A tea party on the village playing field in the summer after the lockdown eased now seems such a long time ago. Nearly all the members of Perranarworthal WI managed to attend and seated in appropriately sized groups, they were so hot they had to sit under the trees. It is a lovely memory of a truly odd summer. Once the regulations changed and as the weather changed too, they were welcomed by the local pub, The Royal Oak at Perranwell, to hold a coffee hour meet up once a week. Originally a group of eight enjoyed the opportunity for a socially distanced chat. Each week the invited members changed to try to ensure a different weekly mix and the meetings have continued even though only six are now allowed in a group. The members are very grateful to The Royal Oak for letting them take over their garden marquee each week.
Regular emails keep members updated with reminders of birthdays, so that birthday cards and wishes can be sent. Some (lucky?) members have even been serenaded from outside their windows.
The fortnightly Walk and Talk meetings (dogs invited) are another way PerranworthalWI members meet up in small groups. So far, they have only had to cancel once when the gale-force wind and torrential rain made the byways a little tricky to negotiate. With winter and Christmas coming and the risk of Covid ever-present, they will have to be very inventive in thinking up new ways to keep together.