THE Brompton Ralph and District WI garden meeting at Bedrock Barn, was opened by Mrs Welch, president who welcomed our twenty guests and received apologies from Mrs Elliott, Mrs Martin and Mrs East. After the reading of the minutes and scanning of county news, Mrs Knight gave a report on the Federations AGM and Mrs Sawyer on the WI trip to St Fagins. Coming events include the group business meeting, the rural revival trip on September 9, where the WI will have a produce stall, and a tea at Wick house with a collection of St Margaret's Hospice.

Mrs Welch then welcomed David Hancock from the Rotary Club of Taunton Vale who spoke to us about the Shelterbox scheme. It was the brainchild of Tom Henderson of the Helston Rotary club and became their millennium project, to provide material and equipment, which would give shelter, warmth and comfort in conditions following a natural or other disaster. In a strong plastic box is packed a tent, sleeping bags and equipment, an axe, spade, cooking equipment and much more for 10 people.

Response time after disasters is crucial, boxes stored in Helston were in Somalia within three days. To date over 30,000 boxes have been sent to 30 countries, providing shelter for a third of a million people at a cost of £490 per box. The moving film David showed of the worldwide operation demonstrated their use in a number of disaster areas. It was noticeable how, following the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the little group of tents quickly took on the appearance of a small village, with children playing in some semblance of normality and security. The boxes are all traceable and donors are told where their box has gone.

A further development has been the specialist boxes, with every 10 shelterboxes goes a specialist box, either enough school equipment for 40 children or a community box. First adopted by rotary in Britain, the scheme is now running worldwide and their success is also demonstrated by the fact that UNICEF has just ordered 10,000.

After Mrs Martindill had thanked David warmly for his talk and inspiring film, the audience went outside where a shelterbox tent had been erected and all were able to admire the thought that had gone into the comprehensive and sturdy set of equipment that went with it. During tea and chat, visitors were able to admire the garden, buy raffle tickets and visit the stall, all proceeds going to the Shelterbox scheme.