Wollaston E Townswomen's Guild

Forty one members were welcomed by chairman Julie Willetts to the February meeting. The apologies were read, followed by the minutes of the previous meeting, which were agreed as a true record.

Margaret Gregory, the treasurer, informed the meeting that details of the accounts were currently with the accountants. She added that subscriptions of £27,50 were now due and members should enclose these in named envelopes to facilitate identification. Margaret then made it known that donations of £100 had been sent to both Birmingham Children's Hospital and to Acorns Children's Hospice. Secretary Sue Ward reported that she had already received thank you letters from the two organisations.

Federation representative Jean Latham gave a detailed account of the January meeting, including discussions about activities planned for the coming year. Dates for these activities have yet to be finalised, with the exception of an arts and crafts meeting on November 1. A proposed visit to the Shrewsbury Flower Show in August is awaiting confirmation. The minutes of this meeting were placed on the top table for members to peruse.

Subsection reports followed, one of which mentioned the planned luncheon visit to Birmingham College of Food on March 29, for which a deposit of £10 is required from anyone wishing to be included. Visits to Highgrove House and Haden Hill House are on the cards, see this space for details when available.

The speaker for the evening was Chris Dyche, who gave an interesting talk, augmented with wonderful slides on a canal journey from Stourbridge to Kinver. The canal and tow paths are excellently maintained by the Canal Trust, and the passing scenery was beautiful.

Competition winners were Elizabeth Grove and Hazel Needham, while the raffle prizes went to Liz Walker and Judy Cresswell.

The chairman thanked the refreshment ladies for the evening, Sandra Oliver and Elizabeth Grove and reminded everyone of the AGM on March 14 at 7.30pm.