Happenings!

Karen and Jon gave a fascinating and very instructive presentation on the work of RSPCA Woodside. RSPCA Woodside provides Rehabilitation and Rehoming for dogs and cats Rescued by the national RSPCA, and for injured or abandoned animals. They have a full veterinary clinic and a dedicated team of both paid and volunteer dog- and cat-carers. […]

Georgie Lorimer treated us to a recital of Songs of Love and Loss both old and new. An accomplished musician and tutor, Georgie accompanied herself on her electric piano. And she introduced one of her pupils – Trevor in his public singing debut – who sang a Nat King Cole classic (The Very Thought of […]

Any excuse for a party! And this excuse is that it’s almost Christmas Day! So the OutlookGroup enjoyed their annual Christmas party! Decorations, groaning boards,and a big raffleset the scene and our members enjoyed themselvesas always!

A welcome return by John Parnell, this time not demonstrating hula hooping but demonstrating balloon modelling! From a bag of balloons he produced a wide variety of balloon models, from the ubiquitous dog to hair dryers which doubled as gums, from giraffes to Santa hats. And at the end, we all had a go at […]

JILL DWYER from Leicester’s HealthWatch came to urge members to complete their surveys on women’s health. Not that men’s health is unimportyant, but women have very significant healthcare problems due to their gender, and HealthWatch have out nine surveys which trhey would very much like you to complete so that the restricted resources of the […]

Back by popular request, a visit from Ringtons helping us to get ready for… a sweet Christmas! Tea, coffee, biscuits, chocolates, and more. And I can tell you that they sold well!   To help show us what’s new in stock and to supply our Christmas sweet tooth, Raymond brought along Andy.  They promised to come […]

This is Jess Zara, senior conservator at Twycross Zoo. She came to talk to us about the conservation work which she and her team, and indeed everyone at Twycross Zoo, carry out throughout the year. Their brief is very wide-ranging, and includes working with zoos around the world to preserve and protect wildlife, especially endangered species […]

We were enjoying a delightful meal at The Greyhound, Woodville when the Staff heard that it had been Ann’s birthday the day before. And when they came out with Ann’s pudding, this is how it was presented! What a delightful gesture by the lovely Staff at The Greyhound! And not only do they serve delicious […]

Bach to the Beatles and Tall Stories! Peter, John, Iris, and Mary together are the After Eight Quartet, and we were treated to a viruoso a capella performance from Bach to The Beatles via Elvis and more, all interspersed with witty banter, jokes and tall stories. Needless to say, there was much laughter and appreciative […]

The ancient skill of… hula-hooping! John Parnell – the Hoop Guy – presented a fascinating and very amusing talk in three parts. He first described how hula hoops had been found in the ancient world dating back to 500 BC. In 14th century England, doctors treated patients with pain, dislocated backs, and even heart failure due […]

Not just Strawberry Tea at Nailstone Church! You can see everything about our recent visit to Nailstone Church in this picture. The Church background of course, the sumptuous tea which we were served along with strawberries and fresh cream, our members of course, but also the Nailstone School Choir who sang two delightful songs, one […]

We never knew we could learn so much about playing cards! And yet Mike Lister returned this year to tell us even more! Everything from the history of playing cards to the many different designs around the world, the fascinnation with playing cards clearly has known no bounds for millennia! Here’s a fascinating fact! The […]

Forgive the pun, but Trevor Moore’s excellent talk on beekeeping created quite a buzz among our members! In the three years since he took up the hobby, Trevor has become an expert on keeping bees and about bees themselves. We were treated to a superb explanation of how to make honey, we sampled two different […]

We very much enjoyed the recent performance of a wide range of Elizabethan Music by well-known local musician Chris Susans playing the lute, and also accompanying Wendy Nieper, a soprano who has sung for film sessions, jazz, opera/classical, and rock and pop, and recorded with some of the rock greats. And it was a great privilege […]

Potty Plotters at The Palace! Elaine and Julia will tell you, truthfully, that they just had tea at the Palace! But it was The Palace Community Centre here in Ibstock, not, sadly, the bigger one in London! But never mind, these Potty Plotters brought right royal entertainment to our Group!  With subjects ranging from big […]

A visit by Raymond of Ringtons is always very popular, and this week was no exception. As usual, Raymond brought a good selection of Ringtons’ delicious goodies and sales were brisk!Ringtons history goes back to 1907 when the founder, Samuel Smith OBE, began selling tea from a horse and cart in Newcastle upon Tyne. Fast […]

Leicester & Rutland Blood Bikers Colin and Jim came give us a talk about their work, and what work they do! They belong to one of 25 Blood Bike groups which cover between them most of the UK population. As a totally volunteer-based charity, they support local health organisations in the Leicestershire and Rutland as […]

Feet were tapping tapping and arms were waving when Janet presented her Music Quiz!  Janet played snatches of music from each decade from the 1930s to the 1990s, and we were challenged to name that tune, name the singer or singers – everyone from Vera Lynn to Wham! and all styles inbetween – or to […]

Food aplenty… and shopping, too! Armstrong Mills at Shepshed might not look as plush a department store from the outside as, say, Marks & Spencer’s – but the food was hot, and it was plentiful, and it was cooked so well I’d be happy to go back there anytime! And then, when lunch was over, […]

This isn’t an actual photograph of me sitting at my computer, it was generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). I described to the AI program what I was doing, which was spending long hours at my computer creating this website along with Sue and Janet, I must say that it’s a pretty accurate representation! So was […]

A Day at The Priory A day at Ulverscroft Priory is always popular with our members. Arriving at 1030 we are greeted with a welcome cup of tea or coffee – and a biscuit! – and then we can walk round the park, feed the deer, or just simply sit in the comfortable common room […]

Sing-along-a-ukelele! Or to be more precise, sing-along-four ukuleles and a double bass! The group, Three Men and Others, entertained us with their music and the singing, and even got us join in with home-made percussion and even singing! All their music was well-known songs from the past, some serious, but most very funny – even […]

Papercrafty!! Sageena Thakur and her daughter Jasmin are papercrafters, and this week they came to show us how to craft scrapbooks. This was not simply cutting and pasting memorabilia into a plain scrapbook, it was creating pages with captions, and other embellishments, to make each page come alive. And Sageena explained powerfully with examples from […]