Reading Valley Ladies' Circle

About Us

On this page: Who Are We? When Do We Meet? What Do We Do? Annual Events Fund Raising

Who are we?

We are a group of around 20 girls (members and friends). Some of our members are married, some single, some divorced. What we all share is a sense of fun. We organise many social events at a local level, often meeting in each other's homes. We are also active at the Area level, meeting girls from other Circles nearby.

When do we meet?

We meet on the first and third Thursday of the month, at 8.00pm. Our meetings usually include food provided by the Hostess. It's great to sit down to a meal cooked by someone else! This start time allows people to sort out their husband / children / rabbit (the ones that can't find the fridge for themselves) before going out for 'me time'.

What do we do?

During a typical year our diary included:

An Italian evening
An Aromatherapy evening
A Brigit Jones Slob Out party
A Keep fit evening
A Candle Party
A Firework party
A Think Pink evening to raise money for Cancer Research
A Theatre trip to the Mill at Sonning to see My Three Angels
A Theatre trip to the Abbey Ruins to see Julius Caesar
A Greek night
A speaker from Berkshire Women's Refuge
A pub quiz
A country walk and supper
A Hats and Pot Luck supper
A Nail Bar evening and meal out
A Hair care evening at Zappers
A Decadence Evening
A Christmas Party (Abba Theme)

Annual Events

It is traditional for us to kidnap our Chairman once a year and whisk her away for a surprise day of treats - last year Fiona was whisked off to Windsor for a weekend away.

We also make a point of going to the South East Area Lunch in London each Spring. This is an excuse to dress up and ride into town in a stretch limo, sipping champagne - the excellent meal and speaker are a bonus! We usually assign the new committee roles for the following year in the limo on the way back - somehow people always seem to be in a good mood :-)

If you enjoy a dinner dance then the Ladies' Night organised by Table is for you. Circle usually organises a Gentleman's evening where partners or friends are taken out for a slap up meal.

The Area Social is a chance to get together with other Circles for an evening of some kind of silly entertainment, for example a karaoke competition. The Area Handover is a business meeting which includes a nice 3 course meal in a restaurant.

Of course we have an AGM - last year we went to the Castle Brasserie in Hurst.

Fund Raising

In 2002 we raised £300 for Berkshire Women's Aid, £280 for the Sonning Link of the Chernobyl Children's Life Line, £46 for Macmillan Cancer Relief and £38 for Cancer Research UK. We also volunteered as stewards for local Race For Life events, helping to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

In 2001 we raised £270 for the Sonning Link of the Chernobyl Children's Life Line, £20 for the PDSA, £50 for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust and £36 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. In 2000 we raised £450 for the Woodley Day Care Centre.

We raise money in small ways, for example we hold a Decadence Evening, where everyone brings the food they consider to be the highest treat imaginable, we share the food and donate our usual £5 food money to the charity account. The first year we did this we had a lot of smoked salmon and chocolate! Now people think a bit more outside the box.

We offer support to the Sonning Link of the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline. This is a Charity which brings sick children from Belarus over for recuperative breaks. We like to organise an event for the children, for example a picnic in the park.

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