We began our anniversary celebrations with an afternoon tea party.

I woke up on Sunday 20 October to torrential rain, I had also been informed a couple of days before that the car park was out of bounds at AgeUk , the venue and that people would have to park around the streets.  Not a great beginning to the day, I had a vision of a beautifully decorated room, lots of food and no one turning up and if they did venture out, arriving soaking wet!

I shouldn’t have worried, about 120 braved the weather and joined us for the party.  The atmosphere was lovely, and we were joined by Jan Lloyd, former Mayor and Councillor and Iain Steward MP who both gave speeches and helped Paula Suchy MBE, our Chairperson cut the cake.

Liz Roe, who formed the Reader Service in 1988 spoke about how she set it up and seen it expand its’ services and how the membership of service users and volunteers is now nearly 250 people.

Karen Soper, a new volunteer, very kindly made and donated the amazing celebration cake.  It is the largest cake she has ever baked including 16 eggs, 1 kilo of flour, 6 packs of butter and 3 kilos of fondant icing! Each of the three layers contained a different filling. It was absolutely delicious!

The afternoon was paid for by the money made at our raffle which we then doubled by using the Local Giving ‘double your tenner’ scheme.

Thank you for everyone on the party committee that helped both before and on the day. The ladies who helped in the kitchen, Jan, Moira, Barbara and Sharon deserve a special thanks, they worked so hard to keep the catering running smoothly, including washing up all those cups, saucers and glasses!  They helped to make the afternoon a great success.

We shall be holding our next party on Saturday 1st February at 10.00 am – 12 noon.  I hope it matches the fun of the tea party!