Reading Support Group
Supporting the Medway Queen's cause
BRIGHTON MODEL WORLD 2010
Brighton Model World has become a regular February booking for Reading Group and the pictures show our stand ready for opening of the 2010 show. Although difficult logistically, due to its distance from "base", it is a large well attended event that allows us to get our message across to literally thousands of people. In 2010 our sales and information stand was supplemented by a display of 1/1200 ship models
The Reading Support Group is based in the Thames Valley and provides support in the form of event attendances and other promotional schemes. The primary aim of the group is to publicise the society and restoration project but we also raise money towards the cost of that restoration. The group is informally organised and membership of the MQPS is not a requirement although most of those involved are society members. We do also rely heavily on help from member's families and friends.
The group was started in 1997 as a result of a committee initiative to persuade a number of members to raise £1000 each towards the restoration of Medway Queen. The £1000 target was passed within a year and we saw no reason to stop and so the group carried on attending events and raising money. By 2003 the annual donation to the society had reached £3000 and in 2007 a total of £5000 was sent in. The group buys it's own sales stock direct from a number of wholesale suppliers and pays all profits over to the society. In addition Medway Queen related items are sold on behalf of the society's "official" sales team.
Over the years our priorities have changed in favour of publicity and a variety of events are now attended by the group; amounting to some 40 event-days per year. These range from relatively small "village hall" sized events to others with a "national" significance. Many of the events have a boat or model boat/railway theme but the group are aware of the need to reach as wide an audience as possible so other events are also included. Details of our forthcoming bookings will be found on the events page. In terms of "society profile" the most effective events are the larger ones and to this end the group took part in the 2005 Festival of the Sea and is a regular exhibitor at the London Festival of Model Railways at Alexandra Palace and the Thames Traditional Boat Rally at Henley. We have also taken on an annual visit to the Isle of Wight, where the ship was a well known nightclub, to attend a different event there each year, keeping the islanders informed of our progress. In many cases the promotional stand is accompanied by model exhibits of one sort or another as part of a "package" for exhibition organisers.
In addition to events the group are responsible for the "Lighthouse Appeal" and the model railway "Wagon Project". The former is a mainly publicity-oriented scheme where various external organisations sell miniature lighthouses and boats on the society's behalf helping to keep our name in the spotlight. The wagons are fund-raising oriented but also assist with publicity by their presence on model railways throughout the world and by the specialist magazine coverage that results. The wagons are special edition vehicles by Dapol or Peco models transfer decorated by Robbies Rolling Stock. They are exclusive to the society, and available in both 00 and N gauges. Both schemes have raised thousands of pounds for the restoration fund and continue to do so. From 2004 to 2010 the group organised a model show jointly with Kew Bridge Steam Museum. The event helping to widen our audience and forge links with an organisation involved in preserving another aspect of our industrial heritage. Although this event no longer runs strong links are maintained with the museum.
For more details of Reading Support Group - especially if you would like to help or if you organise an event that might interest us - please contact Richard Halton at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .