As the dry summer drew to a close and the harvest was taken in, Llantilio Crossenny WI returned to its usual meeting place at Llanvapley Pavilion.

We caught up with each other after a busy summer of jolly outdoor gatherings and started with the business of the day. Amongst other things we were pleased to note that we raised over £100 at our annual picnic for the WI charity, Association of Country Women Worldwide. The charity supports women in rural poverty around the world who are setting up self- help projects, a worthwhile and fitting cause for our members.

Once the business was concluded, we enjoyed an evening of ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ with Claire and her ‘Sassy Steppers, HipHopper Showstoppers’ ably supported by Johnnie on the music.

The steps were demonstrated and then, with a few creaks and sighs, we were up and doing the moves to music or some stayed sat down and got our arms and legs in the groove . This was a fun and entertaining night but exhausting (in a good way!).

Claire and Johnnie run a fun class called “The Charleston’ at the Bridges Centre, Monmouth, every Thursday at 10.00am. Everyone is welcome to go along and give it a try- it’s guaranteed fun and very good for mental agility and coordination.

Talking of fun, nineteen of our members continued their weekly rehearsals for ‘Gwent’s Got Talent’ at Usk Memorial Hall on the 11th October at 7.00pm. Our musical theatre piece has been a challenge for most of us but hopefully we will entertain and amuse our audience.

The month closed with a Saturday morning of First Aid Training with the very knowledgeable and experienced ex ambulance driver Pete Cook, based at Chepstow. The national WI resolution for this year is “Bystanders Can Be Lifesavers” with a focus on CPR. Research by the St John’s Ambulance Brigade shows that women who go into cardiac arrest in public are far less likely to receive CPR from Bystanders than men. This is for a variety of reasons but the fact is that more than 8,200 women would have survived a heart attack if they had been given the same treatment as men between 2003 and 2013. Our training included learning about the correct CPR technique foradults, children and babies and using a defibrillator. One interesting and reassuring fact is that once a 999 call is made reporting a heart attack, a network of support is activated by the emergency services including a local contact bringing the defibrillator to your location. This was a really worthwhile way of spending a Saturday morning.