AFTER the business of the AGM, members of Westbury and District U3A heard David Coppard talk about ‘Clerical Calamities’.
Surprisingly the first thing he did was to get us all singing, ‘We’re all going on a summer holiday,’ a reminder of how much we all appreciate our own holidays.
David then went on to explain how he became a regular staff member at a disadvantaged children’s holiday project. This involved travel each year to Jersey, chosen partly for ease of access and that being an island, escape for both staff and children was difficult. Caring for and entertaining these very deprived and sometimes abused children was a challenge, which resulted in some very entertaining moments. From the child who would not change very smelly socks for fear of showing deep scars, to the one who announced he had nits, in a very loud voice, thus clearing a path through crowds, David and the staff team dealt with everything with a sense of humour and compassion.
Living quarters were in a school. Staff were downstairs, children upstairs, to try and prevent night-time walkabouts. This was not always successful and whilst out searching for escapees David held a conversation in the dark with a shuffling figure, only to find he had been persuading a tree to come in for a cup of hot chocolate.
Appointed the driver of the minibus, David had many adventures and calamities. Looking for the bowling alley, he and his passengers were almost the gatecrashers at a high profile celebrity wedding.
Other adventures included taking a wrong turn, disregarding people gesticulating at him, before he found himself driving down a pier and disturbing the fishermen. Another time the bus broke down after following a narrow lane which turned into a potato field, instead of the zoo car park. Most of the island͛’s attractions were visited and times were spent on the beach.
Food was offered by many generous shops and businesses, although it was noted that the soft drinks were sometimes watered down. The favourite was chocolate, as a very thick spread and also as a hot chocolate drink. The staff at the project were very mixed, consisting of social workers, students, teachers and junior staff which were often children who had been on holiday with the project when younger.
Although David made us laugh with the tales of his adventures, and his war-cry ‘Trust me I’m a vicar’, there was a serious central point, how lives can be turned around by such projects. He has followed the fortunes of some of the youngsters as adults and feels that the project has made a great difference to some of them; one is now a barrister.
The speaker in June is Mary Teed talking about ‘Life behind the scenes as a professional singer’, as usual 1.45 for a 2pm in the United Reformed Church Hall on Tuesday 12th June. New members are always welcome.
Report Margaret Skyrme
