The Inner Wheel Club of Stevenage has closed after 60 years in the town, due to the advancing years of its members and the struggle to attract younger women to join.
The Inner Wheel is the largest international women's service organisation in the world, and is for women who wish to support fundraising, social and service activities in their communities.
Originally, women had to have a Rotary connection in order to become a member, but that is no longer necessary.
Unfortunately, the Inner Wheel Club of Stevenage has now closed down due to a lack of younger members.
Member Brenda Lowe said: "At 75, I am the youngest member in the club, with everyone else in their 80s and 90s. Many were having health issues so, as we felt we could not carry out the aims of the Inner Wheel effectively as a club, we decided to close.
"It's a shame, especially as it is so hard to attract younger, newly-retired women into the organisation. Clubs in England and Europe are experiencing similar problems, but in India the number of clubs grows almost every day!"
Asked what the Stevenage club has achieved over the past 60 years, Brenda said: "Well, of course, you would have seen members helping Rotary at fun runs and Christmas Santa sleigh events, as well as volunteering for many local organisations, and making hundreds of cups of tea and baking hundreds of cakes for charity events.
"We have volunteered at Lister Hospital and Riding for the Disabled, held tea parties for elderly parishioners, supported Cancer Hair Care, raised money for Home-Start, provided food and toiletries for Feed Up, Warm Up, The Haven, and The Living Room, provided books for Just be a Child, and held fundraising coffee mornings for Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie nurses, and Garden House Hospice Care.
"Internationally, we have supported Mercy Ships, a village in The Gambia, the Hamlin Fistula hospitals in Ethiopia, Mary’s Meals, Hope and Homes for Children, and of course sent money to help women in need when wars and disasters strike."
This year, as part of the centenary celebrations for the national organisation in Great Britain and Ireland, Stevenage's activities followed the theme of '100 for 100'.
Brenda said: "We began the year with a strawberry lunch to raise money for the eating disorder charity BEAT.
"In September, 100 paper doves flew from trees in Stevenage carrying messages of peace to observe the UN International Day of Peace on the 21st.
"In October, we collected hundreds of cans of food and joined our Inner Wheel colleagues in Milton Keynes to beat a Guinness world record - clubs and charities laid out an unbroken line of 102,447 cans of food extending for 7.64 km. The cans went to the Milton Keynes food bank.
"In November, we held a Macmillan coffee morning for cancer care and breast cancer research.
"Also in November, we laid our remembrance wreath at the cenotaph in the Old Town. This year, the wreath was made of 100 red and white poppies knitted and crocheted by members.
"In December, we provided 100 Christmas presents for midwives in the maternity department at Lister Hospital.
"For two years now, the district Inner Wheel team has provided a bursary for a midwifery student studying at the University of Hertfordshire.
"We didn’t forget about refugees living in hotels in the Stevenage area and provided clothes, books and toiletries to try and make life more comfortable for them.
"We always celebrate Women’s International Day in March, and this year we made up bags of goods to be shipped out to Ukraine to help the women and their families there.
"Between January and June, there were many celebrations to observe the national centenary at all levels - club, district and national - culminating in a three-day international convention in Manchester, where the first Inner Wheel club was set up in 1924.
"Regretfully, we have now closed the Stevenage club but, if any younger women want to restart it, we would be delighted to guide you along the way."
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