Christmas is coming

Forgive me, father, for while doing my grocery shopping at the supermarket this afternoon I bought the family a chocolate Yule log - a full 59 days before Christmas. The only mitigating circumstance I can plead is that it was half price, because it was 'best before' 29 October. I know there have been Christmas puddings in the shops for weeks, but what is the world coming to when a Christmas grocery item can actually be time-expired two months before Christmas Day?

And as chairman, the invitations to Christmas services and receptions and events of all kinds have started to trickle in from around the county. Ding dong merrily on high ...

All ability sports and leisure

The sport centre at Mark Hall School has been opened today for an all ability sports and leisure taster day. The event has been organised by a group called All Ability Sports & Leisure, who are linked to Active Harlow. The group is intending to organise multi sport clubs, athletics and pan disability football, as well as some taster sessions for adults with special needs.

It's amazing what's on offer. Particularly popular are the specially adapted cycles available for trying out on the athletics track - there are single user models, side-by-side or tandems, three-wheelers, some powered by hands rather than feet, some by walking rather than pedalling. A team of wheelchair basketball players is going to give a demonstration. There's trampolining and judo.

But it's the videos of wheelchair ballroom dancing that really grab my attention. There are fourteen wheelchair ballroom dancing tutors in the country, and two regular clubs - our nearest being in Southend. I'm introduced to the Southend tutors, who are clearly passionate about what they do - and a newly-interested Harlow couple who have to travel across the county to Southend to take part. The tutor is keen to see a group established in Harlow if he can find a suitable free venue for it; and while we're talking a young dance teacher turns up who is eager to help.

I also find myself chatting to a stallholder who's come all the way from Surrey to promote adaptive fashion for people with disabilities. Coats, track suits, tops and vests that really work for wheelchair users or people with gastrostomy tubes. There are even lovely little shaped patches that you can iron on to vests and tops and then cut out the fabric in the middle without risk of fraying, so that tubes are easy to fit and you can still look the height of fashion.

So whatever your ability or disability, there should be some way in which you can get involved in sport and leisure - sports development officer Helen Offord at Harlow Council can advise.

Happy Birthday

I've been privileged to receive an invitation to the 50th birthday celebrations of the local Women's Section of the Royal British Legion, at St Andrew's Church.

The event is being marked by a social afternoon, and I get the chance to chat with members of the Women's Section, as well as Normandy Veterans, members of the Royal Naval Association and others. As the years go by, the number of WWII veterans is declining, but - like myself - several people present saw the lunchtime TV news launching the Poppy Appeal, with a young man of 22 blinded in the conflict in Afghanistan reminding us that he too is a veteran, and that the need for organisations supporting current and former service men and women and their families is as great as ever.

There are plenty of interesting stories being told, not only about life in the forces, but also about the early years of the town. People remember the Stow being built, and how it only had a butcher's shop to begin with, so they had to walk over to Old Harlow for fruit and vegetables - though there was a delivery van.

There'll be a 50th anniversary service on Sunday, and of course the Poppy Appeal is getting under way, so things promise to be very busy from now to Christmas. There's been a special 50th anniversary rectangle sewn onto the Women's Section standard, and president Margaret cuts the 50th birthday cake.

The afternoon flies by - it's been a pleasure and a privilege spending time with some of Harlow's pioneer citizens.

The Apprentice

I'm still pursuing my project about raising aspirations for children and young people, so today we have a photocall. Kier Harlow, who provide environmental, street scene and housing repairs for the council, have just taken on ten new apprentices.

They're the first apprentices for many, many years to be taken on for council work, so there's an air of excitement not just among the apprentices themselves, who started work three weeks ago, but among the older tradesmen too. And it's good to see several young women as well as young men in the contingent.

Youth Council hustings

We're in the middle of an election campaign at the moment - for the young people of Harlow to choose who will be their Youth Councillors for the coming two years.

The Civic Centre is full of teenagers, all taking part in the process of preparation for the elections. At noon they're gathered in the Council Chamber, where alongside contributions from youth councillors Georgina and Perry, representatives of all three political groups and the Chief Executive of the council have been invited to speak for five minutes each. I've also been invited as Chairman of the Council.

The Youth Council is supposed to be a non-party political organisation, and the hustings is also supposed to be a non-party political event. I tell the young people a little about what being Chairman of the Council involves, and also what I hope they will be able to give to, and gain from, the position of Youth Councillor.

After all the speeches have been concluded, we head downstairs to the Gibberd Gallery for a photocall and a sandwich lunch. It's good to see so many young people eager to take part in the Youth Council and represent young people's views.

Poppies

If you've been reading my diary of the last couple of weeks, bearing in mind that around all of that I'm trying to fit two part-time jobs, a family, and being a regular local ward councillor and politician, you'll have some idea of the state that my house is in.

I've had one civic invitation for today - a civic service in Havering - but because my son is back in Harlow for a rare weekend I've offered my vice chairman the opportunity to attend. Today is therefore a great opportunity to blitz the house. In between the dishes, the laundry, the chucking-out for the charity shop/recycling/next boot sale etc, I do however manage to pen the following quick letter to the Harlow Star, Herald and Citizen - and I hope it gets published this Thursday.

"Sir,-

Saturday 27 October sees the start of the Royal British Legion's 2007 Poppy Appeal. As Chairman of Harlow Council, I hope you will allow me to use your columns to ask the community of Harlow once again for its support for the Appeal.

Since 1921 the mission of the Royal British Legion has been to safeguard the welfare, interests and memory of those who are serving or who have served in the Armed Forces. The annual Poppy Appeal provides the main source of funds for this work, which assists over 300,000 people each year.

Following a detailed analysis of the ex-service community and its needs, the Legion is developing a welfare programme to reflect the findings of the report. This will involve reaching out to many more people who are entitled to the Legion's help, and introducing additional welfare services - all of which costs money.

Through the generosity of the public, including residents of Harlow, the 2006 Poppy Appeal raised almost exactly £26 million, all of which is being well used. This year, the Royal British Legion hopes that our community will be similarly generous in its support. I shall be asking the Council to make poppies available within its premises. If you are over 16 years of age, you might wish to be a Poppy Appeal volunteer - if so, please call 0800 085 5924.

Yours faithfully,

Cllr Lorna Spenceley
Chairman of Harlow Council"

Goodbye to all that

There's a brief gathering on the mezzanine floor of the Civic Centre at two o'clock to say farewell to Nick Cave, the council's Head of Policy & Performance, who is off to a new job elsewhere in local government and will be much missed.

I've just time to pop in for twenty minutes before heading off to the eye test I've booked at Dollond & Aitchison, where to my delight I'm told that I no longer have a prism in my left eye and can therefore have varifocals - no more mucking about with different pairs of glasses and looking like Professor Branestawm.

All must have prizes

I've already given out a clutch of certificates this week, for long service to the council, but this lunchtime is another event - the presentation of certificates to staff who have achieved national qualifications during the year.

It's something I feel strongly about, and I'm glad to see so many council staff taking up the opportunity for lifelong learning. I did an MBA with the Open University myself a few years ago, while in full time employment - it's a demanding thing to do, fitting in reading, essays, revision and exams around the day job and the demands of family life, so I know the hard work and sacrifice it entails.

There are a range of qualifications represented today - a clutch of team leader qualifications for staff in Contact Harlow, Community Services and Human Resources; specific qualifications in environmental health, programme management, risk management, housing, early years, data protection and freedom of information, IT management, and parking attendance; a British Sign Language qualification, a business administration NVQ, and a Bachelor of Science degree.

I say a few words, as does the council's Chief Executive, and then I present each successful staff member with their certificate, before we head downstairs for a group photograph and sandwich lunch.

Well done to Bess Sayers, Michael Pitt, Naren Lathigra, Stacey Randall, Moira Bridge, Pat Hanks, Les Ayers, Sue Howell, Sandra Dicker, Joanne Penney, Kim Dowse, Sue Apps, Diane Butler, Janet Jackson, Adrienne Berry, Sheila Underdown, Marie Bentley, Declan White, Peter Matthews, Julia Watson and Peter Bourn.

The best days of our lives

It's a while since I've had time to visit my Charity, the Harlow Stroke Support Group, so I'm very pleased to have the chance this morning. I get a slapped wrist from organiser Jean - for not remembering to bring a photograph of me when I was young, for the photo board - but I gather I'm not the only one who's forgotten.

Jean's prepared some photocopied question sheets for the group members as a prompt for conversation - on memories of school days. Some can fill them in quite easily, but for others like the gentleman I'm sitting with it's a real struggle; it's not easy to answer a question like 'What were school dinners like?' when your only spoken vocabulary is three short phrases, none of them meaningful. But we get there, with some give and take - like that old radio show Twenty Questions, I have to remember to ask questions with either Yes or No answers, and interpret the answers on the basis of gesture, facial expression and tone of voice as much as anything.

Jean has brought a 1970's promotional leaflet for Harlow, which is a useful aid to conversation - I point to the pictures of places like BP, the old Harlow College, and the station, and we have the best conversation we can about them.

The handmade rug I first saw a few months ago is still being worked on, and I join a group of ladies and gentlemen who are chatting away really happily. We end up talking about cigarettes - being able to buy a small twist of tobacco wrapped in paper if you didn't have the money for a full packet; mums and dads catching their children smoking and making them chain-smoke till they were sick, as a deterrent.

I have to leave just after twelve, as lunch is being served, but it's been another brilliant morning with a lovely group of people.

Full Council

I've already spent all day in the Civic Centre in a meeting for something called a 'Performance Pact' (where do they get these names?), so I've only a couple of hours before I have to turn round and go back, as it's Full Council tonight.

There's the usual half past six pre-meeting for the chairman and group leaders with the Chief Executive, legal officer and clerk, to make sure everything's clear and we know what we're doing. It's a light evening tonight - no questions or petitions from the public, no motions for debate, and only one question from a councillor.

The Full Council convenes at eight o'clock, and after apologies for absence, declarations of interest, and minutes of previous council meetings, we move on to Communications from the Chairman. I have two - the first of course is the council's tribute to late councillors Jack Jesse and Roy Collyer, as it's the first regular Full Council meeting since their deaths. Members from each of the groups say a few words about Jack and Roy, and then I call on everyone to stand for a minute's silence.

The second is to report to the Council the award we have received from APSE, the Association for Public Service Excellence, for the Mia Court self-build housing scheme on the site of former garages at Ryecroft, and to commend the councillors and officers responsible.

There's a contested election for the Council's nomination to the Harlow Children & Young People's Strategic Partnership; the councillor's question is answered, and we note the minutes of recent council committee meetings. There is no urgent business, so the meeting is over in 21 minutes.

567 years at the council

27 members of Harlow Council staff have each clocked up 21 years of employment with the council. If my pocket calculator isn't telling me fibs, that's 567 years between them, impressive in anybody's money.

Almost all of them are gathered at the Civic Centre to receive their long service certificates. In each case their manager has written something about them - the story of their service for the council, a description of what they get up to in their spare time, an amusing anecdote or team in-joke. As Chairman, I get the very pleasurable job of reading out the citations and presenting the staff with their certificates.

The mixture of experience is varied - there are administrative staff, accountants, housing officers, benefits staff, a parking attendant, an environmental health officer, and a whole lot more. All have been with the council equally long, and all receive equal recognition tonight.

Well done and thank you to Sandra Barnes, Laura Bater, Wayne Boreham, Karen Capon, Daryl Clucas, Richard Criddle, Jacqueline Davies, Susan Fletcher, Lesley Ford, Jane Greer, Elizabeth Haydon, Sara Hynes, Belinda Jewell, Chris Kisbey, Stephen Leonard, Tracey Marchant, Mary McCabe, Joe McGill, Maureen Merrion, Dean Pengilley, Michael Pitt, Martin Rickett, Marysia Rudgley, Lynn Seward, Anita Shearman, Christine Street and Jane Willcox.

Works of art

A visit from my brother - the proprietor of an art gallery in Lincolnshire - is a great opportunity to take him on a tour of some of Harlow's art hotspots. Top of the list is of course Parndon Mill, where Sally and Roger do us proud with a tour of the gallery and studios, and we get to meet some of the artists, architects and others who rent space there, and see some of the work in hand on the sculpture trail.

We've just time for a quick stop in the town centre, so we pop in to the Gibberd Gallery to see the Sir Frederick Gibberd watercolour collection and the current temporary exhibitions. From the civic centre windows I point out the Rodin Eve sculpture in the Water Gardens, and the Elizabeth Frink boar. Brother is seriously impressed at the amount of art happening in Harlow - something we perhaps take for granted when it's around us all the time.

Women's Day preparations

Saturday 8 March 2008 is International Women's Day, and I've been invited to be involved in a local event organised by Harlow Women's Network.

Annoyingly, as every year, the Day clashes with my political Spring Conference weekend, which I have to attend as an employee. However, I and a couple of other women Chairmen of local councils have been making initial plans for an event of our own earlier in that week - so I've been invited to go along and tell the meeting of Harlow Women's Network about them at ten o'clock.

After getting thoroughly lost in the innards of Bush House at Bush Fair, I find their meeting and give them a quick report on the early stages of our plans.

Family resource collection

When I was young (and that feels further away every week) libraries were places where stern ladies with severe hairdos and glasses were employed to walk round saying "Ssshhh". How things have changed.

Today is the launch of the Family Resource Collection - a dedicated area of the library in the town centre for parents, carers and professionals. The collection contains masses of helpful things for parents - including books, videos, DVDs, information sheets and StorySacks. The collection has been funded by Harlow Education Consortium, and Harlow's new parenting practitioner or 'supernanny' Christopher Dawkins will also be on hand at various times this week to offer advice and support to local parents.

One idea that occurs to me, and which I mention to some of the staff, is whether it might be possible to set up a scheme for local parents to text their queries to our 'supernanny' - after all, not all parents will go into the library, but almost every one I've met has a mobile phone. If it ever happens, you read it here first.

The resource collection is on display all week at Harlow Central Library, and items will be available to borrow from Monday 22 October.

(By the way, have you visited the town centre library recently? I must admit it's some time since I did, and haven't things gone high tech? Instead of handing your book back to a real human lady at a desk, you have to put it on a platform where a special bar code reader can see through the pages to read what the book is; you have to confirm the title on a computer screen, and then post the book through a slot into a bin, like Paul Merton consigning something to Room 101 - whereupon you get a receipt as you would from a cashpoint. Weird.)

In the afternoon, my sister and brother visit, to sort through another family resource collection - some of our late Mum's jewellery and personal effects - and read through a large collection of family documents I didn't even know existed. These include a letter from the Foreign Office to my grandmother, a badge awarded to her by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the former Soviet Union, and letters from my uncles - then aged twelve and under - to her in prison during the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands. "Dear Mum, Can I cut up that old inner tube that I bought? Because if I can, I think I can mend that old pair of brown sandals that I have had for about two years. Hoping you are well and comfortable. I remain, ever your loving son, ... PS Please send the answer in writing, as I don't want [older sister] Stella to know anything about it."

Every family has its own resource collection, doesn't it?

Basildon Civic Dinner

It's been an absolutely crazy day, preparing for the conference I'm organising (for work). I'm still printing frantically at ten to six, when I need to stop and get ready to go out to the Chairman of Basildon Council's civic dinner.

There's trouble on the roads, so we head across country, arriving just after seven o'clock. I'm still not completely 'unwound' when we step out of the car at the Towngate theatre, and go upstairs for Pimms and a chat with fellow mayors and chairs.

We're welcomed by Basildon chairman Cllr Geoffrey Buckenham, and take our seats for dinner. We're seated with the chairman of Epping Forest and her husband, and one of the senior councillors from Basildon and his wife. The meal is cooked and served by students from the local college; the rather nervous first years are doing the serving, and the second and third years the cooking. The food is excellent, and all involved can be thoroughly proud of themselves.

After the meal, I wander round chatting to other guests, while a local duo (apparently called High & Dry) entertain with a range of popular music. It's their rendition of (Show Me The Way To) Amarillo that really breaks the ice, and assorted mayors, chairs and partners can be seen dancing between the tables in one of the more surreal moments of my year so far.

Geoffrey kindly presents all the ladies with an individually wrapped bloom on departure, and then it's home to yet more printing for tomorrow's conference, into the small hours of the morning.

GSK in the Gibberd Gallery

On my way up to a council committee meeting his evening, I get a chance to pop in to the private viewing in the Gibberd Gallery of some of the artwork owned by local company GlaxoSmithKline. There's some wonderful work on show, and it's a real pleasure to spend fifteen minutes wandering around the gallery before I head off upstairs. There's also a set of display boards with photographs of work by Creative Space, including the window jewels project I was involved with in Westgate Square, and some outdoor art at Paringdon School in my ward.

Work gets in the way

I've previously accepted an invitation from East Thames Housing Association to an exhibition in the Gibberd Gallery of artwork they've been involved in at Bishopsfield and Charters Cross.

As a former resident of Bishopsfield (it was our first home when we moved to Harlow in 1981) I'd have loved to go, but unfortunately since I accepted, I've been told my presence is required in Suffolk for a site visit for a conference I'm organising on Saturday in my work life.

Meetings

After a meeting with a constituent with a housing problem, my next meeting of the day is with Cath, the council's new Head of Regeneration. Cath has heard about my 'aspirations' project and wants to hear more about it, as - just like me - she'll also be visiting local businesses as part of her role, and we want to make sure we coordinate our visits and don't leave people with the impression that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

Project plan

Another meeting this morning to progress my project for the year, on raising aspiration for children and young people. A couple of people are away, so it's a small meeting, but we get plenty done, clarifying our thoughts on the scope of the project, how we contact the right people for information and input, and what the timetable is so that we can complete the report by the end of my term of office. I come away with notes to write up and lots to do.

Halleluia, amen!

The Justice Service in Chelmsford has its roots in the old assizes, when the judges who heard the most serious cases would arrive as part of their tour of the country to sit in judgement - and the assizes would start with a church service.

Since the assizes came to an end in the 1970s, the service has been replaced by an annual Justice Service, which brings together the judges, magistrates, lawyers, mayors and chairs, and all involved in the administration of justice in Essex, under the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff.

We arrive at the Crown Court just before eleven o'clock, to be arranged in our procession in an orderly fashion. We're behind Uttlesford but in front of Epping Forest, and we spend a few minutes speculating amongst ourselves about the rationale for the order in which we're placed. It's a short walk to the cathedral, which is already nearly full by the time we arrive. Seats have been reserved for the mayors and chairs near the front, so we settle in and look around - it's the first time I've been in the cathedral. There are no fewer than seven rows of judges and barristers in horsehair wigs in the centre of the congregation.

It's a traditional service, with hymns, prayers, and readings by the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff. It's always a difficulty knowing what to do as a non-believer attending a religious service in an official capacity - it feels dishonest to sing and say words I don't believe in. I hum the tunes of the hymns and stay silent for the prayers. The music is wonderful, whatever one's religious beliefs or lack of them - the church in England has been such a seedbed for musical creativity throughout the centuries, and it's reflected here, from old-style chants through Handel's majestic Zadok the Priest (composed for the coronation of George II in the eighteenth century, and sung at every coronation ever since) to Benjamin Britten from the last century, and even some parts of the service written by the cathedral's present musical director to bring it all right up to date.

The sermon, by Bishop of Chelmsford John Gladwin, is short (by comparison with the hour-long lectures I remember from my days as an evangelical, anyway!) and thought-provoking, as he talks about truth and freedom and the need for the two to co-exist. I've met the Bishop on several occasions now, and have found him a very warm and humane person, with a real interest in his community, including Harlow and its future.

The service ends with the National Anthem (two verses!) and we exit to the famous Toccata by Widor. We process back to Shire Hall for a glass of wine, canapés and the chance to chat with fellow mayors and chairs and other guests.

Czech football

After my morning visit to the Museum, I've just got time for the weekly supermarket sweep at Sainsburys before heading out to The Link to watch a football match between a local team of young people and the visiting Czech team who have come over with our Prague friends who attended my civic dinner last night.

There was a similar match this morning, which the Prague team won handsomely; but this afternoon with different teams the tables are turned and the English side wins 3:2. Marcela and Susan from Prague, and Karen from the Great Parndon Community Association, chat with me on the touchline. There's no mistaking the noise from the nearby bar when the rugby finishes and we hear the English side has thrashed the Aussies!

By the time the match is over at four o'clock, the weather has turned decidedly cold; it's been fun, but now I'm looking forward to cooking something simple, opening a bottle of wine, and settling down in front of the television to the first of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Harlow recollections

I've been invited to the launch of a new book at the Museum of Harlow at 11 o'clock. Called Harlow Recollections, it's a companion to Parndon Recollections - both memoirs of life in our area before the arrival of the new town. Author Jim Priest was born in Great Parndon in 1906, and went to what was then called Harlow College - not the institution we know by that name today, but a boys' boarding school on the site of what is now Jocelyns in Old Harlow.

Parndon Recollections was published in 1980, and Jim died in 1984; the new book has been waiting a long time to be printed. Ron Bill, who has written the preface, tells us a little about the book and the development of the new town; and Alan Peacock, who knew Jim Priest from his schooldays, fills out the story a little more, and even brings along his old school tie.

Both books are on sale at the Museum of Harlow - Parndon Recollections for £1.50, and Harlow Recollections for £5.00.

Civic Dinner

The day is spent in a whirlwind of preparations for my Civic Dinner. Ten o'clock sees me in the office with my PA Sue, running through the arrangements and making sure everything is in order. We run through the event from beginning to end - ensuring we're clear about things like where the guests' coats will go and how we're going to run the charity auction.

Then it's off to get my hair done by Jodi at DG Hair; a quick stop for a lunchtime coffee at Esquires with Nick; back home to do some paid work; back into town to transfer some cash from my rather pitiful ISA into my even more pitiful current account so I can pay my bills (I've been so busy recently that I've clocked up £1,000 in work expenses that I haven't had time to claim!); then the Harvey Centre nail bar to get my nails done; Tesco for bread and milk; then home to catch up on emails and get changed and ready. Whew!

A number of guests have already arrived by the time we get to the Civic Centre, so we circulate quickly to welcome them all, and the visitors who arrive subsequently. The Essex Yeomanry are on the door downstairs to greet everyone as they come in. Upstairs, there's champagne and canapés, and a chance to show off the excellent art collection in the Gibberd Gallery. Our guests include a group of five from Prague, with whom Harlow has developed a longstanding relationship through the Great Parndon Community Association - they're here for a short visit and to play some football matches with GPCA over the weekend.

After a brief hiatus for a group photograph of all the mayors and chairs (thanks to Peter Airey for kindly supplying the one shown here), dinner is at eight o'clock - a fruit starter, a lamb main course, a raspberry meringue dessert, cheese, and coffee, all provided by our usual caterers Walkers and accompanied by Fairtrade wine. During the meal, we're entertained by Ben Robinson, a talented young pianist provided through Explosion Entertainments, who also provided the live music for my lunch at the Town Show. Sue has done wonders finding a piano for him to play, as there isn't one in the Civic Centre - and Passmores School music department has come up trumps, for which we're very grateful.

After dinner, we move to the real purpose of the evening, raising money for my Charity, the Harlow Stroke Support Group. Businesses such as the Harvey Centre and Barratt Homes have been very generous in providing auctionable items for this and future events, so we can auction a satnav (sold to the Mayor of Thurrock), an iPod Nano and a computer home cinema system.

There are plenty of prizes for the raffle, so I make sure we keep up the pace as we draw ticket after ticket. The last prize is a bottle of something which looks very powerfully alcoholic from our Prague guests - and at the end, I'm able to announce that the evening has raised £700 for the Harlow Stroke Support Group.

Gaynes Park

Councillor Caroline Pond is the Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, and today is her Civic Luncheon at Gaynes Park near Coopersale. Despite being so near, it's a part of the country I've never been to; we're a little early, and as we drive around for five or ten minutes before making our way in, I'm really impressed by the beautiful countryside around Theydon Mount.

Gaynes Park itself has been radically refurbished over the last eighteen months, with several old farm buildings having been brought back into life as a wedding and corporate events venue. The owner, Guy Chisenhale-Marsh, is on hand to tell us about the history of the property and the work that was done.

The mayors and chairs of the various Essex districts are gathered together again, and I hear from some of them what an interesting time they'd had on Sunday at the Costermongers' Annual Harvest Festival in Smithfield. (Unfortunately, though invited, Nick and I hadn't been able to go, as we'd both woken up not feeling very well).

We settle down to a three course lunch with wine, and the chance to chat. Fellow guests at my table (three of whom I manage to snap with the camera on my new MDA Mail, which has replaced my trusty BlackBerry) include Cllr Di Collins, leader of Epping Forest District Council, whom I knew years ago when we both served on the local Community Health Council, before it was abolished. I tell her that the CHC building is now King Du Noodle Bar!

We all put money in for the prize draw - I don't win, but Caroline raises over £250 for her Chairman's Charity, the St Margaret's Hospital League of Friends. I do however win the flowers on my table (which are given to the lady on each table whose birthday is closest to today). My December birthday trumps March, May and January, so I come home with a lovely floral decoration, which in my usual fashion I'll no doubt be able to kill off within twenty four hours.