SPEAKER’S CORNER

Monthly talks at Claygate Village Hall are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 2pm

1st July: Trekking Sri Lanka - This epic 1,000km trek raised money for the charity ‘Their Future Today’

Marcia Summers

‘Their Future Today’ aims to directly provide the knowledge, resources and tools to improve conditions in orphanages, prevent abandonment, strengthen families and bring about sustainable change nationally and in the community. During her talk Marcia will describe her experiences on her epic journey across Sri Lanka, highlighting the nation’s resilience and the indomitable spirit of its people. By using her skills she helped improve the life chances of girls and women affected by gender-based violence, as well as children impacted by poverty. The money she raised supported the work of The Women’s Development Centre in Kandy.

Marcia Summers

Having worked in further education for many years, Marcia now enjoys travelling to unique destinations and writing about her experiences. Through her frequent visits to Sri Lanka, she has gained a unique perspective on that country and its people, which has influenced her writing. Closer to home she volunteers with Surrey Care Trust, mentoring young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system and supporting their parents.

Copies of Marcia’s book ‘Trekking Sri Lanka’ will be available at the talk.

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4th August: Surrey Search and Rescue - Over 2100 people go missing in Surrey every year – the Surrey SAR Team is trained to find them

SAR is a voluntary specialist search team which helps the emergency services to find missing, adults and children. They are on-call 24 hours a day with a team of 80+ people and dogs who respond across Surrey and surrounding areas. Operating in all areas from urban spaces to woodland, farmland to lakes and rivers they are trained to give first aid to any missing or vulnerable person then help them to safety.

Surrey SAR doesn’t receive funding from the government, the emergency services or the council. They are a charity that relies wholly on donations to purchase and maintain their equipment and provide the best training for the team.

Our speaker will be an experienced member of the team and will provide an overview of their work, explaining how callouts are dealt with from first contact with the Police to getting boots on the ground. They will talk about why they joined Surrey SAR and bring some humour to the talk as well as conveying the importance of the collaboration with other national associations to save lives.