Over 60 members and 2 visitors attended the December meeting at the Village Hall.

President, Betty Moxon reported that 20 senior members had enjoyed afternoon tea in the URC Hall in November and were entertained by a medley of tunes on the piano by Margaret Wellsted.   Betty also mentioned that 2 of our members had now moved out of the village and unfortunately 2 of the senior members were in hospital.

Fund-raising for the year had been most successful and members were invited to think about what charity they would like to support next year and put forward ideas in January. Betty also reminded members that the Christmas Lunch will be held in the Village Hall on 16^th December and this was the last chance to put their names down to attend.

Anne Chance then entertained with a mixture of songs on the guitar and amusing jokes. This was the third time Anne had visited the W.I and was, as always, excellent. Veronica Vellam gave the vote of thanks.

The competition, "A Christmas Decoration" was won by Diana Terry.

The next meeting will be the 8^th January 2009.

Like me you may have been worried by the news reports last year that there are now warehouses full of plastics and bales of cardboard and paper which are no longer required because we have reduced our spending on goods from the Far East. These recyclables used to be sent back on the empty ships, mainly to make packaging.

I am copying below a reassuring newspaper article you may have missed in the Surrey Advertiser.

The demand for Waverley's good quality recyclable materials remains stable despite the economic downturn.

The UK reprocessor of Waverley's recycled newspapers and magazines, Aylesford Paper Mills, has reaffirmed its ongoing demand for all and more of the material that Waverley collects.

Cllr John Sandy, Waverley's portfolio holder for the environment, explained:

"We have received a number of enquiries from the public concerning the recent alarmist reports on the downturn in markets for recyclable materials. It is true that global economic conditions have resulted in a sudden and dramatic fall in demand and prices for some recyclable materials such as mixed cardboard and paper, as this is the material most commonly exported for recycling onto low-grade packaging material.
  "However, I am pleased to confirm that Waverley's method of collection means that our kerbside collected material continues to be processed.
  "I would like to reassure Waverley householders that the materials that they so diligently separate for recycling continue to be a most valuable resource that will be reprocessed within the UK into useful new materials, saving both energy costs and reducing the need for landfill.  Please keep recycling".