The Sugar and Spice Ladies Club was formed in Duston back in 1967 as it was then felt there was a need for a Club for younger women, particularly those with small children.  The aim, first and foremost, has always been to provide recreational and leisure time activities for the women of the area, i.e. regular meetings with Speakers on a wide variety of subjects.  The Club is non-racial, non-religious and non-political.

A spin off from these activities soon turned into Fund Raising for local Charities and, to date, the Club has raised just over £60,000 since it began!  The members nominate Charities they would like to receive the proceeds made in any one year and then vote for say, 2, 3 or 4, who receive their donations at the Club’s Annual General Meeting in February.

The ideas we have used for Fund Raising in the past have included Jumble Sales, Auctions, Sponsored Walks/Silences/Bike Rides, Coffee Mornings/Evenings, Party Days and Strawberry Teas – in fact, anything we can think of which will give us pleasure in arranging and making a few pounds on! We are also lucky enough to be able to obtain top quality Greetings Cards and Linen direct from the Wholesalers, on the understanding that all profit we make goes to Charity.  Over recent years, these have proved to be a very good way of raising funds for our Charities and we are particularly grateful to the Wholesalers concerned.

The biggest fundraiser, however, is the annual Autumn Fayre, which is held on the second Saturday in November each year at Duston Community Centre.  The biggest attraction is the Grand Draw which normally has a first prize of £100 cash and 35 – 40 good quality prizes.  The Fayre is made up of numerous Stalls and Games, including White Elephant, Handicrafts, Linen, Cakes/Groceries, Books/Toys, Stationery, Tombola, Bran Tub, Children’s Toy Stall, a £5 Stall and Refreshments.  The Games include such things as Pick-a-Stick, Guess Teddy’s Birthday, Toy Tombola (with a prize every time), Guess the Weight of the Cake and a Marble Game.  This is an amazing day full of hard work and fun, and everything there is donated by someone.  The Club is proud of this event as it is always very well supported, whatever the weather, and, again, we are grateful for that support.

The other Club activities include Darts and Skittles, Ramble and a Christmas Dinner.  We also support the Duston Community Association, particularly the Quiz Night and usually enter two teams.  In more recent years, we have also supported the Hunsbury Rural Skills Project and were invited to their open events.  We also support Women’s Aid with regular donations of essential day-to-day items.  Some ladies have pleasure in knitting squares and these are made into Blankets which are then donated to local Nursing/Rest Homes for the Elderly.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supports the Club – particularly the local traders for their very generous donations – without which we wouldn’t be so successful.  If anyone is interested in joining us, you would be most welcome.  We meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (excluding January and August) at Duston Community Centre, Pendle Road, Duston, Northampton and the meetings start at 8.00 p.m.  FOR FURTHER DETAILS, please Telephone 01604 755583.