IW Year 2017/18

Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre was the venue on two recent occasions for Arbury Inner Wheel Club.  At the first Glenys Gibbs was installed as the new President, receiving the Chain of Office from retiring President Heather Norgrove.  Ahead an exciting new Inner Wheel year is planned with not only monthly speaker meetings but with social events too.  Glenys hopes that local charities will benefit from any fund raising activities although overseas charities won’t be forgotten.  A delicious afternoon tea provided by the volunteers at the Heritage Centre concluded the happy occasion.

Two members of the Club celebrated their 70^th birthdays at the Heritage Centre together with most members of the Club.  All enjoyed an interesting talk by John Burton about the history of the building plus a member of the flower guild came and demonstrated the art of flower arranging.  A fun game of “What do you carry in your handbag” raised a good bit of laughter.  Out of fifty items mentioned one member had thirty two and it wasn’t such a big handbag!.  Strawberries and cream, tea and cake also went down a treat.

The first Club meeting of the new Inner Wheel year was held at Weston Hall Hotel.  President Glenys gave greetings and notices of forthcoming events.  Following dinner, Charlotte Kendall, Regional Fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust, gave an illustrated talk about the Charity.  Gone are the days when young people are put in the same hospital wards as adults.  There are specialist units and plans to create more nearer to the patients’ homes.  There is also a need for more nurses and for counselling.  The profit from a Coffee morning held at the Nuneaton Methodist Church enabled Glenys to present a cheque to Charlotte for the Charity.

IW Year 2016/17

Conference time again when, along with Robin Hood, the International President and nearly 3,000 members including eleven from Arbury, descended on the city of Nottingham. The mood was set by the song “Always look on the bright side of life” and that was the tone throughout.

(photo: Conference capers with Robin Hood)

We danced the night (well, evening!) away at a local Nightclub. Comment by a group of ‘mature’ men as we left “Oh it’s grab a granny tonight then is it?” It was a good conference with many excellent speakers

An energetic round of different types of bowling took place after a fish and chip lunch.  Friends and Rotary partners swelled the numbers at Ansty Club.

The icing on the cake to complete a very good Inner Wheel year came on Ladies Day at Leekes Coventry Furniture store. 16 members and friends found it most interesting to hear that the family store originated in Wales and is still headed by a descendant of the original family. We were surprised to hear that there are few stores, mostly in Wales but the Coventry store was started by one of the family who came to live in the West Midlands. Competition time when the group was divided into two, one to decorate 3 cup-cakes each and the other to design a room using anything in the store to tone with a cushion. Good prizes for the winners. At halftime lunch was served, selection of freshly made sandwiches, chips and cakes. It was a most enjoyable day with plenty of time to browse and buy.

July 2016

The Inner Wheel Year began again in July with a further visit from our furry friend Quartz. Theresa brought him along and explained the way in which he had transformed their family lives. Shopping, holidays and family life now are able to run smoothly without stress and frustration. Her daughter Bethany has Autism and is devoted to the five year old Golden Retriever, an Assistance dog provided by the charity Dogs for Good. Theresa gratefully accepted a cheque                                                              

Arbury ladies assisted at a local Care Home Fete providing cakes and biscuits, a tombola stall and a ‘Frog race’ game. The children had more success than the adults at the latter!

Members were most interested in a talk entitled ‘Life and Work’ of a young farmer aged 23. He grew up surrounded by sheep, poultry and dairy cows something which he preferred to life on a tractor.   All credit due to him he worked through and gained all necessary qualifications including a university degree to work alongside his father in the family farm.

November was the month for our fashion show. This is run by S.O.S Fashions but models are provided by the club.

We are all shapes and sizes and the outfits are to suit all tastes. Look out for the 2017 show on November 1^st.    All are welcome.

 The icing on the cake was the Christmas meeting. This was a festive meal where the Arbury Rotarians were invited along to Weston Hall Hotel. In house entertainment was provided by members of Arbury Inner Wheel, directed by an ex Maths teacher, who also performed a very seasonal Nativity monologue whilst the cast was dressing; a ‘Snow White and Reduced Dwarfs’ ‘pantomime’ was produced to great hilarity. 

Eight members of the club enjoyed a few days in Glasgow at the Association Conference. After extremely good speakers during the two days, President Trish asked us to wear a plaid sash to dance the night away at her Ceilidh.

Having travelled with the District coach we were treated to a ‘Mystery Trip’ on the last day.

Destinations were most unusual. The first stop took in the Scottish Kelpies, metal models of the heads of two horses, using  Clydesdales to depict the work between river and  canals.

After a guided tour within the metal heads we were taken to the Falkirk Wheel where a trip on a barge illustrated the way in which loads could be transported from one waterway to another on different levels.

We returned to our hotel via the Trossachs after a very enjoyable day.

The family representing ‘Dogs for Good’ brought Quartz, their Golden Retriever​​, ​along to our coffee morning.  ​This is the charity we were supporting

Members were welcomed to Oakwood School by the Headmaster and staff. After refreshments a cheque was presented by President Roberta. Another well-deserved cause to benefit from our fund raising.

At a recent Club meeting we learned about 'Quilts to give a child a Hug'.  The wonderful quilts designed and made by the speaker were given to terminally ill children. This dedicated service had been given for many years. It was a very enlightening talk given by an enthusiastic lady.

The Club was delighted to welcome District 6 chairman Maureen to our business meeting.  President Roberta was pleased to present Maureen with a cheque for her charity of this year, Birmingham Children's Hospital.  The funds were raised at a Coffee morning held at a local Church Hall

Our founder President Margaret is celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary and  to mark the occasion Roberta gave Margaret, who is a keen gardener, a lovely 'Diamond Wedding' rose bush. 

Arbury members and friends have been busy knitting teddies and sewing bags for the School in the Bag project for International Service.  These were all brought to the meeting in readiness for their onward journey to be distributed abroad.  The 54 smiling faces at the meeting were very impressive and hopefully they will bring much pleasure to their future owners when they arrive at their destinations.

At our fund raising Fashion Show some of the funds were allocated to the Blood Bikers. Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes is a charity run solely by volunteers who transport bloods and other urgent medical samples between NHS hospitals in Coventry, Warwickshire and surrounding areas.  They operate every night of the year and all day at weekends and bank holidays when NHS transport has been stood down.  They provide support to the medical teams trained to save lives.  To keep this vital service operational they need riders, drivers, fund raisers and people to coordinate the urgent calls received from hospitals.  They provide training to assist team members in all these roles.  They also train riders to an advanced level preparing them for their advance rider test.  The web site is: www.wsbb.org  

We learnt more about this worthy Charity when two volunteers came to speak at a Club meeting together with a fully equipped bike! The men were great ambassadors for the cause.

Much hilarity when a group of members read the very expressionless pantomime story of Cinderalla.

There are no surprises for guessing the names of the characters

The President was delighted to induct a new member to the club and members welcomed her with enthusiasm

Arbury IW members enjoyed a Christmas meal at the invitation of the Rotary Club.

A local farmer afterwards proved to be most entertaining in her account of family life. This included a husband, children and a herd of 150 dairy cows which, come rain or shine had to be milked twice a day. Stilton cheese was for sale at the end of the meeting.

Further festivities were enjoyed at The Cottage Inn where 29 members gathered for another lovely meal. More celebrations, a birthday and the birth of a bouncing 9 .5lbs great grandson!

Our first meeting in the New Year will celebrate International Inner Wheel Day.

I gather it will be attended by all 43 of our members (if none fall by the wayside over Christmas and New Year celebrations!) and will be held at

a local sports club with food purchased from our popular local butcher at a Sports Club.”

It was in the spirit of Christmas that we hosted the fourth Coffee Morning of the year at Nuneaton Methodist Church.

Festive cheer was spread through the event as kettles boiled and cakes, sausage rolls, mince pies, shortbread and toasted teacakes were devoured.

The hand crafted beaded tree decorations were snapped up along with other attractive seasonal gifts.

District 6 chairman’s charity of the year, the Oncology Unit at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital will benefit from this very successful event.

It was at our third coffee morning in September that we were able to raise a considerable sum to send  to Parkinson’s, the charity adopted by Association President Trish.

The main fundraising event of the year was a Fashion Show where clothes from 'High Street' shops were modelled and available to buy on the night. We provided our own models who played their parts wonderfully.  It was a relaxed and friendly evening when the audience picked up numerous bargains and the evening made sure our chosen charities were well supported

Love has been in the air at Arbury this Autumn as three members have been celebrating special anniversaries! 

Maureen Newman and Diane Coopey have reached their 50th Wedding Anniversary and Sylvia Pare her 25th.

To mark these occasions President Roberta visited each couple and presented them with a Celebration Rose bush - golden ones for Maureen and Diane and a white one for Sylvia.  Hopefully these will be a lovely reminder for them of happy events.