In December members of the club enjoyed a very pleasant evening at The Station, Richmond, sharing a Christmas Dinner. Then in January, we gathered to start the New Year with our big planning meeting at our usual venue, The Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. Our club programme year runs from April to March, and we hold a special meeting in January to plan the next Club Year, so that we are ready in good time.
New Members
This year we were delighted to formerly welcome two new members to the club, and present them their badges and welcome packs. Two of our other new members also volunteered for committee roles in the club next year. They will take over as Programme Action Lead and Comms & Website when the current incumbents complete their term in March. 
We were also pleased to be joined by two students of Richmond School who will be with us this term for our Sharing our Skills Project.
This year’s Charity Distribution
Reviewing our Programme Action work, we agreed how we will distribute the money we have raised for charity this year. We will be presenting our main charity for this year, Hambleton & Richmond Palliative Care Team, a cheque for £1400. The remaining funds will be divided between several charities:
- EVA, the Redcar based women’s refuge, which we have supported on a number of occasions
- the next local Aid Convoy to Ukraine: planned for March this will be an all-female venture
- Wateraid
- Great North Air Ambulance
- Children’s Air Ambulance
Programme for 2026-27
Members contributed lots of ideas for discussion, and we were able to agree an interesting and varied selection of 8 speakers for meetings. We also discussed a number of events for the year – fundraising, awareness raising and social – and the charities we plan to raise funds for this year. Our main charity will be a local one, The Paul Curran Celebration Trust. This charity was as set up after the death of Paul Curran in 2002, a local boy who suffered from a rare condition, Friedreich’s Ataxia and particularly in his later years had to have very specialised equipment and support. The trust offers grants to children and young people up to the age of 30, who have any form of disability, together with dependents or carers. Grants are for health needs, education and training, and it will also provide advocacy/advice and information. The Trust operates only in the locality of Richmondshire. We will also continue to support the charity Smartworks, which provides coaching, advice and clothing to support women entering or returning to the job market.
An Afternoon with Baroness Hale
As usual, we will be holding 3 fundraising Coffee Mornings at Richmond Town Hall through the year. However, we are already working on our main fundraising event. This will be held on April 25th, at The Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. The event will be an afternoon with Baroness Hale, our patron. She will be in conversation with Chris Lloyd, chief feature writer of the Darlington & Stockton Times and Northern Echo. They will be talking about Baroness Hale’s new book, “With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make it Better”. The session will run from 2pm to 5pm, and includes afternoon tea. Tickets are £20: email sirrichmondanddales@yahoo.co.uk for instructions on how to book.