In the morning of our first meeting of the year we had snow, but all was well the sun came out and a goodly number of members attended.  This was our A.G.M. and our Treasurer presented the accounts, which were accepted and a vote of thanks given. It was good to know that we had kept our heads above water.

Chair gave a resume of the past year, sadly we had lost 2 attending members and 2 in Retirement Homes who had passed away., 2 had moved, but we were pleased to welcome 3 ladies to the fold. There had been a varied programme on different subjects, and there had been 3 ½ day outings, but unfortunately our full day had to be cancelled. The Committee were all willing to stand for another year, and were voted in en block. Thanks were expressed to them, and also a vote of thanks was proposed to me by Peggy.

Our visiting speaker was John, a Scottish Laddie who gave us a most enlightening talk on soldiering and Chaplaincy. He joined the Army 30 years ago, and is retiring this month. Who are the Chaplains ? They are supplied from most of the British Churches, and have to be Ordained for at least 2 years, John being from The Church of Scotland. They have to undertake quite extensive written work and personal interviews covering many aspects. This being done, time for Medicals, physical and mental. Then off to Army Training Camp and be one of the boys (nothing made easy) and if all went well and everything passed to suit, sometime later, to train for a Commission.

A Chaplains role is very busy and varied as you can imagine, they are soldiers, and with The British Army being overstretched because of a shortfall, there may be as many as ? Chaplains on deployment. An operational tour for the soldiers is 6 months, could be home in February say, and back out again in October over a 5 year period. John was in Iraq last year and they all found the climate extremely overbearing, with temperatures mostly at 50 cent and having to cope with the constant sand and dust and fighting, all they dream of is coming home to their families and maybe a varied summer climate.

Back home, there are the Service families to think about and be helped, sometimes in very tragic circumstances, but he said most of the wives were very strong people and help each other and rally around at all times.

There are all sorts of challenges at Camp, sports, youth work and mid week services etc. Sunday is not practical to arrange morning service, so afternoons are used, and it is nothing unusual to see 200/300 young people there !!

On top of all this, he visits A.T.C. Groups 11 -18 years of age. Sadly a large percentage of them come from broken homes, and one of the questions asked is what they like most about being a Cadet. Believe it or not, they say it is the discipline they get. On our table of interest were many items brought along all to do with the Army, and the one he chose which appealed to him the most, was an Army Pay Book and day to day diary which was brought along by Mary. There is so much more which could be mentioned but there is not the space. John joined us for tea, after which we had the raffle, the table being very full, as a kind person had donated 3 boxes of goodies.

Freda Sheppard.

BRISK WALKING IS GOOD FOR YOU

Walk briskly for 15 minutes a day, every day – and within four months you could reduce your body fat levels by up to 1.9 per cent, according to recent research from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Brisk walking is a rhythmic, dynamic, aerobic activity that uses large muscle groups and brings numerous health benefits with minimal harm. Walking in short bouts is something that most people can conveniently include in their everyday life – which means they are more likely to keep at it.