20 October 2011
CLIMBING KILIMANJARO
Bruce Fraser gave an interesting, illustrated talk about his sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa [19,341 ft/ 5,895 metres], that he did for DiabetesUK. He had no prior experience of mountain walking at high altitude and gave a graphic account of the experience of the small group of people he had joined, including the acclimatisation to the altitude, the health hazards, unique vegetation and the nine-day trek.
The photographs show Kilimanjaro from the savanna plains and one of the exotic flowering plants – giant groundsel [dendrosenecio] that grows above 11,000 ft and can reach a height of 15 ft.
16 June 2011
PRESENTATION OF CHEQUES TO TWO CHARITIES
Cheques were presented at the beginning of the meeting to two of the Club’s charities. Helen Ritchie received a cheque for £400 for the charity RugAid from President Chris Bowran and Lynne Simmons accepted one for £2,108.66p by Past President Sheila Blacklock for her charity, the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
AN EVENING WITH CAROL GEDYE – MUSIC AND LANGUAGE TEACHER
An entertaining and inspiring talk was given by Carol Gedye, a local music and language teacher who coaches choirs of all ages throughout Richmondshire, holds choral workshops and directs and conducts large-scale choral projects. She gave us an account of her fascinating career and, much to everyone’s surprise, she had all the club members singing a variety of songs before the evening was out – even those who thought they could not sing!
19 May 2011
At our first meeting of the year in May, with newly elected President, Chris Bowran, we were able to listen to, and learn from two guest speakers from IDAS – Independent Domestic Abuse Services – working across the whole of North Yorkshire. Wendy Wood took the lead in explaining their role in supporting both women and men who are experiencing Domestic Abuse. We participated in answering a questionnaire which highlighted the frequency of Domestic Abuse, and reminded us all that this is a matter of concern across the whole of society, regardless of social status or education.
President Chris hopes that our Club will work to raise awareness of this issue during the next 12 months, and to raise some much needed funds to support local services.
We welcome new members.For informal enquiries, please contact Membership Secretaries: Sandy Baxter – 01325-377291 or Angela Edwards – 01748-824240.
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