October 2008

The October meeting of Winteringham W.I was Birthday Night and the president, Mrs Chris Wood, welcomed 26 members and 3 guests. 

The  minutes of the September Meeting were read through and matters arising swiftly dealt with.  A number of members had attended the presentation by the History Workshop of ‘Undressing Mr Darcy’ and had really enjoyed the evening.

The secretary presented the correspondence received  and the Federation Newsletter was passed around for members to read.

The President reported that the Annual Meal will be held on Thursday 8th January 2009 at the Bay Horse Inn, Winteringham.
 
She then introduced the speaker, Mrs Barbara Jenman.  Barbara explained that she had lost her son and daughter-in-law in the Tsunami.  They had married earlier in the year and were on  a late honeymoon on the island of Phi Phi in Thailand when the disaster struck on Boxing Day 2004.

Barbara spoke about the struggle to get any news from Thailand and the search for their bodies and that although her son’s was found in January it was September before Natalie’s was found and identified.

Since the disaster the family has been involved in fund raising and they set up an appeal with a target of £5,000. Within two months £5,500 had been raised and Barbara had been determined that this should go directly to the orphans created by the tragedy.  The family had ‘adopted’ three children.

The family went out to Thailand for a memorial service and saw the boats being built to get fisherman back to sea. The Natandy appeal has funded two boats. To date £31,723 has been raised and sent out to carefully selected projects.  However the family have now decided just to continue to support the orphans.

Christine Hammond gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the members but she struggled to find the right words to thank Barbara for sharing such a moving story.

The Committee were the hostesses for this meeting and they served the members with a selection of soups and bread buns followed by coffee, cheese & biscuits.

The draw for the mystery parcels given by the committee took place and Barbara judged the competition for a Holiday Souvenir. First - Val Hayton, second - Christine Hammond and third - Pam Wells.

Next meeting is on 20th November when Jackie and Heather will demonstrate how to make unusual Christmas Cards.   The competition at this meeting is  A Christmas Serviette.