MAPLIN WI (From Maldon and Burnham Standard)

MAPLIN WI

1:22pm Friday 25th April 2008 in Burnham

The coach for the outing to the Cliffs Pavilion to Joseph on Saturday 26 April will depart from the Clock Tower at 12.15pm sharp. Pickups will then be the Library and Railway Hotel. The coach will not go via Southminster.

Queries ring 740787.

The April Meeting of Maplin WI was a great turnout and members were welcomed by President Margaret Brown to the 382nd Meeting.

She gave details of Maplin's Birthday Party which will take place on 22 May at the URC Hall at 7.30pm. Members sat at tables for the excellent speaker, Betty Sibley, who gave a very informative talk on Parchment.

Betty proceeded to give each member a pre-cut designed card to work on and colour, the end results were stunning.

Each member received a gift from Betty which was very acceptable. The vote of thanks was given by Sue J Secretary Anne Yeulett gave an update on the latest PCT Meeting and urged as many people as possible to attend the next Meeting at the Chelmsford Civic Centre on 22nd May. Tickets were available for West Side Story at the Cliffs Pavilion on Wednesday 19 November.

Happy Birthday was sung to a host of members with birthdays in April. Sharon Press judged the beautifully knitted premature baby cardigans and nightdresses made for the Spring Group Meeting Competition on 30th April at Bradwell.

These items will be sent abroad. The winner of the prembaby cardigan was Josie Benson and the nightdress winner was June Staines.

The competition for a hand made card was won by Margaret Nutt.

Maplin will join Burnham WI at the Carnival Hall on 10th May for a table top sale. Good clean saleable items were requested.

The outing to "Joseph" on Saturday 26 April will depart from the Clock Tower at 12.15 Sharp.

New members always very welcome.

TRY BOWLS

Burnham Hillside Bowls Club is inviting beginners to come along to their bowls club coaching evenings, which will be held every Tuesday evening in May, commencing May 6 at 6.15pm.

This is an ideal way to learn how bowls is played and to discover if you would like to join the bowls club. We have a comfortable club house and a licensed bar.

All equipment will be provided and there is no charge for the coaching. You just need a pair of flat shoes, please telephone Val on 782834 for more details.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

The March meeting of the Burnham branch Womens Section of the Royal British Legion was well attended and members were enthralled by a talk given by Mary Sims who went to Arras to see the grave of her uncle who was killed in the First World War and buried in Wancourt British Cemetery.

It was very moving and brings back the importance of our epitaph.

The raffle was well supported with many prizes. Our next meeting will be on April 21 at the Carnival Hall, 2.3pm to 4.30pm when the competition will be for A Favourite Brooch.

Visitors will be very welcome to attend to see if they would like to join us as members.

If anyone has anything interesting they could speak on for about 30 minutes we would love to hear from you, please call 783308.

UNITED REFORMED CHURCH

Pauline and David Scott were welcomed to the Women's Guild last Wednesday, when the members had a most unusual afternoon's entertainment.

They arrived to find three tables laden with every kind of Second World War memorabilia one could think of, behind which stood Pauline dressed in the green-and-red uniform of the WRVS ready to start her talk about the WRVS in wartime.

The Women's Voluntary Service, started in 1938 by Lady Reading, did such worthwhile work during the war and were most prominent out on the streets where they helped those who had lost everything - distributing food and drink, looking after orphans and providing second- hand furniture and clothes.

They were absolutely indispensable.

Pauline related true stories of happenings during the Blitz in London, with some amusing stories to contrast with the heartache of people who had been bombed out and described the fortitude of Londoners in those frightening times. One humorous remark which was said to have been overheard came from a woman who declared that the best thing about the Blitz was that is took your mind off the war!

After Pauline had gone through all the objects on the table and their uses, she went on to talk of the different kinds of air-raid shelter, and described what people made ready to take into the shelters in order to make the long hours spent in them a little more comfortable and bearable.

Then came the big surprise!

The ladies were asked to stand to greet a most important visitor, and in walked Winston Churchill, alias David Scott, complete with Homburg, walking stick, cigar, and V-sign. He gave a very convincing speech and a rousing summary of the war so far. Then, under David's hat, they ended their unusual talk with an epilogue.

Tea and delicious cake baked by Pauline using war-time ingredients were served and Pauline and David were thanked by Margaret Duffus for their "talk with a difference".

DARBY & JOAN CLUB

It was gratifying to see so many people at our meeting last Friday on such a cold, blustery day.

We were pleased to welcome one new member and to see two members who have been ill returning.

Two birthdays were celebrated The speaker was Mrs Susan Doe the history officer for Sue Ryder Care (formerly Sue Ryder Foundation) Sue Ryder was born in Leeds in 1923 into a wealthy farming family. She was greatly influenced by her mother to care for people less fortunate than herself.

In the Second World War she first joined the First Aid Nursing Organisation but later transferred to Churchill's Special Operations and saw service in Italy and Germany and also did relief work in Poland.

She set us a "Living Memorial"

to the millions who had lost their lives in the war by caring for sick people in a flat in her mother's 5 bedroomed house in Suffolk. After a few years she met Leonard Cheshire, they were married in 1959 in Bombay and had two children.

To celebrate their wedding anniversary they took a party of people to Rome where Sue Ryder and Leonard Cheshire had an audience with the Pope. In 1979 she became Lady Ryder of Warsaw.

Sadly Leonard developed motor neurone disease and died in 1993 Over the years many people have come from Europe to be cared for and work as volunteers in the various care homes which were opened not only in the UK but all over the world.

Today the Homes and Day Centres care for Stroke victims, Parkinson Disease, MS, motor neurone Disease, accidents victims and Cancer sufferers.

Susan showed us many slides of Sue Ryder and all the work she has done and pointed out what a humble person she was. Unfortunately, she died in 2000 at the age of 70 years but has left behind so much to celebrate her life.

Maureen thanked Susan for sharing the story with members as many of them have visited the old headquarters in Suffolk and wished her a safe journey home to Ipswich.

The next meeting will be on Friday May 2.

BRIDGE

The result of the duplicate bridge session held on Thursday April 17 at the Crouch Yacht Club was as follows: a win for the partnership of Colin Kelly and Simon Timmis with a high score of 69.04% and in second place with 55.55% were Mike Bainbridge and Wendy Wagstaff.