Williams Club of Farnham March 2023

The Williams Club helping people with sight loss, was off to a roaring 2023 start. One of the newest members, Robin Radley MBE gave a fascinating talk about his experiences as a journalist. Robin spent a long career in Fleet Street and latterly became Editor of the Farnham Herald. He has also given so much back to the community, both locally, and abroad through his charity CHIKS. Robin will definitely become a regular speaker at the Club as he has so many stories to tell!

In February, members enjoyed a quiz with a difference. Suffering with sight loss can be a little restrictive for some activities, so the quiz was designed to get the other senses working. One round was a number of sounds, musical snippets, animal noise and so on. Another saw cleverly disguised food and drink – who would have thought that parsnip could be mistaken for cucumber!

In March the annual pub lunch was held at the Princess Royal in Runfold. With excellent and friendly service from the staff, the food was delicious, and this was followed with entertainment from the ladies a Capella choir, In Accord.

Looking forward to our next few meetings, David Munro will be joining us in April to talk about the FATN Talking News. This team of volunteers provides a weekly newspaper and monthly magazine enabling the visually impaired community to keep up with what’s going on locally. Recently Williams Club Chair (Sue Lampard) and member representative (Pat Ellis) visited the FATN base in Farnham to record an interview about the Williams Club.

In May, pupils from More House School will be coming along for a fun afternoon with their Jazz band and in June the annual Strawberry Tea organised by Farnham Rotary Club will take place. This is always appreciated as it involves a countryside drive out to Lower Froyle. It’s also lovely to retain the link with Rotary as the Club was founded by Rotarian Ben Williams and his sister Evelyn over 60 years ago.

July will see the annual trip to the seaside, with lunch at a the Beachcroft Hotel in Bognor Regis.

New members are always welcome to join. There is no membership fee, and transport is provided for those who do not have access to any. Most of our members suffer from macular degeneration, but any visual impairment will qualify for membership. The Club is very friendly, and people are made to feel welcome from the outset. It is a good forum to discuss sight loss with others who are suffering similarly – a problem shared as they say.

Meetings are held at the Baptist Church in Farnham between 2pm and 4pm on the first Wednesday of most months (not March, June, July or August).

In terms of running the Club, everyone is a volunteer, and we are always looking out for new people to join us. Our Secretary, Bob, will be standing down at some point this year, so we are keen to find a replacement. If anyone feels able to spare a few hours to help, please get in touch and we can tell you more about what the role involves.

We also need additional helpers at the meetings, particularly with some of the physical tasks like putting the chairs and tables out at the beginning and packing them away at the end. This would require a couple of hours of your time.

And finally, we always need drivers! Most of our drivers drop members off and collect them later, but some stay for the whole meeting and help. Most members live in and around Farnham, but as Aldershot has recently lost its Blind Club, we would like to be able to include people from a bit further afield, but can only do so if transport is available. Again, it’s a small commitment in terms of time, but makes a huge difference to the members who come along.

If you think you can help with any of the voluntary roles, please get in touch.

www.williamsclubfarnham.co.uk or 01252 725685