As I write this, the wind is whistling round the shutters outside. It’s Monday, so good for drying the washing! We’ve been treated to glorious weather so no complaints. The sun has broken through to give us heat – 22°C at the weekend! Crazy. Encouraged by the warmth there are signs of Spring. Yes really. Trees that look bare are actually in bud. The almond trees are boldly displaying pale pink blossom and of course the mimosa has burst forth all over the place – well that’s just showing off.

I’m not one to go around draping bits of cloth over vulnerable plants – if it doesn’t survive, it’s not meant to be here. So the exposed agapanthus are looking very sorry for themselves. At only -1° they flopped down and formed a sort of protective covering over their podgy roots. Good for you I say and when it gets warmer I’ll just strip away your yellow leaves and you’ll be as good as new.

AGM – Sud de France

Our AGM was held in Carcassonne on Wednesday 26 January. 63 members were present in person or by proxy.

Our new president is Jane Beck. She is an Active Listener with Sud and is looking forward to getting involved. She said she was not in a position to suggest any massive projects in the immediate future, with Covid still with us, but after living in France for 51 years, she is a fluent French speaker. This means that her client support has often been language based and she wants to find ways to make CSF Sud more prominent in hospitals and medical environments.

Others elected included: Adrian Griffiths – Vice President and Training Lead, Penny Parkinson – Secretary, Maggie Longworth – Departmental Representative (P-O), Sue Ackloo – Treasurer and Cathy Pugh – Support Coordinator.

Our guest speaker was Dr Michel Grand, who is the Vice Président of the Comité de l’Aude de la Ligue contre le cancer. Dr Grand gave a very interesting talk about La Ligue which was founded in 1918 on the initiative of Dr Justin Godart. At that time there were three major recognised causes of death – alcoholism, syphilis and TB. Cancer was becoming the fourth. Now there are around 156,000 deaths in France from cancer per annum and around 400,000 cases are diagnosed. The Comité de l’Aude was established in 1967. He talked in detail about the four missions of La Ligue: research, prevention and screening, helping people and mobilising society. After that he took questions.

In Maggie’s report to the AGM, she gives a roundup of CSF activity in 2021 and also a taste of what the future holds for us. You can read it here.

You can also read the January Touchlines Newsletter here.

Drop Ins

Please don’t forget your Pass Sanitaire.

Wednesday 2 February, Pablo’s Bar – Céret, 10.30

Hooray – Pablo’s is open again! Please come for books, coffee and chat.

Wednesday 16 February, Villa Lafabrègue – Prades, 10.15-12

Come and join us for coffee, tea and books. This month Norman, Maggie’s husband, is going to give a talk with photo’s on their trip to China. The address is 15 Avenue Louis Prat, 66500 Prades

Monday 21 February, Café des Artistes – Laroque des Albères, 10.30

We hope it will stay fine for our gathering at the Café this month. Bring your books for swopping but please, no hardbacks or non-fiction. We also welcome novels in French. Books for children too but again, no hardbacks please. Come and browse, have a coffee and bring your friends.

If the weather isn’t kind to us, sad to say we will have to cancel. The café really isn’t big enough inside for books and people to be a safely assembled. I will let you know but may I suggest that you check your emails before you come.

We are inviting members to come along to a meeting at McDonalds in Thuir.  We propose forming teams of volunteers for our activities in 2022 and we hope you will join us.  As this meeting is this week, please let Maggie know as soon as possible if you would like to come:sud-maggie@cancersupportfrance.org

A taste of home

If you’re yearning for English Sausages, check out Corinne’s suggestions for this month.