Upper Wylye Men’s Fellowship breakfast (February update) - Richard Jackman.
At the 3rd March breakfast, Justin de Meo spoke about the background to and the work of the Monte San Martino Trust, a charity founded in 1989 to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of the Italian country people who rescued many of the 50,000 Allied servicemen who escaped from the Italian PoW camps after the Armistice in September 1943.
As well as providing grants and bursaries, the charity’s archives and support staff provide a useful resource for those trying to research the wartime experiences of relatives from a generation that often did not talk about their experiences. Through Justin’s talk to the breakfasters this little known charity now has a higher profile and a donation of £135 to support its work.
The breakfast was also an opportunity to hear about the fundraising progress on the three, two-man teams that, spurred on by the talk given at the February breakfast, will be joining a Pick Ups for Peace convoy to Lviv in Ukraine later this year.
You can support their plans via their ‘Breakfasters fundraising for Pickups for Peace’ entry on their Just Giving webpage . In addition, those attending the next breakfast are encouraged to bring along old/unused mobile phones that can be repurposed as drone detection devices in Ukraine.
The next breakfast, on the 7th of April, will provide an opportunity to learn about the Quaker faith, or the Religious Society of Friends as they are also known. The speaker will be John Harris, a lifelong Quaker who lives near Bath and was until his retirement the Director of the Academic Registry at Bath University.
Breakfasts are held at The George Inn, Longbridge Deverill and start at 8.15am. The cost is £15, payable in cash at the door, of which £2 will go towards the charity of the speaker's choice - on this occasion Warminster Cornerstone. Please note, this is not a club, but is open to all. Just contact the organisers via email ( uwvmfb@gmail.com), before the preceding Friday at the latest, if you'd like to attend.