Other Local Circles

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire

If you are interested in meeting people in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire or Berkshire you might be interested in one of the Circles below. Each Circle has its own programme of social events and fund raising activities.

See below for meeting dates of the Circles in Bucks, Berks, Hants and Oxon.

Ascot Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month.

Basingstoke Alençon Circle (Basingstoke, Hampshire; Basingstoke Hants) - meets on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month.

High Wycombe Circle (Buckinghamshire) - meets on alternate Mondays.

Maidenhead Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of the month.

Marlow Circle (Buckinghamshire) - meets on the 1st & 3rd Mondays of the month.

Newbury Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of the month.

Reading Circle (Berkshire) meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.

Reading Valley Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month.

Twyford Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month.

Wantage Circle (Oxfordshire) - meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month.

Wokingham Circle (Berkshire) - meets on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month.

These meeting details are taken from the Area 13 Directory 2008 - 2009. Each Circle meets on at least two regular evenings per month. Each of these Circles in Bucks, Berks, Hants and Oxon is part of the National Association of Ladies Circles.

Here are some excerpts from back copies of the Area mag to give you an idea of what circling is about.

High Wycombe Circle Report

Membership in High Wycombe at present is 7. We have several prospectives, with 2 due to be enrolled in the next month.

In April we enjoyed our Handover Dinner at Bassetsbury Manor, where we were joined by our outgoing and incoming Area Chairs Julie and Jackie. We said goodbye to 4 of our longstanding members due to the age rule. In the previous week 7 of us enjoyed a hot and sunny day out in Windsor, including a tour of the castle, some shopping and Chinese for lunch. Also in the same week we had a meal at Stix in Beaconsfield. On 23 April, five of us attended the Area AGM at the Holiday Inn in High Wycombe.

In May we had a pub evening and also a meal at Louise’s house, where all the delicious food was prepared by James, a Tabler, aided by Mark and Pete.

In June we have had 3 house events – a nail art and chocolate evening, a trip to the Wycombe Swan Theatre to see “Mum’s The Word” and puddings at ASK, and Archery and pub meal. Several members travelled with RT partners to France for a weekend of fun and friendship. Seven members/prospectives helped out at Race for Life on 17th June at The Rye.

Future events planned over the summer months are music concert and fireworks at West Wycombe, Chairman’s Tea Party, bell ringing, family day in Wendover Woods, and a treasure hunt/picnic.

Maidenhead Circle Report

Since the Area AGM, Maidenhead Circle has been quite busy. We held our handover meal at Norden Farm in Maidenhead. We are now all getting used to our new posts for the next year. We have started the year without a chairman, but will all be sharing the post, ably led by Jill, our immediate past chairman.

Our second meeting in May was a business/programme planning meeting. We managed to roughly plan out the whole year, barring the inevitable changes, which will be needed. Instead of having a programme secretary, we get together at the beginning of the year and plan what we would like to do. We then each volunteer to do a few meetings a year. We have been doing this for a couple of years now and seem to work well and doesn’t put all the onus on one person.

Our first June meeting was a golf lesson at a local golf club. Our last meeting was a talk by Kay Webb from Swan Lifeline. They are based on an island within Eton College grounds; they rescue injured swans and then release them back into the wild. We are hoping to visit the sanctuary at the end of July…more details later!

We have also been doing our usual community work, in helping with the Mencap Teas every Monday evening.

Marlow Circle Report

We have a very busy few months. As per tradition, we ran the refreshment tent at the Marlow May Fayre (26 May) This involved plenty of baking from our members and raised over £400 for the Meningitis Research Fund.

We also organized a successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” evening in March, raising over £700. A local steel band meant that we boogied the night away in true Caribbean style, in fancy dress, of course.

Other events have included a visit to the Chiltern Winery in Hambledon which was a very popular night with plenty of tastings. We also had a beauty evening with treatments at the Amersham and Wycombe College in Flackwell Heath.

Last week saw our main fundraising event at the Marlow Town Festival and Regatta. We ran the Pimms Bar in the Members Enclosure- a very busy day with gallons of Pimms being consumed and plenty of profits to be used for local charities.

Events to come include our annual walk along the river to the Bounty Pub in Bourne End, bell boating at Longridge Activity Centre and a family barbecue at the end of July.