfolio.

The Prime Ministers Letter

Secondly on the 13 April 2016 the BNTVA had been awarded ‘Consultative Status’ with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

This is a great achievement creating a conduit for the BNTVA to share its heritage and results of research from the NCCF Portfolio on the world stage.

UN Consultative Status confirmation

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As soon as news was released announcing that the BNTVA had secured funding from the AVF there was a noticeable increase of enquiries from non members referring to “Compensation”. My replies must disappoint as of course “Compensation” is not on the agenda. However, I always attach a membership form with my replies just in case they would like to join.

In October 2015 I joined Nigel on the Isle of Man for a screening of the documentary film, ‘Nobody Told Us Anything’. In the audience were three BNTVA members with friends and two Members of the House of Keys, Juan Watterson and John Shimmin.

The Mayor and deputy Mayor of Douglas. Sarah Hackman,The Mayor of Douglas gave a short address welcoming everyone to the screening and recalling visiting the Shadow of the Bomb exhibition at the launch of our recognition campaign.

Following the film a lively question and answer session was held which continued as visitors moved into an atrium area where they could also view the works of BNTVA Artist and Manx resident, Gary Bennett. I can now add a congratulatory message for Juan as his wife gave birth to a baby boy on 16th May.

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Organisation Managers Report - Bob Ireland

Robert Ireland - Organisational Manager

We were invited by The North Devon Veterans Association to take part in their annual exhibition on military history being held in Barnstaple for three days 23, 24 and 25 June. Unfortunately the logistics of assembling a display stand, transporting it to and from Barnstaple and organising manpower to cover three days requires a little more time to organise. To rush into the event at half cock would not do us justice, so at our pre-conference Trustee meeting it was decided to defer our attendance until 2017.

In April The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations granted Consultative Status to the BNTVA. I am glad to say I played a considerable part in assembling all the documentation required and helping Nigel with the negotiations, this is a major achievement of international recognition for our organisation.

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Next year the AGM will be held in the North East of England at the Marriott Hotel Gateshead. In the past we have been criticised for ignoring the North of England so now members in Scotland, Cumbria, North East and North West of England can have their chance to support their organisation.

It will also be appropriate as last March the North Tyneside Council joined their neighbours, South Tyneside Council, in passing a resolution to support our campaign.

Later this year I will be showing the documentary film to the Anchorage Club in Liverpool. As the name suggests the club comprises of retired Royal Navy and Merchant navy seamen. It is possible that some of these men could have sailed on vessels associated with the tests.

Alan Owen, a new Trustee and I attended a seminar for trustees that sit on the boards of Armed Forces Charities. The event was hosted by London solicitors, Wilsons. I found it interesting and it proved to be a good memory jogger; we both picked up on the subject of trustee board members having the right skills.

Various Charity spokesmen told of not having the right balance of skills on their boards. This it seems is brought about by some trustee volunteers being overtaken by the electronic age and the constantly updated charity commission laws. I personally believe that our Board have collectively wide

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experience of life, a good balance of skills and we are ahead of the game.

Thank you.

BNTVA Financial Report to the AGM 2016 - Ian Greenhalgh (read by Bob Ireland) Firstly may I apologise for the fact that I cannot be with you today to present this report in person.

Unfortunately, as has been the case a lot in recent years, I am away during the AGM. Perhaps I should start to take personally the fact that the other Trustees always seem to schedule the annual conference when I am away?

I am again grateful to Bob Ireland for agreeing to put my report to the AGM on my behalf.

Once again I must express my thanks to Sonia Thomas, the accounts manager in my office. For four years now Sonia has freely given her time and expertise to the BNTVA and dealt with the day to day book keeping, purchase ledger control, expenses management and cashflow management of the charity. This year (2105/2016 accounts – which I will report on at the next AGM) will be the last accounts that Sonia will do for the BNTVA – the time commitment has simply got too much for her now – but on behalf of the Board of Trustees and all members of the charity I would like to offer our sincere thanks for all of her hard work and help over

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the past four years. She has been a great asset to the BNTVA and her help and assistance has been greatly appreciated.

This report is prepared for the benefit of the members of the charity in respect of the financial year 2014 to 2015. Members should be aware that the financial year with which these accounts are concerned ended on 31 March 2015. As I have said in the preamble to previous financial reports, charity legislation requires that the accounts of the charity must be submitted to the Charities Commission within ten months of the year end. The deadline for submitting the charity’s accounts to the Charities Commission is 31 January in the year following the relevant accounting period. Only at the point that the accounts are approved, finalised and submitted is it possible to provide information to the members. There is therefore an inevitable delay in the members receiving any information concerning the accounts.

The accounts for 2014/2015 have been available to members (and the public) to view on the Charities Commission website since they were submitted in January. As was agreed last year the accounts have also been made available on the BNTVA website for members to download and consider in advance of the AGM. In my report last year I asked any members who had any matters that they wish to raise in

connection with the accounts do do by emailing me in advance of the AGM so that I can deal with any appropriate queries in my report. To date no one has raised anything with me, so I shall simply present my report in the normal way.

ACCOUNTS 2014-2015 In 2014/2015 the charity’s income increased by £1,001 on the previous year. Whilst that appears encouraging inspection of the accounts shows that in fact one single donation for the promotion of the documentary accounted for almost one fifth of the whole income of the charity.

Donations and legacies were significantly down on the previous year (although if the donation for the documentary were lumped into the ‘donations’ category, rather than being shown separately then there would again be an increase.)

There has been a significant drop in the total expenditure of the charity in 2014/2015. On the face of it we appear to have reduced expenditure by more than £5,000, however the timing of invoices from suppliers means that the figures are slightly skewed and some invoices which ought properly to have been accounted for in 2014/2015 will in fact appear in the more recent 2015/2016 accounts.

Nonetheless there was still large drop in expenditure in 2014/2015 – particularly in the running costs for the charity itself.

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In a nutshell, the BNTVA is holding its own and through making year on year savings in running costs we have generated a surplus of cash in 2014/2015 which has increased our bank balance.

The accounts under consideration reflect the final year of the old membership fee rate prior to their 33% increase. The overall level of membership is increasingly affected by the sad fact that many are elderly and suffering illness, indeed Don can testify to the increase in veterans names recorded every year in the “Fields of Remembrance”, we are not recruiting new members at the same rate that members are passing and it is quite clear from these accounts that we were justified in increasing the membership fees to ensure we could still function.

1. Printing, reproduction and postage expenditure It appears from the 2014/2015 accounts as though these items of expenditure have significantly reduced. In fact whilst there has been a small reduction in these items it is nowhere near as large as it appears.

The reason is that there were invoices for magazine printing and postage in 2014/2015 which were not received until long after the accounts were completed. These invoices will appear in the 2015/2016 accounts.

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2. Travel and accommodation expenditure The Trustees have for several years been aware of the need to reduce the amount spent on travel and meetings. Whilst some items of expenditure are necessary for the proper running of the charity and for the promotion of the charities aims and work it was nonetheless for many years the biggest item of expenditure. With the help of technology, meeting costs have been dramatically reduced over the past few years, with Trustees only holding one face-to-face Trustee meeting each year wherever possible, or combining meetings with other events (for example holding a Trustee meeting concurrently with the AGM).

Through a combination of limiting the number of events in 2014/2015, limiting meetings and general cost cutting there is a huge reduction in this category of expenditure: over £5,000 in 2014/2015.

3. Documentary In 2014/2015 we had a nationwide campaign of screenings of Charles Stewart’s documentary “Nobody Told Us Anything”. A significant donation (£4,985) from Alphaville, helped to offset the overall cost of the screenings (£6,783).

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ACCOUNTS 2015-2016 The accounts that you are looking at today are the most recent published accounts. As I said at the start of this report, that relates to a period which ended 14 months ago. Last year the Trustees agreed that at the AGM I would try to give the members an indication of the way in which the financial aspects of the charity are going. I cannot give details of the accounts as they have not been prepared, audited and published with the Charities Commission. But I am able to give the members a broad brush indication of where the BNTVA stood financially at the end of March this year. I should however make clear that the information that I am about to give you should not be taken as anything other than a guide. Many aspects of the accounts can change as they go through the auditing process and so nothing that I say from this point should in any way be quoted or relied on by members.

Without giving numbers it appears that income in 2015/2106 is once again slightly increased on 2014/2015, although membership fees increased, we did not receive the increased amount from a large number of members, this is mainly a result of the manner we have traditionally used to collect fees and will be subject to Trustee review following the AGM. The postal system issues also contributed to a significant delay in processing payments in to the accounts.

The overall expenditure of the BNTVA in 2015/2016 appears to have decreased slightly, although it is not clear yet what the final figures will be. That said, It appears that there will again be a surplus of funds which should help to increase the reserves of the BNTVA, all of which is extremely encouraging.

I should however emphasise that every member of the BNTVA needs to focus on recruiting new members if the charity is to remain viable in the long term. We cannot continue to survive on costs savings alone, Could I please ask every member of the BNTVA to make a pledge to find one new member between now and the end of the year? If we could all do that then we can literally double our membership! Please do everything you can, the launch of the AVF projects represents a great recruitment potential bonus. If you care enough about the BNTVA to be at the AGM then surely you care enough to encourage one person that you know to join us?

AGED VETERANS FUND (‘AVF’) AWARD

NCCF

Aged Veterans Fund funded by the Chancellor using LIBOR funds

As you are all no doubt by now aware, earlier this year the BNTVA secured an award from the AVF which will

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everyone my best wishes and I hope that you all have an interesting, informative and successful AGM.

Membership & Merchandising – Ian Hall and Sandie Hern Membership remains largely stable despite the effects of the huge postal problems in 2015 and we will be conducting a full membership review after conference to validate all members and move from the problematic Standing Order and postal process to a new system that allows for Direct Debits and easy on-line payments via credit and debit card. The central mailbox will also move suppliers to BH Associates who will provide a comprehensive service getting your mail direct to the people who need to action it. This service, which has cost the BNTVA © BH Associates LLP

provide funding for BNTVA projects.

That award was significant in amount (close to £1 million). Members may therefore conclude that the BNTVA is now awash with money and that there is no need to worry about future income. I feel it prudent of me to dispel any misconceptions now.

None of the AVF award is able to be used by the BNTVA to run the charity.

It is an award which the BNTVA has received specifically to fund projects.

The application for the grant was supported by detailed financial proposals from various organisations and bodies setting out the project costs. The award was made for the exact cost of those projects. Although the BNTVA are the charity receiving and administering the award, the award must be spent in the manner and on the projects that we have applied for. The charity cannot use any of the funds for it’s own purposes and there is no element of the award that can be used to pay any of the BNTVA running costs or other expenditure.

We remain a small charity and we have to continue to manage our income and expenditure very carefully indeed. The AVF award is not the BNTVA’s money. It is money that must be used specifically to pay for the projects for which it was granted and nothing else.

Once again I am sorry that I cannot be with you in person. May I send

Sandie Hern - Membership and Merchandising

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Over the past few years whilst finances for charity have been tight the main emphasis for the shop has been not to make a loss and we have continued selling our existing stock whilst only replacing our faster moving lines. However also over the last few years we have noted that a large proportion of our sales have come at conference where goods can be purchased and taken away instantly. Perhaps the more traditional way of buying rather than ordering via post or over the internet.

So with that in mind, rather than have much of our clothing made to order and have customers wait for their goods, Sandie and I decided to get a number of the more popular colours and sizes made and available for purchase at conference. It seems to work as we took as much in the hour before conference as we had in the previous year over the internet and post (£500.00).

Whilst a number of the older items have sold out with currently no plans to replace them – Key Fobs, cuff links and printed BNTVA ties (woven still available) we do not have stock of, but fleeces and T-shirts are readily available.

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a considerable amount of money over the past few years is now being provided free of charge, the only thing we will have to pay for is the postal cost manual forwarding any documents to our officials.

Ian Hall - Membership and Merchandising

Sandie has sourced a manufacturer for ladies scarves and also Pilot shirts with the BNTVA logo embroidered on them. Car badges are currently out of stock but if we can find a cheaper source with a much smaller quantity required we may well consider replacing them. As always any thought on new lines would be appreciated.

Over the past two years Sandie has assisted Ian managing the shop.

Sandie says that they have worked tirelessly to source new contacts with some success. Sandie has visited many stores and outlets over the past 6 months and has managed to acquire donations for our raffle.

We are pleased to announce that the AGM Raffle raised £407.09. We thank all who donated prizes.

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Editors Note Just before I get into my report I need to inform you that I resigned as a Trustee of the BNTVA to prevent a conflict of interest, when BH Associates (which I am a Director of) were being considered for the role of Portfolio Partner.

I volunteered to act as the Magazine Editor as an appointed person. This enables the BNTVA to continue to use my skills in design saving the expense of outsourcing the design work involved with the magazine. There will be no change in the way the magazine is edited or published.

Editors Report - Steve Bexon The last magazine was the 12th edition I designed and edited, the first being back in 2011. It currently has a circulation of around 900 with the magazine now being taken up as an electronic version for around 100 recipients. I’ve often mentioned this when speaking at the AGM but we are always trying to increase the take up of the magazine via email or online to try and save money, the greatest cost isn’t in the production of the magazine but the postage. Its would be great to see the take-up grow to 25% of the printed copy.

We will at some point this year take some time to update all of our members contact details to enable us to automatically send out news updates as new magazines are published.

This doesn’t mean that you have to stop taking the print version, but it does mean we can keep the members better informed. I will publish an article on which APPs or websites offer the best way to view the magazine in case there are any technical issues the members are concerned about.

Late last year I received an email an email from one of our members with some feedback on the content of the magazine on items they thought the magazine would benefit which included: • A BNTVA events page • Pictures and write ups from these events • A dedicated fallout group section • A guide or review of websites of interest that our members will find interesting • A guide to social media groups and which ones are relevant to our members All of these suggestions are exactly the kind of feedback we want. It means that we target the content to what our members want to see, read and hopefully contribute to. The magazine will always be a means for the charity to get information out to its members and the world outside of the organisation, but it ultimately is your magazine and the more content that comes from you the better.

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© BH Associates LLP

Please feel free to contact me about the magazine with any content you may have. I hope you have a great day at the AGM and conference.

Reunions and Outreach Report – Sandie Hern and Doug Hern Sadly due to his failing health, Jim Cooper can no longer organise the veterans reunions at Weston s Mare, he and his lovely wife Gloria have now stepped down and I have stepped into their shoes. I have been very busy sending out application forms and ordering Grapple badges and ties. I find it a worthwhile and rewarding job and am looking forward to this year’s event in September. The 4 night/5 day half board event is priced at a bargain £79.00 per person. The staff, who are on hand to assist at any time, make sure the veterans are kept informed of the activities taking place during the day and evenings and the food is excellent. Should anyone like to join us in September please contact Sandie Hern.

Doug said he had been following up information on Royal Navy and Merchant Navy vessels that were used to supply materials to facilitate the nuclear tests. I have followed up from various sources, mostly web based. Royal Naval vessels because they were part of the official task force are reasonably easy to trace. From an original list provided the Merchant vessels provide a challenge as the

Doug Hern - Reunions and Outreach

names are misspelt but on finding an official booklet on the internet giving the same misspellings, it dawned on me that for security reasons this may have been done deliberately. To ascertain the exposure risk that these vessels have been subjected to when sailing in contaminated waters in the test areas, the voyage logs would have to be accessed. These are held at the Guildhall library in London. Doug said: I am still giving talks on the nuclear community and their experiences and will be talking to the Spalding Historical Society on the 27 th May. Sandie and I are visiting Oslo in June where I shall be speaking to Amnesty International and ICAN. This trip has been funded by Amnesty International and provides a great opportunity to share our heritage with interested groups of people from around the world.

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© BH Associates LLP

Unfortunately due to my medical conditions we are travelling to Oslo the slow way by rail rather than flying.

I have been working with Tom Hewitson of channel 4 BBC on another documentary. Tom visited my home and spent an afternoon going through photographs and documentaries for this forthcoming programme, this will be shown very soon.

Alan Owen - Trustee / Chairman Designate

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Fallout Group Report - Shelly Grigg Unfortunately Shelly was suffering from a throat infection and could not deliver her report. The AGM was reminded that the Fallout Group AGM would be being held on the Sunday morning and all were welcome.

Trustee Appointment Confirmation Susan Musselwhite - Trustee © BH Associates LLP

Because the Chairman’s position was one of the posts to be confirmed at the meeting and that jeff was also the ViceChair it fell to Bob Ireland as Secretary to chair this agenda item. Bob advised that during the year both Nigel Heaps and Steven Bexon had resigned their trustee positions on the board and that three new Trustees had been recruited.

Alan Owen, Susan Musselwhite and Anthony Jeffery were recommended for acceptance as Trustees, the meeting approved this. Jeff Liddiatt was recommended for the position of Chairman and this was also approved.

Anthony Jeffery - Trustee

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A decision had also been taken to create an additional Vice Chair position and Ian Hall and Sandie Hern were recommended for these posts.

These actions were approved as was the appointment of Nigel Heaps as a voluntary specialist adviser to the board and Steven Bexon as Honorary Editor.

A question was raised regarding the change of Chairman during 2015 and why had nothing been published.

There was also concern shown that Nigel may have been pressured into resigning. With the Chairman’s permission Nigel took the platform to address the meeting, he said that this question was due to be covered in afternoon presentations but he was happy to respond at this point especially given that the meeting was well ahead of schedule.

Nigel advised that both he and Stephen Bexon launched a business delivering systems and communications services to small businesses and charities at the

Š BH Associates LLP

It was announced that because the Trustee Board could create such offices and appointments as it believed were necessary to discharge its business it had been decided to create a position of Chairman Designate which Alan Owen would occupy for twelve months allowing for a smooth transition to a new Chairman in 2017.

Nigel Heaps MBE - BH Associates

beginning of 2015, a venture they had been planning and developing since 2013.

Prior to the 2015 AGM they had discussed the possibility of replacing the current post box system and also incorporating the management of membership with the BNTVA, it had been agreed that once we were in a position to hand the reins over this work could be undertaken.

Nigel reminded the meeting that he had actually announced his intended retirement at the 2015 Conference where he advised that he had to remain in post until a series of delicate negotiations to secure the AVF funding Terms of Reference were completed and that he was looking to support a replacement as he did not believe that having one person at the top for too long was healthy for any organisation.

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Nigel said that during the announcement of the revised AVF system it became apparent that the BNTVA needed a dedicated organisation to manage the proposed projects on a daily basis within the portfolio for it to stand any chance of gaining the funding.

By tendering their resignations both he and Steven were in a position to offer the services of BH Associates to manage the Portfolio and also deliver some of the projects without having a potential conflict of interest.

Motions

No motions had been received and the Chair advised that he would hold an open forum session in the afternoon where any questions or ideas could be aired.

In closing the AGM the Chairman noted the Associations appreciation to Don James for his attendance. Don’s wife, Christine, was in Hospital and our wishes for a speedy recovery were made.

Š BH Associates LLP

The NCCF conducted a cost and service provision comparison and as a result appointed BH Associates as their Portfolio Partners, this was scrutinised by the AVF managers and received their approval.

The arrangement was then subject to a contractual agreement which became part of the conditions of the making of the grant by the AVF. It was also explained that because Jeff was already in post as Vice-Chair of the BNTVA and Chairman of the NCCF, it was constitutionally correct that he cover the position of Chairman until the AGM. Nigel said that both he and Steve would continue to work supporting the BNTVA as non voting appointed persons.

The Standards

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BNTVA Contact Details

Registered Charity Number 1131134

This is the only correspondence address and telephone number for the Association.

BNTVA PO Box 8244, Castle Donington DE74 2BY 24 Hour Call Back Service 0208 144 3080 www.bntva.com Organisation Manager Robert Ireland Email: secretary@bntva.com b.ireland@bntva.com

Vice Chair Ian Hall Email: membership@bntva.com i.hall@bntva.com

Chairman Jeff Liddiatt Email: chairman@bntva.com Tel: 0208 144 3080 Mob: 07523 0457 05

Financial Manager Ian Greenhalgh LLB Email i.greenhalgh@bntva.com

Supporters Group & Branch Communications Doug Hern Email: d.hern@bntva.com

Remembrance Co-ordinator Don James

Maralinga Veterans Coordinator Fred Stellard

Email: d.james@bntva.com

Email: f.stallard@bntva.com

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Vice Chair Administration Sandie Hern Email: s.hern@bntva.com

Fallout Descendents Group Shelly Grigg Email: s.grigg@bntva.com

Chairman Designate Alan Owen Email: a.owen @bntva.com

Merchandising Ian Hall Email: shop@bnva.com i.hall@bntva.com

Association Chaplain The Very Revd Nicholas Frayling BA, LLD Email: n.frayling@bntva.com

Appointed Persons and Honourables Parliamentary Patron John Baron Member of Parliament Email: baronj@parliament.uk

Legal Advisor to the Board Tony Jeffrey Email: t.jeffery@bntva.com

Trustee Susan Musselwhite Email: s.musselwhite@bntva.com

Honorary Editor Steve Bexon Email: editor@bntva.com

Specialist Advisor Nigel Heaps MBE Email: n.heaps@bhassociates-llp.com

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Nuclear Community Conference Following a light lunch the Conference was opened by the Chairman who welcomed all members and guests to the afternoon session.

Chairman’s Address to Conference Jeff asked the members to cast their minds back to the adoption of the ‘forget-me-not’ flower as our symbol of remembrance. He said the flower has five petals and each petal represents a project within the Nuclear Community Charity Fund Portfolio: 1 Care and Well being – Direct provision of goods and services to increase wellbeing in the Nuclear Community.

2 Nuclear Families – a project conducted by Southampton University that will explore and document the social science side of our Nuclear Community.

3 Remembrance – a project restoring and upgrading our memorials.

4 Mental Health – a project conducted

by Combat Stress UK examining the condition of our veterans mental health to reveal any issues that may be caused by their heritage.

5 Cytogenetic research – a project conducted by Brunel University London examining the genetic condition of our Nuclear Community.

The epicentre holding the petals together represents the BNTVA who through the Nuclear Community Charity Fund will deliver this first tranche of projects to the benefit of the entire Nuclear Community.

He reported that but for the hard work

by Nigel and close co-operation with our project partners this portfolio would never have come to fruition.

We only had three weeks in which to put the initial project bids together for consideration by the AVF Committee.

Starting from scratch, the whole writing process proved to be a steep learning curve. We were successful in getting through the first phase and then following lots more negotiations and complex bid writing we were successfully through the final phase, indeed our bid application has since been used as the model example by the fund.

Jeff then called for conference to applaud Nigel, adding that “without all the hard work we did together we would have got nowhere”.

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AVEN - Jean-Luc Sans (President), & Yann Cambon Yann Cambon presented an emotive short film about his experiences of the French nuclear tests.

On Friday 30 September we have our AGM in Vichy and I will be happy to greet any of you who can come.

I thank you for your friendship and warm welcome in spite of the fact I still have-not had time to master your language, the language of Shakespeare. Š BH Associates LLP

An address by the President of AVEN, Jean Luc Sans, was read out by Nigel.

He said that it is a great pleasure to bring you greetings on behalf of the French Nuclear Veterans. Since our last meeting and following an amendment in French law our compensation claims for nuclear test victims have achieved some results.

However it is not enough, even though I have been representing AVEN at these meeting we have managed to be successful in 10% of the cases instead of 2% since the change in law. I hope to be able to make more progress as it is getting more and more difficult for the Compensation Committee to reject veterans applications.

Triomphe in Paris in the company of your Chairman and a number of your members.

Jean-Luc Sans, President AVEN

First of all they cannot bring evidence that the radiation contamination risk was negligible because of the evidence that I am now putting forward. Secondly they now cannot go against the court’s decisions. Thirdly they now cannot go against the final decisions of the state council.

The struggle must go on.

On the 2nd July it will be an honour for me to rekindle the flame of the unknown soldier under the Arc De

Yann Cambon

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OBSIVEN – (observatory monitoring systems for victims of nuclear testing and the civil and military nuclear): Jean-Claude Kouyoumdjian & JeanFrançois Grenot Jean-François gave an introduction to OBSIVEN and the direction of its work on the health of nuclear veterans and their families in France. They are also conducting genetic research and are providing care information to the individual veterans doctors.

OBSIVEN will become the international organisation for the sharing of all information relating to the nuclear community, BH Associates are providing the UK presence of OBSIVEN and the BNTVA will be affiliated during 2016. © BH Associates LLP

Jean-François Grenot, OBSIVEN © BH Associates LLP

Jean-Claude Kouyoumdjian

NCCF Mental Health Project Dr Walter Busuttill gave an overall picture of the work of Combat Stress UK. He went on to talk about the potential mental health issues in the Nuclear Community and how this project would seek to explore the extent and conditions.

The 2011 Health study gave evidence mostly of physical health issues but some mental health problems were evident however the information was gathered in such a way that it is not easy to use as a basis for designing a clinical service.

The aim of the Mental Health Project is: • To develop an evidence base • To look at treatment direction • To address these issues and publish the data.

Initially we want to have 10 volunteers, they all need to be referred by their GP to me at Combat Stress UK. Their initial examination and treatment will be in London and the NCCF will cover all travel costs.

The second phase will involve a further 90 volunteers who will, along with the original volunteers, receive the developed treatment.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 23

If you are a Nuclear Veteran.

If you have any mental health issues.

If you think you may have a mental health issue.

NCCF Cytogenetic Research – Dr Rhona Anderson © BH Associates LLP

• •

•

We really need veterans to come forward for this first phase - If you would like more information please write to:

NCCF - Mind PO Box 8244, Castle Donington Derby,DE74 2BY If you wish to become involved and feel you suffer from depression, anxiety or any mental health issues please see your GP so that they can refer you. Your GP can get more information by contacting the project at the above address or via email to: office@thenccf.org or alternatively Take this magazine to your GP, show them this article and ask for a referral to:

Dr Walter Busuttil Director Medical Services Combat Stress, Tyrwhitt House, Oaklawn Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 0BX

Dr Rhona Anderson - Brunel University London

Dr Rhona Anderson introduced herself and her Director, Professor Susan Jobling from Brunel University London. She delivered a very interesting and technical lecture on the subject Cytogenetics the study of chromosomes.

Rhona has prepared a guide to the subject specially for our magazine, you will find it in this issue.

The project will carry out chromosomal analysis of cells from nuclear test veterans and their children. The purpose of the study is to examine for any cytogenetic alterations and to ascertain if there are any differences between nuclear and control family groups.

24 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Nuclear Families Project – Becky Alexis-Martin, Southampton University Becky thanked the BNTVA for inviting her to address our conference. As she said in her magazine article, their research group studies the health outcomes of different population groups.

Her speciality is in the understanding of the experiences and health outcomes of radiation emergency survivors. I have become aware of the ways that prominent online groups such as 'fallout' and 'BNTVA' can bring much needed social change which in turn can result in real life improvement to the health and well being of members.

My project explores the relational well-being of nuclear veteran families, focusing upon disability, mental health, care, family, stigma and risk. It is the first study of its kind and is being undertaken by me and my research group at the University of Southampton, which is a top 20 UK university with an international reputation for research excellence. Š BH Associates LLP

Becky Alexis - Martin

I would definitely encourage any of you who are thinking of joining this study, to take part - We will be able to find out about health, social care and and your community together.

I cannot do this work without you!

Joining the study is simple, you can get in touch with me at becky.martin@soton.ac.uk or with my research assistant Joshua Green at j.green@soton.ac.uk Or write to us at: NCCF - Nuclear Families PO Box 8244 Castle Donington Derby DE74 2BY We will provide you with a study package that gives you more information about our work. The study is flexible and you can choose how much or how little you participate, from an initial 45 minute baseline interview, to sociable focus group work with other veterans or families, or more in-depth human and social sciences studies throughout the project duration. Any input you can provide will help us though! All your participation travel costs are covered if you'd like to visit us at the University of Southampton, or we can happily visit you instead.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 25

Care and Wellbeing - Nigel Heaps Nigel explained to conference that the Wellbeing project would address shortfalls in the acquisition of living adaptations, care equipment and service provision between state provision and personal requirement to enable beneficiaries to establish a fully mobile, socially integrated lifestyle.

The NCCF decided to create a two tier system: Applications for goods and services less than ÂŁ100 will be provided on a simplified system (this will be introduced on the NCCF Care website during the first quarter of the project).

Applications for over ÂŁ100 will be subject to a qualification and assessment system which will prepare cases that will be decided by quarterly meetings of the NCCF Care Panel.

All applications will be subject to verification checks and anti-fraud measures, we have to ensure we are disbursing funds in the most effective manner whilst keeping the intrusiveness of the assessment to a minimum.

BH Associates will collate and prepare all cases for the Panel to consider, they will conduct all validation and anti fraud checks and will look to identify the goods or service provider to satisfy the needs of the applicant. They will anonymise the application and present the package to the panel for funding decision.

All successful applications will have the contracted supply of the goods or services managed by BH Associates who will ensure the beneficiaries needs are fully satisfied.

It must be stressed that no monies will be given direct to the beneficiaries only goods and services. The only condition of grant is that should an application be found to have made false claim once the goods or services have been provided then the beneficiary will be liable for the full cost of the provision including the management fees.

Application forms can be obtained from the NCCF Care & Wellbeing website www.thenccf-care.org or by writing to: NCCF - Care PO Box 8244 Castle Donington Derby DE74 2BY

BH Associates are committed to helping you access the fund and will work with you to ensure your application has the best chance of being funded. They will also produce reports on the progress of this project which will feed into the development of further funding bids to help our community.

26 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Remembrance Project Phase One - Nigel Heaps Nigel reported that the project to finalise our memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum was progressing well, our contractor has designed the benches and all work to complete the memorial has been costed, plans and an application have been drawn up and submitted to the NMA Trustees for their approval.

The Future with the NCCF Portfolio- Nigel Heaps Nigel said that as part of the contracted activities that BH Associates were providing to the BNTVA they would be responsible for developing and authoring the next bid. BH Associates had developed a significant degree of expertise not just in writing the bids but also in developing the financial and progression management systems as well as producing and negotiating the numerous contracts required to hold the portfolio together. These abilities will help the NCCF and BNTVA take the work under the Aged Veterans Fund to the next level.

Nigel outlined the project areas that they were currently developing for funding from the 2016 bid:

• The Care & Wellbeing Fund to be hugely increased and expanded to cover mental health and respite care provision. Contacts have already been established with holiday providers of adapted premises both in the UK and Europe.

• The second phase of the Genetic Research project will be launched • The BNTVA Magazine will be relaunched as a publication for the entire Nuclear Community containing editorials and sections for BNTVA, Fallout, Research Organisations, All Tests Reunion and International Organisations.

• A Centre of Excellence to be established as a hub for all Research, Knowledge, Social, Scientific and Political to share that knowledge and education amongst Individuals, Researchers, Organisations and Government to increase the health and wellbeing of the Nuclear Community.

These ideas have all been drawn into our Expression of Interest application for the Portfolio Phase II application.

Nigel told conference that when he became Chair he had written a paper called ‘going forward together’ which outlined the challenges and changes needed to ensure the BNTVA survived. He said that he read back through this paper a short time ago

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 27

We are working with Gordon to explore the various options for presenting this work. © BH Associates LLP

and realised that the BNTVA had achieved all he set out. Now with the recognition achieved both in parliament and internationally, The Portfolio Projects delivering support and looking for answers to many of our questions, With the engagement of the next generation of the Nuclear Community, With the varied range of skills and resources available through the Board of Trustees, The coming development of an international organisation and the appointment of Alan as Chair Designate, The future of the BNTVA was well assured.

Conference 2017 The venue for next year’s conference will be the Marriott Hotel in Gateshead on 20th May 2017

Maxine Goodwin - Nuclear Futures

© BH Associates LLP

Nuclear Futures Project – Maxine Goodwin and Gordon Murray Maxine brought us up to date with the progress of Nuclear Futures projects in Australia and an interesting short film was screened. A number of art exhibitions in novel formats have helped increase awareness of the experiences of the nuclear tests in Australia by both veterans and the native peoples.

Gordon talked about the audio pieces he had created and gave a moving reading of a section of one of the pieces.

Gordon Murray - Nuclear Futures

28 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Conference recorded a vote of appreciation for all those people involved in running the association and all they had achieved in the past year.

© BH Associates LLP

It was asked that the reasons for any changes to the board of trustees to be published in the magazine. The current board is always published and whilst it seems straightforward to give the reasons for any changes there are occasions where commercial confidentiality precludes this but the board will always publish a full account as soon as it is able to do so.

© BH Associates LLP

Open Forum Session

A possibility of ‘staged membership’ was raised and it was agreed the Chairman would take this away and discuss at the next Trustee meeting.

© BH Associates LLP

The call for new Trustee candidates to come forward was made. Within the next two years almost every veteran member of the board could have retired and we want to ensure the running of the association transfers to its successors as smoothly as possible. If you are interested in becoming a Trustee please email n.heaps@bhassociates-llp.com as BH Associates will manage the application process for the consideration by the Board. They will also give you help and advice to complete your application.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 29

Genome Biology: Chromosomes and their structural rearrangement.

Dr Rhona Anderson, Institute of Environment, Health and Societies, Brunel University London.

The need to research for potential genetic damage amongst nuclear test veterans and the possibility of transmitted genetic alterations in their children has been a cornerstone requirement identified by members of the nuclear test community for many years. The recent award by the Aged Veteran Fund to the Nuclear Community Charity Fund (NCCF) is now enabling such investigations to take place. The project ‘Cytogenetic Assessment of British Nuclear Test Veterans and their Offspring’, which started on 1st June 2016, is part of a much larger broad-ranging portfolio and represents the only biological project currently in this NCCF portfolio.

The nuclear community is well versed in radiation and health and have expressed an interest in understanding more. To support this we have created a series called ‘Genome Biology’ which will provide background knowledge relevant to different aspects of this project. The first in this series examines what a chromosome is and provides a brief introduction to how they may become structurally rearranged.

Deoxyribonucelic acid (DNA) is a very long macromolecule that is present (mainly) in the nucleus of virtually every cell in our body. The function of DNA is two-fold; firstly to carry genetic information as a sequence of bases that encode discrete entities known as genes, which in turn, are translated into a functionally diverse array of proteins. The second function of DNA is to transmit this genetic code to the next generation of daughter cells; for germ cells this relates to the inheritance of the genetic code from parent to child, whilst for somatic cells (any cell of the body other than germ cells e.g. liver cell or blood cell), this relates to the formation of new cells in the proliferating tissue. The classical Watson & Crick model of DNA is well known however DNA does not exist in the cell nucleus as a long double helix, instead it is effectively packaged into discrete bodies known as chromosomes (Fig 1). The normal chromosome constitution for human somatic cells is 46 chromosomes (23 inherited from each parent); 46,XX for females and 46,XY for males.

30 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

The discipline termed as Cytogenetics is the study of the structural and numerical integrity of this chromosome constitution.

Fig 1: Each of the cells 46 chromosomes is a package of DNA.

DNA, like all molecules in our bodies, can be damaged by a whole range of normal biological processes such as metabolism and also, external factors such as viruses, chemicals and radiation (Fig 2). Because of the importance to maintain a stable genetic code, cells have evolved very efficient DNA repair mechanisms meaning that most of this damage is correctly repaired.

However, damage may be incorrectly repaired potentially leading to a change in the sequence of the genetic code, known as a DNA mutation.

If more than one DNA molecule (chromosome) is damaged there is a chance incorrect repair could take place with a different chromosome, resulting in a structural chromosome rearrangement or abnormality. Fig 3 illustrates two possible outcomes of incorrect DNA repair from two chromosomes each with a single break (Fig 3a); the formation of a

Fig 2: DNA is damaged daily by multiple different factors.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 31

reciprocal exchange where each abnormal chromosome has a single constriction (centromere) (Fig 3b) or, a dicentric + acentric fragment may be formed, where one abnormal chromosome has two centromeres whilst the other has none (Fig 3c).

We can think of these two outcomes as being different patterns, whereby the dicentric + acentric fragment pattern is unstable and unlikely to persist through many cell divisions meaning that its formation is most likely a consequence of a recent damage event.

By contrast, the reciprocal exchange is stable and can be transmitted though cell divisions meaning this aberration could have been formed from damage in the distant past.

Our genetic constitution refers to the composition of chromosomes we are born with and is the same in all cells of our bodies. Cytogenetics can be used to determine if this constitution is normal or abnormal and if the latter, how this may relate to various known clinical disorders.

By contrast acquired changes to the genome arise throughout our lifetime and can occur by the damage processes mentioned above meaning that patterns of chromosomal abnormality will differ on a cell-cell basis and, will increase in frequency of occurrence with age.

Cytogenetics can therefore also be used to ask if the patterns and frequencies of acquired aberrations are similar, or different, between similarly aged but distinct populations of individuals.

Š BH Associates LLP

Fig 3: Image showing (a) chromosome breaks and two possible incorrect re-joining outcomes (b) stable reciprocal translocation and (c) an unstable dicentric + acentric fragment.

Dr Rhona Anderson - Brunel University London

32 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Nuclear Futures Gordon Murray and I represented Nuclear Futures at the BNTVA and Fallout conference in Grantham this year to highlight projects, workshops and exhibitions that have been the focus of the Nuclear Futures initiative over the past 12 months.

My first visit to the BNTVA conference was back in 2014 when I had just begun working with Paul Brown and the creative team of Nuclear Futures. Many projects have been achieved since that time and I wanted to highlight some of the key events including the “10 Minutes to Midnight” and “Portrait of a Whistleblower” exhibitions for the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2015 and the Nagasaki sculpture gift from the Yalata Anangu community to the Nagasaki Peace Park in April 2016.

Gordon expanded on his experience at the “10 Minutes to Midnight” workshops held at The Block exhibition at the Queensland University of Technology in July/ August 2015 where the creative team hosted arts-based and educational events such as: film screenings, script workshops with QUT drama students and leading Australian playwright John Romeril, master classes with digital artist Linda Dement, school visit programs and academic seminars.

During our presentation, Gordon read out one of his radio plays which was both powerful and emotional. At the Fallout conference on the Sunday morning we were able to hear another of his radio plays featuring Shelly Grigg. The combination of poetry, interviews and soundscape took us on an emotional and very personal journey with many of us present in the room touched by her raw and powerful story.

Whilst providing an overview of the Nuclear Futures arts projects at the conference, I also wanted to provide an insight in to how creative art supports nuclear communities, and by telling our unique stories in this way, we can encourage and influence others.

My experiences have brought me closer to other nuclear effected communities and provided me with international veteran and descendant connections that I value greatly and wouldn’t otherwise have.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 33

© Tania Safi for Nuclear Futures

Digital projection-”Ten Minutes to Midnight” © Jesse Boylan for Nuclear Futures

© BH Associates LLP

Tree of Life: Gift of Peace Gordon Murray, Maxine Goodwin

I want to thank all of the veterans and descendants who attended the conference for making me so welcome once more and I look forward to visiting again in the future.

More information about upcoming Nuclear Futures events and the recent “Maralinga’s Long Shadow” book launch is available on the Facebook page and website www.nuclearfutures.org

34 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

There is a Light that Never Goes Out The French and British nuclear veteran communities unite for a unique first ever joint Rekindling of the Flame under the Arc de Triomphe in France.

The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile is one of the most significant features of Paris. It is also the place where military history was made this weekend, when the individual leaders of the French and British nuclear test veteran communities rekindled the Eternal Flame together.

The perpetual flame above the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was originally created as a permanent memorial to all those who lost their lives during the Great War. It was first lit on November 23rd 1923, and has since been rekindled at 6.30pm each day by a variety of different French military and veteran communities.

This year, the Committee of the Flame selected British Nuclear Test Veterans Association Chairman and Maralinga nuclear test veteran Jeff Liddiatt to perform this unique honour, in conjunction with Jean-Luc Sans President of AVEN, the French Nuclear Veterans Association. It was significant as the first ever British non-Prime Ministerial rekindling, and the fifth ever British rekindling. Jeff said: “The flame has only previously been rekindled by The Queen and Sir Winston Churchill, followed by three other Prime Ministers and now me. I’m the first individual

of a non-political or royal nature to do this”. Jeff served in the Royal Air Force. The opportunity to rekindle the flame is of special significance to him, as he lost both of his grandfathers as a consequence of the Great War. One killed in action on the Somme in August 1916 the other died from wounds in 1920. Jeff described the process of rekindling: “The eternal flame burns all the time, so when I held the sword with Jean-Luc we pushed a ring on the top of the flame’s collar, which opens the gas valve and reignites the flame for the next seven days. The flame burned more brightly then, it grew in intensity, you could see the change in volume”.

For those of us who were fortunate enough witness the ceremony, it was a poignant and significant afternoon.

It began at 6.30pm on Saturday 2nd July with a gentle parade of veterans and their families and friends along the Avenue de Champs-Élysées, which completely stopped all traffic to reach the Arc de Triomphe. The sword of rekindling was held jointly by Jeff and Jean-Luc, as they leant forward to reignites the eternal flame. A military marching band played “La Marseillaise” afterwards and we sung in unison. It was an exceptional demonstration of the years of solidarity that have existed

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 35

© Andy Plisbury

Jeff Liddiatt rekindling of the flame © B. Alexis-Martin

between the French and British nuclear communities, and there were veteran representatives present in full military regalia, not only from the British Christmas Island and Maralinga tests, but also from the French Algerian and Polynesian tests.

The second part of the ceremony was to invite Jeff and Jean-Luc to sign the guest book on behalf of each Association. After the rekindling was completed, the British and French nuclear test veteran communities sat down to supper at a nearby restaurant, enjoying a good meal together.

2016 has been a significant year for the British nuclear test veterans, who have gained £1 million government research and care funding in March, and were granted Consultative Status by the United Nations in April this year. It seems that the achievements of the men who worked on our nuclear deterrent during the Cold War are finally gaining international recognition.

Biography Becky Alexis-Martin is a Research Fellow in Social and Human Sciences at the University of Southampton and an expert in nuclear communities, who was an academic witness to the atomic veterans first Anglo-French rekindling of the flame on 2nd July 2016.

Andy Pilsbury is a professional photographer and film maker based in Birmingham, UK. He currently creates both independent and commissioned pieces of work whilst working and studying in Creative Arts at Birmingham City University.

Jeff Liddiatt and Jean-Luc Sans

36 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Doung and Sandie’s ICAN Presentation Oslo, Norway On Monday 5th June 2016 Sandie & I, at the invitation of the Norwegian ICAN for Amnesty International, travelled to Oslo to give a presentation and a showing of the BNTVA film “Nobody Told Us Anything”.

Because Norway was funding our travel we took what was thought to be the cheapest route, Overland!

We left our home at 6am on the morning of the 5th and spent the next 16 hours jumping trains until finally reaching Hamburg at 10pm that night.

We stayed overnight at the Arcotel Rubin Hotel (a very nice hotel to vast) before continuing our journey to Oslo.

We left Hamburg at 8am en route to Copenhagen, a delightful journey which included travelling the boat ferry. Upon reaching Copenhagen we headed for the port where we boarded the Pearl Seaways ship headed for Oslo. This journey was also an overnight experience, fortunately the sea was calm and journey again very pleasant. We finally arrived in Oslo at 10.30am the morning of 8th June.

Somewhat tired and slightly dishevelled we were met by Lika one of the ICAN representatives who kindly took us to our hotel to rest until lunch where we were met by Anne Marte who had organised the trip.

At 5pm we were collected from the hotel and taken to the venue for the presentation at the Library and Literature Building, a very impressive site.

I started the presentation at 8pm that evening with our film, showing only half an hour and then proceeded to answer questions from the audience, which included doctors, diplomates and would you believe, a bishop. I continued with the rest of our film and finally answered most of the questions that were asked of me.

The audience were amazed at what I had told them of the experiences of myself and other veterans during the tests and the outcome was quite overwhelming. The presentation lasted 2 hours in all and the evening was extremely well received. Most of the audience had never heard of the BNTVA and were astounded and quite shocked at the revelations and plight of our veterans and their families.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 37

Doug and Anne Marte

© BNTVA

Sandie and I would like to say how amazing and wonderful the people of Norway received us, they are very warm and generous and could not have made our very short stay any more welcoming, our thanks to all the staff at ICAN and especially Anne Marte who did so much to organise the whole event.

Doug Hern presenting at ICAN

© BNTVA

On Friday 10th at 7.04am we started our long journey homeward, again staying overnight in Hamburg before setting off Saturday morning at 7am for home. We finally arrived back at 9.30pm that evening. It was a great experience and the chance to meet all those wonderful people was well worth the trip, but I must say that if I am ever asked back again to that part of the world it would have to be in an aeroplane. Going overland for a short visit is not the best way to get to Norway.

© BNTVA

We had a day to ourselves on Thursday to take in some of the wonderful sites of Oslo and in the afternoon another ICAN member (Stine, a very well read lady) took us out on a boat trip around the small islands.

We have, as a way of saying thank you, invited Anne Marte and her husband to visit us next year and she has gratefully accepted.

Lika

38 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Maralinga’s Long Shadow – Book Release Building on the successful 2009 publication of Maralinga: the Anangu Story by Yalata and Oak Valley Communities with Christobel Mattingley (Allen & Unwin Australia 2009), is the new release Maralinga’s Long Shadow: Yvonne’s Story.

Maralinga’s Long Shadow is the powerful story of Yvonne Edwards, artist and community leader, who lived on or near the Maralinga lands, and the cost of the fall-out for herself and her family from the nuclear tests in the 1950s.

Its available to buy from www.allenandunwin.com and can be found via, ISBN:9781760290177

Information on Peter Barry Bird I am researching Peter Barry Bird who, I believe served in the Narvik at the Montebello British Nuclear tests, off the West Australian coast in 1952.

I believe he was a Lieutenant in the RNVR and later transferred to the R.A.N. At some point after he retired from the Navy, he lived in Queensland and then moved to Papua New Guinea, some time before Independence in 1975.

I think he wrote a book in 1953, called “operation hurricane” about his personal experiences and observations of the nuclear tests. It was republished in 1989, but I have not yet seen a copy.

I am an amateur military historian in Sydney, Australia, and a member of the British “Orders & Medals Research Society”. If you or you members have any details on him, it would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any information for David Helfgott please email editor@bntva.com and we will put you in touch with him.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 39

Richard Lisle’s 10 Marathon challenge My challenge was to complete 10 marathons between July 2015 and the London Marathon in April 2016 to raise funds for the BNTVA and MIND. © BH Associates LLP

My father who sadly passed away in 2008, served in the Royal Navy for 24 years. He was on Christmas Island in 1957 / 58 and was involved in the Grapple Tests.

I am pleased to say I completed 11 marathons finishing in London with a time of 3 hours 13 minutes.

A big thank you to all those who have sponsored me, to date I have raised nearly £1000. My fund raising will continue to stay open until the summer. You can visit my fundraising site at www.virginmoneygiving.com/ richardlisle Any further donations will be greatly received.

Richard Lisle - Marathon Man

Read the magazine online If you wand to view the magazine on your mobile or tablet device then the Free ISSU app is available to download from the Apple APP Store or from Google Play.

Both versions of the APP offer the best way to view the magazine as its hosted with ISSU themselves.

40 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

In memoriam John Lowe It is with great sadness that the trustees have to report that John Lowe passed away peacefully on the 24th May 2016.

John had been suffering from Pancreatic cancer Meeting at the MOD with Veterans Minister 2008 for a long time.

He had been looked after by his wife Liz for a number of years until she passed way on the 8th March 2016.

John was Chairman of the BNTVA from 2000 to 2010. John guided the Association with a steady hand over those years. Many milestones were passed during during this time, including when the Association became a Registered Charity in 2009.

Our thoughts must be with his two children and their families at this time.

Trevor Butler We have also been informed that Ex trustee and shop manager Trevor Butler passed away earlier this year.

Our thoughts must also be with his family.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 41

David Brian Boyfield It is with great sorrow that I have to announce the death of David Brian Boyfield 4189717 sac.

He died on the 21 May 2016 with myself, his wife at his side.

He had suffered from terminal lung cancer and he had Charles Bonnet Syndrome. He bore his illness silently as he didn’t want pity from any one.

David was cremated on 21 June which was attended by myself, family and many Friends .

Barbara Boyfield (Mrs)

42 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

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NewsDesk Mail Service The NewsDesk publishes articles of interest to BNTVA members and supporters from a wide field of sources, The Recognition Campaign NewsDesk covers all key developments and media coverage of our campaign.

You can access these regularly updated features on the BNTVA website at www.bntva.com News by Email – We now bring you a great new way of keeping up to date with everything that is happening, the News Email Service – You can sign up for free updates of the latest stories from our NewsDesks delivered straight to your email.

Never miss an interesting story or important announcement again.

To receive this new free service simply go to the BNTVA website and look for the subscribe form at the bottom of any news article. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time.

CAMPAIGN Summer 2016 | 43

Ways to pay your annual BNTVA membership subscription Set out below are the methods you can use to pay your membership subscription, due 1st of April each year.

By standing order using the personalised standing order form sent out with the Winter Edition of the magazine.

By using the BACS system take your cheque or cash into any HSBC branch make out the paying in slip with the following details: HSBC Bank plc 13 Parliament Street York YO1 8XS Sort code: 40-47-31 Account number: 64259351 Account name: British Nuclear Test Veterans Association By using your own Internet Banking account make the payment using the details above.

Membership is available for purchase from the shop UK Membership - UK Single Member £20, UK Family (partner & dependent children) £30, Overseas Single Member £30, Overseas Family (partner & dependent children) £40

If you are unable to use any above ways to pay, CHEQUES made out to the BNTVA only, can be sent to the central address.

BNTVA PO Box 8244, Castle Donington DE74 2BY

Have we got your correct address details?

Can you please check that your correct address and postcode is shown on mailing address labels on any communications that we send to you? If we have the incorrect address (especially postcode) please contact us and let us know the correct details. See the address above for the Association’s contact details.

44 | CAMPAIGN Summer 2016

Coming in your next magazine!

The chance to

WIN £200

in prizes

*

The Autumn magazine will contain a member details validation sheet, gift aid form and details of how your 2017 membership fees will be collected. All you have to do is complete and return the enclosed Freepost form in the Autumn magazine and send to the BNTVA to be in the draw. If you take the electronic version of the magazine, then the forms will be available online for download, so either way you will be able to enter.

* Terms and conditions will apply.

Campaign magazine is published by the BNTVA. Editor: Steve Bexon.

Next issue copy deadline 30th September 2016 BNTVA is not an anti-nuclear or an anti-war association. All opinions,views and quotations do not represent official BNTVA policy and are the sole responsibility of the writer.

Photographs and images – © Copyright of owner acknowledged.

All contributions for the magazine should be sent to BNTVA PO Box 8244, Castle Donington DE74 2BY or emailed to editor@bntva.com

Campaign cannot guarantee total accuracy for any reproduction of letters / articles / transcripts.

BNTVA is a Registered Charity Reg. No 1131134 supporting past and present UK Nuclear Test Combined Service Veterans and their families.