Our Troopie statue, forged in honour of those who served and those who fell with the Regiment in Rhodesia will be rededicated and given a permanent home in a ceremony to take place over the weekend of the 27 of September in Hatfield House www.hatfield-house.co.uk England.

For the first time since 1980 the Regiment will have a home where its traditions and history will be commemorated and those who served will be remembered.

For more details on the weekend please contact the Ramada Jarvis Hotel,
Address: Ramada, Hatfield St Albans Road West, Hatfield Herts AL10 9RH.
Tel: 0844 8159042 Fax 01707264019. www.ramadajarvis.co.uk/hatfield

When booking you will need to quote RLIRA and the package colour you require. A £50.00 non-refundable deposit will be required. There are only 9 smoking rooms and a total 126 rooms available.

You will need to contact the hotel directly in order to book your reservation. Please book early to avoid disappointment. Should space at the Ramada hotel prove to be a problem however, there is a Premier Travel Lodge within a ¼ of a mile to take any over-spill that will also do a room deal if required. This Hotel is sited directly opposite the Galleria shopping centre, which offers everything from cinemas to restaurants and brand named shopping.

Appeals for help

The cost of mounting the Troopie, the framing of the Colours and the organisation of the rededication ceremony on Sunday, 29 of September will cost £3500. The RLI Association would like to make a request for donations to help in meeting these costs.

If you could help by sending £10 Stirling, $25 Australian, New Zealand, R130, South Africa, or $20 US and Canadian to the bank account of the RLI Association to assist us in this project. For details of how you can forward donations please see [Link to banking information] You don’t have to limit yourself to a £10 donation, and of course we will even be grateful for €20 from our Eire and European members! Sadly $50000000 Zims just won’t cut it!

The Exco Committee would like to stress that the monies raised with this appeal are to be used only for the strict purposes of paying for the services necessary to repair, prepare and mount the pre-UDI colours on the Chapel wall at Hatfield House and the proper siting and raising of the Troopie statue.

A lot of organisation has gone into this weekend. Ouens, we need your help to give the Troopie and all that it stands for, a home and to make this weekend a success, if you can, please help.

Your donations can be sent direct to The RLIRA bank account in the UK as follows:

Direct Deposits;
Account Name: The Rhodesian Light Infantry Regimental Association (RLIRA)
Bankers: NatWest
Sort Code: 60-02-13
Account Number: 62234145

NatWest Bedford
81, High Street
Bedford
MK40 1YN

Credit Cards;
Martyn Hudson can take credit card payments during office hours, but please remember: Do not put your credit card details on an email always post or phone them, these would be processed through his business; Carparts Direct Ltd.

TEL: 01234 376712 or mobile: 07788788095

Cheques; Make payable to Rhodesian Light Infantry Regimental Association (RLIRA) and post to
Corner view
1, School Lane
Bolnhurst
Bedford
MK44 2EN
Uk

Brief summary of the Weekend Events

1. 12.00 pm onwards: Registration and issuing of membership cards and your souvenir bags will be handed to you.
2. World wide members meeting to commence at 2.30pm. It is the intention to try and get our Patron, Chairman, Lord Salisbury and the 3 branch chairmen to attend the meeting, which should last approx 1hr 20mins. An agenda will follow closer to the time.
3. During the day a video/PowerPoint presentation will be repeatedly shown. This presentation focuses on the RLI’s past and the future of the RLIRA
4. The evening meal will start at approx 7.30pm along with a disco to party the night away, the Bar has very generous opening times for those who would prefer to tell war stories.
5. 9.00am Sunday: Hired coaches will depart from the Hotel and take you to Hatfield House family Chapel for a 45minute church service lead by the Rev Clive Larrett, Chaplain to the UK Branch .The Colours will be on display and the pre UDI Colours will be mounted in their cases on the wall at the rear of the chapel
6. The coaches will then take us to the site of the Trooper Statue for the re-dedication and wreath laying ceremony .This will last for approx 1hr.
7. We will then depart for the Hotel and lunch.
8. For those of you that have never been to Hatfield House the distance between venues is about a 20min walk hence the coaches.
9. Shortly after Lunch the Rev Clive Larrett will give a short talk on the importance of the association and officially close the ceremonies.

1. The costs for the weekend have been split into two parts; as mentioned, you will need to pay the hotel directly for accommodation.
2. Tickets for the weekend will be £25.95 for the member and £10.00 for their partners.
3. Included in this you will get a souvenir bag containing a commemorative beer tankard with the RLI crest on one side and the Trooper on the other with the service date, and two programmes of the weekend’s events made to a very high standard.
4. The profits from the ticket sales will be funding the coaches, the disco and all the other events that are happening during the weekend.
5. The tickets need to be paid directly to the association bank account or you can post a cheque payable to RLIRA to my residential address. However I need to be notified when you have purchased your ticket as we will only order the bags according to ticket sales.
6. The initial ticket sales will be open to RLI members until the 31 July. After that, tickets will be offered to the RAA, so please book early. We need a big turn out guys and appreciate your support for this event. Let us make it an event never to be forgotten.
7. Unfortunately no ticket, no entry. Everybody who has paid will be issued with a tag as proof of payment.
8. Dress Code for the weekend: Saturday, smart casual, no jeans, Sunday: suits or Blazers and tie, medals may be worn and CIB’s; many still in stock if you need one. In order to achieve some level of uniformity no berets are to be worn.