Thropton WI, Meeting

Although, at first sight, this might not sound the most exciting of subjects, Steve made it most interesting by focusing on his own home as an example of what we might all be able to achieve. His initial point was that climate change necessitates our making choices to lower energy consumption.

He bought his house in 2001 and wanted to create an insulated box of a home. However, he was aware it used a very large amount of gas for heating. It was therefore scarcely credible that over a 15-year period, he had managed to reduce his gas consumption by 68 per cent. The measures he used included loft insulation, double glazing, cavity wall fill, underfloor insulation and draught proofing. He also added a wood burning stove, a new combi-boiler and uses only LED bulbs.

At our business meeting we learned that our monthly food bank collection would continue and our first in-house fundraising effort would begin with tonight’s plant sale. Future trips would be to Durham for an exhibition at the Cathedral, Corbridge for a centenary lunch and Mellerstain for our summer outing.

We also had a brief talk from Edna Tone of Rochester WI on how we could raise funds for the Air Ambulance via clothing collections. Edna has been instrumental in raising large sums for this charity.

Our next meeting will be the AGM on May 2.