From The Chair

From The Chair

Thursday, 18th September

Brilliant news from the Phoenix Macmillan Coffee Morning,

We made a great total of 

£520.40 for Macmillan. 

A very big thank you to all those who came on the day to support the event, and all those who couldn't be there but kindly sent a donation. All enjoyed lots of Tea/Coffee and cake.

Any cake not eaten or sold was donated to a local Rugeley charity.

The Music group entertained, and we thank them very much too.

October 2025

Update on the money Phoenix raised for the McMillan coffee morning: after we had received a couple more donations, the final total was £561. Well done to everyone.

Knit & Natter had a Bring and Share lunch and raised £100 for Margaret Higson, Catherine House. Well done to all the knitters and 'Natterers.'

The scouts are now in Kenya. Thank you for all the donations. Delma will update us when they return.

Christmas coffee morning will be on Thursday, 18th December.  Ben Foulds, who sang for us at the coronation party, will be entertaining us. There will be a prize for the best Christmas jumper (can be hand-decorated). A £10 draw, which all Phoenix members who attend will be automatically entered into, mince pies, bonkers bingo, and a raffle.

The not so good news .....yet again, tea, coffee, and biscuits have been ‘taken’ from Sheepfair.  We are currently looking at locking these away as it's becoming costly to keep replacing them. Your leaders will update you soon.

 Elaine x

September 2025

We are holding a Macmillan coffee morning on Thursday, 18th September 10. a.m. at Sheepfair. Entrance at the door £1, anyone welcome to come and have a cup of coffee/tea and a slice of cake, natter with your friends, make new friends, stay as long as you like. (We close at 12 ) The Phoenix singing group will be singing for us at 10.30. There will be cakes to purchase and a raffle.   All proceeds will be donated to Macmillan.  

There is extra car parking in the St. John's ambulance carpark, but please leave the garages clear.  

A big thank you to Delma, who is not charging Phoenix for the use of Sheepfair for this event. 

Elaine

                                                            August 2025

Lots of good comments about our 30th year celebration party, laughing with the Shanty Singers and Tim had us dancing in the aisles.  Thank you to all the helpers in the kitchen and with the cleaning up.  To Jeff for organising the quiz, Brenda for 'name the clown'. Sandra who got up at 6a.m. to make the lovely flower decorations, all of which went to good homes at the end of the day.  Delma for organising the food, leftover food was donated to the Rugeley homeless and the spare bottles of Prosecco are up for grabs at Phoenix coffee morning raffles.  Thank you for all the help from other members for their input and for making it a special afternoon.

 Talking about coffee mornings, the next one will be on Thursday, 18th September, and it will be a Macmillan coffee morning. Keep an eye out for more details coming soon. All Phoenix members attending coffee mornings will now be entered into a draw to win £10. Friends are still welcome as guests but not entered into the draw.

Elaine

July 2025

The sequence dancers and line dancers held their 'Dancathon' on Saturday, 5th June. Despite the heat, we had 47 people attend and raised £117 on ticket sales and £57 on the raffle.  Thank you to Dave and Shelia for organising a lovely evening

Looks like it's going to be a sunny day on Tuesday for our Phoenix celebration.  The committee have worked hard to organise everything to make it a nice memorable day. (As of Tuesday, 8th there were 3 tickets available if anyone wants them speak to Pat or your activity leader.

The itinerary for Tuesday will be:

Food first (due to it being lunch time) 1 pm

Shanty singers                                                                              

Tea break, raffle draw, quiz answers, etc                                                                                   

Tim Rooney singing                                                                                              

Prosecco Toast  - See you there. -Elaine x

June 2025

Summers arrived, so put the following dates in your diary for some summer fun.

 Coffee morning on the Thursday, 19th June, a foot-tapping, sing-along morning with Becca G singing for us.  Unfortunately, I'm on my jollies, so have a good morning and support our coffee mornings.  You are welcome to bring a guest.  They don't have to be a Phoenix member.

Sequence dancers and line dancers are having a Saturday 'danceathon' on Saturday 28th June 7 pm- 10 pm, tickets £ 2.50 or pay at the door. Anyone is welcome, bring your own drink and nibbles.  Always a good dancing night.

Phoenix celebration party on Tuesday, 15th July 2025.  Parking is now available for this event on St John's Ambulance car park.

The Phoenix Committee is always trying to do something for our members. 

Elaine

May 2025

Summer is here at last, hopefully it will stay until at least September and definitely for July the 15th for our summer Phoenix 30th  anniversary / VE day celebration. Tickets are £5 each and available now.  

There will be food in the marquee.  The Shanty Singers also Singer and entertainer Tim Rooney. There will be a glass of Prosecco for everyone. A quiz, name the knitted clown, and raffle, so it should be a fun afternoon starting at 1 pm until 4 pm.

Meanwhile, Coffee Morning is on June 19th with singer Becca G. Please try to come and support our Coffee Mornings. I will be on holiday for this one, but I don’t want us to lose the coffee mornings through lack of interest. Phoenix membership currently stands at 311   members, so it would be nice to see more than 40 attend.

 Happy summer wishes, Elaine x  

April 2025

Slightly disappointing numbers at the last coffee morning, even though members were dancing in the aisles (never seen that at a coffee morning before). Let’s hope for better at the next Coffee Morning on the 19th June 2025, with entertainment.

Another date for your diary, on Tuesday 15th July Phoenix are celebrating their 30th year anniversary, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of VE day (I know its officially in May), we will be hosting a similar event to the Phoenix coronation afternoon, only with two entertainers this time. So, keep your eye out for tickets and more information soon.

Thank you to the teams that entered the Walton quiz; better luck next time. This gives you plenty of notice to revise for the next quiz, which is on the 20th of March 2026.

Elaine

                                                                              February 2025

Thank you to everyone who attended the January AGM (quickest one ever) hopefully you enjoyed Roy singing and Bonkers Bingo. The committee presented Joyce Westmancoat, one of the coffee morning ladies, with chocolates and flowers as a thank you for all she has done over the years serving refreshments.  Joyce is now retiring from duties and taking a well-earned break.

Thank you to Phoenix members already signed up for another year (numbers are looking good) and it’s nice to see some new members signed up.

 There is a Phoenix quiz being held at Walton on the 21st of March, Knit & Knatter have a team attending, if anyone else is interested please speak to your activity leader.

 A new coffee pot and 2 new teapots have been ordered to replace the ones at   Sheepfair.

Here's to a good year Elaine

January 2025

A reminder to everyone that the Phoenix AGM will be held at Sheepfair on Thursday 16th January 2025, at 10 a.m. Just a short one this year leaving us time to welcome back singer Roy Lorenzo, therefore making it more of a coffee morning.

The Christmas Coffee Morning went well, a total of 58 members attended. Lydia was

singing for us and the committee presented Joyce with a bouquet of flowers, after many years of being our tea lady at coffee mornings Joyce is retiring from duties.

Phoenix membership is now due, £10 for the year, see your group leaders for membership forms.

See you at the AGM.

Elaine x

December 2024

Christmas is nearly upon us, I’ve been for so many Christmas meals I don’t know about eating a stuffed turkey I’m beginning to look like one!

Christmas Coffee Morning is at Sheepfair on the 19th December at 10am.  Lydia is singing for us. You are welcome to bring a guest for a coffee and a mince pie.

Although I love Christmas, mostly the decorations and the socialising, I am aware of those who don’t have such a good Christmas to look forward to. Those without a home or who are not well and those who are lonely. Phoenix can’t do a lot about the first two, but I hope we help a little with loneliness, by coming along to our activities for a few hours. Having people to talk to and just getting out of the house makes a world of difference.

See you at Coffee Morning.

Elaine

November 2024

The Line Dancing/Sequence Dance was a great success despite the storm! Fifty people attended, and they raised £209.50. Well done!

It’s still November but we are starting to think about Christmas already! I do know some of us are putting up Christmas trees and buying presents.  

So, the Christmas Coffee Morning is 19th December, at Sheepfair. We have Lydia to entertain us, with Christmas songs and Carols for us all to join in with. Come and join us.

Elaine x

October 2024

We've had a really positive response from Septembers Coffee Morning, despite being let down at the last minute. Stand in Roy Lorenzo came to sing for us, lovely voice and entertaining. I loved that he shook everyone’s hand whilst singing his last song. 

The sequence and line dancers had a Saturday night get-together, great night, despite the thunder and torrential rain, we had a really good turnout and raised over £200.  Thank you to Dave & Shelia for organising, look forward to the next one.

Elaine

September 2024

Just a reminder that Coffee Morning is on Thursday 19th September at Sheepfair         

10 a.m.  Roy Lorenzo will be entertaining us, he will be entertaining us with foot-tapping singalong songs from the 50s 60s 70s

Saturday 21st September 2024 at 7 pm the Sequence and Line dancers are having a 'danceathon' at Sheepfair.  We’ve sold around 50 tickets but there are a few tickets still available or you can pay £2.50 on the door if you are interested in joining us.  Bring your own nibbles and drink.

See you at Coffee Morning

Elaine

August 2024

Summer may be here at last, hopefully you've taken 5 minutes to sit on the new bench outside the front of Sheepfair and enjoyed the sunshine.  We are now organising a new plaque to acknowledge that the bench has been donated by Phoenix and Sheepfair.  The plaque which has been removed from the old bench will now have a new position by the 'Phoenix tree'.

September Coffee Morning is up and coming on Thursday 19th September at 10a.m.  We have singer Samantha Mary Oxborough to entertain us. I've quite often been asked if people who are not Phoenix members can attend the coffee mornings, yes please bring them along as a guest they can pay the £1 and see how wonderful we all are and want to join Phoenix.

See you Coffee Morning

Elaine

July 2024

From The Chair

Thank you to the 48 members for attending the June coffee morning. A  lovely morning with the very entertaining Lichfield Shanty Singers (the mermaid song is still my favourite).

The committee presented Phoenix member Beryl Stubbs with free use of Phoenix activities, flowers, and gardening vouchers.  Beryl is one of the original 10 members who formed  Phoenix. 

We are currently purchasing a new bench for the outside of the Sheepfair building, Delma has kindly offered to pay half of the cost.  Then we can take 5 minutes out to sit and enjoy the sun!! 

Elaine x

CHAIRMAN’S  EMAIL— Chairman@rugeleyphoenix,org.uk