A MEETING of the Hot Peppers was held on Wednesday, February 25 at the new venue, The Fire Station in Minge Lane.

Cathy Bester opened the meeting by welcoming 23 members and friends. Cathy mentioned several dates, the visit to the V & A museum on April 25 and deposits were asked for in order to secure a seat. The proposed visit to Denman College on August 4, Severn Group Garden party on August 19 at The Grange, Hanley Swan, Spring Meeting at Earls Croome on April 21, the Annual Council meeting on October 20 and the names of those wishing to take part in the draw for one to go to the garden party at Buckingham Palace, representing the Hot peppers. Nolene gave the financial position and said that there are now 25 paid-up members.

The speaker for the evening was a friend of Cathy Badam, Elizabeth who had brought Yasmin, her constant companion. As a child Elizabeth had always experienced problems with her sight, a result of which she was sent to a special Girls' school in Hertfordshire. She had then had a job in Social work and had travelled quite a lot. Suddenly 20 years ago, she completely lost her sight overnight. Devastated by this she was faced with 'do I have a dog?' This was a huge decision and the next problem she encountered, was the fact that she could not use her left arm and the majority of guide dogs are trained to be used with the left hand. However she was lucky as one became available which had been trained for the right hand. Yasmin is Elizabeth's third assistance dog and she is three years old and is still very playful when off-duty. Elizabeth told members that there are under 5,000 Guide dogs in England, Scotland and Wales. They go through a series of processes before they are fully trained from Puppy-walking which gets them used to day to day living to six months of vigorous training with the applicant. A lot of cost and intensification is involved. People have different needs for Guide dogs, some need physical help and some dogs even detect when their owners are in need of medical help in addition to the day to day assistance for sight impaired people. A problem which is causing concern in modern day transport is the electric car and cyclists, as these cannot be heard by either dog or person. A Guide dog is always given verbal commands, and has an assessment each year. Everyone had been really engrossed by listening to Elizabeth relating first-hand experience with Yasmin and she was thanked by Cathy Badam on behalf of the members. This very interesting meeting closed with tea and cake.

The next meeting will be a patchwork and quilting evening on Wednesday, March 25 at the Fire Station. Come and meet new friends.