At the July meeting, one of the club members gave an illustrated talk about The Willows in Windsor which was once the home of the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland after the death of the third Duke.  Pat explained how the estate had changed between 1800 when the first house was built and now when the original property has been divided into many separate homes: all unique.  The talk was particularly pertinent as the Annual Garden Party was being held in the garden of one of the properties. The photo shows President Angela with club member Pat. The garden party was held on Sunday 20th July when over 50 members and friends enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch in the riverside garden.  Raffles, a book staff and a tombola helped raise funds for the Presidents two charities.  

At the May and June business meetings President Angela arranged for representatives of the charities which she is supporting this year to visit and tell club members about their work.  In May it was the turn of the Alzheimers Dementia Support group to talk about the support they provide which includes Drop In Centres, home visits, and dedicated telephone support lines. In June there was an added bonus as our visiting speaker from Berkshire Search & Rescue Dogs brought one of their trained dogs along – the photo shows President Angela on right with L to R:  Marilyn Brown, Irene Brooks, Regional President Penny Dmoch and Michele Bennett with our speaker and his Rescue Dog.

Last Wednesday Ruth Dearnley, CEO of Stop the Traffik, came to our monthly meeting to tell us more about the campaigns which her organisation is working on.  Whilst we thought we knew quite a bit about modern-day slavery, we soon found that there is much more to learn and understand.  Stop the Traffik is challenging all of us to think about everything that we wear, eat and use.  So far the campaign to ensure that the chocolate bars that we consume so happily are not created with slave labour has been remarkably successful http://www.stopthetraffik.org/campaign/chocolate/page/the-big-5-ranked in that many of the largest manufacturers such as Mars are taking steps to ensure that the chocolate which they use is not being picked by children. The fashion industry uses vast amounts of cotton and it is very difficult to follow the route from the cotton on a bush to the

Two long standing members of the club recapped the stories of their careers at the Business Meeting on Wednesday 19th February. Both had unusual careers and both  achieved their dreams.  Firstly Phyllis Sigsworth told how she joined the Police Force in North Yorkshire at the tender age of 20 although normally women could only start at 22.  Phyllis talked about the challenges facing women in the 50s and how she moved up through the ranks to become a Superintendent in Northumberland before being asked to move to the Home Office.  She moved south and became the Assistant to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Jeannette Hartley then told us how she became a Purser on Concorde despite starting off as a secretary with her feet firmly on the ground.  When she first heard about the new plane that would be taking to the skies she decided

An 80th birthday party took place last week for Margaret with an appropriate cake and a group of members meeting at Pam’s home.  In the same week, the club heard an intriguing talk about pearls and their use in jewellery together with some retail opportunities just in time for Christmas!

President Elect Angela gave a fabulous display of how to make canapes on Tuesday evening and then very bravely handed over her kitchens to 30 enthusiastic amateurs to try their hand at copying her.  Everyone enjoyed munching their efforts with a welcome glass of wine.