The May mailing of SMT and Bulletin is scheduled for collection by Royal Mail from Warners Midlands in Bourne today, 13th May.  The entire mailing to UK and overseas members will be collected at the same time.

Mailing to UK members is First Class, so packages will start to arrive from Saturday 14th.  There are no delays at the time of writing.  Information for the UK can be found here.

Mailing to overseas members is by Air Mail.  Delivery times may be affected by ongoing COVID-19 reduction measures and reduced air transport capacity.  Items to some EU destinations are also experiencing customs delays.  Further information regarding mailing to addresses outside the UK can be found here.

SMT and Bulletin will be available on our Members Site from 09:00 on Saturday 14th May.  If you haven’t received an invitation to activate your account on the site, or can’t find it, please email members.site@16mm.org.uk providing your surname, membership number and post code and we’ll send an invitation as soon as we can.

This mailing is unusually heavy, comprising SMT, Bulletin, the Show Guide, Annual Report and Draw Tickets, weighing just under 700 grams.  We’ve been unable to send the last three to members overseas, to keep the weight under 500 grams.  Customs arrangements arising from the UK’s exit from the EU require additional processes for overseas mailings exceeding 500 grams and due to the infrequency of such mailings, Warners don’t have these in place with Royal Mail.  The Annual Report and Show Guide will be published to our Members Site concurrent with SMT and Bulletin.  If any overseas member needs paper copies, please contact me at alan.regan@16mm.org.uk and I’ll get them to you.  We’re only able to accept payment for Draw Tickets by cheque or money order in Pounds Sterling drawn on a UK financial institution, but if you’re an overseas member with access to this facility and want to participate in the draw, please contact me for tickets.  This topic is discussed further in the Chairman’s Column in SMT.

Thanks to editors Gareth Jones (SMT), Dave Gordon (Bulletin and the Show Guide) and Mike Riley (Annual Report) for getting their publications out on time, and to all the members who contributed to both of them.  Your input as ever is very welcome and critical to the editors being able to present varied and interesting content.  I hope you enjoy what I’m sure will again be an enjoyable read.

Alan Regan, Chairman