Everyone is welcome to our meetings held in the Church Hall at 7.30pm.
This page reflects on past meetings and looks forward to future ones.
November 2008
We were pleased to welcome a number of visitors to our September meeting who came to listen to David Cope speak about the Teso Development Trust, a UK based Christian charity working through the Church of Uganda to support development projects in Teso, a region in the north eastern area of that country.
David first became interested in the Teso Development Trust through Nora Reams, a late member of our congregation. Initially he was involved in the Human and Animal Health Care Project. Many will remember the famous meat raffles in church, the proceeds of which were used to purchase a cross breed Friesian cow from neighbouring Kenya, the herds of cattle kept by the villagers not primarily for their milk and meat but for prestige purposes e.g. a dowry often being calculated in cows.
Being of the teaching profession, David was naturally drawn to the educational aspect of the charity TESS (Teso Educational Sponsorship Scheme) set up in 2004. In Uganda primary education is free although the compulsory purchase of school uniform, books, lunches, etc. make it out of the reach of many children, especially girls and orphans. At the end of primary education there is an examination and only those with the highest grades are admitted into secondary education, which is not free. TESS endeavours to find sponsors for those children who have attained good grades but where there is no money to allow them to continue their education. The sponsorship scheme is administered in the UK by Margaret Stevens and currently has 260 students of which 230 are girls, traditionally the least likely to proceed beyond basic education. Many of these students are orphans and have endured desperate and terrible hardships in their short lives.
The popular Murder Mystery evenings staged by David and friends fund sponsorship for a boy named Michael that David has met on a previous visit to Teso. The need for sponsorship is obviously ongoing, so that is the brightest and neediest children can have the chance of education.
At the end of November, David is planning to go to Uganda to help with the 2008 Retreat and meet the sponsored students. It will be a combination of Christian teaching in the mornings followed by advice on practical development projects and careers guidance all based on the theme 'help other people'.
David is staying on over the Christmas period and hopes to host a traditional English Christmas! Travelling under the status of a charity David is allowed excess baggage allowance on the aircraft and is more than happy to take a supply of such items as felt tipped pens, writing and sketch pads, handicrafts of all types, etc. etc. all as last year - a wish list will be available soon!
Our October meeting is on Monday 20th October when Flora Harding will speak on the Mothers' Union theme for this year 'Time for Relationship[' and on Monday 17th November we welcome theRector.
October 2008
The branch continued to meet during the summer months and in July our guest speaker was Mike Chapman a Community Support Officer from the Luton Branch of Bedfordshire Sight Concern. Accompanying Mike was a partially sighted young lady 'learning the ropes' with a desire to work with young people.
After giving us some facts and figures and a background of Sight Concern and its work with the partially sighted Mike spoke about some of the most common malfunctions of the eye that cause the sight to fail in varying degrees. As a practical demonstration we were invited to try on spectacles simulating these conditions.
Mike told us of his role as a Community Support Officer and displayed a variety of aids and some very ingenious gadgets to assist the partially sighted. At the end of the evening we all apreciated how very precoius is the gift of sight.
Our August meeting was as usual our ever popular Beetle Drive when fund raising just means enjoying a fun evening. We were delighted to welcome a number of friends and our compere for the evening was a very genial Bob Ashby with his very colourful whistle. Our grateful thanks to him and to all who supported the evening.
Our autumn programme starts on Monday September 15th when David Cope will be speaking about the TESO Development Trust in northern Uganda. Our church has had an interest in TESO for many years and we look forward to hearing the latest news from there and David's planned trip at the end of the year.
Our October meeting is on Monday 20th October when Flora Harding will speak on the Mothers' Union theme for this year 'Time for Relationship'.
August 2008
Our June meeting was a mid season summer social evening - Tarts for Tea-time. We sampled a selection of delicious tarts with our tea and enjoyed entertainment provided by David Warner at the keyboard. David played a selection of popular songs from the shows, his special forte, and later we joined in a sing along of some old popular classic songs.
The Mothers' Union are holding a sweries of Road Shows around the country this year instead of a rally at a central point. Our nearest venue was the Walker's Stadium at Leicester and three of our committee joined the coach party attending from our Diocese.
Some committee members also represented the branch at the Diocesan Annual Meeting held at the end of June at St Mary's Church Marshalswick, when the guest speaker was Bishop Richard of Bedford.
Our July meeting on Monday 21st returns to the usual format when Sue Fever from Sight Concern Bedfordshire will be our guest speaker.
Monday 18th August is our traditional Beetle Drive, the second of our fund raising events, when we hope to welcome friends both old and new to this fun evening.