JMA – Badges
The JMA medals were introduced in 1903 by a man called Stanley Sowton and have been awarded every year since.
They were awarded to those who had raised the sum of £5.00 in a year which in 1903 was quite a large amount of money.
The design changed from the JMC DSO to JMA in 1969 and the final bar was awarded in 1991.
I have not been able to discover the reason for starting to issue the medals but it was at a time when the Mission Magazine was revamped and I suspect was an attempt to enthuse collectors and to increase the amount being raised for Mission.
Following this a set of single colour of the rainbow badges were awarded for each year a person had collected together with a bronze, silver and gold version.
In 2001 the curent rainbow badge with the year on it was introduced.
Over the years there have also been several button badges issued.
Chris is always looking out for things to do with JMA history so if you have anything of interest please speak to him.