Despite it being early in the year, things are progressing well both within the Essex HMVA and with our Military and Flying Machines Event. The Charity celebrated its first birthday in February, we have had a regular influx of membership enquiries and new members, and many requests to support events not just in the Essex area, but also further afield. We will once again be supporting the Chelmsford Industrial Museum in their "Marconi Day" events with a Military vintage wireless display and have been invited to several Armed Forces Day events which we plan to support. We are also very excited about working with the Essex Regiment Museum to support and work with them on their future events. In addition, the Essex HMVA has been approached to support several media events recently including featuring in the filming of a WW2 themed film.

Whilst I'm on the subject of events, please take a moment to check that you can come along and support the Southend Robin Hood Country Show on the 4th and 5th of July. We would like that all members who are able to do so, attend so we can have an impressive display of military vehicles there.

We have been working on several things that, we think, will support our members. We have noticed that members often receive requests for risk assessments when booking into events, and to assist them we have created a generic risk assessment and Health and Safety Statement for our members which is available, free of charge, for their use.

On a similar vein, it's worth checking your public liability insurance as many do not cover displays or accidents arising from them, so, whilst your vehicle may be covered, an incident arising, for example, from someone tripping over a part of your display and injuring themselves may not. The Essex HMVA have secured cover for this type of incident, and more details can be provided to members on request.

We have recently registered with the United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association (UKARA) which means that the Essex HMVA can now approve members who wish to obtain realistic looking Airsoft guns for re-enactment and living history display purposes.

Military and Flying Machines Show 2015

Show planning is going well - better than expected in fact. We plan to make some announcements imminently on the air display side - to quote our air display director: it's looking to be our best one ever! Display and Living History wise, we already have over half the bookings that we had last year! With this in mind, if you want a particular space/location I would recommend booking in ASAP. We are looking to provide improved arena battles and displays this year and are in talks to provide at least two main battle displays from different historical periods.

Whilst the air display is a popular feature of the show, we are very much about historic military vehicles and vehicle wise we hope to have some "special" and unique exhibits - more details soon! If you wish to come and you have any specific requirements, or require any specific arrangements, please let us know as early as possible, especially if you are planning to attend with larger vehicles. If you are bringing a vehicle to the show and want if featured in our show web page, please send us some pics and a brief history, and we'll do our best to feature it.

We are in discussion to have some VIP visits and talks, and arrangements are progressing well on that front. Trade stall booking enquiries are buoyant, and, whilst we appreciate planning for the year ahead is not always on a stall holder's priority list, we would certainly encourage early booking, which will secure a discounted rate.



BARN

Currently the Barn is full, however there may be some movement in the near future, so if you have an interest in storing your vehicle there, please let us know.

SHOWS

We have had several new shows added to the events list so I recommend you go to www.essexhmva.co.uk, where you can see the latest info on up and coming events

Likewise, if you are an event organiser, please use our contact us form to enter your event details so we can add it to our web site in order that our members can see it.

Colin Tebb

Essex HMVA Chairman