Page 56 - Phonebox Magazine February 2014

Oxfam
Helping Out Time Well Spent
A very special presentation was made to Joy Osgood at the Oxfam Shop in Newport Pagnell in December. Joy has been a volunteer at the shop for 23 years, since it first opened on the 23rd July 1990, and to mark this achievement she was presented with a long service award brooch and a personal letter of thanks from Andrew Horton, Trading Director for Oxfam GB. Flowers were also presented by area manager Jon Adsett.
Volunteering with Oxfam, giving as little as four hours a week, makes a big contribution to the lives of people who are trapped in poverty or caught up in disasters. So we think it’s safe to say that Joy has touched a lot of lives over the years. She says that she thoroughly enjoys working for Oxfam, not only because she believes in what they do as an organisation, but also because it has helped her to make some great friends and because no two days are ever the same - and she hopes to manage a few more years yet.
Amongst the memorable things which have happened to her over the years have been the business man who had seen some of the things Oxfam has achieved in other countries he travelled to and who came in to say ‘Keep up the good work’, the couple who came in looking for a ball gown and celebrated finding exactly the right one by doing an exhibition dance around the shop, and the fellow volunteer who discovered a set of false teeth in the pocket of a donated fur coat (which Oxfam cannot sell!) as she ‘modelled’ it for other volunteers in the shop!
Presentations were also made to Celia Stone, who has been a volunteer for 15 years and four other awards were made to June Stanley, Linda Czyzewicz, Sandra Metcalf and Barbara Smith who have been volunteers with Oxfam for five years or more – but still have a long way to go to catch up to Celia and Joy!
Lift Lives for Good
Meet interesting people, gain confidence and learn new skills... volunteering at Oxfam is not just about sorting clothes and standing at the till – although there is plenty to do in both departments – it’s about using all the skills that people bring us and about helping them to develop in new areas if they feel they want to.
The Oxfam Shop in Newport Pagnell is looking for volunteers. Like Joy, you might want to be out in the shop talking to people and using the till, but we also need people who know about jewellery, art, glass, china, films, cameras, books, music, toys and games, because when we put a price on the things we sell we want to be fair to the people who make such generous donations to the shop - as well as offering bargains to our customers. Or you might want to develop our window displays, take on those vital health and safety checks, organise the rota, look after the ordering of greeting cards or fair trade goods, keep the place looking clean and tidy or even – and never underestimate the importance of this – make sure your fellow volunteers are well supplied with tea and coffee! Whatever your interests and whatever your age, 14 to 94, there will be something you can do and enjoy. Come and help ‘life lives for good’ –including your own.
Contact the shop on 01908 615320 or pop in and talk to us the next time you’re in Newport Pagnell High Street, we’d love to see you.
Newport Pagnell
ur January talk was entitled ‘Dead, Buried, but not for long....’ and proved to be somewhat gruesome.
Our speaker, Kevin Varty, explained that before the days of crema- tion, the deceased would be placed into a coffin prior to burial, and
people were naturally afraid they would be buried alive by mistake.
Safety coffins were developed to avoid this eventuality.
In the fledgling days of medical science, dead bodies were required for dissection in order to find out how they worked. Henry VIII decreed that in the whole of the country only six bodies a year could be given to medical students. Charles II doubled this to 12, but only if they had been murderers!
Because there were so few bodies available, they would go to the highest bidder, and this led to the era of the grave-robber, or body-snatcher. Understandably, these persons were usually drunk in order to carry out their gruesome work.
In 1832 the Anatomy Act was passed which required surgeons to be licenced and unclaimed bodies could be used for dissection, so there was no longer a need for the body-snatchers. Thank goodness we now live in more civilised times!
This was the month of our Bumper Raffle and there were several lucky winners. The competition was won by Marion Stapleton, 2nd Angela Hancox, 3rd Evelyn Mison.
Newport Pagnell Women’s Institute meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm in the Royal British Legion Club, and is always delighted to welcome new members. Mr. Roder will be visiting us in February to talk about Jugglers and Miscellanea. For further information please call Evelyn Mison on 01908 615630 or just turn up on the night.
Newport Pagnell Women’s Institute
Meetings held at 7.30pm on 2nd Tuesday of each month in the Royal British Legion Club. 11th - February Juggler and Miscellanea
11th March - Role of Deputy Leiutenant of Buckinghamshire
8th April - Fabrics, Fashion & Furniture
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56 Phonebox Magazine