The June meeting was opened by Anne Harris, who gave the following dates for members’ diaries: July 11: Committee meeting in Church Office at 2.30pm.

July 15: Branch Outing. Leaving Holy Cross at 11am.

An early lunch will be provided on arrival at Claverley, leaving us free to enjoy the flower displays in the afternoon, with a cup of tea before the journey home.

Thursday 18th July at 10am. Coffee morning at St Saviour’s.

It was very good to have Carol Brogan back with us, and we pray for her continued recovery.

Our speaker for the afternoon was Michael Fawdrey, local representative for MAF-Flying for Life. MAF is the brainchild of a group of Christian airmen who, in 1945 at the end of the war, were wondering how they could use their new-found skills in a positive way after 6 years fighting, and Mission Aviation Fellowship was born.

MAF is used by several charities and is still a Christian- run charity, with just one of the original founders still living.

From small beginnings (one small aeroplane) MAF now has over 30 aircraft operating in 150 countries, making more flights than any airline in the world.

Ferrying supplies of all kinds and aid personnel, MAF literally is flying for life, using short runways cut out of the bush by the locals and “surfaced” with gravel etc.

When the nearest doctor is two days’ walk away, carrying a sick relative and sleeping overnight at the roadside, a two-hour wait in our A & E Dept seems to pale into insignificance!

Taking spiritual and physical aid to so many desperate people, (they are involved in relief in many major disasters), MAF is a wonderful organisation and deserving of our support.

Should anyone wish to know more the website is www.maf-uk.org.

On behalf of the branch Anne thanked Mike for his talk.

Two of our members, Wendy and Dinah, recently had “special” birthdays and to celebrate we enjoyed a cream tea with delicious scones baked for us by Ellen, for which we should thank her, and birthday cake from Dinah.

Our next meeting will be our outing on July 15. As usual there will be no meeting in August.