On a late April Wednesday evening I gave a talk to Riverside Ladies’ Club in Hornchurch. Sadly, I was their last guest speaker. Their next meeting was to be to formally close the club. Hall hire costs and difficulty in maintaining member numbers for an evening club have all become too much. They are going to discuss ways of reinventing themselves in some fashion because the fellowship gained is too important to lose. They were such a lovely group of women. I wished them all the best of luck for their future endeavours.
Then a third visit to Shenfield and Hutton Ladies’ PROBUS. I hope that, as I told them about my two new talks that I will be invited back for a fourth and fifth visit.
It makes such a big difference to a speaker to have a relaxed, yet engaged audience. Only a small group but clearly a happy and social gathering. Rayleigh Methodist church women’s group has already invited me back and a date has been agreed for January 2026.
As I go about the county giving talks to a variety of groups, I’m always so pleased to hear the stories that people share with me. That is one of the aspects that give me so much pleasure.
I’ve got a break now until July. Maybe, as this is a third visit (October 2023 and August 2024) to Leigh Townswomen’s Guild, I’m wondering if they will ask for my new talk; they showed a lot of interest when I told them about it last August. I’d better crack on and polish it!