Welcome to the latest update from the Hook Veterans Club Start-Up .  A decent amount of progress has been made during the last month and has set us up well to achieve our first coffee morning within the next couple of weeks.

Membership/General Interest

One of the biggest issues that we are facing is getting the message out to people that may be interested in this venture.  Whitewater Health agreed to help try to overcome this difficulty by sending a simple message to those people registered with the surgeries, both Hook and Hartley Wintney, who had identified themselves as forces veterans.  On 6 May they were able to send this message out.  A big thank you to them for their help in getting this going.

The response so far hasn't yet lived up to what we were hoping and we are now continuing with efforts to spread the word via conventional posters, information flyers and social media.  The response was however, enough to decide to push on and get the meetings started, thereby providing another way of spreading the word.

The number of regular attendees/members is important because as we start applying for grants and funding we will almost certainly be asked to state the level of impact this club will have on the local community.  If you are interested, even if only to find out what's happening, please let us know.  There is no formal commitment but we need to have available "membership" figures if we are to be successful with grant applications.

Funding

On 10 May we attended Basingstoke Festival of Transport and was able to visit our friends on the stand of the Basingstoke Veterans Club.  They are a lot more advanced than us and have been gladly providing advice when needed.  Whilst speaking with the Basingstoke Team we were fortunate enough to meet with Cllr Paul Miller who has played a big part in funding for the Basingstoke Club.  He was able to provide us with contacts and the name of the Forces Champion for Hart district. The next step is to contact them to find out more information on potential grants and how to apply for them.

Publicity

The decision was taken early on in the Start-Up that a website will be an important vehicle for publicity and the viewing stats indicate that this will be the case. People are looking at the site, even if some of them are a fair distance from Hook.

First Coffee Morning

Messages have been sent out, to those people that have already provided us with their details, asking for a preferred meeting day.  On Fri 5 June we will decide which day meetings will take place and start preparing for the first meeting.  Thanks to the help and generosity of the Trustees of the building/group, the meetings will be taking place in The Sue Hedges Memorial Hall, Raven Road, Hook, RG27 9HH (7th Bramshill Scout Group Hall).  All necessary insurances are in place for the regular meetings and also for the Hook Village Show.