Merched y Wawr

CAFWYD ein cinio Nadolig eleni yng Ngwesty’r Marine. Cyflwynodd Dulcie James ein gwr gwadd, sef Ifan Gruffudd, Tregaron a chroesawodd Dilys ei wraig yn ogystal.Wedi’r bwyd ardderchog bu Ifan yn ein diddori yn ei ddull hwyliog arferol gan ein hatgoffa o sut mae Nadolig a byd plant heddiw mor wirioneddol wahanol i pan oedd e’n blentyn...dim ffôn..dim dwr yn y ty..a dim llawer o Saesneg hyd yn oed!Cawsom hwyl yn gwneud pós carolau a diweddwyd y noson yn canu carolau yng ngofal Lona Jones a Bethan Bryn.

NHS Retirement Fellowship

MEMBERS met on 14 December at Waunfawr Community Hall and welcomed guest speaker Carrie Canham, curator of Ceredigion Museum. She began by explaining the history of the present building. Many locals will remember the museum as the Coliseum Cinema, but the building began life in 1905 as a vari-ety theatre with a capacity of 1,400. In 1933 it became a cinema run by the Gale family until finally closing in 1977.Ceredigion Museum was founded in 1973, housed in 14 Vulcan Street, run by the Antiquarian Society, then transferred to the town and finally county council. It had been estab-lished by Dr John Owen and he moved into the Coliseum with 60,00 objects. Today the museum holds four exhibitions a year, provides an education service and supports a number of heritage sites in Ceredigion such as Llanon cottage.The museum is hoping to expand into the old Boots shop next door, have a new lift and combine with the Information Centre. This necessitates raising a con-siderable sum of money. The sum of £70,000 has already been given by the lottery and they are now applying for further monies from the heritage lottery. The museum houses a variety of collections relating to life in Ceredigion over many centuries and Carrie had brought a number of somewhat curious items for members to guess their uses. These included a tool for making lead pellets for shot, a boot jack, a device for ladies to lift the hem of their skirt to avoid mud and an object for smoothing seams on sails and members had varying degrees of success in identifying the objects. Carrie was thanked by Chris Sutherns for a most interesting and entertaining presentation.Members will meet for their annual lunch on 11 January at the Richmond Hotel.

CANTM

THE carol service held at St Restitutis Church, Llanrhystud, was the last event for the association in 2015. In the new year, members will meet again on Monday, 25 January, at 10.30am in the community hall, Waunfawr, for a talk by David Steeds entitled The Politics Of Com-memoration. The annual holiday in 2016 will be a five-day trip to Dorset and the west of England and is available to all members and family and friends. If you would like to join, phone Gillian on 01970 627943

Lions

DESPITE the bad weather, 165 members of the business community attended the Business Persons’ Lunch. While waiting for the event to start, the group was entertained with some magical and inspiring music from the Aberystwyth Sing With Us Tenovus choir, conducted by Tiffany Evans.A charity auction was held to raise money. This is one of the moments when members of the business community and the members of the Aberystwyth community at large come together to share their bless-ings and give back something to the community. With the proceeds, the club is able to attend to its mission as Aberystwyth Lions: serving the community. It also empowers mem-bers to respond to humanitarian needs in the national and interna-tional stage, especially in time of urgent need. This event is a concrete manifestation of the adage: Just US Lions, we can only do so much; together with the business community and the community at large, we can do wonders.On the same day was the formal hand-over of a new £9,000 Triumph 1200 Trophy, to the Blood Bike Wales, Aberystwyth Chapter. Blood Bike Wales is a group of civic spirited community members keen to make a difference in the life of others. The service provided is free of charge.The keys were handed over by Lion president Ben, for and in be-half of all the officers and members of the Aberystwyth Lions Club, to Medwyn Parry of Blood Bike. Medwyn said: “Twelve months ago when we started, we didn’t have a bike, but we were all keen to start running a service for our local health board. “In January 2015, we were allocated the oldest bike in the fleet. Now, thanks to the support of the Aberystwyth Lions Club, we have the latest model. The target sum of £9,000 was reached in an incredibly short time. It was due to the hard work and dedication of the Aberystwyth Lions.”

The motorbike will be used to transport blood supplies, plasma, documents and other items between hospitals. The Blood Bike Wales members will cover outside of normal working hours. The service operates be-tween 7pm and 7am on weekdays, on weekends and on bank holidays including even Christmas Day! During these times the NHS nor-mally use taxis, the police and other couriers to carry vital supplies. This venture will save the National Health Service a substantial amount of money.Ever mindful of the hard work and passion put in by his fellow Aberystwyth Lions, club president Ben acknowledges with grateful appreciation the effort of every Lion member who all played their roles and worked untiringly to make the event a remarkable success - truly a great service from the heart to make a difference in the life of others.