At the meeting held on 5th July 46 members and 1 visitor were welcomed by the Chairman, David Cowling who gave apologies received and congratulated those with birthdays this month. Tony Brazier, the Secretary, confirmed that the July trip to Bournemouth had been cancelled due to lack of numbers but that the trip to The Kennet & Avon Canal is still going ahead in August with all the available places taken. Christine Broadbent, the Welfare Officer, gave details of the work that she had been doing and drew people’s attention to the array of information she had for everyone to see.
The Cinnamon Trust
The talk this month was by Lucy from the Cinnamon Trust accompanied by 2 chocolate labradors, Ruby and Rupert, who she was fostering at the time. She went on to explain that the Trust was set up in 1985 by its Chief Executive, Averil Jarvis MBE, in order to relieve the anxieties, problems and sometime injustices, faced by elderly and terminally ill people and their pets. This is the only national charity to address this need and has 21,000 volunteers to assist their work along with Virginia McKenna and Sir Paul McCartney as patrons. Practical help is given in many ways including fostering of pets and dog walking as well as having two specialist sanctuaries.
More details at www.cinnamon.org.uk.
Next Group Outings
Following the Canal trip on 10th August the next one is to Petworth House on Thursday 14th September followed by a Mystery Trip on Thursday 19th October.
Next Meetings
Our speaker for 2nd August is Steve Harra with a talk about Sweeny Todd titled “Romance, Riches and Retribution” and on 6th September we have “The Lot of the Auctioneer” with Thomas Forrester from Special Auction Services at Newbury.
The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Brookvale Village Hall from 10am to 12 noon and all retired Civil Servants, their relatives and friends are welcome. Further details about the group and information about our trips can be obtained by contacting – csrfbasingstoke@gmail.com.
— David Cowling