Main Meeting February 2024 – Work of Warrington RSPCA

We welcomed a record (post Covid) number of 45 to our meeting, it was great to have such a buzz in the hall. Our speaker was Kevin Mcfarlane, Assistant Manager at the Warrington branch of the RSPCA who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year..

He told us about the history of the local Warrington branch and explained that they are always busy fundraising as they are a self-funded branch – linked to the national RSPCA (200th anniversary this year) but responsible for their own fundraising.

They are a ‘closed facility’ and do not take animals from the public as their places are full with dogs and cats who have suffered abuse or neglect and most are held there while a court case is going through. The animals are loved, cared for, trained and prepared for potential resettlement when the court case is closed. Because of this the public aren’t allowed to visit, the animals are cared for by a small number of paid staff and trained volunteers.

Kevin’s love for animals and skill in working with them, shone through and he answered lots of questions from members who had brought along donations for the Warrington branch – food, litter, etc. The competition for a ‘cute animal’ was won by Ann Toll with her picture of a black Pomeranian.

January 2024 – subgroup meetings

Our book club didn’t meet this month, but others were back to normal. Scrabble enjoyed a sociable evening and our 12 members of our Walking Group were lucky to have a lovely bright, if rather chilly day for their walk on The Whitegate Way – click above to see more information.

Our Craft group were busy making Christmas Boxes from old Christmas Cards, Baking Beauties had a theme of Scottish Recipes and the Art Group painted some Winter Scenes

January 2024 Main Meeting – Moulton Glass

Our first meeting of 2024 was well attended (34 members and 4 guests) despite it being a very wet and dark evening. Our speaker was Andy from Moulton Glass, who gave us a fascinating illustrated talk about how his interest in Stained and Leaded glass turned from a hobby into his main occupation. He explained about how glass making had developed over the years and the different methods used for ornamental glass – stained glass windows, lead-light windows, copper foil and Tiffany decorative glass.

He showed us lots of samples and talked to us about where you might see some very old glass in the area – stately homes and pubs have many examples. An informative and enjoyable talk.

The competition for an item of Decorative Glass had lots of entries, it was won by Jean Pace with an angel copper foil tree decoration.

December subgroup meetings

Some of our subgroups didn’t meet in December, but the Book Club did get together to discuss Swallowtail Summer by Erica James – a nice easy read for this busy time of year. Two groups had special Christmas events – The Walking group had a lovely Christmas lunch with Ann – Click here to see more photos and information

12 members of our Garden Group visited Smith’s nursery, Lymm in December to make a Christmas wreath. Click here to find out more and see some pictures

2023 Christmas Party

46 of our members had a wonderful ‘home grown’ Christmas party this year. We changed our table arrangement from previous years, with more of a ‘street party’ feel to it and more space for entertainment. Our members were welcomed with a glass of fruit punch or wine. Our local dance group from The Dyas Lishman Dance Academy opened our event with a short but very entertaining performance.

Instead of exchanging presents members were asked to bring along a donation to the Northwich Food Bank – they were extremely generous and the table was filled to overflowing with their gifts.

Pat S, with a little help from the committee, produced a delicious buffet supper for us. Our committee performed a short pantomime of Cinderella and we then played the inevitable ‘party games’. Good fun was had by all, before we finished the party with ‘Auld Lang Syne. Members each took home a primula plant for their garden/home, thanks to Annette for arranging this. A very enjoyable way to celebrate our friendship.