bbldpc newsletter 2014.doc

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“You can please some of the people all of the time;

you can please all of the people some of the time;

but you cannot please all of the people all of the time”.

Attributed to the poet and Benedictine monk John Lydgate of Bury (c. 1370 - c. 1451)

Lydgate’s words have pretty much become a universal truth - but that doesn’t stop people trying to find out how much “pleasing” they are actually doing. There must be armies of researchers out there who slave away at getting people to answer questions, because hardly a day seems to go by without us being presented with the results of another new survey. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably take its conclusions with a pinch of salt, largely because it doesn’t correspond with your own experience, but also because you never know what sort of people have been surveyed and whether they deliberately put the ticks in the wrong boxes anyway. I confess that I don’t normally fill in surveys either, unless I’m comfortable with who is doing the asking and what they want to know. There’s also a suspicion that “We Value Your Feedback” has about as much sincerity as “Have a Nice Day” (is it me, by the way, or is that parting comment coming back into fashion as “Enjoy the rest of your morning/afternoon/evening”?). I did yield to temptation on surveys three times recently however, when Mr Barclay asked me to give him my opinions. There was the one survey which flashed up on Online Banking - but I lost interest when the questions went way beyond what I thought about Online Banking; then there was another on the performance of presenters at the Pensioners’ Clubs Annual Briefing - which asked me to choose between Poor, Average, Good or Excellent, on a purely subjective basis (how do you rate someone who presents very confidently but bores you to tears?); finally I was sent an online questionnaire about how Barclays had handled a complaint - and

the questionnaire itself begged another complaint when I found that it ran to 22 pages of questions, half of which didn’t seem to be relevant to my situation. I know that surveys aren’t always easy to design but I’m afraid that, in all three cases, one size didn’t fit all. Standing back a bit, I began to wonder exactly how the people at the receiving end would benefit from the results. My answers would probably go into the sausage machine along with answers gleaned from other people, I thought. Then someone would produce a sanitised statistical report, which wouldn’t contain enough meaningful detail to be of practical use. We all know that Barclays is facing a huge challenge in its efforts to rebuild overall quality and trust. In trying to find its level on the ‘Lydgate scale’ it has begun to use a Balanced Scorecard to “embed the right culture in our business and help us become the 'Go-To' bank”. The Scorecard sets out eight specific commitments

across the “5C’s” (Customers & Clients, Colleague, Citizenship, Conduct and Company) against which everyone can monitor how well it is doing. Inevitably the progress reports are painted with a very broad brush, but there’s more detail about it on the Barclays website if you’re interested in finding out. Some of it makes immediate sense to us mere mortals, but insomniacs might like to head

for the page headed Methodology and Data Sources, which includes (under the target for “% of women in senior leadership”) the fact that “Predictive analytics provide a 5 year road map for improvement of gender mix in the senior leadership pipeline based on the three levers of Hiring, Promotion and Attrition, as it relates to gender.”

There is of course another way of looking at “ticking all the right boxes”. My dictionary interprets the phrase as “a sure way to satisfying all of the apparent requirements for success”. In other words we want Barclays to “be doing things properly and be seen to be doing things properly”, in a way which we can understand - and for most of us this means down at ground level, which is where we interact with our former employer and where we can provide valuable feedback. It was with that thought in mind that I decided to write to each of the issuers of my three surveys to tell them what I really thought - and you can read about their reaction later on. By the same token, we need feedback about how we manage our Pensioners’ Club. It would be easy for your Committee just to sit round a table every three months and make our own minds up about how to do things, but doing so probably wouldn’t provide our Members with what they want. Similarly, having a Scorecard and lots of fancy measurements probably wouldn’t tell us very much either, and I’m sure you’d all be delighted if we sent you a 22 page questionnaire! So we have to look at other ways of finding out - and the simple answer is for us to talk to you, and for you to talk to us. On the one hand you may find our Committee Members chatting to you about how well particular Club activities (both social and welfare related) hit the spot. They can’t manage to speak to everyone of course, and for the most part the best opportunities come when we meet up at events. So, on the other hand, we need you to contact us with your views (rough or smooth) without being prompted. It’s always pleasing when people do that (and thank you to those who do) as having some kind of dialogue about things creates far more understanding than just ticking a box. We don’t bite, so there’s no need to be backward in coming forward - and we’re open to brickbats as well as bouquets! We can’t argue with John Lydgate’s maxim, and the Club exists for your benefit, so we don’t want to end up by not pleasing most of you most of the time. We take the view that, if we don’t know how you feel, we can’t do anything about it. If we still can’t do anything about it, at least it gives us the chance to explain why. If we can, without robbing Peter to pay Paul, then it gives us the chance to please a few more, more of the time. So do please let us have your occasional comments about any aspect of the way in which the Club is run, and any suggestions you’d like to make about how we might do things differently.

YOUR COMMITTEE As you may remember from my last Newsletter, we had to make a few changes at this year’s AGM, following the retirements of Colin Kidby, Wendy Smith and John Ambridge. Our regret at losing three Committee Members who had given such stalwart service to the Club was however tempered by the satisfaction of knowing that there was no shortage of volunteers to fill the consequent vacancies! The voting at the AGM was unanimous, and (so that you can recognise them) our current team is pictured below. It’s quite interesting that, without really trying, we always seem to accumulate a team of people who

come from different career backgrounds and who have different viewpoints and many different skills. What we all share though is the spirit of “togetherness” which pervaded the “old” Barclays, and which we’ve retained into our retirement. There are now 63 Barclays Pensioners’ Clubs, who by and large share a common Constitution. Their different geographical situation and spread of membership inevitably dictates that they operate in many

different ways, for all sorts of reasons. Some are less active than others, but whenever I meet members from other Clubs I’m often asked to explain “How do you manage to do it?”. The simple answer is that we’ve had a few years of practice and we’re pretty well organised by now - but none of the things we do would happen without a team of people who are happy to roll up their metaphorical (and sometimes physical) sleeves and get on with the job. I remember someone telling me when I first joined Barclays that “Banking isn’t so much about money, it’s more about people.” I’m not sure whether that still applies in today’s commercial world, but looking after people is certainly at the heart of what we do as a Committee. Once learned, never forgotten, I suppose. As I’ve said in previous Newsletters, you usually hear more from me than you do from anyone else. Yet while I may be more visible, floating serenely like a swan over the surface of the Club, it’s the energy, enthusiasm and support of my fellow Committee Members which help to feed the body and power the feet. My thanks go to all of them - on my behalf and yours.

A MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN CHARLES

Dear Fellow Pensioners

You don’t need me to tell you how hard our

Secretary, Doug, works on our behalf. One of his recent excursions was to correspond

with a Branch Manager regarding the ‘Digital Eagles’ initiative, in the hope of securing some participation

in one of our Computer Coffee Mornings.

The response he received was opaque, to say the least: “We, in the Milton Keynes Market, are keen to get involved and support the Pensioners Club, whether by way of Tea and Teach events and/or sharing the Branch Network Transformation journey. However

the meeting date in November is difficult for us across our Market as we have planned Assessment Centres.”

In Committee we spluttered, coughed and in the

end, laughed, since none of us had the faintest clue about what the individual concerned was saying.

There is a ‘New Speak’ abroad in Barclays.

I recall, some 14 years ago, my failing to comprehend some of the utterances emerging from senior

management, even then. It’s no wonder that the dwindling branch staff sometimes don’t know

whether they are on foot or horseback.

Eliza Doolittle was completely clear with the ‘new small talk’ when speaking of her mother’s demise:

“It were the gin what done it”. With whatever accent in which it was pronounced,

and with whatever imprecisions of grammar, her meaning was totally clear.

Barclays could take lessons from Eliza, I reckon.

Lest I appear rather negative about our former employer, I should say that in the scheme of things we are well looked after as a Pensioners’ Club by the

Bank. This is as it should be since each of us is, potentially, a fervent advocate of Barclays and

a supporter of its staff.

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the Committee for their work this past year and to wish all Members a very Happy New Year.

Please continue to support the Pensioners’ Club

so we can keep in touch with each other, renewing friendships and helping each other when we can.

Charles Pocock Chairman

WHERE ARE YOU? In many, many ways it’s much, much easier to get hold of information than it was when we were in short trousers or pinafore dresses. Newspapers, radio, TV, and the ubiquitous World Wide Web are full of it. Sometimes they only tell us part of the story - the bit that the Editor or producer thinks we should know, the headline “soundbite”, or the quantity that can be squeezed into the time available - and sometimes we’re bombarded with so much information that it becomes impossible to absorb it all. Then of course there’s the whole world of personal information. In theory the data protection rules and regulations mean that such information should only be kept for specific purposes and for a reasonable length of time. In practice however it’s pretty clear that lots of people don’t follow the rules, and information gets shared or sold on both to supposedly reputable organisations as well as unscrupulous ones. We keep information about our Members on the Club database, as you know. This mainly comprises simple identification and contact details, and your preferences for receiving information about events - all kept so that we know where to find you and can keep you informed about what the Club is doing. To make it work properly, the database needs to be as accurate as possible and that means that, if any of your details change, we need to be told. It’s a plea which I make annually and, by and large, our Members are getting very good at sending me messages by phone or e-mail when their circumstances change. So, thank you for that. It’s inevitable though that some changes will fall through the net. Far be it from me to “do a Delia”, so I have to rely on a bit of detective work instead. If someone changes their e-mail address, any messages which I send to an old address usually bounce back, which gives me the chance to contact the Member by other means. When I’m restricted to a postal address however it’s a bit more of a challenge, as I have no idea whether a letter has reached the intended recipient, or not. I do put “please return to sender if not known at this address” stickers on envelopes from time to time, but new residents at the stated address aren’t always constrained to do as I ask. If you do move house, or change your phone number, you probably put together a list of friends, relatives, businesses etc. who need to be told. If you could make sure that BBLDPC is on that list, I’d be grateful - and if your family or friends are arranging the move for you, please get them to let us know. You’ll find the contact details for the Club at the top of the first page of this Newsletter.

By the same token I may well be sending you information about events in which you are no longer interested - or even not sending you information about those in which you are! Just let me know if that’s the case, and I’ll try only to send what you want. If we do lose track of you, one option open to us is to contact Towers Watson, the administrators of the Barclays UK Retirement Fund, who maintain a database of all Barclays pensioners. They won’t disclose any of the details which they hold on their own database, but they will undertake to forward correspondence on our behalf. That, of course, will only be successful if you have advised Towers Watson in the first place - so, here’s another plea. If any of your contact or bank account details change, please make sure that you let Towers Watson know a soon as possible. If your account details change, you’ll need to give them one month’s notice to make sure that your pension gets paid into the right account. Every issue of connection magazine carries details of how to contact Towers Watson, but here’s a reminder

Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund Towers Watson PO Box 709 Redhill RH1 9EG

barclaysteam@towerswatson.com 01737 227567

This helpline is open from 09.00 to 17.00, Monday to Friday, with an out of hours message service.

When contacting Towers Watson, you will need to disclose your date of birth; NI number;

and payroll/employee ID number. Those of you who have internet access can get in touch electronically and also use the Towers Watson website to find out about your pension.

https://epa.towerswatson.com/doc/BCL/login.htm

User ID and password required. If you need help in gaining access to the site, e-mail

barclaysepareset@towerswatson.com

At present we also have the Barclays Pensions website (https://www.barclayspensions.co.uk/) and if you’ve visited that recently you’ll know that it’s in the process of being merged into the Towers Watson site. The new site needs to contain the sort of information which is going to be useful, so there’s now a request on the site for users to send in suggestions.

If you’ve got any ideas, please do send them in, as I’ve been nagging Barclays Pensions & Benefits for some time to give us opportunities like this - and I know that they are willing to listen!

THE CREEPING BINDWEED OF TECHNOLOGY I’m very much aware that mentioning this subject may make some of prick up your ears with eagerness, while others will skip to the next part of the Newsletter to find something more interesting. Please don’t run away, though, as there could well be something in this section to benefit you!

Whether we like it or not (and the jury is still out on that one) Barclays is embracing the digital revolution with a vengeance. We’ve been very rapidly faced with the challenge of doing most of our banking transactions on digital

devices, and the face of branch banking is changing beyond what any of us might have dreamed. It’s not too much of a challenge if you’re already surgically attached to a tablet and/or a smartphone, as our grandchildren seem to be, and find that your whole life is driven by instant and continual communication. The average smartphone user, by the way, spends 3 hours and 16 minutes every day performing 331 smartphone tasks; and switches on at 07:31 each day to check personal emails and Facebook, before they’re even out of bed. Most of them don’t realise that they are also storing up future recurring neck pain and “iPad shoulder”, and that they are probably already suffering from fomo (the “fear of missing out” - and, yes, it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary). If, however, the land of digital gadgets is an unknown (and slightly worrying) country, and visiting your local Branch makes you feel as if you’re on another planet, you may need a bit of help. Let’s start with Barclays Digital Eagles. You may have seen some of the advertising in the Media, which suggests that there are hordes of branch staff who will guide you through the digital maze and show you how to shop on the internet or make video calls to long lost relatives. They’ll even visit you at home or welcome you to a “Tea & Teach” session in the local Branch. The feedback we’ve been getting however indicates that the theory doesn’t yet match the practice, as different branches are moving at a different pace and the availability of teaching sessions is limited. Time will tell whether removing all of the counters and labelling all of the staff as Community Bankers will accelerate the process - but if you’re hovering on the verge of “going digital” you might want someone to hold your hand sooner rather than later. So, I’m trying to get some help. Two branches in our patch (Luton, George Street and Letchworth) have agreed to run special Tea & Teach sessions if I can find enough of our Club Members to attend. No dates are fixed at present, but if spending a couple of hours at either branch finding out which buttons to press to turn a smartphone or a tablet on (and then make it do what you want it to do appeals to you) just register an

interest with me (on 01525 876477 or by e-mail at honsec@bbldpc.org.uk) and I’ll see if we can arrange some help at a branch near where you live.

A little while after Digital Eagles had been launched, Barclays became aware that younger people weren’t always as good at getting into older people’s brains as older people were - and a programme has been started for “Silver Eagles” (but don’t get too excited, as there are only three of them in the country at present). As a Club however we were already ahead of the game with our well-established Computer Coffee Mornings, where we can do everything that a Digital or Silver Eagle can and more (and we’ll guarantee to talk to you in your own language). So, if you’d like to come and join us at one of those, you’re more than welcome. You’ll find some dates later in this Newsletter, and you can book in on the Club number. I’m trying to arrange for at least one Digital Eagle to come along as well from time to time, so that we can get the best of both worlds. Alongside that of course we have our own Mr Fixit (Mike Carr - mikecarr1950@gmail.com or 01525 852006). If you can’t get to a Computer Coffee Morning or you have a problem or some questions in between, Mike has a roving brief to do what he can to help. He’s able to discuss things over the phone, by e-mail, or through a home visit; he can (with your permission) arrange to view what’s happening to your computer via the internet; and can often help with upgrades and replacements. We have however had to introduce a new proviso. When Mike took on the role, we had no idea of how active he would be, but the Committee agreed to fund his travelling costs from the Club’s welfare budget. To our surprise (and delight) his activities have proved extremely popular, to the extent that we came close

this year to running out of money! So, we’ve made a decision that while the Club will fund travelling for his first visit, we’ll be asking Members to reimburse his travelling costs (at 45p per mile) for any subsequent visits. Members will also have the option of travelling to visit Mike, and there’s quite a lot that he can do remotely, so we’re hoping that the costs might not

prove too great a deterrent. His help of course comes free, and overall he’s still an awful lot cheaper than paying one of the “computer fixers” who advertise in your local paper (and the service he provides is at least as good, if not considerably better).

Finally, to end this section, a quick word about two other Barclays initiatives.

http://barclayscodeplayground.co.uk/

Designed for those between the ages of 7 and 17, in support of the general educational initiative for them to learn computer code. There are workshops available, but none yet in our area.

https://www.digitaldrivinglicence.barclays.co.uk/

Billed as “An interactive learning experience, endorsed by City & Guilds, to create a digital savvy society across the UK.” You’ll need to register before you can get to the pages which explain what it’s all about. Try your luck.

CONCERNED FEEDBACK You may remember me telling you last year that I’d been invited to a lunch at Churchill Place to give our feedback on the “Pensioner Experience” and to suggest what could be done better. Well, it was a successful meeting, chaired by Matt Hammerstein, Head of Customer Experience (whose articles you may have read in connection this year, and which appeared as a direct consequence of that meeting). It was refreshing both to be able to say exactly what we thought, and to say it to someone who listened and was prepared to do something about it. A number of issues were raised by the Clubs which took part, and taken away for consideration and action. Not unexpectedly it’s been a slow process, as the Barclays oil tanker takes a long time to change course as it ploughs through the ocean of Compliance. There’s also been the distraction of the restructuring into Personal & Corporate Banking, but progress is being made. One good thing is that we now have the ability to raise matters of concern about specific matters, and have them looked at by senior people. I have to label doing this as “concerned feedback”, otherwise the system forces it into the lengthy and tiresome process of becoming a complaint - and if that happens I’ll get another 22 page questionnaire! I mentioned on Page 1 that those 22 pages were something I’d taken issue with, and I’m beginning to discover that the whole complaints process is linked to regulatory requirements and the statistics which compare performance between banks. Whether we’ll see any changes as a result remains to be seen, as the same boxes for ticking need to be available across the board.

Members often tell me about their banking experiences or ask me if I know why Barclays does things in a certain way. I don’t always know the answers, but if what’s happened seems inexplicable, I’m prepared to try and find out. I use the same approach as we do for the Club, i.e. that, if the people who manage the situation or the processes aren’t told what it feels like from our perspective, they can’t do anything about it. Hence “concerned feedback”. During the past year we’ve caused investigations to be launched into changes made to the Online Banking website, and false information given out by the Helpline; call centres asking for unnecessary identification before carrying out simple requests; a branch request for cheques payable to the Club to show the full name, rather than “BBLDPC” (that requirement was swiftly overturned, but it highlighted a discrepancy in procedures); and why the amount of monthly repayments on Barclayloans “offered” to some of our Club Members are higher than their monthly income (still in course). I’ve just started digging to find out if ‘staff markers’ still have a value and, if so, how they relate to any benefits which might remain for former staff.

We had some feedback from the other direction in November when Charles, Penny and I represented the Club at the Annual Briefing for Pensioners’ Clubs. This was a shortened event this year, with the formal presentations turning out a bit like the curate’s egg. The headlines were that

• embedding cultural change is a major focus, and there is an absolute commitment to The Barclays Way (the Code of Conduct which “outlines the Values and Behaviours which govern our Barclays way of working across our business globally”). Those of you with internet access can view or download a copy at http://www.barclays.com/about-barclays/barclays-values.html).

• robust response to Media coverage on the basis that “Barclays can’t be certain that there aren’t still bad apples in the barrel, but we can ensure that the barrel isn’t rotten”.

• the key message on Barclays published results was “balance, resilience, and progress”

• a satisfactory agreement has been made with Barclays on the 2013 BBUKRF revaluation, and further contributions will be made this year and next, over and above what was agreed three years ago.

• Barclays is evolving the way it does business - to be simple and transparent, with more choice for customers, using

- Physical: a branch network with the latest technology; there will always be a branch network, but in different locations and with different opening hours

- Virtual: “SkyBranch” (the call and contact centre) which will provide video banking; web chats; and the use of social media

- Digital: smartphones (including Pingit and paying-in); and the use of 8,000 Digital Eagles and 20,000 colleagues with a “Digital Driving Licence”.

I have a summary of the presentations made on the day, which I’ll be happy to let you have on request. Clubs are invited to submit written questions to the Briefing (and I can also provide copies of those, together with the written answers). One of our questions was to ask how performance against Purpose, Values & Behaviour was monitored and measured, as there seemed to be little evidence of it being put into practice. The answer we got seemed to sidestep the question, so I tackled Steve Cooper (CEO of Personal & Corporate Banking) after the meeting and provided a few practical examples. He was interested enough to ask for more, so I subsequently sent in a variety of the experiences which had been related to me by our Club Members. He acknowledged that it made “painful reading” and is arranging for his team to discuss it with us in more detail. Talking of discussions, it’s time to mention . . .

BARCLAYS PENSIONS & BENEFITS One reason why the Briefing was shortened this year was because Barclays decided not to run the usual afternoon session which allowed Clubs to share information and experiences. That decision didn’t seem to be supported by any reasoned argument, and was announced to Clubs in July, along with the outsourcing of the Welfare Team function to Towers Watson. This meant the removal of the last remaining opportunity which Clubs had to have any discussion with Barclays Pensions & Benefits, so I jumped up and down a bit to say that it made no sense at all for us not to have any dialogue. As a consequence a meeting has been called with representatives from a few Clubs (including ours) “to gain a better understanding from Pensioner Clubs of the support they would like from Barclays and explore the options for more effective engagement”. This is a very encouraging step, and I hope to be able to report back in due course what has been discussed and/or achieved as a result. The other good news is that one of the written answers given to a question at the Annual Briefing said:

“Barclays is committed to continuing to support pensioner clubs and to help promote the services and support they offer”. Barclays Pensions & Benefits oversee the annual grants made to Pensioners’ Clubs, and the criteria for Club membership, and we have recently put in our application for 2015 funding (which should provide us with grants similar to those received in 2014). We also expect this year that a decision will be made on the membership criteria for deferred pensioners, as the same written answer said: “we will be giving serious consideration to reducing the eligibility criteria down from 20 years to help stimulate new members”. What this will mean in practice we have yet to discover, and we’ll keep you posted - but let’s continue with the theme of . . .

CLUB MEMBERSHIP There’s a sad part in every Newsletter, when it falls to me to record those Members who are no longer with us. By and large Barclays Pensioners in our area seem to be a pretty hardy lot, in spirit as well as in the flesh, but we’re inevitably reminded that ill health and the ageing process will continue to take their toll. So let us hold in remembrance those Club Members who have passed away: Frank Allison; Betty Baker; Tony Barrett; Lorraine Bird; Fred Breeze; Ernest Brown; Sue Cracknell; Christine Forster; John Grose; Heather Harrison; Don & Dorothy Hatch; Mike Highfield; Joyce Jenkins; Pam Knight; Max Merron; Stuart Nichol; Bill Pearson; Lynda Sayer; Margaret Symonds; Ollie Webster; and Marjorie Wooster. We also learned of the passing of former colleagues “Robbie“ Robjant, and Dennis Young. May they each rest in peace. I mentioned earlier the spirit of togetherness in the Club, and I was struck quite forcibly by this at a recent funeral. One of our late Members, with whom we had lost touch, had no relatives left in this country and the arrangements had been made by a caring neighbour, who was concerned that there would be nobody else in the congregation. It was a sad occasion, but she was overwhelmed when more than a dozen Club Members came to pay their last respects and to thank her for the care she had so willingly provided.

Every year there are several Members with whom we lose contact and whose fate is therefore unknown, and some who for various different reasons ask to be removed from the list. The other side of the coin though is that we continue to recruit new ones, and this year we’ve been pleased to welcome to the fold (with their respective partners): Caroline Ager; Chris Austin; Barry Fuller; Terry Gardner; Jill Graves; Mary Harris; Jacqui Jellis; Anne Maddison; Molly Madgin; Chris Mitchell; Sandra Osborne; Caroline Perry; Monique Prim; Clive Ramsay; Julie Reynolds; Beverley Rogers; Colin Ryan; and Susan Wiltshire.

The majority of those have been introduced by existing Members - and you know who you are, so “thank you” - with the remainder having made contact through connection magazine. Our message continues to be: “Don’t miss an opportunity to let your former colleagues know what they’re missing”. There are still a lot out there who qualify for membership, but who might only need a little nudge to join, so please spread the word if you come across any of them (and it’s surprising where you bump into people!). All I need to get them signed up is a name and postal address.

We know that a lot of our Members are involved in various community and charitable enterprises, and it’s always good when we learn that one of them has been publically recognised for their efforts. So I’m pleased to record that, awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list, was: “Stephen Lindsay, Lately Chair, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Development Committee, The Prince’s Trust. For services to Young People”. Well done Steve, and many congratulations! You may have read in connection magazine that Heather Mitchell has been appointed as the new managing editor. Her first contact with Clubs was to ask if we could get in touch about any of our Club Members who have interesting activities. So, is there anything you’d like to tell me about yourself?

It’s a sign of the times that all but one of this year’s recruits has an e-mail address, which brings the cyberspace total up to 66% of all Members. It’s a factor which makes communication easier, but also one which prompts me to ask both those who aren’t (and those who are) connected to the internet . . .

ARE YOU OK? - and brings me to the second of my annual pleas. Our Constitution includes in its objects that the Club:

“shall concern itself with the provision of welfare assistance from the Bank's charitable funds and the

welfare needs of its members in general.” It’s a very broad ambition, and one which we try to achieve with the resources which we have available - bearing in mind that we don’t have any special training nor do we have a bottomless pit of money to play with.

So while in many cases we have to apply ourselves to “finding a man who can”, that in itself can be no mean achievement, and it can be extremely beneficial to those who need help but don’t know which way to turn. The snag is of course that we can only offer help if we know that you need it, and that means (unless you tell us) that we have to rely on the bush telegraph. Some of the things we’ve done, and can do, are to

• put people in touch with organisations which have the necessary expertise and knowledge about specific problems

• provide money from our Club funds towards getting something done for you which makes a difference to your wellbeing. The proviso here is that the available funds are very limited, but sometimes a little can go a long way

• get one of our Welfare Officers to guide you with applications for larger amounts from the Spread Eagle Foundation or the Bank Workers Charity (we applied successfully this year for Christmas Grants for two Club Members, and each received £500; other Members have benefitted from other significant grants in the past)

• find the right contact details for getting in touch with particular Barclays departments (which can be quite tricky these days) and helping Members resolve problems which the normal channels didn’t seem to help with

• give you information about the benefits which are available to Barclays pensioners (albeit that special arrangements for staff are becoming harder to find) and about offers of discounts from a wide range of retailers.

We can’t promise welfare miracles, but you’ve got nothing to lose simply by asking! If you don’t find that easy to do, then don’t despair. Just tip the wink to a family member, or a former colleague, and get them to let us know instead. We’ll get one of our Committee Members (who all act as Welfare Officers for the Club) to give you a call, and they’ll do their best to help.

The other prime object of the Club Constitution is

“to promote social and recreational facilities giving opportunities for members to meet from time to time” and (at the risk of deafening you with a blast of sound from our own trumpet) I’d have to say that it’s something we seem to be able to do rather well. So, let’s have a look at what you got up to during 2014 (or could kick yourself for missing) when our Club Members went . . .

OUT AND ABOUT Somehow or other, we managed to put on 51 events during 2014! Well actually it wasn’t “somehow or other”. It was all down to the skills, enthusiasm and commitment of our team of event organisers. If you’ve ever organised any events yourself, you’ll understand and appreciate the amount of work that goes into them, most of it behind the scenes. To their credit, everything generally goes very smoothly, and the fact that our Members keep on turning up to them is a tribute to their efforts. So, as we take a look at the year gone by, say a quiet “thank you” for their efforts. Then, when you go to the next one, you can thank them in person as well!

Our first event of the year was one of our quarterly COMPUTER COFFEE MORNINGS, for which I generally organise the venue and buy the cakes. The hard work is done by our team of “experts”, who would hesitate to call themselves as such, but clearly provide an invaluable fount of knowledge - Mike Carr, Yvonne Herrington, and Geoff Hanson. Over time the range and intensity of the questions they are asked has developed beyond belief, but they rarely get flummoxed. The other welcome and increasing benefit is that, as the sharing of knowledge has increased, so has the ability of the members of audience to help each other out. Our regular venue is the Learning Zone at Poplars Garden Centre (close to Junction 12 of the M1), which has all of the necessary facilities for our meeting plus the added attraction of a bit of retail therapy and a popular restaurant. It’s always a very informal event, which means that absolute beginners will feel just as much at home as the regulars. So if you need a map and a little push to start you off down the digital road, or some help to cope with the traffic more effectively, just come along.

Next in line was the first of our COFFEE MORNINGS - the backbone of our events calendar, and popular because (Harpenden excepted) they are all held at Garden Centres located in various parts of our area; they involve eating, drinking and the opportunity for a good chat; and they’re all free. What better way to spend an enjoyable couple of hours! If you’ve never been to an event, then a Coffee Morning is a good place to start. The chances are that you’ll meet someone you haven’t seen for a while, and the organisers will always introduce you to different people if you’re short of someone to talk to.

Our hardworking team in 2014 was composed of Val Hill (Codicote and Hitchin); John Ambridge (Great Amwell); Charles & Liz Pocock (Harpenden); Carole Sullivan (Wendover); and Wendy Smith (Woburn Sands). On average over each of the past four years our Members have consumed around seven hundred coffees and cakes - and the good news is that you’ll have the chance to do the same again in 2015! Not everyone is able to take time off during the morning, so twice a year (usually in March and September) we take afternoon tea. A CREAM TEA to be precise, at Aylett Nurseries, St Albans, which John & Nev Campbell organise on our behalf. Each event this year attracted about 70 people, who also found time to visit the plant house and the Gift Shop, and to browse the extensive stock of garden goodies. As with our other events, we don’t count the calories.

The third event of the year was cancelled. We usually try to fit in a RAMBLE in February but the early season rain left the ground too waterlogged for safety. So it wasn’t until April that our intrepid walkers put on their

boots to tread the Chilterns paths near Pirton with Philip and Margery Purdon. Later months saw

them drinking in the sights of the bluebells of Dockey Wood with Stuart Bremner, and exploring the area around Cromer Hyde (the Purdons again). Stuart (who co-ordinates the rambles) is always on the lookout for different places to go and different people to show them to us. So, if you have a favourite ramble or two (of four miles or so) with a convenient pub in the picture for a bite to eat, please do let us know.

The season for OUTINGS began in February, and John Ambridge managed to fit in a record number of twelve this year (albeit that some of them were to the same destination, so that everyone who wanted to go could be accommodated). John usually tries to cater for all tastes, and this year was no exception, with visits to the Cutlers’ Hall (for those on the waiting list from 2013); the Watermens’ Hall (twice); Kimbolton Castle; Capel Manor Gardens & Middleton House;

a Canal Boat trip (cream tea included) on the Grand Union; St Albans Cathedral Flower Festival; The Trenchard Museum at RAF Halton; and the Vauxhall Heritage Centre (three times). Mike Carr managed to add a RAIL TRIP to that list, taking a group of forty-nine down to the West Country - with a choice of about five hours spent in Bath or Bristol before returning home again. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t particularly kind to us but a few hardy souls, determined to see the sights, braved a city tour in an open top bus! We’re off to Chester/Llangollen in March 2015 and Mike hopes to claim some seats for other suitable destinations later in the year, as soon as they are announced by the tour operators.

We’re bound by our Constitution to hold an ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, but the mere mention of those three words is often enough to make people’s eyes glaze over. The main purposes of an AGM, of course, are to demonstrate that the Club is in good health financially, and to ensure that we have a Committee and Officers in place who are capable of managing the Club for everyone’s benefit. It would be very easy to do that in a fairly stiff and starchy way - but people know by now that “stiff and starchy” aren’t words that you’ll find in the Committee’s vocabulary. So we try to make it a very sociable event, with plenty of coffee, cakes and conversation (what else!), and our popular “book swap” table, as well as the chance for you to air your views about how your Club is run, and to make suggestions for shaping its future activities. We had a record attendance in 2014, when 95 Club Members came to join in the fun, and to show their appreciation of the major contributions made by Colin Kidby, Wendy Smith and John Ambridge, who (as mentioned earlier) had each decided that the time had come for them to hang up their respective boots.

Our 2015 AGM will take place on Monday 23 March, and we’d be delighted to see you there. Dare we hope for a new record attendance of 100 plus?

Soon after the AGM some of our Members felt that they had to get away from it all - not because of the AGM, I hasten to add, but because the attraction of one of David Empson’s WEEKEND BREAKS was too hard to resist. The spring event saw a group toddling off to Royal Wootton Bassett, and most of them turned up again for the early autumn visit to Norwich.

It’s quite a simple formula really. David negotiates a good deal at a comfortable hotel, to which you travel under your own steam. Once there you can go off sightseeing after breakfast in and around the local area, meeting back at the hotel for your evening meal and as much socialising as you fancy - and then doing it all over again the next day! Winchester is already beckoning in March 2015, and David is hard at work twisting hotel proprietors’ arms for a suitable venue in October.

Our GENEALOGY group went back to its roots this year (if you’ll pardon the pun). Barclays moved out of its premises at Capability Green, Luton, which forced Tony Clayton to search for a new location, eventually settling on a church hall in Redbourn. He’s also been experimenting with one to one sessions for absolute beginners, and is following that pattern in 2015 as well. Researchers of family trees, it seems, never stop learning and the open meetings of the group usually focus on a particular topic before moving on to general discussion and specific questions - so everyone gets the chance to find out what they want to know. Tony is occasionally able to arrange a guest speaker, and this year concentrated on “Birth” and “More 1914-1918”. In 2015 he’s starting off with “Slavery” - so you can certainly rely on a bit of variety!

The merry month of May offered two events for lovers of the great outdoors.

Fifty Members enjoyed a delightful morning at Flitwick Cricket Club, exchanging plants and anecdotes at

David Empson’s annual GARDENERS SWAP SHOP. The well tried and tested formula of ‘bring what you can and take what you fancy’ was achieved with not even the faintest whiff of the behaviour found in department stores on Black Friday. Instead the air was filled with the usual cries of “Any idea what this is?”; “I love it, but I don’t know where I’ll put it”; and “I’ll find room for it somewhere!”, followed by a procession of happy gardeners trudging off to their car boots before returning swiftly for some much needed sustenance in the form of coffee and cakes.

A week later forty eight Members and their guests, fortified by the obligatory coffee and bacon roll, teed off on the splendid course at Ashridge to begin our annual GOLF DAY. At the close of play, ten of our less athletic Members, who were more stimulated by the brasserie than the brassie, took on the equally demanding challenge of consuming the renowned Ashridge Lunch and added their gracious applause during the subsequent presentation of trophies. Harry Scott (pictured) lifted both the Local Directors’ Cup (best Stableford score) and the Mangham Cup (for the Over Sixties); the Scratch Cup (best gross score) went to Peter Fix; and the Barrett Trophy (for the Over Seventies) to Howard Stokes. Stuart Bremner’s arrangements were exemplary, as ever, and many of the same contestants (as well as some new ones, perhaps?) will get the chance to pit their wits against sand, sward, branch and foliage on Wednesday 27 May 2015.

It’s a strange thing, but a lot of our Members don’t need exercise to work up an appetite, or an excuse to sit down in front of a plate of food. Which is probably why we arrange two LUNCHES each year. In charge of the proceedings this time was new Chairman Charles, who took us first in May to the Broadway Hotel in Letchworth for a splendid carvery lunch, where we probably ate too much (well you do, don’t you, when it’s all laid out in front of you and you can fill your plate!) but all had a good time. November then saw us at the Chiltern Hotel in Luton for the “Nearly” Christmas Lunch - fully decorated for the festive season, plenty of good food and good company, and enlivened by a plethora of party poppers, the usual terrible jokes in the crackers, and a barrage of rocket balloons (second childhood, or what?). Past Chairman Colin was a bit taken aback however. Before we sat down to lunch one of the waitresses said to him "I thought I’d see you again, but you’re not on your usual table". He told her he was just a ‘backbencher’ now, and then she said "Ah, but I remember you from when you organised your Bank's Annual Dinner Dance at the Queensway Hall for 500 people where I used to work as well". Oh dear, that did make him feel old as it was over 30 years ago! You can’t help but wonder how many of today’s youngsters will be able to build up a similar track record of organising big events for their peers. We’re planning to return to the same venues in 2015, and hope that lots of you will be able to join us for these events, which are always enjoyable. It’s an

opportunity to relax in the company of some of your former colleagues (including some you may not have bumped into in recent years) and to swap stories.

Once again our final event of the year was the annual CAROL SERVICE, held at Christchurch, Hitchin. It was some time ago that this event started from fairly humble beginnings, and it seems to have become more attractive as the years have gone by - to the extent that the attendance now comes in close behind our two formal lunches, the AGM, and the November Coffee Morning at Frosts! The Minister and his able team at Christchurch continue to make us very welcome, and 83 Club Members (it would have been nearly 90 had it not been for a few last minute colds and coughs) took part in the Service. The congregation sang their hearts out; Olga Palmer’s rich solo voice led us into the chorus of Mary’s Boy Child; and six willing Members got their tongues beautifully round the Lessons from the King James’ version (which always adds a bit of poetry to the occasion).

“Behold, I bring you

good tidings of great joy” Every event organiser knows that you hope for the best and prepare for the worst. In terms of reading the Lessons, that always means having enough volunteers (plus a couple up my sleeve, just in case) and taking along large-print copies of the text which had been sent out to the readers beforehand. Just as well, because when the phone rang at 08.00 on the morning of the Service, I heard a croaky voice saying “I’ve been up half the night and I can barely talk, let alone read. Sorry”. No problem, I said, just get well. Half an hour before the Service a voice came in my ear. “I’ve left my copy of the Lesson at home”. No problem, I said, have this one. Twenty minutes to go and my first reserve was missing (little did I know that the dreaded lurgy had done for this one as well) so I teed up another, who was more than willing to stand in. Ten minutes to go and I patted the second reserve on the shoulder. “I’m afraid you’re on”. “I’m afraid I’m not”, he said. “I’ve left my reading glasses at home!” Thinking I’d just have to read the Lesson myself, I spotted the Past-Chairman sitting conveniently on the end of a row. In for a penny. “Behold, I bring you good tidings . . “ “I wish you’d brought them before I left home” he said “and I’d have put a jacket on instead of a jumper!” Properly dressed or not, into the breach he went. What was that about being a backbencher? He for one, earned his share of the buffet which Val Hill and her team so appetisingly spread before us

when the Service was over. We just about had room for everyone to find a seat, and set to with a will. The icing on the cake was a collection for The Great Commission Trust (a charity chosen by the Minister, which oversees work in hospitals and schools in Kenya) which benefitted from the generosity of the congregation to the tune of £250. A large helping of Christmas spirit all round.

So, that was our year, except for an earlier event which I haven’t yet mentioned. We’re never averse to tying something new, and when Brian Meakins offered to run a QUIZ EVENING we put out a few feelers to see if there was any interest. There was, so we set the wheels in motion and sixteen teams of four found themselves in Toddington Village Hall in early June - nervously awaiting the questions and eagerly awaiting Val’s half-time buffet! Setting the questions is always a difficult process, as the quizmaster has to try to put himself in the shoes of the participants - who inevitably find themselves in the situation so ably described by the former US Secretary of Defense. There’s no doubt that some teams struggled, but those at the top of the scoreboard never got less than seven correct answers in any one round, and more often than not they scored eight and above. In the end Bob Hyde’s team carried off the magnificent trophy; and thanks to some generous donations of prizes and feverish ticket buying we raised £172 for the Club’s welfare fund. Overall it was a successful evening, and there’ll be a chance to win the trophy for your team when we assemble again on Friday 19 June 2015. Brian has promised to try to cater for all levels of knowledge this time round, so please do come along and have a go. You never know, you might win a raffle prize for yourself as well.

IN CONCLUSION I think the overall verdict for the Club must be that we’ve had another successful year. Our fifty-one events was yet another record; there were more than 2000 attendances; and a fraction below an average of five events attended by every Member who turned out. A very satisfying result, and one which brings us back to where we started, and the wise words of John Lydgate - to which we might add a further sentence: “If you do the right things, you can please a lot of the people a lot of the time.”

If we can continue to achieve that, then there’s every hope that the Club will continue not only to exist for a good few years to come, but also to meet its twin objectives of welfare and recreation. If you can continue to keep us informed about former colleagues who may need a bit of help, we’ll do our level best to continue to provide it. If you can continue to keep coming to our events (and, better still, bring someone who hasn’t been before and give us the chance to sign them up as a Member as well) we’ll keep on organising them. There’s a list at the end of this Newsletter of all of the events we’ve got dates for so far in 2015. If you can manage to get to one at least, that would be great, because it helps to keep the Club’s finances in good shape.. Chairman Charles mentioned earlier that we appreciate the continuing financial support that we receive from Barclays. We’d hate anyone to think that we just “take the money and run”, rather than try to put that support to the best possible use for our Club. Instead, I hope you’ll agree that it’s money well spent. One thing I say repeatedly to “Head Office” people, whenever I get the chance, is that they live in a world which is vastly different from ours. Things have changed so much that we can’t possibly understand what it’s like to work for Barclays any more, or how and why things are done the way they are. Similarly, they might not have a clear view of what it’s like to be a Barclays Pensioner (well, we didn’t have one either

until we became one, did we?).

What we can do though is help each other understand each other’s world. We can shine a light on the effect that Barclays behaviour and rapid change has on us; let the

people at the top know when the theory at the top doesn’t match the practice at the bottom; shout if we find they aren’t talking in our language; and above all use our knowledge and experience to suggest improvements for our mutual benefit. So, the final thing for you to continue (as we close the door on 2014 and creep with determination into what I hope for you will be a rewarding 2015) is to keep on giving us your feedback about the Club, and about your experiences with Barclays. Not just by ticking the boxes, but by telling us how you feel so that we can do our best to tick all of the right boxes - if that makes any sense! You’ll find that our ears are open.

Doug Dix Hon. Secretary January 2015

If you can’t wait for the Quiz, or you want a change from Sudoku, try these.

1. In 1951 if you went to bed at 8.00 o'clock at night and set the alarm to wake you up at 9.00 o'clock the next morning, how many hours of sleep would you reasonably expected to have had?

2. If you had only one match and you entered a room where there was a paraffin lamp, an oil stove and a wood burning stove, which would you light first?

3. Some months of the year have 30 days and some have 31. How many have 28 ?

4. If a doctor gave you four pills and told you to take one every half hour, and you did - how long would it be before you had taken them all?

5. A man built a house which had four walls, each of which had a southern exposure and formed one side of a rectangle. Just as he finished it a large bear came wandering by. What colour was the bear?

6. You have in your hand two coins which total 55 pence in value. One of them is not a 5p piece - so what are the two coins?

7. Divide 30 by ½ and then add 10 - what's the answer? 8. If you take two apples from three apples, what do

you have? 9. An archaeologist found some very rare gold coins

dated 34BC. How old are the coins? 10. How many animals of each species did Moses take

aboard the ark? 11. What one word in the Oxford English Dictionary do

people from Chicago always pronounce incorrectly? 12. How many one inch diameter glass marbles can you

put into an empty cloth bag, which measures seven inches by five inches?

13. Write down in figures the number eleven thousand eleven hundred and eleven.

14. The removal of your tonsils is called a tonsilectomy, and the removal of an appendix an appendectomy. What would you call the removal of a growth from the top of your head?

15. If you cross out six letters from the sequence SBIAXLNEATTNERAS, which well known fruit are you left with?

16. What animal is it, that if all living members of its type were simultaneously destroyed, it could regenerate naturally within the space of twelve months?

17. What do you get if you add two to two hundred four times?

18. Folk is spelt F-O-L-K, not F-O-K-E, but joke is spelt J-O-K-E, not J-O-L-K. How therefore do you spell the word which describes the white of an egg?

19. A cow is tied to a rope in a one acre field. Over how large an area can it graze?

20. What is it that you can sit on, go to sleep in and use to clean your teeth?

Send in your answers and I’ll tell you your score.

DIARY DATES 2015

The list includes all known events at the date of publication. Details of specific events are available from our website or on request from the Hon. Secretary.

DAY & DATE EVENT VENUE

Monday 9 February Computer Coffee Morning Poplars Learning Zone, Toddington

Monday 9 February Genealogy Group St Albans

Tuesday 10 February Coffee Morning Codicote Garden Centre

Wednesday 11 February Ramble Studham

Friday 20 February Genealogy Group St Mary’s Church Hall, Redbourn

Monday 2 March Coffee Morning Frosts Garden Centre, Woburn Sands

Wednesday 4 March Ramble St Ippolyts

Friday 6 March Outing The Clothworkers’ Hall

Wednesday 11 March Cream Tea Aylett Nurseries, St Albans

Friday 13 March Weekend Break Winchester

Tuesday 17 March Coffee Morning Hitchin Garden Centre

Saturday 21 March Rail Trip Chester & Llangollen

Monday 23 March Annual General Meeting Toddington Village Hall

Wednesday 15 April Coffee Morning Harpenden Golf Club

Monday 27 April Coffee Morning Van Hage Garden Centre, Great Amwell

Monday 20 April Coffee Morning World’s End Garden Centre, Wendover

Wednesday 6 May Outing Jordans Mill, Biggleswade

Monday 11 May Computer Coffee Morning Poplars Learning Zone, Toddington

Tuesday 12 May Coffee Morning Codicote Garden Centre

Wednesday 27 May Annual Golf Day Ashridge Golf Club

Monday 1 June Coffee Morning Frosts Garden Centre, Woburn Sands

Tuesday 2 June Spring Lunch Broadway Hotel, Letchworth

Thursday 11 June Outing Chiltern Open Air Museum at Chalfont St Giles

Friday 19 June Quiz Toddington Village Hall

Wednesday 1 July Outing Knebworth House

Monday 13 July Coffee Morning World’s End Garden Centre, Wendover

Thursday 6 August Cream Tea Aylett Nurseries, St Albans

Sunday 9 August Outing St Albans South Signal Box (a.m.)

Sunday 9 August Outing St Albans Organ Theatre (p.m.)

Tuesday 11 August Coffee Morning Codicote Garden Centre

Monday 7 September Coffee Morning Frosts Garden Centre, Woburn Sands

Monday 14 September Computer Coffee Morning Poplars Learning Zone, Toddington

Tuesday 15 September Coffee Morning Hitchin Garden Centre

Sunday 11 October Outing Sonning Mill Dinner Theatre

Monday 19 October Coffee Morning World’s End Garden Centre, Wendover

Wednesday 21 October Coffee Morning Harpenden Golf Club

Tuesday 10 November Coffee Morning Codicote Garden Centre

Monday 16 November Computer Coffee Morning Poplars Learning Zone, Toddington

Wednesday 25 November Nearly Christmas Lunch Chiltern Hotel, Luton

Monday 30 November Coffee Morning Frosts Garden Centre, Woburn Sands

Tuesday 15 December Carol Service Christchurch, Hitchin