Melksham Towns-women’s Guild held their monthly meeting on Friday 8th March at the United Church Rooms which was well attended.
Ivy Dixon reports, “The Chairman, Mrs Tricia Hoy dealt with the usual Guild business and brought the members up to date with all arrangements made for the annual birthday lunch which is to be held at the Kings Arms Hotel on Friday 29 March.
“Details of an outing to Monkey World on 19 June was also discussed before the Guild commenced to the more formal proceedings of the Annual General Meeting.
“The Chairman, Secretary, Mrs Christine Hartnell and Treasurer, Mrs Valerie Burke all gave their reports of the Guild’s activities over the past year to the assembled Guild members. All current members of the committee indicated that they would continue in their posts for the year 2019-20 and as there was no further nominations the AGM concluded.
“After the break for tea and cakes Mrs Tricia Hoy gave an interesting account of her visit in January to India. This was to the Grass Roots Trust which operates ‘Sovereign King Mission’ a Christian mission, in Chenai near the banks of the Kuamai river, which is home to the Dalit community, considered to be India’s lowest caste. This community lives in slum dwellings with no running water or sanitation.
The Mission is run by volunteers and gives support to over 300 children providing one good meal a day and 5 sets of clothes per year per child. They attend local schools and the Mission also provides after school activities and other care and support. The purpose of Tricia’s visit was to assist in the annual ‘inspection’ to ensure that the aims of the charity were being met and that the children were thriving under the charity’s care. It was rare opportunity for Tricia to actually meet the two children that she has sponsored for some time.
“The next meeting will be on 12 April at 2pm in the United Church Rooms, Melksham. The speaker will be Paul Alexander, Head Gardener from NT Gardens, Holt. Visitors and new members are always welcome. For further information please contact Mrs Tricia Hoy 01225 704805.”
