Bristol organiser Brian
Brian Matthews, Chairman of the Bristol Postal Retired Branch, talks to Abbe Bates about his productive years organising for the club and how he has adapted the way it works to accommodate this success.
The first thing Brian Matthews emphasises when I meet him is the Matthews motto, proudly displayed on the family crest; ‘If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.’ These words go a pretty long way to summing up how Brian views his job as a group organiser.
The Bristol Postal Retired Branch, which until March was known as the Bristol Post Office Retired Officers Association, has been going for many years. “We changed the name to something a bit less wordy,” explains Brian. “Many firms we dealt with would abbreviate the heading and you can imagine some of the abbreviations!”
Changing times
The Bristol Postal Retired Branch is part of the National Federation of Royal Mail & BT Pensioners – there are just over 200 branches around the UK with 100,000 members altogether – and is around the fifth largest with just over 1,000 people.
Brian was Social Secretary for the Bristol Branch for around 14 years until he became Chairman in March, and built up a strong base of day trips, UK breaks and overseas holidays as well as organising coffee mornings, lunches and theatre trips. In March, following the AGM of the Branch, the Social Committee met and delegated responsibilities. The tasks are now spilt as follows; coffee mornings, overseas trips, inland trips, day trips, shows/lunches and services (this is something Brian set up to encourage ‘visits on your own doorstep’, involving booking group tickets for local attractions and then allowing group members to go whenever they liked), all co-ordinated by the new Social Secretary Dave Press. The Social Committee meet about four times a year and these meetings are chaired by Brian. Equally, the Branch now has a Business Committee of some ten officers, which also meets about four times a year and again their meetings are chaired by Brian. Under this system, both sections of the Branch are fully aware of each others activities via Brian. “The great benefit of this is that no-one is overloaded by all the work,” he explains.
The coffee mornings (under the control of committee member Gordon Cowley) are held every month from September to June at a room at Snooker City in Bristol. Says Brian. “Here, people can book day trips with Fred Perrett, inland trips with Mervyn Bullock, overseas trips with myself, shows and lunches with Judy Horler and services with Margaret Lock.”
The branch programme for the following year is published at the October coffee morning. Says Brian, “There is sometimes a problem booking so early with venue suppliers as they have not decided the next year’s admission price. We normally overcome this by offering them the guarantee of a full coach of at least 49, if they will honour the current year’s price.” He continues, “Being a pensioner group means we suffer a high mortality rate and with our source mainly the Post Office, this no longer exists in the manner it did before. To overcome this problem, we are introducing a scheme from January, known as Local Members. Guests of our members, either friends or relatives who have joined us on various trips in the past and asked if they can join, will be allowed to join the social side of the Branch, with a reduced annual fee.”
Far and wide
Brian is continuing organising overseas trips and in his new role as Chairman and during his time as Social Secretary, he organised a variety of breaks to destinations ranging from Holland to New Zealand.
“My first overseas holiday was to Holland, which I arranged myself as a result of a familiarisation visit with the Dutch tourist board, but after the Package Travel Regulations came into force in 1994, I now use the services of tour operators. I always include everything in the price, including entrance fees to attractions.” Brian has returned to the country several times since including with Hereford-based Norman Allen. “I found the company and the holiday very good.”
One tour operator which Brian repeatedly uses is Travelscope, based in Gloucestershire. “My first holiday with the company was a seven-day break to Jersey in 1997, staying near St. Helier, in the Le Coie Hotel. I took 130 people!” he explains. “Again, Travelscope is a company I’ve built up a good relationship with. I know I can ring up and will get a good deal.”
A memorable overseas trip Brian booked with Travelscope was a Norwegian Fjords Apple Blossom Cruise on the MV Van Gogh. “This was a nine-day cruise around Norway,” he reports. “As the ship departed for our journey back to England, we even had a helicopter filming our departure!”
Another tour operator, Uxbridge-based Collette Worldwide Holidays, is regularly used by Brian since he started organising long-haul holidays about six years ago. “I work very well with the company; I like the fact that most meals come included and I can put my own editorial onto the publicity material for my group.” The first holiday enjoyed by the group with Collette was to New Zealand in 2001. “This was a 23 day trip, which took in places such as Queenstown and Christchurch. We also took part in sand surfing on the dunes in the Cape Reinga area – even one of our 80-year old members took part!” laughs Brian.Since then, Brian has been to the Grand Canyon and America’s Music Cities with the company. “The Canyon Country package is very good,” reflects Brian.
The America’s Music Cities package, meanwhile, was so popular in 2005 that he set off again this November with 19 people. “This is a wonderful holiday including stays in Memphis, Branson and Nashville with visits to Graceland and the RCA Studio B,” says Brian. “One of the highlights is the stay in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. It covers nine acres undercover!”
In July this year, meanwhile, Brian took a group of 62 away on a St. Petersburg and the Baltic Capitals Cruise with Travelscope for 10 days. “I give Travelscope 10 out of 10 for this holiday,” says Brian.”
Home comforts
When Brian was organising every aspect of the club’s trips, he arranged day trips to all sorts of places within around a three hour travelling time from Bristol. One particular past trip he arranged was entitled ‘Road, Rail and Sea’ and involved a trip to Devon. “I arranged a cruise on the River Exe with Stuart Line Cruises, based in Exmouth,” explains Brian. “I’ve recommended the company to several people since.” After lunch in Exmouth, the group then enjoyed a trip on Seaton Tramway from Colyton to Seaton and paid a visit to Lyme Regis for a cream tea.
As part of his plan to start dividing up organising responsibilities, Brian actually enlisted the help of Fred Perrett in arranging the branch’s day trips about a year ago. Since then, recent trips have included the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, Fonman Castle near Barry in Wales and a repeat visit to Devon, including a ride on Seaton Tramway again. “On this trip, the company reserved two trams especially for our coachload and we went in the opposite direction this time, from Seaton to Colyton,” comments Brian. “I also popped into the station cafe at Colyton before the trip to arrange a cream tea for the group. It was very good.”
The Black Country Living Museum also went down well. Dave Press took part in the trip and comments, “One of the best parts is the recreated Victorian schoolroom where you all have to line up before you go in to have your hands checked for cleanliness!”
Fonman Castle, meanwhile, was certainly an experience. Brian explains, “We had a guided tour of the Castle and then were treated to a cream tea in the library with the owner.”
“The group has also visited the Birmingham Tattoo several times. Says Brian, “The NEC team, who we book through, are good to work with.”
On all the group’s day trips, the services of Eagle Coaches of Bristol are always used. “I started with Eagle many years ago by inviting their Marketing Manager to attend my first Social Committee meeting. We made a loyal bond then and we have worked well ever since,” he reveals.
Regular matinee visits to the local Bristol Hippodrome also add a theatrical touch to the programme. “We get really good prices for the theatre and people make their own way there. Since April, its been easier for pensioners to get around the city as the government has introduced free bus travel for the over 60s,” comments Brian. “And we’ve seen shows such as Scrooge, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins in recent years,” adds Dave. As an afterthought, Brian states, “We never go to the West End, its just too expensive and difficult for coaches.”
UK stays away
As well as day trips, short breaks in the UK make up part of the club’s annual programme. Brian has taken the branch to many destinations over the years, including Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, Birmingham, Torquay, Bournemouth, Scarborough and Chester.
During his time as Social Secretary, Brian introduced a mystery weekend every year, where members would not know where they were going until they arrived. “A particularly enjoyable one was in 2004, staying at the Britannia Hotel Coventry,” says Brian. “I arranged visits to the nearby city of Birmingham including trips to The Birmingham Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses and a Blue Badge guided tour of the city taking in the Symphony Hall.” Mervyn Bullock, who now organises these sorts of trips, continues, “Visiting the Symphony Hall was very good. You really got a sense of the acoustics.” Brian arranged this break with the help of West Yorkshire-based Simply Groups “I have used the company a few times and get on very well with everyone there,” says Brian.
The year before, two coachloads of members enjoyed a five-day 1940s break at the Rosdean Hotel in Bournemouth, now no longer in existence (although the Scarborough-based Epworth Group that is was part of is). This followed a five-day break in 2002 at the same hotel, with an Around the World theme. “In 2002, the hotel was decorated each night to reflect different countries, such as America and Italy, with themed food and dress code,” explains Brian. The 1940s break, meanwhile, incorporated a day when everyone became involved in wartime army duties. “Myself and two others were put on jankers – meaning punishment – and we had to perform tasks such as peeling swedes and washing teacloths!” laughs Brian.
In 2005, Brian arranged two different holidays with Torquay-based Daish’s Travel Group. “In January, we stayed at the Devonshire Hotel in Torquay on a similar Around the World in 5 Days break, visiting Paignton Zoo amongst other excursions,” states Brian. “Then, in June, I took 90 people altogether to the Isle of Wight for eight days, on two consecutive trips, staying at the Daish’s Hotel in Shanklin. We visited places such as The Needles Park at Alum Bay, Osborne House and Waltzing Waters after travelling to the Isle of Wight on a GTOA familiarisation trip in 2004. “Both the Shanklin and the Devonshire are good hotels. The Devonshire, in particular, is of a very good standard. Sadly I fear that the Isle of Wight is going to become similar to London in its attitude towards coaches.”
In his new role, Mervyn organised a break in February known as the ‘New Year Jolly’, through Teignmouth-based Majestic Tours. “It was a five-day break to Bournemouth staying at the Bay View Court Hotel, part of the Bournemouth Resort Hotels group, which was a very good venue and excursions were included such as a coach tour of the New Forest,” he explains. “I made enquiries about the holiday with several companies and none came close on price to Majestic Tours.” Mervyn’s second trip was a six-day break in Blackpool this September, again booked through Majestic Tours.
Future plans and advice
Future trips for Brian include a nine-day cruise with Travelscope to the Western Mediterranean next September whilst Merv is taking trips to Eastbourne and Llandudno next year. Fred, meanwhile, has day trips arranged every month from April to October in 2007.
Asking for advice and giving comments on various aspects of the job, Brian says, “If anyone has any ideas on group insurance, particularly for pensioners, please let me know. I’d also like to see tourist attractions include more ladies toilets in renovation work as they will then have time to stop in the gift shop rather than queuing. I also dislike 0870 numbers and if I am not given a direct line then my business goes to someone else.” Mervyn adds, “I always find it difficult to find venues for comfort stops that can cope with a group so any suggestions would be welcome.”
Brian takes his role very seriously and wears his heart on his sleeve. “The best part of the job is all the cards and thank you letters I receive afterwards and the satisfaction I feel when I see people enjoying life.” Mervyn agrees, “I certainly enjoy it,” and as Dave says. “All we want to do is help people.”