The grant of £1000 enabled the group to provide some entertainment for the Christmas meal in 2015. Twenty-six members were present for the carvery, and they were able to take 14 in the Community Bus that they could hire. After lunch they returned to their Village Hall where they were entertained by Gill Nicholls a professional singer who dresses in Old Tyme Musical outfits and sings Christmas songs.
Later in December, just before Christmas, they hired an excellent keyboard player from a local church and they all sang Christmas carols with other in-house entertainment for the afternoon.
The committee meeting in January allowed the group to discuss the outings programme for 2016 to include:
- Royal Anglian Museum
- Newmarket Stud and Museum
- Sandringham
- Gifford Hall
These places are normally out of reach for many members, but they will be able to travel in the mini bus.
The grant made a great difference to the organisation. One of the main reasons that so many attend is the variety of entertainment and projects that the group were able to offer as a result of the grant: the ability to initiate a very varied programme. The group were pleased to have had visits from local authority representatives coming to show what is available to those who are physically handicapped and living alone. One elderly and disabled lady, as a direct contact with the club, has had central heating installed almost free of charge for the first time in her house.
“’Nan’ as she is so fondly called is 95 years of age and resides in The Willows Residential Nursing Home situated in our village. She served the community as a Special Needs teacher for some 40 years before retiring. She is gradually losing her memory but is very alert. Many in the home are unable to communicate with her because of their dementia. Nan attends our club regularly and describes it as her ‘life line’. She is able to come on all of our trips, though we have to care for her 100% of the time. She is always ready and waiting on time such is her eagerness. On our trip to Bressingham it was a joy to see her on the steam trains but most of all riding with others on the carousel laughing like a young schoolgirl, and this will long remain in the memory.”