Jane Maxim introduced Annabel Chamberlain who moved to Iken in 1994, where she has designed and created a beautiful garden, occasionally open to the public.

Annabel explained that the garden is on former heathland so she is planting into sandy and greyish soil.  Excepting a scrappy beech hedge and some leylandii, Annabel started the garden with an empty canvas.  She illustrated the importance of considering the garden from inside the house – the views from the windows and how the garden approaches and/or surrounds the house. We were encouraged to make good use of the winter as a review period – to look out and assess the ideas in the garden, to judge whether or not it is ‘working’ as planned.  And if not, to plan adaptations for improvement.

Inspirational and colourful slides enlightened us – including a few early planting ‘failures’. Jane suggested such ‘failures’ could lead to a profitable exchange of unwanted plants with friends and neighbours. Consideration must be made of the site – ideas that might have worked in Gertrude Jekyll gardens might not be appropriate if your garden is windswept and sandy.

Questions we should ask ourselves include – is the garden at its peak when we want it that way?  Does it need more colour? Less colour? Simplification? Is it good for guests/ grandchildren/ shade/ sun?

Annabel shared many tips she has learned from her long experience and also plant recommendations. These included:

• Calamagrostis Karl Foerster – a particularly well behaved grass which survives cold winters and strong winds
• Helenium Moerheim Beauty – reliable late colour
• Geranium Mrs Kendall Clark – the only plant that will grow in rubble.
• Salvia Amistead – ‘bomb proof’

Mexican plants cope well with local conditions including Matthiasella Bupleuroides Green Dream and Amicia.

Avoid growing white blooms against purple foliage – a deadening effect.

Be wary of purple leaves in a hot border.

Don’t put grasses in a mixed border – they work better with prairie plants.

A brief rundown of garden history included the influence of Capability Brown, the Industrial Revolution, William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll. Annabel highly recommended two particular books: ‘The Education of a Gardener’ by Russell Page (Harper Collins 1962) and ‘The Well Tempered Garden’ by Christopher Lloyd (Harper Collins, 1970).

Annabel generously answered many questions, which continued long after we ran out of time whilst the chairs were put away and the lights switched off!  (Summary: Rachel Laughton-Scott)

This talk was given by Vanessa Raison. Ness’s back ground of teaching Media Studies and a particular interest in the history of film-making led her to explore the contribution of women to documentary film.  Her talk covered the origins of the first ‘documentary’ made in 1878, through the development of celluloid, to capturing moving image for early cinema in the following decades.

The early influence of French film pioneers was strong and the first woman mentioned, Alice Guy Blache , created narrative cinema, the first person to realise that a film could tell a story with her 60 second film La Fee aux Choux made in 1896. She directed over 1000 films during her career.

By 1895 there were more women in production and acting than today, and more women owned production companies than men. Mary Pickford, actress turned producer, was a notable example, earning around 1 million dollars a year as a producer within the early Hollywood Studio system.

In the 1920s with the revolution of sound in film, movie production, distribution and exhibition became big business. It attracted male dominated Wall Street money and power, and women’s involvement declined.

Ness then introduced us to a number of talented women filmmakers who, with their husbands, were actively and equally involved in film production but never officially recognised in any credits. Many were pioneers of documentary filmmaking. Amongst them were Robert Flaherty and his wife Frances who created a new kind of film, essentially a documentary, about an Inuit family. Made in 1922, it was a dramatic reconstruction filmed in the Arctic but described ‘ordinary people, doing ordinary things, just being themselves’.

 Leni Riefenstahl’s sophisticated and controversial ‘art’ documentary of the Nuremberg Rally– Triumph des Willens – brought subsequent lively discussion among those attending. Made in 1934, it won accolades at the Venice Biennale and the World Exhibition in Paris. However, as a piece of powerful Nazi propaganda it was highly inflammatory.

We continued the talk to the close with the questions posed by the above:

• Do film makers have a responsibility as to how their films will be used and to the subjects, especially if they are vulnerable, poor, powerless?
• What makes a good documentary?
• Voice or voyeurism?
• Is it important to tell the truth? 

The discussion was wide ranging and introduced the work of more contemporary women documentary film makers such as Elizabeth White producer and director of Islands for BBC’s Planet Earth II, the Canadian Molly Dineen who inspired Felicity Anne Sieghart to start the Aldeburgh Documentary Film Festival, and the current Festival producer Diane Gueho.  (Summary: Kerstin Davey)

We had a very interesting talk and discussion about copyright starting with the questions:

• How do we pay artists?
• What is the value of, and how do we recompense, our images, documents, photographs etc?

Caroline gave examples of why these questions matter: today graphic artists earn only about £12,500 per annum; and Van Gogh sold only one picture in his lifetime: The Red Vineyard, which sold for 100 Francs (Caroline showed us this picture). She noted it would now be worth about £30 million.

Caroline went on to explain that following the invention of the printing press, the Statute of Anne was passed in 1710 to provide for copyright regulated by the government and courts, rather than by private parties i.e. publishers. The right granted was to copy and have sole control over the printing and reprinting of books, with no provision to benefit the owner/creator after the sale apart from royalties, so the writer / artist / creator was paid by the popularity of the work.

Copyright is currently “death + 70 years” but the greater challenge now lies in the internet. In most people’s minds the internet is free. Thus, although the creator of a work should have control over how it is used, this is often not now the reality.   This raises the issue of “creative commons” when permission is sought and then generally given by the author / artist. But where is the value? – is it money or acknowledgement or on the internet directing the traffic to somewhere else? And how does marketing differ from sales?

The creative industries contribute approximately 87 billion a year to the economy in the UK, that is 10 million per hour! And yet individuals, especially for example poets, rely on the public seeing what they do – and yet how can they live if we take what they do and use it for free?

Caroline went on to discuss the issue of museums and galleries, which have enormous assets, but since we all love to go to them for free how do we expect them to be funded? And if they should be funded by the government, how important is culture compared to other areas such as health and education?

We agreed that this seemed a fairly intractable challenge for all parties, and we probably finished with as many questions as we had had at the beginning! But it raised many issues that needed to be grappled with for the sake of the artists and their ability to earn a living for themselves in a fair way for all.  (Summary: Caroline Fisher)

Deb explained over tea and biscuits in her sitting room that she has run her East Anglian based garden business The Land Girls for the last fifteen years and is now in the slow process of retiring. Her daughter, Rose, one of the original Land Girls and professional gardener, was helpfully at the meeting. It is Deb’s second season in her south facing garden which overlooks open fields and contains an undulating lawn, a pond full of lilies, (but sadly no frogs or fish), flower borders with all year round interest, trees and a vegetable garden. Last Autumn Deb redesigned the borders and restocked them with snowdrops, forget-me-nots, alliums, tulips, herbaceous perennials, and grasses. Aspect and soil is always to be considered. The aim is to give all year round interest in a border. Deb undertook a programme of tree planting, (apple, pears, cherry, willows, amelanchiers and hawthorns), created the vegetable garden and a cutting garden. Her next project is to plant up the orchard area with English bluebells, daisies and more poppies.

Apart from the grass snake ‘Sybil’ that eats the newts, frogspawn and tadpoles, Deb described the usual issues facing Suffolk gardeners which can be drought, floods, wind, sea salt, sand and clay soil. As a general rule, the land to the East of the A12 is sand and the land on the West is clay! Deb has noticed the climate changes over the last ten years: how should gardeners cope with extreme wind, floods and long dry spells? Deb’s garden is dry, exposed to wind, there is a dip in the middle where it drains from both ends, the pond dries up and the soil needs much mulch at least twice a year.

The WISE women were asked to describe their gardens which ranged from a backyard on King Street, an east-facing balcony in the Barbican, through a seaside cottage on the Estuary overgrown with shrubs to a large, open south-facing garden.

After a stroll in Deb’s gorgeous garden it was Gardeners’ Question Time, held outdoors in a gale all seated round a wooden table.

Q: How do you plant mistletoe? A: Squidge ripe white berries into the cracks in the branches of apple trees.

Q: Can I cut back my hellebores whose leaves have spread out and the flowers are brownish? A: Yes, you can do it now. Generally though, cut the leaves back in late winter, when the flowers are in bud, to expose them to the light and reduce the leafage. For more plants, leave the flowers to seed in June.

Q: When do you prune dogwood? A: In the early Spring cut back hard about 1/3rd of the older coloured stems to the base. The new growth will emerge brightly coloured. You could also cut some stems at the Winter Solstice to use to make a wreath for your front door. If the Cornus is getting too tall you can also clip to shape in the Spring.

Q: How do you condition the soil? A: I buy large bags of compost such as Council compost from local suppliers or bags from the tip in Leiston. You can buy a mixture of compost bags (e.g. mushroom, manure, compost) from garden centres, though I like to use Elmwood Nursery in Knodishall. I open them and mix them up in a wheelbarrow before spreading generously on borders around my plants. In autumn and early spring I mulch the beds. I also make compost to heap round the base of trees or anywhere that won’t be affected by potential weed seed.

Q: Oxeye daisies came up from my compost. What should I do? A: Preferably don’t compost weeds from flowerbeds or long grasses with seed heads on. Leaf mulch is good for camellias and other hellebores rather than manure. It is acid. Woodland plants like leaf mold. Put leaves in a black bag with holes in it for one year and store them behind the shed. Mushroom compost is alkaline and vegetables like it. It has a similar effect to the old fashioned Lime that gardeners used to use.

Q: Should I prune the clematis Armandii on my apple tree? A: Yes cut out the flower stems after it flowers in early spring and tie the new shoots in.

Q: Which are better, plastic pots or clay? A: Terracotta pots are more attractive, not so hot and they don’t blow away but they cost more, can crack in frosts. Glazed pots are frost proof. Avoid metal pots because they cook the plants!

Q: Is there anything wrong with using Fairy Liquid and water to keep the black fly off the broad beans? A: No. Use it for Aphids on roses as well. Be generous with the Fairy Liquid: mix a solution at a ratio of 50/50 or at least 10% and use a squirty spray. You can hose down a lemon tree with black mould and wash off the Fairy Liquid afterwards.

If you pinch out the tops of the broad beans the black flies are inhibited. You can eat the tops of broad beans, scrummy. Carrot fly are attracted by the smell of carrots being pulled. So never leave bits of carrot tops about. Dig out the whole carrot–tops and all- and remove it to the kitchen. Dispose of tops on compost heap or in the wheely bin.

Q: How do you stop caterpillars? A: Soak nicotine and tobacco..it smells ghastly!

Q: What do you think of companion plantings? A: Useful. For example, grow small strong dark orange pungent tagettes round vegetables such as tomatoes. Or some prefer the look of their cousins – French marigolds.

Q: What do you do with slugs? A: I’m afraid I use slug pellets and copper rings for pots. You can make beer traps or put ash on the beds since they don’t like a gritty surface. Put salt on them. But slug pellets are quick and work.

Q: Is it OK to grow Spanish bluebells and borage next to herbs? A: Yes. Plant the mint in a container and cut the borage back before it seeds. English bluebells preferable.

Deb then demonstrated a two pronged weeder on a pole from Coopers which digs into the ground, twists and pulls out dandelions, including the tap root, with a satisfying ‘thwuk.’ It costs approx. £30. The hole can be filled with compost and grass seed. Deb personally is not an advocate of weed seed and feed chemicals but advises not to cut the lawn too short as that encourages the formation of moss.

Q: What do you do with bindweed? A: Paint a strong weed killer (such as Roundup) on the leaves then isolate the weed by inserting in a plastic bag and tying round the neck and stem. Leave in the ground and let the Roundup do its job by working into the roots to kill the plant.

Q: Why does the pond smell? A: I have not turned on the water feature regularly enough because when I do, more water evaporates and the pond ends up even lower. On going problem, water has gone slightly stagnant.

Q: why is my Camellia struggling? A: Perhaps it needs more iron, or the soil is too alkaline? Suggest mulch with Ericaceous compost (or even replant in E. Compost), feed with iron rich feed in early spring, and prune back quite hard after flowering. Never plant Camellias facing East. The flowers can be damaged by late winter frosts followed by early sunshine.

The talk was so inspiring that I went home and trimmed my bushes into tidy shapes, letting in some light for the plants and producing three bags for composting. Thank you, Deb, for a gentle, informative and relaxing event. (Summary: Vanessa Raison)

Sarah’s talk focussed on how Turkey has coped with the huge numbers of mainly Syrian refugees, who have moved north across the border into Turkey. The loss of life due to the Syrian civil war, and the migration from Syria and Iraq has been described as the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Her discussion also asked us to think about whether the UK response was the most effective contribution that Britain could be making. Could the UK learn anything from a country such as Turkey that has taken significant numbers of refugees?

Sarah showed us photos of what it is like inside the 22 Turkish camps for Syrian refugees, where there is water, sanitation, health care and food. Of course, the Turkish government has more control over people in the camps and camp residents are also the recipients of the majority of aid. However, these camps accommodate only 10% of the estimated three million Syrians in Turkey. Those outside the camps live in public buildings or private housing in poor areas of large cities. For the local Turkish population, this has meant rent increases for poorer Turks and this has caused resentment.

Local authorities all over Turkey are dealing as best they can with a number of other challenges, for example, education. UNICEF estimate that 400,000 out of 900,000 Syrian children in Turkey are not enrolled in school. And for the Turkish education system there are dilemmas: which language should be the medium for teaching and what should the curriculum be? There are many Syrian refugee teachers but there is no comprehensive system for using them.

Employment is another challenge. In theory, when Syrians register under the ‘temporary protection’ classification in Turkey they get free health care, education etc. but until 2016 they could not work legally. Many have therefore gone into the informal economy, with low pay and poor conditions. In Gaziantep, where Sarah had just visited, women workers in the industrial zones outside the city work in plastics, leather goods, white goods manufacturing and textiles, undercutting local wages. Although the Turkish government is now issuing work permits relatively few of these are taken up – refugees must get their employers to sponsor them and there is little incentive for employers to do this. Why legalise a worker if it means paying that worker double what they pay them as ‘informal’ workers?

Is there any possibility of going back to Syria? It has been seven years since the conflict started and settlement seems a long way off. Assad is still in power, supported by Iran and Russia. Many say they will not go back to Syria if he is still in power. But what would be the reality of going back? There has been massive destruction of property and all types of services, IEDs and landmines make many areas lethal. Even now, the UN estimates that 5.1m people are living in highly contaminated areas. Accessing what was theirs requires title deeds and many will have no proof of ownership; only 4% of women had title deeds for their property anyway. For these practical reasons many realise it will be some years before they can return.

The talk ended with questions about the UK response. The UK has taken the decision to bury the issue by paying Turkey to keep Syrians there. Sarah suggested a more comprehensive approach could have been used but was not. For example, joining with positive countries (like Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway) to develop a joint plan would have enabled countries to come together and show they take their international obligations seriously. This wouldn’t necessarily have meant the UK taking thousands of Syrians as refugees, rather sharing out responsibilities. What we have done is to agree to accept a pitifully (Jane’s description) small number (20,000 by 2020) and even this target looks unlikely to be met. The UK has clout with other donor countries because of the size of its aid programme, but it has not used this to help develop a comprehensive strategic response to the Syria crisis. (Summary: Jane Maxim)

Rebecca introduced her talk by saying that a sense of the Sacred in our lives is essential to everyone. She firmly believes that we need to develop our Spiritual sides as the world becomes increasingly materialistic.

Rebecca’s personal quest for a sense of the sacred started during the 1980s when her health was compromised and her life as she knew it, fell apart. She began to feel that her illness, M.E, was a spiritual sickness, a sort of ‘wake up’ call inviting her to search within herself for a meaning and purpose for life. She felt her illness was caused by a spiritual lack, and this forced a major change in her life.

In her quest she observed that for her, the Christian church did not fill her spiritual hunger. What she was really searching for was the sanctity of a female, matriarchal Goddess to which she could align herself. At that time in the 1980s Rebecca found that the church was still very patriarchal. Most female aspects of deity were side-lined to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and consigned to a lady chapel within the churches themselves.

When questioned ‘how did you come to your world view?’ Rebecca’s reply was that there was real and persistent calling to search within her. It would not ‘go away’. The Sacred within us being at our core, led her to both her search and a calling. Rebecca explained that the Pagan tradition reaches back into the ancient world where Gods and Goddesses were part of life and the devil is not acknowledged (it being a Christian construct). However, goodness and evil are part of the Pagan culture. Pagans also believe in reincarnation.

Paganism is an oral tradition; there is no liturgy, dogma or holy book. In Pagan belief Isis is believed to be the Queen of heaven, the great mother figure. She is also the moon goddess. She is honoured because she is seen as accessible; she has an ability to connect to common problems and to people. Importantly she is also a Goddess who can alter fate.

Pagans look for and find the sacred in the natural world. They honour the Universal Spirit – the sun and moon, the tides, the earth, sky, forest, fields, moors. Sensing the presence of Spirit and seeking enlightenment through meditation, Pagans use their senses and the power of the mind – incorporating the concept of the ‘third eye’ – to follow their intuition and attain a connection with the Divine. Rebecca asked us to do an experiment in what Pagans refer to as journeying, i.e. visualising a journey to an inner-world in order to attain a change in personal consciousness.

Rebecca went on to say that Pagans honour the four elements, each of which has a specific significance. These are: Air (mind, inspiration, knowledge); Fire (reaching out to new experiences); Water (using one’s will to focus and probe); the Earth (to be silent). There are eight main Pagan festivals: Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Autumn Equinox Samhain and Winter Solstice. She also mentioned the gatherings, which usually take place outside, and where robes are worn and rituals performed before a decorated altar.

Strands of Paganism include Heathen/Wicca/Druidry/Faerie/ N.A. Indian/ Celtic. Rebecca ended by saying it is a cheerful belief system, which promotes joy and freedom and direct contact with the Divine. She closed her talk with an ancient prayer. We thanked Rebecca for an inspiring, informative and fascinating talk.  (Summary: Deb Mawson)

Jane began with a brief sketch of her background, explaining that she was new to these estuaries but had been won over after coming to live in the Aldeburgh area. She emphasized the fragility of the area in terms of erosion and flooding, particularly the recent salt water flooding of the Hazelwood Marshes and the overtopping in 2007 and 2013.  Although flooding the marshes attracts new birds there is a need to control this and maintain sea defences where practicable.

Referring to maps of the estuaries Jane gave a brief history of Orford and Slaughden Quay. Orford was once a busy fishing port with a history of iron-age settlements and bronze-age barrows.  Salt was extracted in Roman times and pottery has been found relating to this.  Orford Castle, built by Henry II in the 12C, signifies the importance of the town in its day. Due to longshore drift the Ness has increased in size at the expense of Orford harbour.  In due course the Ness was taken over by the Military and is still only partly accessible to the public. Slaughden Quay at Aldeburgh was once the most important area of the town with fishing boats and coastal traffic to London and back.  There were fish houses, warehouses and coal yards and fishermen’s cottages.  This has all been washed away now and the fishing industry is confined to a few boats on Aldeburgh beach.

Jane identified the ‘price of failure’ if flooding is not controlled today:
• The pollution of underground water supplies so essential to farming
• Destruction of protected marsh habitats
• Increased speed of the tides affecting fishing and boating
• Destruction of homes.

Jane went on to discuss the Government bodies involved in efforts to control flooding today. These include: Suffolk Coastal District Council, the National Trust, RSPB and the Internal Drainage Board, which imposes a tax on landowners. She mentioned that the International Levee Handboook describes the gold standard in river bank construction. She then focused on the Alde and Ore Planning Partnership Plan. The Partnership is made up of local interested parties and is consulted by statutory agencies.  The Alde and Ore Estuary is divided into flood cells for management purposes. The Partnership identifies upgrading priorities, and monitors the estuaries.  In turn it liaises with the Environment Agency and the Internal Drainage Board.

Apart from conservation of the sea and river banks, she gave two possible alternatives for managing the estuary which, although radical, are under consideration:

• Re-wilding -map of the possible change was shown
• Shingle Engines – which involves dumping large quantities of shingle just off the beach south of the Martello tower. This would stop coastal erosion for up to 50 years but would be expensive and the environmental effects are difficult to predict. Chief Scientist Mike Cowling outlines the issues in this paper: http://www.SlaughdenSinglesEngineSuffolkCFFeb2016.pdf

Everyone found this talk interesting and joined in the discussion at the end offering suggestions, possibilities and examples of flood management around the country.  (Summary: Rebecca Crowley)

Pilates was designed as a holistic exercise system designed to elongate, strengthen and restore the body to balance. Exercises involve the whole body and are performed either on special spring assisted apparatus or on mats.

As someone who has practised Pilates for 30 years and taught for the last 5 of them, Kerstin spoke about the contribution of Pilates to general health and to specific conditions. She focused on the following issues:

•      History and principles of the technique
•      Understanding muscles and myofascial tissue
•      The ageing process and helping our bodies to stay functional.
•      Why Pilates has been widely embraced by the Health and Fitness industry.

Kerstin began by noting the technique was developed by a German called Joseph Pilates, who was interned in the Isle of Man during the WW2. He is said to have used his fitness techniques drawn from various disciplines to help fellow internernees. He developed these techniques along with his resistance apparatus when he settled in New York and opened a studio. It was embraced by the modern dance community as a rehabilitative and complimentary training centre. After his death his in 1967 his exercise philosophy became known as The Pilates Method.

Understanding muscles and how they can be strengthened is fundamental to Pilates exercises. With the aid of diagrams of the human body Kerstin explained that muscles work in pairs: the agonist muscle contracts whilst the antagonist relaxes. She explained that Pilates mainly works with isotonic movement within the muscle groups to increase muscle strength, length and endurance. The aim is to create symmetry and balance within the body’s muscle and skeletal structure to enable good functional movement. Kerstin also discussed the importance of myofascial tissue – a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles. It needs to retain its suppleness and flexibility to allow muscles to move optimally.

Kerstin then talked about Pilates in relation to ageing. She noted that we lose muscle mass naturally from our 30s onwards. This results from a reduction of nerve cells in the brain sending messages to begin movement, muscle fibres reducing in number and size, and a slower replacement of tissue. Changes in the nervous system cause muscle to lose tone as well as the ability to contract.  As we age, joints become less flexible and stiff due to thinning or damaged cartilage and an increase in the viscosity of synovial lubricating fluid within the joints. For post–menopausal women there are additional problems: hormone reduction leads to a decrease in the ability of the body to turn protein into energy so that less protein (collagen) is made. Kerstin noted how Pilates exercises can help with many the changes brought about by ageing, including balance.

Kerstin concluded her talk with a discussion about the spread of the Pilates method through the dance community and now its popularity with the UK health and fitness industry. The first studio was opened in London in 1970 at the London Contemporary Dance Company HQ.

Today there are mat classes all over the country, although apparatus studios with the resistance based equipment are scarce outside London. The Pilates method is now used widely by sportspeople and dancers and has been found particularly beneficial to people with joint and muscle injury as well as those in post-operative rehabilitation.

We all had a mass of questions for Kerstin but sadly time ran out. We thanked her for a most stimulating and informative talk.  (Summary: Dawn Holder)

Sarah Zins who volunteers for the Citizens Advice Bureau gave a sobering talk about the hidden needs of people living in Suffolk and of rural poverty but countered this issue with an enthusiasm for the Suffolk organisations that try to mitigate disadvantage and a call for us to consider volunteering. We can, living in an area of outstanding natural beauty, easily assume that poverty is not an issue BUT the surrounding affluence conceals deprivation. She took, as her starting point, a recent report by the University of Suffolk for the Suffolk Community Foundation, a “super-charity” which channels local philanthropy to local issues. Suffolk’s deprivation levels have continued to rise since a previous   report in 2011 – only 3 other local authorities have levels that have worsened more than Suffolk over last 6 years.

• Large numbers of people live at the most minimal standard provided by welfare benefits: 12% of the county’s population – a total of 83,000 people which includes 20,00 children and 23,000 older people.
• The increase in the ageing population is coupled with a low birth rate. And while 30% of all income deprived in Suffolk are older people this rises to 39% in rural areas.
• Only 33% of children eligible for free school meals attained five good GCSEs, compared with 70% of pupils overall in England.
• Broadband and mobile phone coverage are poor in 50% of rural parishes and unavailable in 8%.

Sarah unpicked for us some of the causes of income deprivation in Suffolk where 40% of the population live in a rural setting compared to less than 20% of the population of England and Wales. One major cause is that rural households are exposed to additional challenges including transport (availability and cost), higher domestic fuel costs, access to essential services, educational choices and employment opportunities. Income levels remain below regional and national averages – fewer people work in managerial and professional jobs and the combination of low pay and limited opportunity for career progression fuels sustained in-work poverty and can represent an obstacle for social mobility. A further barrier to better jobs is education: attainment in Suffolk has been very poor but is improving. Locally, Alde Valley Academy in Leiston and Saxmundham Free School were in the worst 5 schools in the county in 2015. At Alde Valley, 35% of children got 5 GCSEs (including maths & English) Grades A* to C. Many schools have difficulty in recruiting teachers.

We discussed the reduced budget now available to local councils and the growing population of older people with care needs – who councils are having great difficulty in supporting. Because of such changes, there is a greater need for charitable intervention. We also discussed the issue of debt, which often brings people to the Citizens Advice Bureau where Sarah volunteers. Sarah outlined what is being done to mitigate deprivation by organisations and in particular voluntary bodies in our local area:

• Citizens Advice Bureaux – benefits, housing, debt, relationship breakdown
• Seckford Foundation
• Snape Maltings – children’s music-making; prison work; dementia work
• Homestart
• Saxmundham Community Café
• Guides/Scouts/Sea cadets
• The CYDS Project – Young People taking Action
• Just 42 (focuses on young people)
• Framlingham Area Youth Action Partnership
• Wheels to work
• Coastal Accessible Transport Service (CATS)
• The Rural Coffee Caravan
• Disability Advice Service
• Warden’s Charitable Trust
• Anglia Care Trust

One organisation, Community Action Suffolk, has the specific remit to strengthen and champion community action in Suffolk by supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in its work. If anyone is interested in volunteering, they should contact Sarah or this organisation.

The 2016 report can be found here: http://suffolkcf.org.uk/2016/09/launch-of-hidden-needs-2016/

Both the 2016 and 2011 reports are also available directly from the Suffolk Community Foundation website if the link above does not work. A list of the organisations just in the Suffolk Coastal area to which the Suffolk Community Foundation has given grants over the last 3 years is also attached.  (Summary: Jane Maxim)

The first part of Janey’s talk focused on the first 20 years of the 20^th century when four men literally put the Antarctic on the map: Scott, Shackleton, Mawson and Amundsen. Using the men’s own diaries as well as maps and photographs taken by expedition photographers at the time, Janey traced the expeditions of these early polar heroes, giving us a glimpse of their extraordinary stamina and determination as well as the physical conditions they experienced and overcame – or not. We heard of course about Scott’s ill-fated expedition to get to the pole, and how and why he was beaten to it by five weeks by the Norwegian Amundsen in December 1911. We also learned about more personal things: Scott’s determination to be the first and to keep Shackleton (initially his third officer) in his place and Shackleton’s impeccable decision to save his team’s lives in 1909 even though it meant turning back within striking distance of the pole. On Shackleton’s 1914 Endurance expedition their ship sank, crushed in the ice, and we heard about the men’s escape to Elephant Island, the extraordinary 16 day crossing to South Georgia in 1914 in an open boat, and the heroic trek across that island to seek help from an isolated whaling station. Janey also talked about the valuable contribution of the Australian Mawson, whose expedition to map the interior of the continent in 1912 resulted in the deaths of his two companions and a 200-mile struggle back to winter quarters, a journey that Janey described as the greatest solo survival story of the Antarctic. It was intriguing to have Deb Mawson at this WISE meeting – the explorer’s great-niece, who later said the talk was ‘inspiring, inspirational and fabulous’.

It was in the early 2000s that Janey had her first opportunity to travel to Antarctica and to see for herself the physical challenges of the men who had made Antarctic history. By this time the continent had been extensively mapped and studied, and was on the cusp of opening up to mass tourism. Janey went at the invitation of Exodus, the travel company, to write some travel pieces about this new destination (she is a novelist in her other life). It was immediately clear however that this was not a trip for the fainthearted; the group sailed from Patagonia in an aged Russian icebreaker without mod cons, and in enormously high seas that made most people seasick. Not being prone to seasickness stood Janey in good stead for this and future voyages. Her photographs and commentary indicated what a fierce landscape this is, but also its spectacular beauty. On her second trip – now with a novel in mind – she spent six weeks with a Bulgarian research team and helped with penguin research. ‘I have never been so sad to leave anywhere in my life’, she recalled. And then a third opportunity came up: she was invited to join an expedition to recreate Shackleton’s journey from Elephant Island and across the route he pioneered over South Georgia. This was with seven British surgeons (all men), a surprisingly coherent team that now reunites for further adventures at least once a year. But even this journey sounded relentlessly exhausting, not least the sailing rota: three hours on watch and six off in ferocious seas for four and a half days. As for the island traverse itself – Shackleton and two companions did it in 30 hours, their emulators took six days. But, as Janey said, she and the surgeons were on holiday.

Janey ended with a ray of hope for the Antarctic despite what she saw as the potentially devastating long-term impact of factory fishing and mass tourism. Last month an agreement was signed between 24 countries to create a 1.5 million square mile marine park in the Ross Sea; this will be the largest marine park in the world and it means no fishing for 35 years. It should help towards the protection of this incredible continent.

Thank you Janey, for an extraordinary journey.  (Summary: Sarah Ladbury)