Our first meeting of the New Year took place on Wednesday 17th January when our speaker for the evening was hypnotherapist Sallie Crawley who gave a fascinating talk on “Memory and Phobias”.    Sallie’s work includes hypnotherapy, NLP, coaching and Indian Head Massage enabling you to make changes , work through issues and attain goals in all areas of life.

Sallie described ways of remembering names when introduced to people by repeating the name about 3 or 4 times, writing the name down in your mind, sometimes across the forehead of the person you have been introduced to, and other simple but successful ways to help you remember.    Sallie also discussed phobias and how she helps people to successfully overcome their phobias and described some of the ways of doing this when helping clients. She demonstrated some of these techniques on some of the members and, who knows, maybe we will remember to use some of them in the future when stuck for a name.

A delightful afternoon tea was enjoyed by several ladies at the Wyevale Garden Centre in Huntingdon with delicious sandwiches and scones and cake!!! Diet starts next week!

This year December started with our choir, Lyrical Voices, performing at the Papworth Hospital Charity Carol Concert in Ely Cathedra, for the third year running.   This is the highlight of the choir’s year,  and was supported with a congregation exceeding 500 people.  This is always a most moving and rewarding occasion and puts everybody in the festive spirit.

The Choir also sang at the carol service at Elsworth Church and to the Papworth Day Care Centre.

Lunch: About 25 members enjoyed a traditional Christmas lunch at the Waresley Garden Centre where we were looked after very well with great food and service.

Meeting: Our meeting this month was for members only and we all enjoyed an ‘evening meal’ whereby all members provided different dishes which resulted in a very enjoyable feast, including wine of course!   A quiz also took place which is always great fun and the beautiful table arrangements were presented to the winner of the raffle on each table. We finished off with a good selection of carols with everybody in full voice!   A great evening was had by all and we had a surprise visit from a very special person delivering parcels!

Next Meeting:   will take place on Wednesday 17^th January when our speaker is to be confirmed.

Outing:  Early in November 18 ladies enjoyed a trip to the Coton Orchard Garden Centre near Madingley in Cambridge. The Garden Centre has had a major revamp and the transformation is amazing.   We all enjoyed browsing the wonderful selection of gifts, clothes and food now on offer, especially all the delicious Christmas fayre.  We followed this with a traditional afternoon tea of sandwiches, scones and cake!!!  It was a very enjoyable (and filling!) afternoon.

Meeting:With Christmas now very much in mind, our speaker and demonstrator for the evening was Noreen Plows who gave a brilliant account of how she got into the business of flower arranging and how her workshops at her home have taken off beyond her wildest dreams.   Noreen’s workshops include coffee before, and lunch during the day, which should run from 10 til 3, but as Noreen enjoys chatting about all sorts of things, it can sometimes be more like 4 or 5!!  Whilst talking to us about all aspects of her work, she created a most lovely natural Christmas wreath, mainly made from various types of eucalyptus, and this was raffled at the end of the evening with the lucky winner choosing how she wanted the wreath to be finished.  I am sure Noreen has inspired many of us to have a go at making our own wreaths this Christmas.

Choir:   Our choir, Lyrical Voices, will be singing again this year at Ely Cathedral on 2^nd December, at the Papworth Hospital Carol Concert – always a wonderful event.

 Next Meeting:   will take place on Wednesday 20^th December  – please note this will be for members only

To find out more about what is going on you can log on to our website at www.papwortheverardwi.org.uk or if you are 18 or over just come along to one of our meetings at 7.15 for 7.30 on the third Wednesday of each month in the Studio next door to the Library. You can be sure of a warm welcome.  The visitor’s fee is  £4.00 including refreshments.Pap

Meeting: Following on from the usual ‘business’ our speaker this month was Clare Mulley, Author and Biographer.   Clare gave us all a very interesting talk on her latest book, the biography of Eglantyne Jebb, a British social reformer and founder of Save the Children organisation.  Clare’s talk, supported by a wonderful selection of photographs, covered the life of this amazing women Eglantyne Jebb. From her childhood, studies at Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford and her post as a primary school teacher which lead to her tireless work for the poor and underprivileged child and forming the charity ‘Save the Children’.  After years of hard work and protestations for the rights of the child, she attended a meeting of the international Union in Geneva with a plan for a Childrens Charter. A Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted a year later by the League of Nations.  Clare, who has worked for Save the Children in the past, finished with detailed information of the worldwide-work going on today as we all know when reading about the troubles of children all over the world. Signed copies of Clare’s book were available to purchase at the end of the evening.

Choir:   Our choir, Lyrical Voices, took part in the very prestigious ‘Saffron Walden Song Fest’ on Sunday 15^th October.  Our performance was excellent, as were many of the other performances on the day.   It was a wonderful afternoon and we have received many compliments by those in the audience. 

Next Meeting:   will take place on Wednesday 15^th November when a demonstration and talk on how to make a ‘Christmas Wreath’ is the topic of the evening presented by Noreen Plows.

Please note the December Meeting to be held on 20^th December will be for Members Only

To find out more about what is going on you can log on to our website at www.papwortheverardwi.org.uk or if you are 18 or over just come along to one of our meetings at 7.15 for 7.30 on the third Wednesday of each month in the Studio next door to the Library. You can be sure of a warm welcome.  The visitor’s fee is  £4.00 including refreshments.