Shadwell YCA: The July meeting of the YCA was an evening of poetry. The speaker, Beryl Jenkins was a lifelong fan of Pam Ayres and had brought "some more of me poems" and other books to illustrate her talk. Pam Ayres was the youngest of six children born and brought up in Stanhope, Berkshire. She went to the local village school and left school at 14. Pam became a secretary and the company she worked for had a poetry competition which she won. Pam went on to appear in Opportunity Knocks,
Beryl read several of Pam Ayres’ poems and she had the accent off very well. She started with Pam’s first published poem, An Embarrassing Experience with a Parrot. She read several other poems including the most popular one Oh I wish I’d looked after
my teeth. Pam Ayres has been married for over 20 years; her husband is her manager driver. They live in the Cotswolds with their two sons and an assortment of animals. Pam has entertained the Queen three times including the Royal Variety Performance and private parties. She was awarded the MBE in 2004. Chris Graham thanked Beryl for her very entertaining talk.
The August meeting on Friday 13 is the members’ night and members were asked for ideas for the evening. Gloria Ford, Christine Dagg and Audrey Kidd volunteered to prepare games and quizzes for the evening and the committee will provide a buffet supper. Contributions for the hamper were requested. This will be raffled at the Flower show in August. YCA head office have asked if members will fill shoe boxes with gifts for soldiers in Afghanistan. These will be sent off in October. The group autumn meeting is on Tuesday, October 26, when the speakers are Christine Walkden, the TV gardener, and Sue Woodcock from the Yorkshire Evening Post. Tickets are to be sent for. MAECARE are hosting another Healthy Living Day at the Methodist Church on Thursday, August 26, from 10-2pm.
