A full house for charity event at Southport Town Hall

There was a full house at Southport Town Hall this morning for the Charity Coffee morning. It was good to meet so many people who regularly support the Mayor's Charity appeal- and some visitors from near and far. I met people from Inverness, Bury, Malaysia, Crosby and Litherland

Wendy and Rod the people who 'meet and greet visitors to Southport

What is the secret of Maureem Fearn's Committee's success? Hard work and a dedicated team of loyal volunteers. But that would not of itself bring in the crowds. One additional secret weapon are those who meet and greet the visitors who come to our beautiful town. Who can resist an invitation to have coffee with the Mayor in his parlour issued as you step off a coach into a strange town?. Well, apparently not many folk can and so it was I was talking with an aunt and her niece from Malaysia and advising them  where they could get afternoon tea. Southport really is the afternoon tea capital of Britain's seaside resorts.

I met several people on a trip from Inverness. They truly do have the clearest of all the regional accents in the UK. They were bound for Lord Street and our famous shopping arcades but not before locals had explained to them the Lord Street was the model for the boulevards of Paris built by Louis Napoleon after he returned to that city from his exile in Southport .

The folk from Bury were off to compare and contrast their market with ours. I hope that turns out well.

This couple volunteer with The Parkinson charity

People from Southport were out in force to including people representing local charities who have received funds from the Mayor's Charity and , of course there were 'The Committee and their friends

a couple of 'old lags'' former Mayors Anthony and Kevin came along 

talking with the ladies at the WAAF table

Jackie Glover was on the door

Carol is in charge of folding the raffle tickets

Many of the regular attenders have their own special tables. This includes a group from the Soroptimists and the Inner Wheel. I also talked to two ladies who sat at the WAAF table. One of these women had been stationed in Lincolnshire during WW2, her husband had been a tail end gunner. This led on to us chatting about Terance Rattigan's play Flight Path. Rattigan had also been a tail end gunner and his play which is profoundly moving and wonderfully moving chronicles the lives of the air crew and their wives as they wait in a Lincolnshire Inn for the men's return from a mission. It was brilliantly revived recently with Sheridan Smith and Sienna Miller.