LADIES' GUILD: At the meeting held on March 7, the chairman welcomed all attending on a very wet day and gave a special welcome back to Connie Orwin who had not been able to attend for some time due to ill health. She also presented a rose and congratulated two of the members on both celebrating birthdays in their 90s recently - Evelyn Jones and Joyce Cooper.

Programmes for 2007 were distributed with a special outings reminder list being displayed on the noticeboard.

Best wishes were extended to Mrs O Baldry for the impending operation on her foot and an improvement in Mrs B Banbury's recently broken wrist was thankfully reported.

The chairman asked members to consider the possibility of organising a Debating Society in future for interested members. The speaker for the afternoon was Nic Mason who gave an excellent and very interesting talk on Local Place Names - taking his audience through all the villages, with their names, from Evesham, to Tewkesbury.

The speaker for next month's meeting on Tuesday, April 4 will be Mr Hans Meeries talking on Bavarian Castles and the sales table will be Holiday Things. Visitors are welcome.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION WOMEN'S SECTION: At the March meeting of the Pershore branch the attendance was low due to sickness and members going into or coming out of hospital for operations. Speakers for the evening were Louise Bennett from Wychavon District Council who gave members details of the new concessionary fares scheme and tokens available for the elderly and disabled. Rob Mace, from the district council's recycling scheme, gave an interesting presentation with slides on recycling waste materials and the many schemes in operation. A table-top sale for branch funds was held and supported by members.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 4 when an Easter Bonnet Parade will be held, also a competition for the best decorated Easter egg (with prizes). New members welcome.

U3A: Vince Williams is the speaker at the March meeting of the Pershore and District U3A. He will be talking about an expedition to K2 when a small team of climbers, some with little experience, tackled some the very difficult climbing to return to the spot of an earlier climbing tragedy. The talk is to be accompanied by some dramatic pictures of the glaciers, and rough terrain that the climbers had to negotiate.

The Pershore and District U3A, or University of the Third Age, is for middle-aged and older people who are retired or semi-retired who want to remain active and to help others to enjoy themselves. There are about 25 different interest groups where members meet together in small groups to take part in their own interests. They also meet regularly on the third Tuesday of the month in the Wychavon Civic Centre at Pershore, the next meeting entitled A Personal Pilgrimage to K2 is to be held on Tuesday, March 21 at 2.15pm. Visitors are most welcome to attend. For more information about the U3A and its activities phone 01386 561975.