Recent speakers
March 2012
‘I’ve never seen StarWars’ was the phrase that inspired President Penny to set us the challenge to do something we had never done before during her year. She set the ball rolling by having a manicure and going to the races (emerging £25.00 in pocket). At our March meeting three Club members told us of their ‘first time’ events. One took to the skies in a hot-air balloon and, quite by chance (the wind deciding the route), passed over the houses of two other club members, the place that she worked and the golf club used by a friend – and photographs were produced as proof. Another member did two things: had lunch at Claridge’s followed by tea at the Ritz; and went to Long Lartin maximum security prison as Prison Visitor and is now on their register of Visitors. And the third member went to an auction for the first time and, following the advice on the programme Flog It, successfully bid for a ‘job-lot’ of seven of the most beautiful fans.
February 2012.
Science, Suffrage and Sisterhood was the theme of biochemist Professor Robert Freedman’s talk. Women were not welcomed in the club-like scientific circles in 1911 but this was the time of suffragettes and there was a parallel movement of strong spirited women breaking barriers and determined to join the Biochemical Society on equal terms as men. Harriette Chick (1875-1977) was the first to be accepted. She had an illustrious career with notable work on disinfection and nutrition. She was the first woman member of the Lister Institute and became a fellow of the Royal Society aged 85. Many women biochemists of this era were educated at King Edward VI School for Girls in Birmingham where the inspirational headmistress , Muriel Wheldale (1888-1931), actively encouraged science as a career, sending 5-6 women every year to the University of Cambridge to study science. She was a noted biochemist herself and was the first to apply the newley published theory of genetics, proposed by Mendel, to the pigment of plants. The talk was illustrated by a poster exhibition first shown last year at the Royal Society and about to go on a Road Show round the country. Robert is better known to us as husband of President Penny.
October 2011. ‘A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’. These words, written by Virginia Wolf in 1928, inspired Sarah Hosking to found an unusual charitable trust to provide residential fellowships for mature women artists of established merit. The Hosking Houses Trust, established on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon, currently offers a sanctuary for women over 40 to complete written work, on any subject, that has reasonable expectation of publication and preferably with an existing contract to do so. All running costs of the housing are provided by the Trust and also a degree of financial support sufficient to allow uninterrupted private work. The only requisite is that the Trust is acknowledged in the published document. www.hoskinghouses.co.uk
September 2011. Peter Sutton – linguist, translator, editor, playwright and author – spoke on the use of the English language and how it constantly changes and evolves. He cited recent examples of verbs used as nouns (having an invite); adjectives used as nouns (I am good) and the use of words such as focusing, targeting and progress as verbs. Each decade brings new words and the rapid growth of texting is giving us a whole new language. Mr Sutton finished by reading aloud three wonderful examples of writing by young people, demonstrating their skilled and imaginative use of our rich language.
May 2011. Club member Shelagh Sandle gave us an overview of her year as mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon. It had, she said, been a humbling experience meeting so many people who contributed so much to our society. Her talk touched on many experiences, but it was the talented young people who seemed to have left a lasting impression. She much enjoyed providing a link between residents and Local/District Authorities and will miss the inspiring people she met during the year.
March 2011. The meeting was preceded by a talk from Carole Lomas, Voluntary Services Manager of the Shakespeare Hospice. She spoke of the hospice’s ambitious 5-year plan to take their services into the heart of the community, increasing their in-home services. She described her volunteer services that include the Day Hospice; Family Support Service; Complementary Therapists; Bereavement Support; Shops; Administration and Fundraising.
February 2011. The meeting was preceded by a talk by Celia Davis, President of Warwickshire Beekeepers, who gave a delightful overview of ‘Bees in our Garden’. She described the different types of bee – one honeybee, the rest are bumblebees – and their particular habitats, amply illustrated with informative pictures. She emphasised the importance of bees in pollinating flowers and their value in evolution of healthy stock. Bees annually pollinate £20M worth of crops in the UK. Their fragile existence depends on flowers throughout the season, from willow catkins, pulmonaria, grape hyacinths and fruit blossom in the spring, through single-flower plants in the summer and autumn.
November 2010. The meeting was preceded by a category talk by club member Sarah O’Grady. Sarah is a solicitor specialising in commercial law and litigation. Her career began in private practice as an advocate dealing with such things as fraud cases. She now works for the Head Office of the Environment Agency in Bristol as their senior commercial lawyer, leading a team of four. She described with enthusiasm her work on business support, environmental schemes including carbon trading, intellectual property issues, income recovery and contract support including collaborative agreements.
October 2010. The meeting was preceded by a talk by Peter Balaam, S/A District Councillor, on The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (www.eappi.org ). This programme sends international volunteers to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank to offer protection through non-violent presence and support for peace groups whilst monitoring violations and undertaking advocacy. Peter was in the West Bank (Palestine) for three months and spoke of his experiences.
September 2010. The meeting was preceded by a talk by Mike and Maureen Worton who described their charity Chernobyl 2000 formed to help the children of Belarus in the Ukraine following an explosion at the nuclear power plant on 26th April 1986. Their aid convoys help the cancer-support group run by parents; Minsk Oncology Hospital; Uzda Family Social Centre; Uzda Regional Hospital ; Uzda Fire Service and schools. They organise exchange-visits for Belarussian and Evesham schoolchildren. This will be our President’s charity 2012-13.
August 2010. The meeting was preceded by a talk by James Pavitt from Transition Stratford who is working at the Lifeways Community Garden in Albany Road, Stratford. He explained the many initiatives being undertaken by Transition Stratford to encourage residents and local services towards a locally based, low carbon way of living. Information on activities can be viewed on www.transitionstratford.com .
July 2010. The meeting was preceded by two talks.
1. Jo Porter from the Cotswold School, Bourton-in-the-Water repeated the presentation she gave at the recent SI Midland Arden Region Public Speaking Award on Equality. She argued that the balance had now swung in favour of women in the UK today, sidelining men in the ‘state of being equal’.
2. Christine Cluley, a Gallery Interpreter at Compton Verney art gallery, spoke with enthusiasm of its development by the philanthropist Sir Peter Moores, son of the Littlewood pools/catalogue owner. She described the permanent collections, and highlighted some forthcoming exhibitions and events including the Volcano exhibition from 24th July.
May 2010. The meeting was preceded by a talk by Barry Wiggins and Gary Wooding from the Coventry & Warwickshire branch of Remap, a countrywide charity that offers free custom-made equipment for people with disabilities. They showed examples of their work ranging from simple pumps, levers and supports to complex computer software. By imaginative use of existing materials the branch kept their costs to only £250.00 last year. Remap is our President’s charity this year. www.remap.org.uk