Fellowship meeting

We held this meeting at the Fox & Raven. We were very pleased to see our members Janice and Philip Goodman again as they have been absent most of this year due to Philip’s health problems. They don’t yet feel able to come to our formal meetings but we hope to see them again at future Fellowship Meetings.

Visiting us for the first time was Jo Roberts, the CEO of the Wilderness Foundation UK, which we have helped in recent years, mainly by running quizzes for them.

We like a lot about the Fox & Raven. It is conveniently situated, they have a small dining room they can set aside for us and the food is excellent. Unfortunately the place is let down by the service. We had ordered our meals in advance but they did not start cooking until we arrived. At 12:35 we were told it would take twenty minutes. It was eventually served at 13:20. On this occasion there was an incidental advantage to this. Francis Whitbread had suffered long delays on his journey from Suffolk and arrived just as the food was being served.

There was also a long delay before the desserts were served. By that time we had already decided that we would not go there again. That’s a pity as we were thinking of going there more frequently.

President Graham invited Jo to say a few words about the Wilderness Foundation. We already knew a fair amount about because we have had speakers from the organisation in the recent past. Jo told us how much they valued their partnership with Rotary. They currently have 48 therapists and other staff and 50 volunteers. They are expanding their facilities at Chatham Green.