BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION CHARITY SHOP – REOPENING

I was asked to open the British Heart Foundation Charity Shop in Mansion House Street on 24 January and was pleased to accept. The Mayor’s Parlour window overlooks the shop and over a two week period, shop fitters had been busy and subsequently the staff and volunteers in getting the refurbished shop ready with items for sale.
On my arrival I was greeted with balloons and ribbon decorating the shop front and potential customers waiting for the official opening. It was obvious that a great deal of work had been done by the staff and volunteers as the shop was at bursting point with goods of every shape and fashion. I had only been in the shop a few minutes when I was asked to carry out the opening ceremony. In my speech, I praised the staff for their efforts in getting everything ready in time. For the benefit of the public gathering, I stated that the British Heart Foundation was the national heart charity formed in 1961 and since then it has been dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, with new drugs being developed as had surgical procedures, such as open heart surgery Thousands of lives had been saved and the quality of life for heart patients had been greatly improved. Two of my friends have had heart conditions which if they had occurred fifty years ago, they would not have survived. They now lead relatively normal lives. I added that we must not be complacent; heart and circulatory disease is still the nations biggest killer. More needs to be found out about the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease. Research is very costly and the Foundation relies on voluntary donations and the money raised in its shops. The public’s support now and in the future will be greatly appreciated. I then declared the refurbished shop open and wished all the staff and volunteers all the best of success in the future.

SOROPTIMISTS CHARITY COFFEE MORNING

I was invited to attend the Soroptimists’ charity coffee morning in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall on Saturday 19 January. I arrived with the Mayoress at around 10.30 a.m. to find the Chamber almost full with visitors. We paid £1each for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, a real bargain compared with what it costs anywhere else in town. These coffee mornings give us the opportunity to meet people not just from those living in or around the Town but visitors from further away. One couple who regularly visit come from Marcham, near Abingdon and they come here as it is a nice and friendly town . Of course, Abingdon was at one time the county town of Berkshire until someone decided Reading was more appropriate and then the Boundary Commission decided to make it an Oxfordshire town.
We stayed there for over an hour and I believe that the Soroptimists raised over £150 which would be donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Incidentally, the Soroptimists are an international group of business and professional women founded in the USA. It is the ladies group which mirrors the men’s Rotary organisation.

NEWBURY SOCIETY WINE AND CHEESE EVENING

Edwina Cooper, the Mayoress, and I were invited to attend the Newbury Society’s wine and cheese evening at St Nicolas Church Hall on Saturday 19 January. We arrived and were met by Garry Poulson, the recently elected Chairman. He is a former Mayor of Newbury, the Director of West Berkshire Volunteer Bureau and Chairman of the Newbury Twin Town Association, although he is retiring soon from the latter. We also met Richard Benyon, MP for Newbury and his wife Zoe. There were a number of familiar figures there including Elke Holden-Bell who is the Society’s publicity officer, her husband Jeremy who has a special interest in historical buildings and also keeps a fatherly eye on new developments in and around the town and makes comments on those which he feels are out of character in the area. He is supported by Anthony Pick who looks at developments to the south of the town. This is the strength and purpose of the Newbury Society, in that it is dedicated to improving the environment and preserving the historic buildings which make up the town’s heritage.
Garry Poulson gave a speech in which he paid tribute to the great service two of its members had given to the Society. The first was Gwynneth Bullock, who had been the Chairman for 11 years and Elke Holden-Bell who had been the publicity officer for 24 years. Andrew Rowles, the Chairman of West Berkshire Council presented Gwynneth with the Society’s certificate of merit and I presented Elke with a similar certificate.
It was a very pleasant evening and I wish the Society every success for the future. The Town owes the Society a great debt of gratitude for their work in preserving the Town’s heritage wherever possible.

VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT FAIR

The West Berkshire Volunteer Centre organised a Volunteer recruitment fair at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 12 January and I was invited to attend and to judge the best stand. I arrived to find some 40 stands already in place and I met up with Garry Poulson who had coordinated this event. Andrew Rowles, the Chairman of West Berkshire Council and I were asked to select the best stand and we agreed a criteria for marking to judge the stands. We walked around independently, viewing the content of the stands and asking each stand-holder to describe the aims of the charity. Everyone was very enthusiastic and it was a very difficult job to identify a winner. However, Andrew and I came out with exactly the same result so we were thankful we did not have to have a re-run. The winning stand was the Community Responders who attend incidents such as heart attack victims and road traffic accidents and give first aid until the ambulance arrives. They are equipped with defibrillators which stimulates the heart and gives the victim a great chance of survival. Hugh Whittaker received a cheque for £100 from John Hampton of the Newbury Weekly News which had sponsored the award.
I was told that around 100 new volunteers were signed up that day so it was really worthwhile to hold the event.

BRITISH BALLOON MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

My first engagement of 2008 was an invitation to attend the re-launch of the British Balloon Museum and Library (BBM&L) in the West Berkshire Museum on the evening of Friday 4 January. Edwina Cooper, the Mayoress and I arrived at the museum to find it packed with people who had come and see the refurbished exhibition of balloon memorabilia displayed on the first floor.
There was a collapsed balloon canopy from which was hung a full sized basket and a balloon without a basket which would take a single person up. I was unsure how far this would travel but I assumed for as long the person could keep it inflated and presumably in the right direction. The balloonist must have been very skilful to bring it down without him (or her) breaking a leg. There was other memorabilia on display which we found fascinating. We spoke with Jenni d’Alton who was a dedicated balloonist as was her husband Richard. He is the Chairman of the BBM&L and they have been ballooning for the last 30 years. We also had a long conversation from a pilot who had just returned from Thailand on a ballooning event. We gathered that some go over onto the continent to take part in events over there.
Most of the balloonists there were taking part in the annual Icicle event which would be launched from the Savernake Forest in 2 days time. I suspect that it would be very cold up there and for once I was glad I was not taking part.
The exhibition is well worth a visit and I would thoroughly recommend it.