THE president welcomed members to the April meeting with a special mention to a visitor who we hope may eventually join us. The minutes were read and signed and the secretary gave out the various notices.

St Peter's WI is holding a social skittles evening on May 21 and there is a new speakers' meeting on June 28.

Next month we discuss the resolution to stop the closure of county hospitals and this will be followed by a social evening when we shall discuss our future programme, the use of our bursary and, if time and inclination, have a game of bingo.

The president then gave a warm welcome to Sheila Tremellen who was speaking on PUPS - Promotion of Unwanted Puppies Society. She has been interested in dog rescue for more than 40 years but has concentrated on puppies only for 16 years. The youngest she has had were a two-day old litter found in a dustbin in Birmingham and the most she has had is 23 at any one time. She is very conscientious in homing them and always inspects the home they are going to - a secure garden being just one of the things she insists upon.

She is now the proud owner of an isolation unit as cross infection can be a very time-consuming and costly thing to eradicate. She brought a large selection of photos to show us, including some of the two-day old litter after they were recovered. There were also photos and newspaper cuttings when she received an award from Rolf Harris of Animal Rescue, and sponsorship from Wilsons Pet Foods and, very importantly, being awarded the MBE for her work. She was thanked by Margaret Coward, who is also an old friend of hers.

Refreshments were then served and she later brought two of her own dogs in to see us and enjoy a biscuit. Our next meeting is the resolution meeting but anyone wishing to join us should come to Whittington Village Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 15.