THE May meeting took place on an especially fine evening for the time of year and everyone was welcomed by president Susan Oakley who thanked Kath Whitehouse for the lovely arrangement of flowers she had brought.

We have four birthday girls this month - Dorothy Edwards, Mollie Lewis, Pauline Wildman and Sylvia Wilkes, who were each given a posy of flowers. Celebrating a very special event are Rene Bytheway and her husband Maurice, who have been married for 70 years. Our best wishes to them both on this wonderful achievement.

The serious business of the evening was the WI resolution which this year is to urge the government to stop the closure of cottage hospitals, with particular emphasis of the discussion given to those in the county which will, of course, affect our local areas. It was no surprise that the vote for the resolution was carried unanimously.

We are looking forward to the start of our craft group evenings, the first of which was held on May 15 on quilling'.

The group will meet on the third Tuesday in each month with varied crafts, and anyone is welcome to attend at a cost of just £1 for non-members. Further details from Monica on 01905 610396.

There is to be a church festival at Claines Church on Saturday, June 23 when North Claines WI will be holding a cake stall (as it is well-known that WIs can make cakes as well as jam!) We are also having a summer event in August at Claines Church Hall, Cornmeadow Lane, which will be open to everyone. More about this at a later date.

When the business of our meeting was done, we were treated to a ploughman's supper. A quiz was won by Christine Savage and the competition by Mollie Lewis with a pretty hand-woven bookmark.

The general meetings are held on the first Thursday in each month at Claines Church Institute, Claines Lane and, on June 7, we have Miriam Tilt giving a demonstration of three-demensional decoupage.

The meeting starts at 7.15pm and visitors are very welcome to join us.

AUDREY FARLEY