This month we were treated to a speaker who had visited us before.  Jane Glennie , an actress and historian , who spoke about the working experiences of Violet Jessop. Jane dressed in a period costume and spoke the part of Violet.  Violet worked on various ships as a stewardess to begin with in 1908 and once war declared , she trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse and worked on a hospital ship. Violet’s experiences of the maiden voyage of The Titanic, of the rescue by lifeboat and arrival of the Carpathia to take people to safety, held our attention. Not content with experiencing the Titanic going down she was on board the hospital ship, the Britannic (the Titanic sister ship), in the Aegean,  when that sank after striking a German mine.  She was rescued again.

Voilet retired in 1950 having spent 42 years at sea.  After her death her memoirs were found and her story told.  It was an emotion and dramatic portrayal of Violet Jessop’s life. Needless to say Jane held the attention of everyone in the room!

Milla from Greener Brockenhurst gave us a quick rundown on Brockenhurst’s application to become plastic free under the “Surfers Against Sewage’ campaign. This would involve us having greater awareness of single use plastic, removing 3 pieces of plastic and making a commitment to the scheme on our website.

Sue G told us theat the church’s Wednesday Lunches are in need of drivers and asked us to consider supporting this.

We also had a raffle run by Maureen.

We had a Flower of the Month competition , with the theme of a spring flower.

This was won by Janette with this beautiful Hellebore.

Liz D (on behalf of Liz W) gave out Chilli seeds for our growing competition.

Evelyn gave out labels for entries for the Grouo Show. Entries need to be taken to Evelyn’s on Thiursday 23rd March. Or you can take them personally to St Mary Magdalene Church Hall, New Milton between 08.30am and 09.30am on Friday 24th March.

We also had a plethora of sign-up boards. We are looking for cake makers and helpers for the Needlework Fiesta.

Rita reminded us about her Open Garden in aid of Ukraine on Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th March from 1pm-5pm Open Garden in  at 7 Chestnut Road, Brockenhurst SO42 7RF

Birthday girls were given these beautiful knitted flowers, made by Caroline.

Our next meeting is on Monday April 17 at 7pm when we will listen to a speaker from The New Forest Park Authority talk about her work and ground nesting birds.  If you would like more information please email brockenhurstpres@hampshirewi.org.uk