IN the absence of the President the January meeting was conducted by the secretary, Sue Harte, who welcomed everyone and wished them a Happy New Year. The notices and correspondence were read, with particular reference to the Open Evening to be held at the new breast unit at Worcester Hospital on January 14. Plans are being made for a skittles evening in the Spring, and a pudding evening in the Autumn. Members were asked to sign up for the annual dinner to be held at the Old Bush on January 20.

The speaker for the evening was Densa McCall. When her talk was arranged she was representing Dogs for the Disabled. However, recently this title has been changed to Dogs for Good, since it was felt this better described the wider role of the trained dogs. She explained that a dog can make a huge difference to people and families. Not only can they be trained to assist a disabled person with day to day activities, but they are able to assist people living with dementia and autism. Some dogs can be trained as community dogs going into special needs classes. The dogs chosen for training are usually soft mouthed gun dogs, since they have the best temperament for being able to patiently assist their owner. The training is intensive and costly and only about 60 dogs are trained each year. Densa told some interesting stories to illustrate how valuable these trained dogs are in enhancing the quality of life of their owners. She was thanked for her very informative talk by Joan Smith.

The next meeting is on Thursday, February 4 at 7 30pm at Callow End Village Hall. All visitors will be most warmly welcomed. The contact number is 01905 831655.

GINNIE RUSSELL