At the beginning of our July meeting we stood for a minutes silence to remember Jenny Barrett, one of our members, who died recently so tragically. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.

We were very lucky to have Dr Caroline Jackson to speak at our July meeting. Dr Jackson is one of seven Members of the European Parliament, who represent the five and a half million people in the South West region, which of course includes Dorset. 

The European Parliament, despite representing all the people in the European Union has fewer members than our Parliament at Westminster. We learnt that Dr Jackson has been a member of the European Parliament since 1984, and is Chairman of the Environment Committee, which deals with Food safety and Waste management amongst other things. Members were fascinated to learn more about the workings of the European Parliament including why it is divided between two sites in Strasbourg and Brussels, the mind boggling task that the translators have in trying to interpret the speeches into all the languages of the member states so that the members can follow proceedings in their own languages.

The number of questions that members asked Dr Jackson was an indication of how interested we were in what she had to say and especially on the future of Europe, as she saw it, especially now that many more countries are hoping to join.

Milborne St Andrew WI enjoyed a Garden Party at the beginning of July, kindly hosted by Veronica and Alan Herridge, Despite heavy rain in the afternoon, the weather brightened and we were able to enjoy a lovely evening in their beautiful garden. 

Our next Meeting is on the 12th September and our speaker will be Mrs J Potter on Early 17th century dress. New members and guests are, as always, very welcome