June 2016

KIRTON AND FALKENHAM WI

Next meeting: Thursday July 14th at 2.00pm in Kirton and Falkenham Village Hall.
Speaker: Dr Stephen Ashworth, University of East Anglia
Subject: Kitchen Chemistry – talk and demonstration.
Competition: An Old Kitchen Utensil
Trading Stall: miscellaneous

JUNE REPORT 2016
On June 9th a lady should have been coming to speak to us about the charity Debra (www.debra.org.uk). Unfortunately, on the morning of the meeting she phoned to say her car had broken down so she would not be able to make it. This meant that, for the second time in just a few months, we found ourselves without a speaker. Fortunately Edna knew something about the subject of the proposed talk and so was able to give us a short summary while, for the purpose of this write-up, I’ve also done a little research. First though, as is normally the case, we had some business and correspondence to get through.

Our local WI group will be organising an afternoon tea on September 29th in Trimley Memorial Hall. There is also going to be a craft fair in Cambridge on November 26th and it was suggested that we might pay it a visit and then go on to a theatre in the evening. A number of people expressed interest in this idea. The National WI will be giving the National Gallery in London the once over on November 25th and there will be a Suffolk East outing to Denman, the WI college, next March. We were sorry to hear that our secretary, Chris Welling, is not well and that Wendy Taylor’s husband is also having health problems. We wish them both a speedy recovery.

After this we turned our attention to the topic our absent speaker was going to tell us about and learnt a little concerning the charity Debra. Debra campaigns on behalf of families who have a member suffering from a condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This name covers a group of genetic skin conditions which cause the skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch. Those born with EB have skin so fragile they are called ‘butterfly children’ – their skin is as fragile as the wings of a butterfly. Painful open wounds and sores form where this exceptionally fragile skin is damaged – in some cases internal linings and organs are also affected. Tragically, certain types of EB can be fatal in infancy and others are severely disabling. There are probably five hundred thousand people with the condition worldwide. EB is inherited in either a dominant or recessive form. The charity helps sufferers and their families by providing practical and emotional support, financial help and advice, respite breaks and information on various aspects of living with EB. There are lots of ways people can get involved themselves by raising awareness and funds. Debra organises plenty of fund-raising events and they suggest that people can join in by doing something they love and turning it into a fund-raiser. They are also looking for hands-on volunteers.

Next, because there was still some time left before tea, we cudgelled out brains over two quizzes: one a picture quiz and the other a series of questions to which the answers were twentieth century dates. We scored a point if we got within five years. Do you know the year in which the ex-king of Albania, King Zog, died? Well, it was 1961!
V E Bines