Our summer barbeque last July was a great success. It was a wonderful summers evening and we raised over a thousand pounds. Our raffle was particularly well supported. Thank you to all of the local companies and individuals who helped us.

Our pre-school received some good news at the very beginning of this term. We applied for another grant over the summer and news came through that we had been successful in our application. The £7,000 grant will come from the Surrey Community Action Local Network Fund and will enable us to install permanent seating and a work table for the children in our outdoor classroom. The table and seating are in the shapes of various English tree leaves and we hope it will look great in our rural setting. We will also install a large covered sand pit and raised planters for gardening.

Last term our parents and friends managed to collect over £5,000 Sainsburys tokens and the equipment that we chose arrived a couple of weeks ago. The children now have some balance beams, pop up tunnels, hoops, parachute games and a host of other goodies. Thank you everyone!

Our theme last half term was 'All about me'. Rafaela Rogers, our local dentist, visited the children to talk to them about how to look after their teeth. Children also learned about how they grow, what they look like and celebrated what they could do. Next half term we plan to learn about autumn, bonfires, harvest, cooking, winter weather and of course Christmas. Brrrrrrr - time for those hats and scarves!

Now the nights are drawing in we are very pleased to have changed to afternoon meetings and our membership is good.

Septembers activity was a social afternoon set to music, which brought back memories and jollied us along on a lovely sunny afternoon. Our raffle raised £18.50 and the Table Top produced £50 towards our funds. Monies from our funds are sent up to Surrey County Royal British Legion Women's- Section which go towards the welfare of disabled service personnel and their families.

The October meeting has given us some idea's for Christmas Gifts and cards. We have learnt about Fairly Traded goods and how it helps some of the poorest people to work towards a better living, hopefully leaving poverty behind them. Jean Wheatley has given us a look behind the scenes of Traidcraft, how it works, what it stands for, Jean holds a Traidcraft stall once a month at the Elstead United Reformed Church Coffee Mornings, which are held on the first Saturday in the month l0 am to noon.

Our afternoon was rounded off with our monthly raffle and a welcome cuppa. November 9^th will be our A.G.M. followed by Flower Arranging with Pat Pearce.

The Friends of St James's Church, Elstead, will be holding a Bridge Evening on Wednesday, November 29^th at the Royal British Legion Barn at Elstead, and would be delighted if you can join us. The tickets are £50 per table to include Supper and players are asked to bring their own tables (we do have some spare tables) Cloths, Cards Scores and Pencils.