leaflets and asked questions and we felt that it had been a very successful venture, PAPYRUS having gained 33 new members and the profile of the charity having been seen by many people for the first time.
It seemed to the committee that there was a market for FUNd-raising but that events needed to be tailored to different pockets and tastes and that we should aim for approximately 4 events a year. Our first event after the inauguration of PiMs was a lecture by David Brown of the National Trust where he spoke about small country houses which were still in private hands and not open to the public. The slides were wonderful and the lecture enormously entertaining and as David refused to take a fee and we had sold 155 tickets and the committee had made all the canapés and refused to take expenses, our treasurer was able to send a cheque for £1,200 to PAPYRUS plus £70 for the memberships of another 7 people.
The last event we held was on July 16th.We were immensely fortunate to have Jemima Phillips play the harp for us at an elegant soirée where the icing on the cake was to be able to tell the audience that the delightful Jemima had been enrolled as the Royal Harpist by Prince Charles two days earlier, and so ours was her first recital given in her new role. The committee had once more come up trumps with amazing canapés (they’re all swearing “never again”) and one of them with enormous generosity sponsored Jemima so this time we raised £1250 and gained a few more members. Our publicity secretary on the team works very hard to ensure that we get into the press locally and so far about 3 articles have appeared so the word is spreading albeit slowly. Could we spread it further?
Just think, in the late 1800s in Canada a small group of ladies started the first W.I. group and now we have “Calendar Girls” So what if our one society formed with the object of enjoyment for it’s members and fund-raising for PAPYRUS, meeting say 4 times a year with events tailored to suit it’s members could be the first of many.