THE November AGM meeting of Eastcombe WI saw a reflection on the past year – summing up on the year’s fun activities and acknowledging members’ contributions and support – not only within the group, but the many ways in which members become involved in activities such as:-

Fund raising by Eastcombe WI ladies from coffee mornings; afternoon tea parties and cake/table top sales; collection of pennies for the Cobalt Oncology Unit; knitting garments for the Southmead premature baby unit; donations to British Legion.

Many members are also involved in a variety of fund raising activities for various causes such as Macmillan, Myeloma and Cancer Research Fun Runs.

In essence, the group have fun, share talents, learn new skills and rise to the challenge of supporting worthy causes.

So, the evening was rounded off with the annual Christmas Auction, for which members placed a wrapped Christmas gift on the auction table.

Our Auctioneer, Beryl Freebury, kicked off the auction by shaking, squeezing, and sniffing the gifts one by one.

There ensued a frenzy of guessing what on earth was contained within each mysterious package.

Suggestions rolled in, from the sublime to the ridiculous, and this only teased the bidders to up their stakes – occasionally to over £5!

Finally the gifts were unwrapped – some gloriously luxurious, some uniquely unusual, and, of course, some just plain outrageous.

Results – much laughter, satisfaction – and obviously an awful lot of discarded wrapping paper to clear away.

Yet again, a good time was had by all.

If you would be interested in joining the Eastcombe WI, please do not hesitate to contact Margery Lambert (01453 886697, or email marglambert@btinternet.com) for further information and to arrange to sample one of our meetings.