On Saturday 20th July we were invited by our President Jenny to her home for a BBQ and a swim, weather permitting.  Many of the Club’s members and a few Soroptimisters took up the kind offer and we had a lovely lunch followed by a stroll around her beautiful garden and then a swim for a few intrepid souls!  We rasied money for The BIG Project whilst thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  Thank you President Jenny.

On Monday 1st July, 15 members of SI Hertford and District enjoyed an informative and thought provoking presentation given by John Thain, Environment Standards manager at Stansted Airport. Stansted Airport was purchased by Manchester Airport Group (MAG) for 1.5 billion in February 2013. MAG is working towards a sustainable future, where Stansted Airport becomes London’s ‘best’ airport. Passenger numbers have fallen from their peak of 24 million (2005) to 17 million. However, Stansted Airport has the capacity to cope with double that number, whilst using the existing single runway.  The green challenge is to balance the needs of the aviation industry, HM government and environment groups. Issues under scrutiny include fuel storage; greater crested newts; waste management; air and noise pollution. Aircraft noise has fallen by 35% and aviation fuel is now 70% more efficient, which leads to a reduction in CO2 emissions. Fixed Electrical

Have you ever given a thought to how a blind person knows which can is filled with peaches and which with dog food? Or wondered how you would look after a toddler if you couldn’t see him?  Hertford SI found the answers to these questions and heard how blindness affects aspects of life which the sighted world takes for granted when they welcomed Sue Gilkes and her guide dog Pebbles to a meeting. Sue told the members how she lost her sight gradually over a number of years and how this changed aspects of her life, while refusing to abandon the ideas of a family and career. She introduces us to Pebbles, who is Sue’s third guide dog. She explained how the dog and owner have to get used to each other’s way of working and learn together. Members also heard how guide dogs are

THE LIVING ROOM The first meeting of the new presidential year took place at The Living Room in Stevenage. Members were welcomed by Founder and CEO Janis Feely MBE, who gave an informative and thought-provoking talk on the work undertaken by her staff and volunteers as they seek to “break the cycle of addiction”. Members were further inspired by a group of women who were prepared to share their experiences and speak of the tremendous support they had received from The Living Room, enabling them to overcome their addictions and turn their lives round. President Jenny was delighted to be able to present a cheque for £500 to Janis and Simon Bloomfield, Funding and Development Manager. The money had been raised by serving teas in Benington Village Hall on Bank Holiday Monday. For more information on The Living Room, go to www.thelivingroom.me.uk  

On 15th April Jenny Cobb took on being President of SI Hertford and District after a very successful year under the Presidency of Anne Miles, whose theme “Communication – pass it on”, had given us such diverse speaker topics as Journalism, Speech Therapy, the Internet and many more.  President Jenny’s theme is “People make the world go round” and as you can see from our programme we have another year of great speakers lined up.  

The members of  SI Hertford and District were pleased to welcome Matt Cooper to the Meeting on 4th March. Matt is the Chairman of CHIPS, (Children’s Integrated Play Scheme) but, on this occasion he talked about ‘Communications via The Internet, Advantages and Disadvantages’. He gave us a fascinating insight into the rapid development of the Internet and answered the many questions put to him with illustrations direct from the Internet onto a screen. We all left the meeting feeling that we had leant something that will help us in using the many opportunities provided by our computers.