….and in attendance were the Chairman of Mansfield District Council, Alan Fell, the manager of Mansfield CVS, Alan Lloyd along with Sarah Clerkson of NCC Grant Aid Fund.

After the meeting, during which I was elected as acting Chairman, there was a wonderful buffet, prepared by the kitchen staff at Navi Saheli, Mrs Joashi and myself, with help from the teacher of special needs at Brunts, Jenny and two of her pupils, John and Stephanie. The next meeting will be held at 6pm on July 25th, at the Quakers Meeting House on Rosemary Street.

Navi Saheli will be at Warsop Carnival on Sunday, with a display and an invitation to join the group or have lunch at the Tuesday luncheon Club, where freshly cooked- on -the -premises Indian vegetarian food is served.

 ….Navi Saheli, the Notts Asian Women’s Group of which I am an honorary member. Mrs Kamla Joashi is to retire from her long-term position as Chair of the group and has asked me to stand in as Interim Chair until the appointment of a permanent Chair. I have very little in the way of Hindi or Gujerati, but thankfully the lady members have good English and are so friendly that the prospect of chairing the meetings is far from daunting; indeed, I am looking forward to it. I have been unable to attend for the past two weeks on account of ill-health, but I went to the Luncheon Club today and was greeted with hugs from the members. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to stay and have lunch today, which was a shame, because the freshly cooked vegetarian food suits me down to the ground, being a veggie! I can definitely recommend it - at £2.50 it’s great value and very healthy. I joined the group after meeting Mr Joashi at the Holocaust Centre at Laxton in June of last year and when I met his wife, I just knew we would become firm friends.

I have so much respect for the group, which encourages integration and I look forward to cementing my friendship with the ladies who are my Navi Sahelis (New Friends)

Latest figures obtained by the Lib Dems show that 4 in 10 women under the age of 35 in England are not attending for their smear tests…in fact, onlt 63.9% of women aged 25-34 are having tests every three and a half years as recommended. This could equate to 120 women every year contracting cervical cancer, without even realising it until it’s too late, according to Cancer Research UK.

I understand it’s not the most pleasant way to spend your time, but having regular tests could just save your life and spare your partner and children having to adapt to life without you.

Liberal democrat spokesperson for Children & Families, Annette Brooke has said: “The government has achieved less than spectaculer results in meeting the target tackling the high number of teenage pregnancies. At the current rate of improvement the Government will be twenty years behind its target to halve the number of teenage pregnancies.  Furthermore , ministers should show some real leadership and ensure that all children receive quality sex & relationship education.