We're on the move!!

Hi Guys,

You may or not know we have been experiencing quite a few problems with the host of our AOBA forum. So much so that we have decided to leave then and host our forum on our own platform.

The good news to this move is that we will gain complete control over the forum and be able to take regular back-ups ensuring our stories and histories are never lost.

The bad news is we all need to re-register on the new forum, and so I invite you to visit us in our new home at www.arborfieldoldboys.co.uk/forum where you will find the log on screen.

We have made a significant change in the registration process following on from feedback. Now you are very welcome to use any User Name you are happy with, so if you have a favourite please feel free to make use of it. Later in the registration process you will be asked for your Real Name so we still know who we are talking to!

Larry, Greg, myself and all the lads on the Arborfield Old Boy's forum look forward to welcoming you to our new home soon.

Kindest Regards,

David (Tich) Schofield 65A



Arborfield Old Boys' Association

AR (Bob) SISSON 57A

Hi again lads

It is with a sad heart I have to inform you all that Bob Sisson passed away at 0300 hours this morning (Thursday 22 Oct 09)

We have been informed by Mike Davis, a close friend of Bob, that the funeral will take place on Wed 28 Oct 09 at 1000 hours. Further details regarding the funeral service, its location and donations will be sent to you later this weekend.

A few of the lads have already decided to attend the funeral and if in line with the family's wishes they intend to lay a wreath on behalf of all 57ers. Donations will be gratefully received for this or to a nominated charity if the family would prefer this. Details will follow.

At the moment our thoughts are with Bob's family and on behalf of all 57ers a sympathy card is being sent to Judy and children today.

Take care.

Roger
Trix


Arborfield Old Boys' Association

Forum connection problems x2

Looks like our hosts are still having problems with their servers. All the forums across the world using them are down today. Can't get on the help-line to see what/when the problem will be sorted, but will keep all informed.

Arborfield Old Boys' Association

National Memorial for all Old Boys.

Update .....

The Army Apprentices Memorial was discussed in great detail at the management meeting held in Arborfield on 13th October. There is now a steering committee with representatives from all 4 schools and they are tasked to come up with designs/costs/logistics/fund raising in time for our AGM, but Gordon Bonner did send in this early sketch following their initial thoughts.

It seems both the RAF and Royal Navy already have their memorials to their 'junior tradesman' so the focus is on developing a stunning memorial worthy of our A/Ts. Gordon can explain it better then I - but the 4 stone benches represent the 4 schools and the centre plaque will say something about the number of apprentices, whilst the main plaque with the school badge will say something about the importance army apprentices have had to the success of the army over the years. Naturally this report is 3rd hand - and our representatives will keep us all informed as to progress. I understand from Gordon the steering committee are meeting up again at some point towards the end of this month.

Lastly Gordon told me he thought the costs might be c£50,000 so we have to come up with a number of fund raising initiatives!




Arborfield Old Boys' Association

The Army Apprentice National Memorial

Our own Gordon Bonner 49B has sent in this .................

An Appeal for Funds.

Calling all ex-boys who were graduates of the Army Apprentice Schools located at Harrogate, Chepstow, Carlisle and Aborfield.

A steering committee has been formed to raise funds, design, and build a National Memorial, dedicated to all those boys who passed through the system in the last seventy years. The Memorial is to be located at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alreswas, Staffordshire.

Contributions to the fund should be sent to: Major Mike J. Davis MBE, Rosebank, New Buildings, Sandford, Crediton, Devon. EX 17 4PP

Cheques should be made payable to: AOBA, Account No 2


Arborfield Old Boys' Association

Forum connection problems - update

Received this email from our forum hosts ..............


Forums maintenance this Friday, October 9, 2009

Dear users,

As you know, Forumotion has been suffering slowdowns for the past few days.
These issues appeared while installing new servers. Therefore, we have been facing here a hardware problem that we are trying to repair as fast as possible.
It's with this in mind that we announce you a complete and last maintenance on our service Friday morning (GMT +1).
Your forums will be unavailable for a period of time between 20 and 60 minutes.
No worry to have, this is a routine maintenance so there is no risk of data loss on your forums. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Best,
Forumotion staff.


Arborfield Old Boys' Association

Forum connection problems

It seems today we have connection issues with our forum server. We are really sorry about this and hope that our hosts can rectify the problem soonest. As we understand it all forums using the server have the same problem.

We will keep everyone advised as to progress, so please check back here regularly.

Arborfield Old Boys' Association