NRA Journal - Summer 2003 - National Rifle Association

MEMBERS’ PAGEPete Bloom FundAs many of you will know, Pete Bloom has beeninvolved in many aspects of shooting over the years.Although noted as a service rifle shooter for manyyears, he has been both a successful competitor andan energetic instructor, organizer and supporter indisciplines from Classic Pistol to Practical Rifle. Untilrecently he had served for several years as both anelected member and a Discipline Representative onthe NRA Council as well as being a regular contributorto this Journal.For some time Pete has suffered a debilitating andincapacitating illness, and now he needs our help. Peteis now in a wheelchair; his cottage needs extensivemodification to enable him to retain some quality oflife at home. The estimated cost is £30,000.The Pete Bloom Fund has been set up to help speedthe work required to modify Pete’s home to his needs.If you wish to make a donation, please send a chequemade payable to The Pete Bloom Fund to the addressbelow:The Pete Bloom Fundc/o Paul Quilliam83 Farm ViewYateley, Hampshire, GU46 6JAAll envelopes addressed in this way will be passedunopened to the solicitors managing the fund.NRA Probationary Courses - Can you help?Appeal from the Shooting AdministratorThe NRA Probationary Course consists of four lessonson target rifle and one on Gallery Rifle and MuzzleLoading Pistol. The lessons are usually held on aSaturday afternoon although occasionally the NRAreceives requests for mid-week training. The coursehas become increasingly popular and has introducedforty new members to target rifle and other disciplinesso far this year. However we must have a large poolof good coaches to ensure that our new members areproperly trained and encouraged to develop theirshooting skills.The regular team of Probationary coaches has beenenhanced this year by members of the GB U25 andthe NZ 2003 team, as well as F Class and Match Rifleshooters. Their enthusiasm and expertise has beenvery welcome.It is important for the future of shooting to ensure thatwe can continue to run probationary courses - hencethis appeal. If you have coaching experience and maybe able to give some time to help the development ofour newest members please contact the ShootingAdministrator. We are keen to recruit more coachesfor target rifle, gallery rifle and muzzle loading pistol.All coaches are recompensed for their time and effort.64A Probationary Coach Briefing Day is planned for theautumn, so please register your interest by e-mailingphyllis.farnan@nra.org.ukJournal ContributionsIf there are any budding reporters or photographersout there who would like to cover any of the upcomingmajor events in the shooting calendar, please let theEditor know as soon as possible (contact details are onpage 1).Of special interest would be volunteers to cover thevarious aspects of the Imperial Meeting. As inprevious years the report will be split up intosubsections for each of the various disciplines: somedisciplines, such as Gallery Rifle and Pistol, have notbeen covered in the past. If you feel you can rectifythis or indeed do a better job than the current writers(there are only so many ways you can write “Mr Awon Trophy B with a score of C”!) then please contactthe Editor.Photographs are always welcome and will be returnedto you after publication. If sending digital images, aCD of JPEGs or TIFFs is preferable but please contactthe Editor before e-mailing large files.The recent Great Britain Team to New Zealand weredelighted to find this street sign on their travels: theirCaptain tried to remember what he did on his last visitto warrant them naming a road after him!