HALF-YEARLY council meeting held at The Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge

Three hundred members congregated at The Lakes School to be kept up to date with happenings in the Federation with presentations by Federation chairman Sheila Parkinson and treasurer Jackie Loudon.

They were entertained by member Jennifer Jewell of Windermere WI, who reminisced in the guise of her grandmother, Agnes Bownas of Crosthwaite, circa 1931, and Susan Winter enticed members to Denman College, the WI's superb educational centre in Oxfordshire.

The evening's keynote speaker was Paul Whittaker, founder of the charity Music and the Deaf. An Oxford graduate in music and an Associate of the Royal College of Organists and the London College of Music, Paul is profoundly deaf, but despite this disability has made an indelible mark on society with his amazing work with deaf people of all ages. He has given them access to music and related performing arts. He is a crusader for music education in schools and a pioneer of signed theatrical performances, having worked with such prestigious producers as Lord Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh.

A major project of the charity is helping to deliver the music national curriculum to deaf young people in schools across the country. Paul's warmth and evident love of life, and above all his passionate belief in his work and ideals, magnetised his audience and were an inspiration to us all.

April 24, 2003 12:00