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INNER WHEEL CLUB OF DURSLEY

PRESIDENT'S PONDERINGS

APRIL 2018

President: Sarah Crumpton

Doesn't time fly !! and what extremes of weather we have had since my last 'Ponderings'

It seems such a short time ago that we were all gathered at the Community Centre for our fundraising International Lunch on the 18th February. Organised by International Service Officer, Gill Davis and her committee, this was the first time the lunch has been held at the Community Centre and around 70 members, together with husbands, partners and friends enjoyed a superb lunch of Roast Gammon with all the trimmings, followed by Apple Pie or Trifle, all prepared and served by Gill and her merry band of helpers.

Mike and I were lucky enough to host Jen & Simon at our table and their enthusiasm was truly inspiring. A fantastic amount was raised for International Charities and donations have been sent to The Kambia District Foundation, Tree Aid, and the nominated District International Charity for the year, Bridge2Aid.

Gill had nominated the Sierra Leone Project (now registered as The Kambia District Foundation) as one of the international charities the club would support this year and the founders, Simon & Jen David, were able to join us for lunch, after which they gave an interesting and informative presentation about their project. Over several years they have personally put an impressive amount of effort and work into assisting a community in Kambia, helping to build and equip a school, setting up health care facilities amongst many other things.

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ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE - 2018 - BOURNEMOUTH

Monday March 19th and wham, bang, before we knew it some of us were off to

Association Conference in Bournemouth. A bit of a logistical nightmare after our

favourite hotel, The Whitehall, had cancelled our booking just before Christmas

due to the hotel being sold. With almost 2000 women descending on

Bournemouth for Conference it was complete panic for a few days until we

managed to secure a group booking at The Savoy Hotel.

Originally a merry band of twelve, for various reasons we were down to six by the

time Conference came around and as myself, Sue, and Jenny, needed to stay in

Bournemouth for the Rotary District Conference, travel arrangements were not

easy. Add to that the weather warnings of snow and ice and the dodgy conditions

on some of the roads and it was with great relief that we all arrived safely in

Bournemouth. Pam's husband, Doug, had come along to keep us company and

after a bit of juggling of rooms we all settled in.

Off to the Conference Centre to register, have a quick look round, and hopefully to

the Pier to watch Association President Liz Thomas take to the Zip Wire in aid of

charity. Not surprisingly, this was cancelled due to the icy conditions and Liz is

hoping to set this up later in the year. Tired, but hungry after a long day, we

decided to eat in the hotel restaurant that evening.

Tuesday and after a hearty breakfast we were off to the Conference Centre for the

Celebration of Unity & Service led by Member of Council Rev'd Catherine Forsdike.

Always uplifting, we were led by the Bournemouth Area Fellowship Band and the

District 8 and 24 choir. The collection at the service was in the thousands of

pounds and was in aid of Alzheimers UK.

A quick comfort and coffee break and then to the First Conference Session with

opening remarks from Association President Liz, and the lighting of the Candle of

Friendship (in these times battery powered). We were welcomed by a lovely lady

(representing the Mayor of Bournemouth). Dr Kapila Gupta, President of

International Inner Wheel gave an address, and Denis Spiller, President of Rotary

International in GB&I brought greetings. Tracy Rennie, director of care at East

Anglia Children's Hospice, gave a presentation of their work.

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It's all go at Conference and during the lunch break there was an opportunity

for some quick retail therapy in the Sales & Exhibition Centre!!!

During the afternoon session we welcomed Rotarian Mark Little who spoke

about 'Modern Slavery', something we should all be aware of. Some of his

report was heart-rendering and very difficult to listen to. This was followed by

a presentation by another Rotarian, on behalf of the charity Medical Detection

Dogs - able to sense when their owner is about to have a medical episode and

warn them so that they can take medication etc. before it becomes a problem.

Time to lighten the mood with our First Guest Speaker, John Benjamin, one of

the experts from 'Antiques Roadshow'. John's specialist subject is antique

jewellery and he had some wonderfully entertaining stories to tell.

A refreshing (cold and windy) walk back to The Savoy and to a nearby Italian

Restaurant for our evening meal. Then to the BIC for an evening of

entertainment from The Opera Boys. Think 'iI Divo' with a bit of humour thrown

in. Yet again back to the hotel, this time for a Baileys nightcap before saying

our 'goodnights' and off to bed !!

Wednesday morning and the AGM

After reports from Association Officers it was down to business with the

introduction of Proposals and General Motions. Suffice it to say that all were

carried !! - Lunch break and some chill out time then back in our seats for the

afternoon session, the highlight of which was our Second Guest Speaker,

Helen Sharman, CMG, OBE, who was the very first British Astronaut. She told

us how she came to apply, how she was chosen from many others, the training

involved and the fantastic experience of the actual mission.

After the closing addresses and a rousing finale by the Romsey Area Youth

Jazz Orchestra, it was time for President Liz to declare the 2018 Conference

closed and to 'switch off' the Candle of Friendship!

More than a little tired, but

having enjoyed another very

successful Conference, there

was time for a quick cup of

tea at The Savoy, change

into our Kool Kats outfits,

before trooping over to the

nearby Thai Restaurant for

dinner. As quite a few other

'Kool Kats' (also in their

outfits) had chosen this

venue for their evening meal

we made quite an impact !!!

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DORSET APPLE CAKE

A little taste of Bournemouth as a reminder of

a Happy Conference 2018

You will need

50 g cooking apples (such as Bramleys)

Juice of half a lemon - 225g butter, softened

280g golden caster sugar - 4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract - 350 g self raising flour - 2 tsp baking powder

Demerara sugar to sprinkle

Heat oven to 180C - 160C/Fan - Gas Mark 4

Butter and line a rectangular baking tin approx. 37 cm x 20 cm

Peel core and thinly slice the apples, squeeze lemon juice over & set aside

Place butter, caster sugar, eggs vanilla, flour and baking powder into a

large bowl and mix well until smooth

Spread half into prepared tin and arrange half the apples over the top

the Repeat the layers. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake for

45-50 mins until golden and springy to the touch

Leave to cool for 10 mins. Turn out of tin, remove paper and cut into bars

or squares For a special treat serve warm with Dorset Double Cream

For a final fling we were off again to the BIC for our evening entertainment with a

great band - Old Dogz, New Trix, playing the oldies we all love. It always

surprises me how so many ladies who have been hobbling around during the day,

suddenly find their feet and are happy to dance the night away.

I did not stay for long but I believe several of our members lasted the night out !!!!

Well done !!

Those of you who had to cancel were greatly missed. Thank you to those who

came along for making Conference 2018 another memorable experience despite

the hiccups along the way.

Apologies for any unintended inaccuracies or errors. It was so hectic, there was

so much to organise, I was having such a great time trying to cram so much in

and meet so many Inner Wheel friends that, in the absence of Pauline, who had

been all geared up to write a report, I completely forgot to take any notes. I can't

believe I was able to remember so much. !?!

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BIRTHDAY WISHES

VERY SPECIAL WISHES

FOR A VERY SPECIAL DAY

Pam England - 1st April

AND ALL OF THESE AS WELL !!

;

Sarah Crumpton - 27th April

Diane Moore - 27th April

Gloria Gunn - 30th April

Maeve Aldridge - 2nd May

Elsa Batchelor - 12th April

Kath Martin - 27th May

CLUB NEWS

At our February meeting members gave a warm welcome to Chris McKinnon-Wood who has joined our club as a new member and at our March meeting we welcomed Janie Hitchings, who has also joined our club. How great to have two new members in such a short space of time. It was also good to welcome Anne-Marie Rutter as a guest at our March meeting. Anne-Marie is hoping to formally join our club at our meeting in April.

Our speaker at our March meeting was Alice Counsell a pupil at Rednock School, who gave a presentation about her South African Adventure during the Summer of 2017. Inner Wheel had helped to sponsor Alice on the trip which was organised around a Community project at a local school in Kosi Bay, in the Maputaland area of KwaZulu-Natal, working to help improve the standards of the school and the children's lives as well as studying the culture and environment.

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Kosi Bay is situated in a stunning location on the Indian Ocean.

Whilst in South Africa the group were able to visit several Game Reserves, seeing leopards, elephants, porcupines, zebras and snakes! The rhino conservation area is the oldest in the world. They were also able to visit a Women's Market-set up and managed entirely by local women whose husbands had left to fight in wars and did not return. South Africa is renowned for a diversity of landscapes and people. It boasts spectacular wildlife reserves. A wonderful experience for Alice. Diane Moore gave the vote of thanks and wished Alice every success in the future.

Shirley Smith, Club Correspondent

GREAT NEWS

I am very pleased and happy to say that we will start the 2018/19

Inner Wheel year with Gill Davis as our Club President. Gill served

as President during 2013/14 and has been busy getting her

executive committee together and planning the programme for her

year. I am sure that all our members will join me in wishing Gill a

very happy and successful year.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Monday 14th May Executive Meeting at President's Home

Tuesday 15th May` Club Business Meeting at Prince of Wales Hotel - Evening

Tuesday 22nd May Dursley Interclub Lunch at Prince of Wales- 12 for 12.30 pm Guest speaker/entertainer Matthew Sproston

(The Life and Songs of Victoria Wood) Husbands/partners invited - £19.50 pp

Tuesday 5th June Club Ladies' Outing to Brockworth House details tba

Wednesday 6th June Get Together with local Ladies' Clubs - Community Centre - Beetle Drive - Ploughman's Supper - £7.50 pp

Monday 11th June Executive Meeting at President's Home

Thursday 14th June District Meeting and AGM - The Gables - Evening - tba

Tuesday 26th June NOTE CHANGE OF DATE, VENUE & TIME

Club AGM & Handover - Chavenage House - Cotswold Afternoon Tea followed by Meeting and Handover 3.30 pm for 4.00 pm

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Something to make you smile !??!

Love & Best Wishes to you all, especially those who are or have been

unwell

Take care President Sarah

My Younger Days

When I was in my younger days,

I weighed a few pounds less,

I needn't hold my tummy in

to wear a belted dress.

But now that I am older,

I've set my body free.

There's the comfort of elastic

where once my waist would be.

Inventor of those high-heeled shoes

my feet have not forgiven.

I have to wear a nine now,

but I used to wear a seven.

And how about those pantyhose

they're sized by weight, you see.

So how come when I put them on

the crotch is at my knee.

I need to wear these glasses

as the print is getting smaller

And it wasn't very long ago

I know that I was taller.

Though my hair has turned to silver

and my skin no longer fits

On the inside I'm the same old me,

Just the outside's changed a bit

Author Unknown

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THE OBJECTIVES OF INNER WHEEL

To promote true friendship

To encourage the ideals of personal service

To foster International understanding

The Inner Wheel Club of Dursley is always happy to receive enquiries

from like-minded women who may be interested in joining our wonderful

organisation

Please visit our website

www.innerwheel-dursley.org.uk