We welcomed DS Jen Jeffcoat-Marsh to talk to us about how Wiltshire Police are dealing with VAWG and Rape And Serious Sexual Assault (RASSO). She began by explaining about Op Soteria, the first National Operating Model (NOM) for the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences. It began in Avon and Somerset Police with the aim of bringing more rape and sexual assault cases to trial. It was rolled out across England and Wales in July 2023 after successes in pilot areas. A year later the Chief Constable in charge said: "As the report says, the system wide benefits this programme offers are ‘a major opportunity for the criminal justice system to finally give victims the service they deserve’ and only by working together and making this a national model, not only for RASSO but even for other types of crime, can we achieve this."

Our January meeting focused on good nutrition to keep us healthy. Our speaker, Amber Cotton is a Registered Nutritional Therapist who enjoys working with people to build a food program suitable to their age, lifestyle and health. Her topic for the evening was Mastering Midlife Metabolism. She spoke about the six pillars of Metabolic Health: Stress, Blood Sugar, Muscles, Movement, Sleep and Gut Health. The takeaway messages were importance of reducing the tendency to rollercoaster blood sugar, by regulating the amount of sugar and carbohydrates in the diet, both of which tend to spike blood sugar. Spikes increase inflammation and promote insulin resistance. One handy technique is to freeze carbohydrates before consuming which changes their structure into longer chains, making them a slower burn in our digestive system. So, cook your pasta and rice, then put in fridge for 24 hours before reheating, or freeze,

For our June meeting we planned to take advantage of the warm summer weather and long evenings to revisit Her Salisbury Footprint, the walking trail developed through Her Salisbury Story. The weather was sunny and the evening light. A group of us met in front of the Guildhall where we heard about Lady Edith Hulse the first female mayor of Salisbury. Along the south side of the Market Square, we marvelled that Jane Botly had raised seven children above the Ox Row Inn, as well as running the cutlery business. Passing the Poultry Cross we paused at the Haunch of Venison to hear about Louisa Potto who took on the license after the death of her husband. The family were not just innkeepers, but also wholesale wine and beer merchants with cellars under what is now Culver Street carpark. On the corner of High Street

Following the late cancellation of the speaker from the Nelson Trust, Julia gave a presentation about the problems of cooking in Africa. Julia lived in three different Sub-Saharan African countries for ten years and encountered the numerous problems associated with 'dirty cooking'; four out of five Africans cook with polluting fuels like charcoal, wood or kerosene. These fuels cause many problems: carbon emissions smoke - inhaled by those nearby (mostly women and children) causing respiratory problems using up natural resources (deforestation) time consuming to gather firewood (and danger of rape) cooking pot needs constant tending danger of clothes catching fire danger of children falling in fires There are many fuel efficient stoves available worldwide, but often cost too much for the average family. Schemes such as micro finance can help make them accessible. Families save in the longer term from reduced fuel bills and the