The Duke of Connaught's Own Club Fareham

15th March 2025

Hello all,

It was a pleasure to meet John Barnes for the second time recently. John from Children with Cancer UK came along to be presented with the second cheque to the value of £8,423.97 magnificently raised by our Club members over the past year. When you add that to the sum raised from the charity head shave featuring Cider Phil and Jack Craven, the final total raised for Children with Cancer UK was a staggering £13,547.58. John says “I just want to say a big thank you to yourself and to everyone at the Duke of Connaught’s Own Club for raising the incredible amount of £13,547.58 (which includes the hair shave) during 2024. This is a tremendous amount of money which will hugely help our work, and we are so thrilled that your Club thought of us. We will be forever grateful”.

2025 sees us continuing our support for the HMS Collingwood Field Gun Crew. We are delighted to again be able to sponsor the team with a donation of £1,800.00 which helps to fund the training kit they require. The social rep for the Field Gun Crew, Summer Davis, contacted us to arrange a social get together with ‘A’ and ‘B’ crews and they all came along on 12^th March where they were presented with a cheque for £1,800.00 from our Club Secretary Michele Sherwood.

So how did the concept of ‘Field Gun’ arise? Well, the actions of sailors in the Siege of Ladysmith during the Boer War in 1899-1900 entered national and naval folklore: guns from warships were dismantled and turned into field guns, then transported more than 100 miles inland. On the final leg the guns were carried and hauled by men of the Naval Brigade over harsh terrain, before joining battle and ultimately relieving the beleaguered troops. Deeds on the battlefield gave birth to one of the toughest and most iconic competitions in Royal Navy history: the Field Gun Competition. In various formats, from the legendary run each year at the Royal Tournament for more than nine decades, to the Brickwoods race today hosted at HMS Collingwood and junior/cadet runs, the Field Gun tradition has played a key, recurring role in fostering teamwork, discipline, and military heritage.

Following the first meeting of the new Committee in late December 2024, it was agreed that a change to the annual subscription renewal be brought in. With immediate effect, there will be no grace period for renewing memberships after they fall due at 30th September each year. Everyone knows that the renewal time is the same time every year and yet regularly we have many people who do not renew on time and have to be chased. Memberships can be renewed before the cut off date and if you do so early, your membership is still valid through to the following 30th September. Please speak to myself or any Committee member for clarification if you need it.

As always, don’t forget to keep an eye on the ‘What’s On’ page for up-coming events. This information will also always be on the tv screens in the Club, along with info on the notice boards and flyers.

Stay Safe !