Whittington Women's Institute (From Worcester News)

Whittington Women's Institute

10:32am Tuesday 7th April 2009 in

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THE March meeting of Whittington WI was held on Thursday, March 19, in the village hall.

Our president Helena Downham welcomed everybody and introduced our speaker Mrs Hatfield, who gave a very interesting talk about the work she does with her husband organising the collection and distribution of Christmas shoe boxes in Worcestershire for countries all over the world.

To introduce the topic we were shown a DVD of children in Liberia receiving their boxes last year. Their excited faces and beaming smiles were sufficient evidence of how worthwhile this work is.

Mrs Hatfield had brought two boxes with her and we were amazed at how much could be carefully packed into one box. The children loved to receive brightly coloured hats and scarves, pads of paper with pens and pencils and, of course, colouring books and crayons.

Most boxes also contained some soap and a flannel, a small toy or skipping rope and something to cuddle. Soft toys are appreciated by the little boys as well as the girls.

If you take advantage of special offers throughout the year, it is surprising how cheaply and easily one can support this cause.

The Christmas box scheme comes under the umbrella of Samaritans Purse, a national organisation, and is very well supported by schools.

Jannine Wheatley gave the vote of thanks and we all enjoyed tea before the business was discussed.

The competition for a small posy of spring flowers was won by Bonnie Lunn and Jane Tibbutt.

LIZ CHESTNEY