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.

SI Slough Windsor & Maidenhead has a varied programme of events scheduled for the Autumn including a Demonstration of Canape making at Dorney Lake in November, a trip to Cheltenham Christmas Market, a Christmas Special with carol singing and mulled wine and of course a very special Human Rights Day celelbration in December. However the first event was a Quiz with a record number of participants at St Lukes Hall in Maidenhead.  Quizmaster Phyllis Sigsworth managed to keep control of the keen teams and the eventual winners were the Old Paludians team.  Everyone enjoyed the fish and chip supper and over £500 was raised for the President’s Charity – Chiltern & Thames Valley Air Ambulance.  President Irene thanked everyone for coming and handed out the raffle prizes.

Judy Nixon who is a fund raiser for the Thames Valley & Chilterns Air Ambulance Service gave a fascinating talk about the work of the service with some interesting information about some of the more dramatic call outs.  Despite the work being vital to save the lives of badly injured members of the public, the service is entirely funded by private donations.