THE Winchester branch of Muscular Dystrophy UK has celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party.
Chairman Ann Jones was pleased to welcome the Right Worshipful, the Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Eleanor Bell, who addressed the meeting.
Other guests were Lisa Wilson, the auditor from Rothmans, and Ashleigh Venables and Wojtek Trzcinski from MD HQ in London.
Ann also welcomed Richard Showan who had previously been the branch auditor and was instigator of the generous Broyst Foundation donations.
Janette Hull, for many years the branch chairman, and her husband Jim had flown all the way from Scotland to attend this AGM.
Others present were, Ronni and David Davis, known for the Geriactors’ Murder Mysteries and Chris and Michelle Richmond all of whom had generously given their time and energies in raising donations for MDUK; Chris by running in the London Marathon.
The Winchester branch was formed 50 years ago. Alas as yet no cure has been found for Muscular Dystrophy, making this a bittersweet evening, but considerable progress has been made. The branch auditor reported that over the 50 years the branch had raised £377,553. Some of this sum has been used locally to assist sufferers in this area. MD helped with the purchase of Sam Waddington’s wheelchair. Sam, being present, thanked everyone warmly and was keen to emphasize the importance of charity help for such expensive equipment (£16,000). He said that without the chair he would not be able to get on with his life, like any other young adult.
Ann reported that the committee members are very sad that in 2018 they had lost Alan Richmond, one of the founder members. She invited everyone to browse the display of memories including the Rupert Bear Flag Days. The party then shared out a wonderful Rupert cake, made by vice chairman Wendy Ling.
Ann thanked her committee for its hard work and looked forward to another full year of fund raising. The committee was re-elected en bloc.
Ashleigh Venables and Wojtek Trzcinski filled everyone in with the latest news from head office and Lisa Wilson gave her auditor’s report.
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