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BUTTERCROSS LADIES PROBUS CLUB LEADS THE WAY!

PROBUS is an organisation for retired/ semi retired PRO-fessional and BUSiness people. It is non-political. The Buttercross Ladies Probus Club was formed in 2006, so we are now celebrating our 15th year. There are only a few Ladies Probus Clubs in the area compared to those for Men. Over the years we have grown from a coffee and chat morning to regular monthly meetings with interesting speakers followed by lunch. Amongst our membership are volunteers, doctors, nurses, company secretaries, teachers, a welfare officer, bank manager, radiographer, sales manageress, operating manager and administrators, so good conversation is guaranteed! We are a friendly club with members sitting at different places at each meeting, enabling us to get to know a variety of people. There is a good relationship with the local Men’s Probus Clubs and we join one another for outings, holidays, dinners, AGMs.

Lockdown has made us re-think the way we operate. Some members live alone and have missed the friendship which Probus offers. We are now leading the way by holding our monthly meetings via Zoom with success.

Future meetings are:SERV (volunteer rapid response medical transport scheme) The BBC World Service Thames Valley Police Swan Upping The People of the Titanic

Obviously we plan to return to our well-tried meeting format as soon as possible, including our lovely outings to places of interest, gardens and the theatre.. If you are looking for friendship with like-minded interests do contact our President: Lilian Wetherald. Email: 1943@gmail.com Telephone (daytime) 01865 300523 or Jacquie Pearce-Gervis: Email: email@jpg19.plus.com

Photo above: the Founder Members. Left to right: Denise Ridgers, Mary Rouse (Social Secretary), Pat Dudley Ward-Ward, Eileen Burdon, Sheila Harris, Muriel Baker (Vice Chairman), Valerie Windsor (Founder and 1st Chairman), Janet Turner

Bourton and District U3A

The next 2 meetings of this group will be on Wednesday 24th March and will be a talk by Paul Clark on the subject of “Human Rights Monitor in Palestine and Israel” and on Wednesday 28th April when the talk will be by Timothy Brain on the subject of “Floods of Gloucestershire 2007. Both meetings are at 10.30 and will be via Zoom. Connection details will be available nearer the time.Although we are unable to hold meetings as a result of the Covid restrictions, it is proposed to hold monthly Zoom meetings until we are able to meet as a group once more.

For full details and information about the special interest groups please see our website: www.u3asites.org.uk/bourton

Sunday 14th March

History of Mother’s Day

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.”

Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.

Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.

Cotswolds based bakery and tearooms, Huffkins, has launched a new initiative to help keep children entertained at home. #HuffkinsAtHome offers a range of free printable activity sheets aimed at children aged 3-11 years.

For younger children, including those of pre-school age, a range of colouring-in and spot the difference sheets are available. Each colouring-in sheet also includes additional activities of varying difficulty and effort, such as spelling, writing and maths tasks, suitable for primary school aged children.

Adventure Trail sheets are also available, to make daily outdoor exercise more fun. Children are encouraged to look out for things on the ‘map’ on their local walks and tick off what they see.

In keeping with what this Cotswolds brand is known for, Huffkins has also shared some tasty recipes, including Rocky Road and Triple Chocolate Brownies. Suitable for older children to complete with minimal supervision, or as a fun ‘messy play’ activity for younger children with a responsible adult. The recipes have been simplified for home baking and allow children to choose their favourite ‘star ingredients’. Huffkins have confirmed that more recipes will be added soon.

Josh Taee, Managing Director of Huffkins, said: “Lockdown has been tough on everyone, but we know it’s extremely difficult right now for parents, who are juggling home-schooling with working from home or day to day chores. #HuffkinsAtHome has been created to try and ease some of that burden. The simple activity sheets can be easily printed at home and should help to keep the kids occupied for an hour or two each day.”

Huffkins is an award winning brand with bakery and tearooms locations throughout the Cotswolds. Due to the current national lockdown restrictions, they are able to offer takeaway service but cannot welcome dinein trade as normal. The brand also offers a range of bakery goods and luxury gifts online, but this has been temporarily halted, due to severe flood damage caused to their main bakery and distribution centre over the festive season.

Taee continues: “The flood was awful timing for us given that we’ve also had to limit our tea room service due to lockdown. But we’ve always been inspired by the amazing community spirit in the Cotswolds. So while things are a little quieter for us, we decided to use our time to help people and give something back. #HuffkinsAtHome is just one of the ways we’re doing that. We hope that children can return to school very soon. In the meantime, if the activity sheets and recipes prove popular, we’ll continue to launch new ones regularly and will also continue it during future school holidays.”

For further information, please visit www.huffkins.com/huffkins-at-home or see their Instagram page www.instagram.com/huffkinscotswolds