- Club activities have been severely limited by the Covid-19 pandemic. We cancelled our planned business meeting on March 12th and since then we have only been able to meet virtually and outdoors on occasions. We have continued with monthly Officers meetings on Zoom and we have also had socials and speaker meetings.
- We have kept up our support of local, national and international good causes with donations of money and goods. One of our members made scrub bags which were taken to the nurses at Llandudno hospital and we also donated treats for the hard-working staff. Food has been collected for Conwy Food Bank and taken to their storeroom. Another member knitted several ‘twiddle muffs’ for dementia patients which will be donated to a local facility. We have been able to make several donations due to money saved by not paying rent to the Church hall. Beneficiaries include SIGBI Nepal project, Mary’s Meals, SIGBI Benevolent fund, Home-Start and our local Refuge. Early this year, several members volunteered to take part in a research project undertaken by a local PhD student which gave reimbursement of £7 each. Added to individual donations, we were able to donate further funds to the Refuge, Salvation Army and Conwy Food Bank. We have also collected and sent money to a young lady in Chernobyl after responding to an appeal to help her.
- Our social virtual meetings have consisted of coffee mornings, exercise session followed by cheese and wine, and speaker meetings. We were joined by Fran Lawson, fund-raising officer for Mary’s Meals who told how they are helping communities while schools are closed. Our member Sylvia gave a talk on her work as manager of family support charity Home-Start and we are hoping for another speaker in November. We met for coffee at a local park, it was good to see our friends face to face.
Our virtual speaker meeting with Fran Lawson
Coffee in the park with twiddle-muffs
- Over the past six months, we have sent over 20 letters and emails to MPs, MSs, Welsh government departments, councils, police, NGOs, etc to find out how the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Welsh Government Ethical Employment in Supply Chains Code of Practice are working in practice. We have also had a Zoom meeting with a local MP. We have received some answers, most of which have raised more questions as we have come to understand the many problems with both systems. This is an on-going project and we hope to be able to provide some support and encouragement to survivors of modern slavery being cared for in North Wales. Our treasurer Caroline has worked very hard on this project with the input of Ali Ussery and other members. We have invited other North Wales clubs to form a North Wales Working Group on Modern Slavery to share information and experience and help clubs work together.
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A very brave President Janet went on the Penrhyn Quarry Zip World- the world’s fastest zip-wire! It was third time lucky as it had to be postponed twice due to unsuitable weather conditions. Janet says “I was excited and nervous at the same time. The whole experience was amazing. Who ever thought going head first very fast, fixed to a wire, over a quarry was a good idea? Well it is!”Janet received the experience as a Christmas present and decided to ask for sponsorship for her main charity, ‘Feed the Minds’.
Janet on the zip-wire
