The Association ofInner Wheel Clubs inGreat Britain & Ireland

Inside this Edition:

The IW Conference in Glasgow

District Chairman Elect

50 years of Service to IW

IIW President Charlotte De Vos.Theme 2015/2016 - Unique and United

Winner of the Winter 2015 caption competition:Ann Clark - Bungay

‘’Can he pour a glass of whiskey and use aSatNav

Entries to the Editor by 30September 2016

IW President Trish DouglasCharity 2015-2016

Catherine Forsdike (Ipswich East)Tel: 01473 252904Email: caforsdike@btinternet.com

Jenny Childerhouse (Thetford)Tel: 01953 498079Email: jennychilderhouse@yahoo.co.uk

illian Smith (Felixstowe)Tel: 01394 270688Email:algillfx@talktalk.net

Deirdre Griffin (Woodbridge)Tel: 01473 612049Email: tandd@griffin3373.fsnet.co.u

Annette Guttridge (Letchworth Garden City)Tel: 01763 241818

Jenny Childerhouse (Thetford)Tel: 01953 498079Email: jennychilderhouse@yahoo.co.uk

Pauline Lancaster (Ely)Tel: 01353 663378Email: paulinedlancaster@yahoo.com

Judy Hardcastle (Woodbridge)Tel: 01394 380199Email: judyhardcastle@hotmail.co.uk

Yvonne Eaton (Bungay)Tel: 01502 569456Email: ukyvonneeaton@aol.com

Catherine ForsdikeDear fellow members of Inner Wheel

What a wonderful year! It has been agreat privilege to be your DistrictChairman and to experience thewarmth and welcome of Inner Wheel asI have travelled round the district. Overand over again I have been struck bythe variety of activities that each clubundertakes and the care and concernthey show for each other and theircommunities.Every club and every member is uniquebut what we have in common isfriendship and hospitality which is theglue that binds us together and unites usin our great organisation. This was soapparent at the AssociationConference. Thirty-three members ofDistrict 8 accompanied by six husbandsmade their way to Glasgow joining upwith over two thousand delegates.What a time we had. On the Mondaysome of us explored Glasgow whilstothers took part in the Sheila CraneWalk. In the evening Member of Council,Deirdre Griffin, five Inner Wheel membersand I joined other guests at the CivicReception held in the magnificentbanqueting hall of Glasgow CityChambers.Conference started on Tuesday morningwith a United Service of Faith led by theRevd Dr Laurence Whitley. Music wasprovided by The Scottish Fellowship Band

and the Sapphire Singers and I and 7other District Chairmen gave a range ofreadings – I’ve never had such a largecongregation! Afterwards many peoplesaid how much they appreciated thechoice of readings and the inclusivity ofthe service.Over the two days we had some verygood speakers. Luke Simon, spokemovingly about the loss of his brother inthe 2004 tsunami which led to the PiersSimon Appeal and the School in a Baginitiative. Following his talk their stand inthe exhibition centre was busy with InnerWheel ladies buying and fillingbackpacks.Olivia Giles who contracted meningitisand needed quadruple amputationswas an inspirational speaker and isdetermined to spread awareness of andraise funds to combat the disease.Tricia Stewart, one of the original WIcalendar girls, lightened the mood withher humorous account of how thecalendar came about, meeting the starsof the film and the making of the WestEnd stage plat. Initially Tricia wanted toraise £5000 in memory of John Baker, thehusband of one of their group. To date

they have raised over £3.5 million forLeukaemia and Lymphoma Research.Association President Trish has chosenParkinson’s UK as her charity this year.Sheila North gave us an insight intowhat it like to live with Parkinson’s asshe has suffered with the disease forthe past 20 years. Sheila has beenactively involved with the charity in avariety of roles, including being avolunteer facilitator for self-management groups. Sadly, theParkinson’s is making its presencemore known in her day to day living.Jane Asher is the President ofParkinson’s UK and was unable to bepresent at Conference but sent us avideo message. Sheila North andKatherine Crawford, Director ofParkinson’s UK Scotland wereoverwhelmed by the amount raisedby Inner Wheel this year.The AGM business on Wednesdaymorning was conducted efficientlyand there was lively debate over theproposals and general motion. Asusual Liz Thomas gave and excellentfinancial report and when next year’sofficers were introduced onWednesday afternoon and we weredelighted when she was announcedas Association Vice President for 2016-17.Both afternoon sessions concludedwith a performance. On Tuesday wewere entertained by Dr Paul Whittakerwho is a profoundly deaf organist andpianist. We caught up withdevelopments in his work with deafmusicians, enjoyed his piano playingand were profoundly moved by hissigned song performances.

On Wednesday we were treated to aperformance by children from theGordon School of dancing who

presented Scottish dances in traditionaland contemporary styles. There was alsoa guest performance from the cast of‘Stepping Out’ who danced to ‘Puttingon the Ritz’ dressed in top hats, tails andfishnet tights. In the line-up wasAssociation President Trish who hadmade a swift change from theglamorous outfit that she was wearingearlier.

If that wasn’t enough entertainment, wehad ‘A Ticket to the Theatre’ on Tuesdayevening when talented young musiciansperformed songs from the shows andthen the Ceilidh on Wednesday night. D8members looked resplendent in theirsashes and badges.

All to soon we were making our wayhome and back to reality. At the time ofwriting I have three more club visits tomake and some other club eventsbefore the DCM and AGM in June whenI will have the pleasure of handing overthe chain of office to JennyChilderhouse. I offer her my sincere goodwishes for her year.

Finally, thank you for your support andencouragement and your contributionsto CAF’s challenge. So far £300 has beenraised for my charity MIND from the saleof the produce.

With best wishesCatherine

Pauline Lancaster

Once again I would like to thank allclub Correspondents for theircontributions to this, the 2nd. Editionof the magazine with me as editor.With their help the magazinebecomes informative, fun and agood read. It also provides a uniqueinsight into District 8 as a whole, asopposed to a series of individualclubs.

A further thanks goes to thosemembers who went to theConference in Glasgow and let mehave the photos they took. Thesewere such a wonderful selectionthat I found it hard to narrow themdown to the numerous onesincluded in the Magazine. Theycertainly bring the Conference tolife.

The Home Service reports havebeen collated and sent to theAssociation Editor. Our District 8supported 52 different UK charitiesand fund raised in many varied andingenious ways the grand sum of justover £35,000. Well done everyoneand thanks Correspondents forgetting the Home Service reports tome on time.

I know that you will all like to joinme in congratulating DistrictChairman Catherine on herexcellent year.

Now begins another Inner Wheelyear with our new District ChairmanJenny. We wish you a happy andsuccessful year with safe journeysaround District 8 visiting our clubs.

Finally I would like to wish you all agood summer and hopefully asunny one.

Yours in Inner Wheel friendship,

Pauline

Telephone: 01353 663378

Email:paulinedlancaster@yahoo.com

When choosing between two

evils, I always like to try the one

I’ve never tried before.

Jenny ChilderhouseDear Ladies of District 8

I have been asked by the District Editorto write a piece for the magazinewhich has brought home to me thatmy year as Chairman is not that faraway. Whilst I am looking forward tothe year immensely, I also have somefeelings of trepidation as I followCatherine who has done a wonderfullyefficient job, and Yvonne who broughther own inimitable style to the post.

I joined Inner Wheel in Thetford afterseveral years in Ladies' Circle where Iwas Club and Area Chairman and alsoserved one year on National asExecutive Councillor for the East,where I was in charge of regaliaorders. I also visited clubs around thecountry representing the Associationwhich was good experience inaddressing large groups of people –usually at Charter Nights which meanta mixed audience. I found I had noproblem with this at all although I hadalways considered myself to be shy.

Career-wise, I was never a high-flyer.After dropping out of teacher-trainingcollege I spent a lot of my working lifebehind the counters of various HighStreet banks which could be why I tookon District Treasurer although a coursein accountancy would have come inhandy as well.

I have been married to David for 45years and we have two grown-upchildren and three grandchildren whorange in age from 21 down to two anda half. The family all live close by inNorwich and Wymondham so we seethem often but for short periods.

We were both born in Thetford andhaven’t moved far from there apartfrom a short spell in Luton when wewere first married so are a true pair ofNorfolk Dumplings

Reading through Catherine's extensivelist of interests and activities I can onlylay claim to the family history researchwhich can take up a lot of my time – itgets very addictive. Otherwise otheractivities include shopping, going onholiday and avoiding the ironing.

I have chosen as my charity this yearthe East Anglian Air Ambulance –something I have supported longbefore their recent famous recruit. Iam fortunate enough not to haverequired their services as yet, but I feelthat in our rural areas there are timeswhen only the helicopter can helpand they are entirely reliant on publicdonations to keep operating. I hopeyou will agree and support me in this.

At time of writing I am not aware ofthe IIW theme so I cannot wave thebanner on their behalf, but I do hope Ican count on your support for ourwonderful organisation locally,nationally and, yes, internationallyand I pledge that I will do everything Ican to help you all in the forthcomingyear to continue in fun and friendship.

Jenny

All her friendsfor lunch

Cake and Shield

Beccles Inner Wheel would like towish a Belated Happy andProsperous New Year to all ourfellow Inner Wheelers.

We have had our usual enjoyablebut friendly and busy few months.We continue to welcome all ourtransferred members from theclosed Lowestoft Club and enjoytheir input into our Club. We havecontinued with our Simple Suppersand Coffee mornings one of whichwas for the President's Project ofParkinson's UK

One very successful lunch was aChilli and Pudding Lunch in aid ofour President's Charity which isagainst Female Genital Mutilation.We were very pleased to welcomemembers from other Club's to thismeal. We all had seen andwatched the video sent to us aboutthis problem and had an interestingdiscussion afterwards.

Some of our members attended theDistrict Meeting and PresidentsLunch as well as Bungay President'sCharter Night SaxmundhamFriendship Soup Lunch to name buta few.

We have a very hectic few monthsahead of us looking at ourprogramme up to our A.G.M. Wealways help Rotary by providingrefreshments at their Cycle for Life inMay and at the local Hospital Fetethey organise in June as well asvarious things on our ownprogramme. Some fund raising like aCake Stall then a Bric a Brac Stalland then for pleasure an "Ascot"themed Garden Party in a member'sgarden as well as the usual day today events.

Our monthly Club Lunch in April fellon the Queen's 90th Birthday so weall joined in wishing her (with a glassof Bubbly) many Congratulationsand Thanks for all she has done inher long reign.

Life is what happens to you whenyou ‘re making other plans.(Betty Talmage )

As February 29th was an “extra” daywe decided to use it to raise fundsfor Farm Africa’s Young UrbanFarmers Appeal. Members preparedAfrican themed food of Bobuti,Sweet Potato Curry and Chickenand Peanut Butter Casserolefollowed by Pineapple desserts. Themoney raised will help to providetools, equipment and training foryou people in the Dagoretti Districtof Nairobi to enable them to set upvegetable gardens and grownutritious food. A friend who hadlived in Nairobi for 25 years, and wasa member of Inner Wheel there,gave an interesting talk about theregion of Dagoretti and the homesand lives of the people who livethere. Members of some other clubssupported this event.

January saw us celebrating InnerWheel Day, as usual, with a Soupand Cheese lunch and packing 45brightly coloured Baby Boxes withbaby clothes, knitted toys andtoiletries. These are sent to EasternEurope through International Aid.The photo shows our InternationalOfficer Lou loading her car.

We also raised money for Parkinson’sU K in November by holding a Soupand Desserts lunch, and filling theCamon Bear rucsacs for School in aBag. Future plans include aPloughman’s Lunch with a Craft Fairand a Cake Stall under the Buttercrossin Bungay Town centre.

Three of our members attended theAssociation Conference in Glasgowwhich was a great show case of whatInner Wheel is about, inspirationalspeakers, good entertainment,friendship and fellowship withmembers. We hope more of ourmembers will go to Nottingham nextyear

Life’s true happiness is found

in the friendships we make

along the way

Since out last report, we have had avariety of interesting speakers. Wehave learned more about some ofthe characters in the Dickens novelsfrom the Rev. Arthur Windridge andthe Rev. Nigel Patterson showedslides and told us the history of theCompostella Route. This is in NorthernSpain and has been a walkway forpilgrims and travellers for more than2.000 years. After many years ofneglect and out of favour, it nowattracts over 200,000 pilgrims eachyear.

It was a great pleasure to meet NikkiMorris, the deputy Chief Executive ofthe Big ‘C’ Norfolk Cancer Charity.After being a cancer sufferer herself,she spoke about its work and thechanges over its 35 year historyincluding a new centre and welfareadvice service at Cromer Hospital.This charity has been chosen by ourpresident, Carol Selwyn.

Several of our members paid a visit tothe Little Sheringham Theatre to see‘The Vicar of Dibley’. Apparently, itwas hilarious and many of us we sorrywe had missed it.

We had the privilege of hosting theDistrict President’s Lunch at Diss andthis was a new experience for someof us and thoroughly enjoyed by all.We look forward to our summeractivities as these are always suchgood times when we can get toknow one another better with agarden party, to raise money for theBig ‘C’ and our president’s barbecue– a time to chat, enjoy the sun(hopefully).

We have had varied and interestingmeetings so far. In October we learnthow to work with Pewter, then inNovember we held Coffee Morningraising money for R.N.L.I to puttowards a new house for theShannon lifeboat at Wells next theSea. December saw us at Windmillrestaurant in Necton with allmembers attending our Christmaslunch. Inner Wheel Day wascelebrated on Jan 11th.withlunch atJanet Harvey’s where Carole Plunketspoke on progress of the Nook, anew Children’s Hospice being builtat a cost of £11 million pounds, theDuchess of Cambridge is Patron ofthe Nook appeal. In January ourspeaker Martin Flitcroft of the R.N.L.Ifollowed our business meeting. Hewas presented a cheque from fundsraised at the coffee morning.

Our February meeting was a visit to amember’s house in the countrysidewhen her son in law Simon Davisspoke on Farmhouse and Countryantiques. Election of club officers2016-17 took place at our Marchmeeting with President, StellaFancourt, Secretary, Maureen Hart,Treasurer, Shirley Willis,Correspondent, Jennifer Steward,International Service organiser, SueMansfield, Welfare officer, ChristineWood and new Committee memberAnn Parnell.

We are finding it difficult to fill all theoffices (no Vice President orMembership officer) but hope toinvite a small number of ladies to joinus so the club can continue.

In April we are holding oursecond fundraiser “ an Evening withQueenie” Rachel Duffield fromGressenhall Rural Life Museum. Wineand canapés will be served and araffle held. All proceeds from theevening will go to the Nook Appeal.

When it rains look for

rainbows, when it’s dark look

for stars.

President Diana’s chosen charity isCam SAR (Cambridge Search andRescue) and Richard Morley wasinvited to our Charter Night Dinner togive a talk and screen presentation onthe work of this organisation beforebeing given a large cheque for histeam of volunteers.

More fund raising events are yet tocome i.e. A Fish and Chip supper in aidof the Spinal Injuries Association, thenon May 25th. Is our Annual InternationalCharity Evening in aid of Sight Saverswith speaker Dr. David Kinnaird whenwe hope to raise a substantial amountfor this important Charity.

This all sounds like a lot of hard workbut we do have a lot of laughs alongthe way.

As President Diana’s year draws to aclose we can look back on a variedand interesting year.There have been some excellentSpeakers including Stephen Bourne,retired C.E.O Cambridge UniversityPress which now has offices in 50different countries. He is now theAdministrator for Ely Cathedral.On Inner Wheel Day in January areSpeaker was a local Rotarian who isalso Chairman of the Parkinson’sSupport group in Ely. He was veryenlightening and forthcoming on hissymptoms and treatment. We heldraffles and raised money forParkinson’s U.K local branch.

A bumper year of meetings with anamazing variety of subjects andspeakers has stimulated and enthusedus together with our fund raising.We welcomed Tom Cogan talkingabout his “Life in Music”, a fascinatinglook at his career from young choristerat St. John’s College Cambridge,returning there as an undergraduateand choral scholar and his subsequentwork with such famous names asLuciano Pavarotti, Peter Pears, andcomposer Benjamin BrittenAnother interesting speaker Rev.Manette Crossman told us of herfamily’s involvement with the DutchResistance during WW2 and their manyacts of bravery helping mainly Jewishfamilies to escape from Holland.Lastly we enjoyed the story of Suffolkfarmer Henry Adams Cupper fromWorlingworth who with his wife and 3children emigrated to Oregon in the1870’s to the good farmland out westin America. He became a prominentmember of the community andCupper Creek in Oregon is a reminderof the Suffolk Pioneer fromWorlingworth. His story was told to usby Mr. Geoffrey Robinson who hadresearched and written about HenryCupper and has since met up with hisgreat-grandson in America.

In March we had our joint meeting withRotary and made it our InternationalCharity evening in aid of Medicins SansFrontieres. 76 Rotarians I.W membersand friends attended with speakerHazel Southwell giving us insight into thework of this leading independenthumanitarian organisation foremergency medical aid. A raffle washeld with some amazing donations anda large amount was raised for MSF.Several outside visits have beenarranged with a guided tour of TheMayor’s Parlour at Ipswich Town Hall inMarch.The club has supported the localSalvation Army Food Bank, collectedbras for Africa, knitted hats forseafarers, teddies for “School in a bag”project, filled 42 shoe boxes for thecharity “Blythswood”, collected hats,scarves and mitten sets with gamesracquets to be given to children fromChernobyl this July.Donations have been presented toRDA, local MENCAP group, MSF,Chicks, Shelter Box and the EveAppeal.

It has been a very busy yearfor Gt. Yarmouth. A “FrugalLunch” was held at the homeof Sheila Gunn and themonies raised from this went toInternational Charities.District Chairman Catherine Forsdike spoke at our business meeting and it was veryinteresting.Gt. Yarmouth Inner Wheel held their usual Easter Fayre and over 100 Easter Eggs weredonated. This event was held at the Minster, Gt. Yarmouth. (See photograph).

Money cannot buy happiness…but it’s far more comfortable to

cry in a Porsche than on abicycle

Objects of InnerWheel

To promote true friendship

To encourage the ideals ofpersonal service

To foster internationalunderstanding

HUNSTANTON ANDDISTRICT (1977)President Val AtterburyClub Correspondent CoralCampbellMembers 21

STROLLING IN FRIENDSHIP

We are conscious that we all havedifferent life experiences which wewould like to share and thus get toknow each other better. Buildingfriendships is key to a happy group. Weare achieving this through our “InnerWheel Strollers”, the idea of a pastpresident who suggested membersmeet socially for a monthly walkfollowed by refreshments. Our “strollersgroup” was born and is thriving. In thisbeautiful part of Norfolk, we arefortunate to have an amazing varietyof venues for our walks: Sandringhamwoods, the countryside aroundBircham Windmill and wonderful

beaches. Members who find thewalks difficult join us for refreshmentsafter our strolls. We have a fullprogramme for the next six months!We are extending our social ventureto theatre outings – starting with alocal theatre performance of TheMousetrap with a pre-show meal.Through these activities, we hope toencourage friends to accompany usand perhaps become members.In February we welcomed Julie Dillon,new member, and Hilary Farrell,returning to the area and transferringfrom her previous club.Congratulations, Hilary, on becomingDistrict Treasurer.

What a busy year so far for ourPresident Teresa!

The Body Shop evening proved sopopular that Teresa had to organise asecond evening. A very sociable timewith everyone leaving smelling ofroses.Then Past President Jenny had anidea that she may have come toregret. Jenny suggested we madeand sold Christmas Trees to supportTeresa's charity, ICENI. The whole clubwas involved collecting bottletops,cleansing pads, Christmasmaterial and felt,then the sewingbegan. Jenny had several sewingsessions and even persuaded peopleto sew at home. The finished treeswere very decorative and as a resultwe sold all we could produce. Thankyou everyone . St Mary Le Tower church in Ipswichhave an annual Tree Festival and wesupported it this year with a prettyblue tree which we dedicated toICENI. The event is truly magical. A Murder Mystery evening wasarranged in February .The setting wasRunnacles Manor. There were affairs,blackmail, incriminating photos,

adoptions and disposals of unwantedhusbands. Who could believe thatInner Wheelers could lie so easily ! In March a warm welcome wasshown to our District Chairman ,Catherine Forsdike .It was a funevening. There was a quiz to find outhow well we know Catherine .Wemay not have known many ofCatherine 's secrets before but we donow. She presented Teresa with abeautiful cross stitch relating toIpswich and Teresa gave Catherinesome flowers . April was announced with anamazing Parade of Puddings lunch atTuddenham Village Hall. Puddingsappeal to all ages so it was lovely tosee our familiestucking intodelicious soupsand an impressivearray of puddings.The money raisedwill go to ICENI .Abig thank you to allinvolved

This year we have enjoyed talks bytwo very interesting speakers. The firstwas by Professor Carla Moran,Consultant Endocrinologist with theBritish Thyroid Foundation, who talkedto us about the thyroid gland, itsfunction, and current research. Shequalified in 2002 and undertookfurther training specialising inhormones, then gained a PhD withProfessor Chatterjee at Cambridge.A large amount of her work involvesoutpatient clinics with follow uptelephone clinics to adjustmedications, and she also attendsconferences and teaches. Sheoutlined the symptoms of bothunderactive and overactive thyroidsand how they can be treated for lifewith thyroxin which is generally welltolerated with no side effects

We also enjoyed a very informativetalk from Kate Wooldridge of FredOlsen Cruise Lines who talked aboutcruising and the history of the familyowned Fred Olsen company. Sheexplained the advantages of thesmaller cruise ships operated by thecompany and the personal servicethey are able to offer. All the cruisesoperate out of British ports so no flyingis involved (and hence no baggagerestrictions!). We learned about allthe facilities on board the ships andthe opportunities for excursions onshore. She ended by tempting us with108 day world cruise which offerssomething for everyone!

Do you realise today is the

oldest you’ve ever been!

What a wonderful few months we havehad. We have welcomed 5 new membersto our club since last October. Our visits toBaylham Care home have bought a lot offun helping the residents to make, bakeand play games.

One of our members travels annually withthe charity TEECH to Moldova. We areagain collecting essential items that are dif-ficult for people to obtain, we hope to ex-ceed out last year’s total of over 600 items.We enjoyed a frugal lunch, raising moneytowards this worthwhile cause. At this eventwe welcomed District Chairman Catherineto our meeting who inducted one of ournew members.

Our meetings continue to take us out andabout and we spent a lovely day indulgingin some Christmas retail therapy at Earl So-ham followed by a delicious lunch duringwhich 2 new members were inducted.

Our evening meetings have been a greatassortment of fun, education and encour-agement to broaden our horizons.

We listened in awe to Daisy Turner fromCLIC Sargent the young peoples’ cancercharity the young person’s charity CLICK,herself a cancer survivor, such an inspira-tion. President Val has chosen this as hercharity for the year.

Our Bangers and Mash evening withgames was a great success and all mem-bers, friends and rotary visitors all had agreat time. We raised funds from this to-wards President Val’s charity.

Other evenings have included a talk froma couturier, a wonderful visit from three ex-tremely well behaved guide dogs and amost informative and amusing talk fromJane Parker the Head of Registration Serv-ice for Suffolk entitled, “Hatched, Matchedand Dispatched.” It was an interesting in-sight to the working life of a registrar thatwas enjoyed by all.

We have welcomed other Inner Wheelmembers to many of our meetings andhave ourselves visited other wheels andare looking forward to our planned sum-mer events.

Knowledge is knowing that atomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not

putting it in a fruit salad!

A very exciting year beginning withInner Wheel Day when a lunch washeld in honour of Barbara Kelly who hasserved Inner Wheel for fifty years,asTreasurer, Secretary, President andDistrict Secretary, Chairman of Council,Association Chairman and President. AsAssociation President she helped to setup boys clubs in India. She then realisedthere were no provisions made for girls,so they were neither cared for, oreducated. Consequently she set up ahome and school near Madras wheregirls are nurtured and educated. TheBarbara Kelly Home. We continue tosponsor a girl at the home and are intouch with them. It is now financially runby the International Children's Trust.David Christie from ICT was thespeaker, bringing with him a recordingof messages for Barbara from the girls.President Trish Douglas attended andgave thanks for Barbara's service andpresented her with a framed certificateof long service.

In 2012 The Letchworth Rotary clubsannounced they were changingDistricts, from 8-26, this raised thesubject as to whether Inner Wheelshould follow suit. At that time some ofour members were serving on District 8Committee, and many members hademotional ties with District 8, having

served it with late husbands and mademany friends. It was decided to wait until2015 to make the decision, beingsensitive to members feelings.

By 2015 Royston, Baldock andCambridge clubs had sadly closed, soLetchworth Garden City was out on alimb. The journey to Norfolk for meetingsbecame prohibitive,with membersincreasing age, health needs and lesspeople able to drive. In March 2015 anextraordinary meeting was held and theoptions identified. It culminated in a vote,resulting in a unanimous wish to move toDistrict 26.. The wheels were set in motionand we hope to move in July. LeavingDistrict 8 is tinged with sadness after suchhappy years. A very special thank you tomembers of District 8 for the fun,fellowship and friendship which we haveexperienced serving with them.

Now we must look forward to the changeand, as we have started to meetmembers from District 26, they have beenincredibly welcoming and we lookforward to new links with them.Stevenage club invited us to their serviceat a local Church and lunch for InnerWheel Day. It was a splendid occasionand especially good to have beenincluded

Our new president Jill Noble invitedCarol Plunkett from the charity EACHto our September meeting. This is Jill'sfundraising choice for the year.The East Anglian Children's Hospiceare raising funds to open a newcentre, The Nook. This will allow themto offer more space & facilities tocontinue their wonderful work.Also on this occasion one of ourformer President's, Rosemary Sargissonpresented a colourful hand-knittedpatchwork blanket to our OverseasOrganiser Janet Corwood. This wasone of many that Rosemary has kindlydonated over the years.

In October we welcomed a visit fromthe Lord Mayor, Councillor BrendaArthur and the Sheriff, Mrs BerylBlower. They gave an insight into'Sistema in Norwich' the Norwich CivicCharity Appeal for 2015/16.Through learning to play a musicalinstrument & being part of anorchestra, young deprived childrenare supported in realising theirpotential to succeed across all areasin their lives.

The following month we held ourannual Autumn Fair. President Jillsuggested an afternoon tea eventwhich proved to be a very popularchoice. All members contributed bymaking scones & a wonderful array ofcakes. We had a number of stalls andprizes generously donated bymembers for the raffle. A very healthyamount was raised for EACH

We held our annual Christmas lunch atthe Debut restaurant which is part ofthe catering course at Norwich CityCollege. This was well attended by theladies along with husbands & friends.

January was a very distressing monthfor people living in Lancashire &surrounding counties who experiencedsome of the worst flooding forgenerations.Our meeting coincided in celebrating'International Inner Wheel Day.' JanetCorwood heard an appeal on RadioNorfolk to donate unwanted clothing,bedding etc. for' Help the Flood Victims UK.' Ourmembers happily obliged. On Friday8th January this resulted with Janet'scar being very overloaded. Herhusband Alan insisted inaccompanying her to the depot incase she was unable to see where sheas going! The contributions were thentaken to Manchester by lorry.Rosemary included another colourfulblanket for the appeal.

The following month speaker JeanSmith gave an illustrated talk on fashionfrom 'New women to New Look'.

Throughout the year we have beeninvited by Rotary and other clubs toevents which were supported by ourmembers.

We have two more meetings andsadly we will be closing. LastDecember we had a very successfulChristmas Lunch and Canon BobBaker was our guest and he gave anappropriate "Talk", with a collectionof amusing Tales. we have just had asecond Quiz and Supper Evening;these are so popular and we havemany regular supporters; they arevery relaxing and a lot of fun and

raise funds for the President's Charityand other causes.

On a sad note Doris. Mackey passedaway in December and alsoBarbara Henley ( a pastmember)who had been a memberfor many years. Doris was 93 andwas a member of the Land Armyand was in the WAAF in the SecondWorld War.

We have been so privileged tobelong to such a wonderfulorganisation and we leave havingmade lifelong friendships.

Goodness me! Where have the last fewmonths gone? It seems like onlyyesterday that I was compiling our lastreport for Pieces of Eight.Here, in SaffronWalden, we have been busy andactive.We ended last year with afascinating visit to the Houses ofParliament to which Rotarians were alsoinvited. We had a guided tour led by ourMP - Sir Alan Haslehurst. Inner WheelWorld Day was celebrated by clubmembers, ex club members, partnersand Rotarians at the Saffron Hotel; wherewe enjoyed a convivial brunch. Duringthe celebration our internationalcommittee chairperson told everyoneabout 'LifeStraw', one of the charities weare supporting this year and peopleattending were invited to donate. Ourfundraising ventures have consisted of aBeetle Drive, Quiz night, and our thirdannual Bridge Tea. All these events haveattracted people other than just InnerWheelers which we find gratifying as itboth broadens knowledge of us andwhat we do and brings in additionalmonies for our chosen charities.As I write we are planning a coffeemorning to support 'School in a Bag' anda fashion show in collaboration with ourlocal M and Co store. This to raise fundsfor local charities. We continue to help,on a monthly basis, our local Support forSight group by providing therefreshments at their coffee mornings.We also arrange a monthly coffeemeeting at a café in town for any InnerWheel members who would like toattend. We have recently welcomedtwo new members to our club and hopethey will enjoy being part of the InnerWheel family.Our only recent speaker was KathyHipperson, a historical interpreter and

museum educator. She spoke with suchenthusiasm about her work.She works at Audley End House which isvery local to us as well as Hampton Courtand The Tower of London. Amazingly, shehas just learned to be a mounted falconer!Side saddle at that and in full historicalcostume!Most recently eleven members of our clubjourneyed to Glasgow for the Inner Wheelconference. In January we held a BurnsNight in collaboration with our Rotary Clubso this prepared us for the Scottish festivitiesahead! We flew from Stansted and theflight numbers were definitely enhanced bymany other Inner Wheelers. Ryan Air musthave been delighted! We all enjoyed ourtrip and found Glasgow to be an interestingand friendly city. Weall took part in thewalk organisedaround KelvingrovePark. In addition wemanaged to fit in anafternoon tea at TheWillow Tea Rooms,famous for theirassociation withCharles RennieMacintosh. Theconference venue was comfortable andeasily accessible for us either by taxi ( ofwhich there were many) or by a pleasanthalf hour walk alongside the river Clydewalkway. The only time taxis were in shortsupply was when we had to compete withthe audience from the E.L.O concertnearby! After the conference all the ' SweetTalkin' Women' returned home 'All Over theWorld' determined to 'Shine a Little Love'back in their clubs! ( That’s my attempt atlinking the Electric Light Orchestra with InnerWheel! )

of & Annual Conference GLASGOW April 11-13th

2016

Images from Glasgow

Saffron Walden members“Why are we waiting”

Brightening up theUnderground

A Sea of Teddies

Images from GlasgowStalls for IW Charities and Projects

Felixstowe with bagsto donate

Bags of ‘School in aBag’

Parkinson’s UK stall

Images fromGlasgow

IW Charities andProjects

“Our Radiant Leader”

Trish Douglas

Bras for Africa

Old FashionedSweeties

Images fromGlasgow

Civic Reception

District 8 -ChairmanCatherine

Jenny Vice- Chairman District 8and Marian de Bass

Lord Provost of City of Glasgow

Sadie Docherty

Images fromGlasgow

‘On the Stage’

Liz Thomas - Association Treasurer

Images fromGlasgow

‘Food and Drink’

Jenny : Food Glorious FoodMarian riaises a glass

Saffron Walden ‘trapped’ inKelvingrove

Maria and the Meringues

Images fromGlasgowLast Night

CeilidhDistrict 8 Chairman

Catherine & husband Alan

District 8 ViceChairman

Jenny andAssociation Treasurer

Liz Thomas

At our Christmas Dinner at the CedarsHotel, Stowmarket Inner Wheel joinedwith Stowmarket Rotary Clubs andenjoyed an excellent meal, followedby a different entertainment from theusual professional one. PresidentBrenda Brown had devised her ownversion of “Would I Lie to You?” 8members told anecdotes and theaudience voted for the 2 truthfultales. Entertaining and cheaper!

Once again Stowmarket Inner Wheeldecorated a Christmas Tree inStowmarket Church. This yeardepicting Joseph the Carpenter. Thisis one of the largest festivals in theCountry and is not only a stunningdisplay of nearly 400 trees, but bringsorganisations, including Inner Wheelinto the public eye.

In January, instead of an eveningmeeting we met at a local pub forlunch. This enabled some of our moreelderly members to join us. Some ofthese ladies prefer not to attend theevening meetings during the wintermonths. We have some interestingspeakers arranged for the comingmonths, and in May, 2 of ourmembers, Marguerite Budden, andSue Munro, have arranged formembers to visit the Mayor’s Parlourin Bury St. Edmunds, then after lunchthe choice of a guided tour of theCathedral, or a visit to Moyses HallMuseum.

The committee members have beenliaising with Thompson & Morgan asthey launch a new rose “Inner WheelForever” T & M will donate £1.00 forevery rose sold. The donations to goto the individual Inner Wheel Club fortheir charity. Members of StowmarketInner Wheel club, have alreadyplaced some orders, and PresidentBrenda Brown will be giving details atthe President’s lunch in March.

Our 57th Birthday lunch was held inApril – again a very successful event.Photograph shows DorothyBoughton, Annalee Clark andPresident Janey Mackay. Ourspeaker on this occasion was IanToulson, a cycling enthusiast whoregaled us with tales of hischallenging charity rides around theworld. A very Interesting andamusing talk.

We are delighted that Thetford clubmembers Jenny Childerhouse andMarion de Bass have both beenelected to the District committee,and apart from wishing them everysuccess for next year, we are all liningup to help them!

Another very pleasant and veryuseful 6 months as far as meetings,raising of money for charity, andinteracting with Thetford Rotary isconcerned. Along with our monthlyspeakers, which have included onewho spoke on 'Monopoly, more thanjust a game', a local undertaker anda local vet, we have joined Rotary atone of their meetings and at a Burn'slunch, both of which were verysuccessful. A coffee morning andbring and buy sale was held on InnerWheel day raising a tremendous sumfor Parkinson's research.

Live each day as if it were your

last and garden as though youwill live forever.

Wednesday 30th March saw the last inthe present season of the popularLunchtime Concerts organised by ourClub: ‘a season’ being three or foursuch events held between Octoberand March each year. It all started in2006 when one member, BrendaDavis, had the idea of putting on midday entertainment and serving a lightlunch afterwards: and what a winningformula this has proved to be! Timeafter time eager audiences pack theHall waiting to see what delights, bothartistic and gastronomic, we have instore.

We do start with some advantages. Inthe first place Watton boasts a reallysplendid, well appointed ,wellmaintained Hall which we hire at amodest fee for many of our events.

Then too, Brenda and her husbandKen have many connections in theworld of entertainment and over theyears their friends have been pressedinto service and have been willing toshare their various talents givingprogrammes of song, music, poetryand prose.Members work together to prepareand serve a simple but delicious mealwith mainly locally sourcedingredients.

A few years ago, having been unableto book a ‘proper’ entertainment forChristmas, Brenda decided that weladies could do this ourselves, aidedand supported by another localgroup ‘The West End Waiters’. This hasnow become a tradition and thisconcert is, without doubt, the mostpopular of the season, thoughwhether this is due to our sparklingperformances or to the fact that thefood on this occasion moves up anotch with turkey- filled bapsfollowed by mince pies, is hard todetermine.Over 30 concerts later and our guestsstill clamour for tickets and arrive earlyat the Hall in order to get a goodseat. Though the ticket cost is verymodest, concerts always make aprofit and the benevolent fundbenefits accordingly, but moreimportantly, they are a place forpeople (many of whom live alone) tomeet, to enjoy entertainment and toshare a meal. What’s not to like aboutthat?

Knowing from personal experiencethe importance of a quick medicalresponse in an emergency ourPresident, Kay Hirst, chose the EastAnglian Air Ambulance as her charityfor the year. To support this worthycause our club has held two majorcharity events, a Fashion Show in theAutumn, when twelve club membersmodelled a selection of casual, dayand evening wear from two localshops, Adams Apple and CountryCasuals and our Annual Charity quizlast month.

At our monthly meetings we've heardabout 'Vietnam, a country, a war, aholiday destination, a people', learntthat there is more to the localCooperative Society than sharenumbers and 'divi days' and beenentertained with amusing anecdotesfrom a local vet. For our Christmasmeeting, the Reverend Canon ClaireSanders spoke about the history ofcribs using some examples from hervast collection. A very enjoyableevening was rounded off by asurprise visit from Father Christmasand carol singing led by members ofour Rotary Club's Memory Cafe malevoice choir.

Socially, a coffee morning held onthe International Day of Peacereflected on peace within the homewith proceeds used to buy foodtokens for Lighthouse Women'sRefuge , Ipswich. Inner Wheel Daywas celebrated with a Soup and

Pud's lunch, proceeds to Parkinson'sUK and President Kay has organisedtwo lunch and film trips to Suffragetteand Lady in a Van.

We supported the Rotary Club'scollection for the Nepal EarthquakeDisaster by baking cakes for a stallheld in the local branch of BarclaysBank .Within the community severalclub members regularly visit a localOld Folks Home and our InternationalOfficer encouraged us to start springcleaning early by turning outhaberdashery items for Tools with aMission (TWAM). Three club membersalso took up a challenge in an emailcirculated by our club secretary to trytap dancing and are workingtowards a display for the club.

Too much of a good thing can be

wonderful. ( Mae West )

New members:

Beccles Christine Stafford

Derham Jan Carey-Clarke

Ely Liz Every ( City Mayor) Honorary

Felixstowe Sandra Woodard

Gt Yarmouth Linda Westlake

Hunstanton Julie Dillon

Ipswich Hazel Girling

Ipswich Isa Graham

Ipswich Dottie Kennerly

Ipswich Penolope Thompson

Ipswich Lois Hoyle

Letchworth Krishna Thakur

Letchworth Rosemary Wright (previously Baldock)

Letchworth Anna Day

Norwich Betty Wordingham

Saffron Walden Joy Edwards

Saffron Walden Ann Cousins

Saffron Walden Veronica Barras

Watton Janet Chisholm

Woodbridge Linda Mortimer

Woodridge Sue Holoway

Woodridge Sylvia Keen

Transfers:

Saffron Walden Janet Marven (ex Cambridge)

Hunstanton Hilary Farrell (ex Felixstowe)

This will be the last report from our club as we have voted to close after theAGM in June. We were founded in 1982 and have had 34 years of fun andfriendship. How life has changed since our inauguration! When we started outeverybody at district meetings wore hats -, that was not for us. We found ourown way and had some great times under the guidance of past presidents.When we were young we supplied the cabaret at a Rotary ladies night, alldressed as turkeys much to the amusement of our fellow guests. For over 30years we have supported or Rotary Club by doing the catering at theirheritage Coast Marathon, ourselves raising over £40.000 for charity. We won’tstop here but continue to help being ‘Friends of Rotary’.We are sorry to finish but maybe some of our members will go on to join otherclub so keep in touch with Inner Wheel.

After many years of Friendship andService it is time to say Farewell.Our Club was founded in 1970, a fewmonths after Norwich South Rotary,which disbanded last year and, sadlywe are closing a few months afterthem.Owing to our ageing membership,wehave found it increasingly difficult tofind members willing to be Presidentof on the Committee.We are proud to say that three of ourmembers have been DistrictChairman: Faith Cullum, Daphne

Bennett (past member) and Doris Langford.We have enjoyed many interesting speakers and have had lots of happy timeswith our successful Fund Raising Events, enabling us to support Charities in theUK and abroad.We will miss belonging to a very special organisation,but we have enjoyedmany years of fun and friendship.

Doris Langford: Founder Member President. 10 times

Sue White: Founder Member. President 5 times

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

BEDFORDSHIRE

The Association ofInner Wheel Clubs inGreat Britain & Ireland