2016 has been a very busy year for Westbury Inner Wheel as the club concentrated on friendship and personal service and raised money for charities local, home and abroad.
Club correspondent Sheila Buckton reports, “It was with much sadness that we said goodbye to past honoured active member Mary Elkins who sadly passed away in April and past member Tess James in November. They will both be remembered with love and affection.
“We commenced the year by celebrating World Inner Wheel Day with a lunch and skittles match and were joined by Rotarians and friends.
“In April we held our Inter Club at Westbury Leigh Community Hall, when the speaker was Frances Benson ‘the Pearl Lady’. Frances brought along a brilliant assortment of pearls and members enjoyed a pleasant afternoon tea.
“Our main fundraising event was a concert with Steeple Rock Choir held in Steeple Ashton church in May. This was a great success and enjoyed by everyone who attended.
“We have held two street collections outside the Co-op Store, one in March to mark International Women’s Day in aid of Splitz, and one in October in aid of Diabetes.
“The district chairman’s charity this year was Amble for Alzheimers and in May members organised a walk around Warminster Lake followed by a meal at The Snooty Fox. It was a beautiful day and members enjoyed spotting local habitat.
“This was followed by an amble around Stourhead, also in May, when we joined up with other clubs. June saw some members helping at The Home Farm Fest at Chilthorne Dormer near Yeovil . This was in aid of ‘School in a bag’.
“In July we ran a stall at Bratton Village Fete, which is always successful and well supported.
“Speakers at our monthly meetings have been Sue Hamblin, a volunteer nurse working in Nepal and who co-founded the Nestling Trust; Prescilla Gray on her work as a magistrate; and our district chairman Carol Price on her life and work with the Inner Wheel. All three gave us inspirational talks.
“We continue to hold tea parties, bi-monthly coffee mornings, and collect various items such as used stamps, cartridges, spectacles and to knit jumpers. We also provided 18 Christmas shoe boxes. We also like to help with Rotary events and this year supported the ICE Evening, the quiz and Westbury Street Fair.
“This year our aim has been to give more support within the community and, as the Alzheimer’s Cafe meets monthly, members volunteered to make cakes on a rota basis. This was started in August and is proving to be successful. At the same time the club agreed to provide and deliver food each month to Crosspoint for the food bank.
“Socially, members have visited Cricket St. Thomas for a two-night break, spent an afternoon at Iford Manor and attended the Frome Memorial Theatre and a theatre in Bristol.
“Not forgetting that we spare a little time to play skittles and meet up monthly for a lunch at a local pub to enjoy time for refreshment and happy chat.
“This year donations have been made to the following charities: Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Guide Dogs, Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Splitz, Royal British Legion, School in a Bag, Nestling Trust, Jabulani Project, Freedom From Fistula Foundation, Dorothy House Hospice, Crosspoint, and Youth Action Wiltshire.
“On behalf of the Inner Wheel Club I would like to convey grateful thanks to all those people who have given so generously and support us with all our fund raising events and we look forward to 2017 when we will be celebrating our 60th Anniversary.”
