Organisations

   Royal British Legion Women's Section

 


Winsham & Cricket St. Thomas
Royal British Legion
Women's Section

On 26th October 1963, at the annual dinner of the Winsham and Cricket St. Thomas British Legion, 18 ladies joined the Legion and the women's section was born. The inaugural meeting was held the same evening and the following month the first meeting of members was held at the Congregational Church Hall in Winsham. The men's section has since been disbanded but the ladies' section is still active with 20 members, four of whom are founder members still involved in running the section.
The branch meeting is now held on the second Monday of each month in the Sports and Social Club, Winsham and fund raising for Legion causes within the County e.g. Somerset Legion Home at Weston-Super-Mare and Dunkirk House at Bishop's Lydeard and Head Quarters is always high on the agenda. The meetings are not just concerned with Legion business however and the evening is usually rounded off with a guest speaker or a quiz drawn up by one of the members.
Since the closure of the men's branch of the Legion, the women's section has taken over the organisation of the Annual Remembrance Day Service at Winsham. Each year on Remembrance Sunday a service is held in St. Stephen's Church and progresses to the War Memorial where the traditional poppy wreath is laid by one of the members and the standard is paraded. The Standard Bearer and representatives from the branch also attend the Annual County Conference which, is held each November at the Winter Gardens, Weston-Super-Mare. Alternating with the other members of the Middleney group, Chard and Langport, the ladies of Winsham also take their turn in hosting the Annual Group meeting.
The RBL women's section has been meeting in Winsham for the past 37 years, regularly taking part in village activities such as the bi-annual Street Fair. At this years event the ladies won the shield for the best stall with their Human Fruit Machine but the main fund raising event in the Winsham women's section calendar is their annual coffee morning which, is held in March and is always well supported.
The members are looking forward to celebrating the sections 40th birthday in 2003.




Member's of Winsham Royal British Legion


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This page revised 01 May 2009