Reports on Events in 2025

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Coffee Morning in aid of MADYSS Gawsworth Church Hall, Thursday, 22 May 2025

Annual General Meeting, Macclesfield Tennis Club, Monday 12 May 2025
The meeting was held on Monday 12 May at the Macclesfield Tennis Club as usual. Our Chair John Swindell welcomed members and followed on with a review of the year’s activities. These included coach trips to Blackpool Zoo, Piece Hall and Llandudno. More local events were bowling, a quiz night and a bingo night, the latter two were held at the Tennis Club.
Judy Fleming then gave the Treasurer’s Report and referred to the £500 recently received from the Co-op Community Fund; this was in addition to the more than £1800 previously granted to us. She also mentioned the generous In Memoriam donations received in relation to members who had sadly passed away. Judy highlighted the £1,590 that members donated to the MADYSS Support Fund following her husband’s death in January and thanked members for their donations.
While MADYSS is financially solvent, the cost of coach trips does impact the Society’s financial position considerably. Judy emphasised how vital it was to fill the coaches. She gave the example of the Blackpool Zoo trip, which was subsidised to the tune of £645.50, but only a few members chose to participate. Unless coach trips are well supported in future, it may not be possible to continue with them.
Two members were voted onto the Committee. These were Colin Huck and Jim Borggren, who is currently Assistant Treasurer but also will take on the role of Deputy Chair. Kay Evans was thanked for overseeing the production and printing of the new MADYSS information leaflet. This is only the third leaflet created since the Group was established.
After the AGM business was concluded, members helped themselves to the buffet. The buffet came from the Windmill Café, which has previously catered for the AGM.
Our guest speaker this year was from the Cheshire AgeUK charity who gave a presentation on Scams Awareness and Aftercare. She covered a range of different scams and how to deal with them. Telephone, door, internet and mobile phone scams were all addressed.
Members each received a goody bag that contained a scams awareness card and Scam Update newsletter, a booklet on how to protect yourself, stickers for putting inside and outside your front door, and a useful pen.
As a final point, Kay has asked me to mention in this report that Ann, who did the bar for us at the AGM, said that we were one of the nicest if not the nicest group who hire the Tennis Club! So, thank you for your friendliness to those behind the bar.
New Trophy
Paul Sutcliffe has come up with the idea of having a Ten-Pin Bowling Cup for each year’s champion bowler. It has been kindly donated by Paul and has been engraved with all the winners’ names since Covid. As Kay was the winner of the bowling in 2025, she was presented with the Cup at the AGM. It turns out that Paul was a keen ten-pin bowler in his day, played for a team and was in a league when he and Diane lived in France.>br>

Members listen attentively to the Chair, John Swindell ime to eat! Kay Evans, the proud winner of the inaugural Bowling Cup donated by Paul Sutcliffe

Piece Hall and Museum, Monday, 28 April 2025
Thirty-five members and friends assembled at the Flower Pot by 9.45 am as we had been directed previously, ready for boarding the coach. It wasn’t there and didn’t appear until 10.10 am! We were told evidently this was a result of technical problems with the wheelchair lift. Why hadn’t Belle Vue Coaches checked it the day/evening before?
Following a toilet break post departure, we only arrived at Piece Hall 45 minutes ahead of our tours arranged for 1.30 pm. It is a lovely Grade 1 listed building set around a Square with plenty of places for us to pause later, sit and admire the architecture. But we barely had time to wolf down a snack or sandwich lunch prior to the tours!
After gathering in the Square, we split into three groups each led by a tour guide. The guide of the writer’s group was named Sue, and she had a particular interest in the architecture of Piece Hall. It opened in 1779 and is the only Georgian cloth hall left in the world. It was built for the trading of ‘pieces’ of cloth, a piece was a 30-yard length of woven woollen fabric produced on a handloom.
Piece Hall was a highly visible statement of the great wealth, pride and ambition of the cloth manufacturers, but the industrial revolution saw its use decline in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Hall was restored following the receipt of a substantial Lottery Fund grant, to which the then Halifax Corporation also made a large contribution. A pair of ornately decorated East Gates were funded by the Corporation.
The sunny, warm afternoon left participants with time for a sit down and cool drink in several of the many bars and cafes around the Square. A good return journey saw us arrive back at the Flower Pot by 6.10 pm, far quicker and less stressful than the outward trip.
Our thanks go to Kay Evans for arranging the outing. She should be commended for appearing outwardly calm and composed when she was doubtless experiencing much inner stress and turmoil with the coach delay and subsequent effect on the day’s schedule. Thank you also to Sue for printing off and distributing the coloured diagram of Piece Hall on the coach, which proved very useful.

Bingo Night, Macclesfield Tennis Club Saturday, 22 March 2025
We had a good evening at Macclesfield Tennis Club when more than 30 members and friends gathered for playing bingo. Before the bingo began, there were several Roll the Pound Coin competitions. Bottles of wine, port, whiskey, prosecco and beers formed the five rounds when players tried to get their coins nearest the bottle. The contests raised £80 for MADYSS funds.
Our bingo caller, Tracey Higgins, distributed sets of bingo booklets to attendees, which contained 10 coloured sheets with numbers. For each sheet, there were two games played: complete a line and then complete the whole sheet. This divided nicely into five sheets before the supper break and five sheets afterwards. Tracey was ably assisted by Mandy who collected sheets from those who shouted “Line” or “House” to check the numbers and then gave out to the winners a Line or House ticket accordingly. At the end of the evening, winners were able to collect their prizes of Easter Eggs.
However, as the evening wore on an air of incredulity surfaced among attendees when just two of the players won a large proportion of the rounds. If the crowd had been less polite, there may have been shouts of “Fix, fix”. In fact, the two players were vying to see who would dominate the contest as each player won FOUR rounds!
The meat and potato pie, red cabbage, mushy peas, or quiche and salad provided by caterer Debbie from The Windmill Café went down very well before the second part of the evening.
Our thanks go to Macclesfield Tennis Club for use of the venue and to bartenders Margaret and Jane to whom we gave flowers. Also thank you to Tracey our bingo caller and her assistant Mandy. We really appreciate the work of Anne Swindell, Kay Evans, Diane Thomas, Sue Pembery and Jenny in the kitchen who served up the food and, importantly, washed plates and cutlery afterwards.

Sue checking her coin roll as Tracey watches on. Easter Eggs await the winners

Chilli Banana, Macclesfield SK10 1JX - Sunday 23 February 2025 - Sue Stephenson
On a blustery Sunday lunchtime, 31 members and friends of the MADYSS group gathered for a meal at the Chilli Banana.
The buffet featured an impressive selection of traditional Thai dishes including fragrant curries, stir fries and very tasty starters such as satay skewers, spring rolls and tempura vegetables. Some members discovered new favourite dishes.
The meal concluded with ice cream and coffee. The friendly staff ensured that everyone was well taken care of.
It was good to see that Kay Evans was able to attend (with daughter Steph who did the driving!) following her recent knee surgery.
Events like these continue to foster strong connections within the group.

The buffet at the Chilli Banana

Ten-pin Bowling, Superbowl UK, Lyme Green, Macclesfield, SK11 0TB - Wednesday 23 January 2025
Fifteen MADYSS members attended bowling at Lyme Green on Wednesday 29 January where, as usual, a good time was had by all. We played two games, cheering and clapping each other as great shots were achieved.
The winner this year was Kay Evans with a score of 126, proving it’s never too late for a first. There was much teasing of Kay as she was wonderfully coached by Paul who should share the victory! Kay had decided that due to a very dodgy knee she probably wouldn't play. What a mistake that would have been! This was followed by a good second place for Keith with a score of 116. Credit going hugely to Colin who, as well as bowling for himself, gallantly bowled on Keith's behalf. Third was Don with a score of 114, so all were very close. It was a very enjoyable afternoon for everyone.
Colin's wrist was complaining by the end of our tournament so Keith owes him. Whilst Colin was working on Keith's behalf, Keith socialised and chatted with Alan and Barbara who joined us to enjoy the afternoon whilst Mark bowled. It was lovely to have them all with us again and to catch up and chat.
It was also lovely that Margaret was able to come and enjoyed watching the games being played. Thank you, Sharon for giving your Mum a lift to join us.
After bowling, 17 of us went to The Rising Sun for tea and as usual we all enjoyed our food and being able to relax and chat. As we arrived, the Tina Turner Tribute Act had just finished. The artist was still in her wig and sparkly dress and we cheekily tried to persuade her to give us a song! Sadly, we didn't get one but she was very chatty and asked about our group. Evidently, she also does Whitney Houston together with another well- known singer.
Maybe one day we can have a MADYSS outing to one of the events put on by this venue. There are many different styles of performance. Here's looking forward to next year. Who's turn will it be to take the bowling crown?

Members relaxing in between bowling frames Paul prepares to bowl as Anne watches his techniq

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