Littletons WI President Margaret Potter opened the meeting by welcoming members and made special mention of Eileen who has re-joined us after a short break.

She also welcomed our speaker for the evening, Chris O’Grady. Mary then started the singing of Jerusalem and Mr O’Grady joined us.

As he sings with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra his voice was absolutely marvellous and it encouraged us all to sing with gusto so much so that we all applauded at the end. A great start for a meeting.

Margaret then mentioned the various upcoming events including our trip to the recycling centre at Norton and our Craft Afternoon for which we have had far more applicants than anticipated.

It was then over to Chris whose talk was on “Walking to Rome”. Using a slide show Chris explained how he had walked (a Pilgrimage) from Pershore to Rome in 2010 to mark his fiftieth birthday without a definite plan and relying on the generosity and kindness of strangers to help him along the way.

It was journey of twelve hundred miles. He was walking the whole way and his equipment consisted of two walking poles (which another walker generously gave him as he had finished his journey), one pair of boots (which just about lasted the trip), one tent (which hardly needed to be used), his clothes in a backpack (including four pairs of underpants) and one Faith.

He had hoped to meet the Pope in Rome if he finished the journey. He was seen off from Pershore Abbey by friends and met many kind and trusting people along his route. He took five days to get to Portsmouth for his onward journey to France.

He took advantage of various sites on the website, had some knowledge of France where he had stayed with friends over the years and also met fellow travellers as well as “locals” along the way most of whom were prepared to help him. The trust of people for a complete stranger was extraordinary.

He had a “passport” which he had to have stamped in every church he stayed in to prove he was a proper pilgrim.

Day 107 of his journey saw him arriving in Rome with a journal of the whole journey and which he had also invited those he met/stayed with along the route to write in as well.

To complete the journey he was lucky enough to see the Pope pass by in his “Popemobile)!

 He finished off the evening by judging the competition which was won by Jean with a Venetian Glass Bell, a gift from her husband which he brought her back from Italy.

As usual a lovely supper prepared by members followed.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, April 9. Deb Hawken will give a talk on Mindfulness and the competition will be an item of peace. Guests and new members are welcome.

For further information including fund raising events contact June Lloyd on 01386 830844 or view our website on littletonswi.moonfruit.com

Margaret Dalton