Our March meeting was very much enjoyed by all who attended it… and it was so simple … a talk by one of our chosen charities, a short business briefing, and then some social time aiming to get to know each other a little more.

One of our charities for this year is a Dementia Support charity based in Tangmere, called Sage House.

Nicki Clarke and Natalie Burchett from the marketing and fundraising teams at Sage House came along to give us a very interesting presentation about dementia and the charity.

The umbrella term ‘dementia’ is used to describe a collection of symptoms associated with a progressive decline in cognitive function, largely amongst older people. While it can be considered a ‘mental health’ issue, it is caused by physical disease – affecting the structure and chemical workings of the brain, and resulting in a loss of memory, reasoning and communication skills.  Some significant statistics they quoted were …

Every 3 mins someone is diagnosed with dementia

1 in 6 over 80 has dementia

14,820 people in West Sussex have dementia

Their pop-up banner includes most of the services they provide, as it says they aim to bring all dementia services under one roof.  The plan of Sage House below shows the various activities in the house…

Our members found the presentation very interesting so there were many and varied questions at the end.  We look forward to more contact with Sage House during the year.  Since the meeting Natalie has sent us a letter of thanks for the twiddlemuffs, teddy and bunting members gave her at the meeting.

Following refreshments we had a great icebreaker game, called People Bingo.  Everyone was given a page containing a grid of possible personal data – I’ve been on TV; I have 2 brothers; I have 3 sisters, and so on.  We then had to discover members who fitted each description and get them to sign each box.  The ensuing game was great fun, if rather chaotic (perhaps our glass of Prosecco during refreshments had something to do with that!)   The winners were Annie Smith and Leslie Guppy who managed to fill every square bar one … surprisingly for Bognor Regis WI, there was no-one present who could say … I was born in Bognor Regis. o

The evening ended with the draw for our unusual raffle – or Jarbola.  The committee had supplied lots of decorated jars filled with many different ‘small things’ – sweets, cosmetics, packets of seeds, etc etc – it was rather exciting to win a prize and then see what we had won.  We will probably adapt this idea for a children’s jarbola on our Hotham Park stall in August.

Many thanks to the 39 members who attended in the temporary hall – back to the Garden Centre next month.

Kate Claisse