MORE than 50 members packed into the village hall for our AGM on November 9.

At the start of the meeting, there was a minute's silence to remember Barbara Gill, our national federation chairman, who died recently aged 63.

Pearl Prior, our president, then offered a warm welcome to all the members, with a special welcome to Janice Jones, our WIA, who was presiding over our AGM.

Later, Pearl spoke about the recent group meeting held at Catshill Workingmen's Club, which was attended by several of our members. Pearl then asked the membership whether that venue could be used for both group meetings, instead of using individual village halls. And, yes, nearly all the members were in agreement with Pearl's suggestion.

Pearl then gave a report on the autumn council meeting, which was a resounding success. Dorothy Radford, our secretary, followed by presenting Pearl with an alarm clock on behalf of the membership, to thank our president for her hands-on support throughout the year. Then Janice Jones spoke, saying that Barbara Gill was a superb chairman and had held office since March, 2003. Moving on, Janice then spoke about Denham College and WI House.

The financial statement and annual report were approved. Pearl was re-elected as president. It was noted that four members of the committee had resigned, namely Jean Towler, Marion Tovey, Maureen Pearmain and Kath Bowkett and three new members - Barbara Savage, Avril Ball and Dymphna Moore had joined the committee.

Finally, our Christmas lunch will be held on Wednesday, December 14, at Bromsgrove School.