Alnmouth WI, Meeting

Janis, our president, gave us her usual warm welcome to Alnmouth WI and as our secretary Yvonne was unable to be with us, Pam Muggleton was Janis’ sidekick.

The usual list of up and coming events was announced, in particular our Christmas party, Janis reminding members that whilst supper will be supplied, everyone is to bring their own place setting, including a glass, plus a gift to add to Santa’s pile.

Clair, our treasurer, gave us an update of finances and Janis read out thank you cards from members of the Hotspur Group. We received an invitation from Berwick WI to join it for a carol service on December 14, which quite a few accepted.

One member asked us to dig into our drawers to find items to give homeless women, in particular products relating to personal hygiene, toiletries, underwear, socks, in fact anything unused, which would be more than welcome as particularly over the Christmas period there can be a lot of hardship to women who, due to various circumstances, are made homeless.

Although our next meeting will be our Christmas party, any items brought that evening will get to where they are needed.

Sandra Kerr was introduced by Janis and the lighter part of the evening began.

The title of her presentation was Women’s Lives And Experiences, but we didn’t realise that for the most part it was songs that expressed her title. She started with a Northumbrian song, asking us to join her in the chorus, which we did, whether we could sing or not, and then introduced herself.

She is a lady who has done a lot over the years, including being a writer of Bagpuss, being a great favourite of our children’s TV viewing, and being involved for 20 years in the well-known local choir Werca’s Folk.

Although she had a bad bout of bronchitis, it didn’t stop her singing or giving the background to the lyrics, as well as accompanying herself on various instruments – a guitar, appalachian, auto harp and concertina. She included a song she has written about the WI, which we particularly enjoyed.

She was excellent and entertained us very well on a miserable November evening. Janis thanked her on our behalf for both her music and words, some of which were hilarious.

The birthday girl was Margaret Stephenson and the competition for a poem relating to women was won by Isabel Chalmers.

As our next meeting is our Christmas party and the last meeting in 2016, we at Alnmouth WI wish everyone a peaceful, healthy Christmas and a Happy New Year.