Those of you who came along for our regular scheduled meeting this morning will know that unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to circumstances outside our control. This was because of an arson attack on the Town Hall on Monday evening which meant that the Council Chamber had been full of smoke and was deemed unusable by the fire brigade and Town Hall staff.

We gathered outside the main doors while we decided what was the best thing to do and although the Baptist Church across the road offered us a room for the morning, it would have come at a cost. Several members present would have found it difficult to get themselves up and down the subways and walk up the other side of Main Road so it was decided to cancel the meeting entirely.

A small amount of business was done though, al fresco in the rather chilly weather. Due to a lack of ticket sales, it was agreed that the Garden Party booked for June would be deferred until later in the year when hopefully there might be more interest.

Our Chairman, Cliff Reynolds then announced that he was standing down as Chair for a few months due to health reasons. We wish Cliff all the best and look forward to him resuming his duties when he feels better.

Our next meeting will be on the 11^th June. There is no meeting in July and at the meeting on the 13^th August, our speaker will be Denise Kabir from the Royal Institute for the Blind. Denise has recently taken up the post of ECLO (Eye Care Liaison Officer) at Queen’s Hospital. She will talk to us about diagnosis of sight impairment and take your questions afterwards.