Group Meetings and Venues Autumn 2024
This letter is being circulated for us by HQ and has news for both existing and potential members of our Group. if you have friends you would like to invite to our activities, please do.
| 1. Thursday 17 October: Lunch at a good café, then Southend Museum exhibitions 2. Monday 11 November: At SAVS: Talk on RNLI and its 200thAnniversary 3. Monday 9 December: Christmas lunch at Tomassi’s 4. Looking forward to Spring 2025 5. Renewing Group Membership or becoming a new member. |
- Thursday 17 October: Lunch at a café, then Southend Museum exhibitions
Lunch at the Sunflower Bistro 75 Queen’s Rd, Southend (SS1 1NL), (Queen’s Rd leads off the High Street near WH Smith.) After lunch, visit Southend Museum in Victoria Avenue for Prittlewell Princely Burial exhibition (Free) and/or the Roman exhibition (£4.50).
How to meet for the lunch: 12 noon at the Bistro. If you are early, ask for Mrs Anderson’s tables. If you are late, you may be served lunch up to 4pm, the Museum closes at 5 pm.
To book a place for the lunch, please complete the booking form at the end of this letter, and post, or email, to Betty Anderson as soon as possible and definitely by 10 October. She is at 15 Cromer Road, Southend on Sea, Essex SS1 2DU. For later bookings e-mail iandbanderson@btinternet.com or phone 01702 466335.
Prittlewell Princely Burial exhibition (Free): The burial was the richest of those discovered during building work in 1923. We do not know exactly who the “Prince” was, but he was clearly a high status Anglo Saxon male from late 6th or early 7th century AD England, and a Christian at a time when most Anglo Saxons were still pagan.
The Roman exhibition (£4.50): This will run until 23 March 2025. The artefacts are from Roman settlements spanning Prittlewell to Wickford, Shoebury to Rayleigh. It offers glimpses into the domestic aspects of Roman life in south Essex.
Examples from Bistro menu: There may be a specials of the day board perhaps showing Soup at about £5.50, and about 3 choices of complete Main course dishes, eg lasagne or cottage pie, with vegetables, at about £12.95. From the folded menu cards on individual tables there are a variety of options served with salad and home-made coleslaw. These include: Omelettes with several choices of filling, (£5.95 to £7.95) (With chips £3.50 extra, or baguette and butter £3 extra), Jacket potatoes 8 choices of filling (£5.95 – £7.95), Hot paninis 6 choices (all at £7.50). Also 5 choices of Ploughmans with salad and pickle and baguette (£8-£10), and 7 choices of Salad (£7.95 – 9.95). You can also ask for something from the breakfast menu. The dessert menu board included apple crumble and a few other choices, with cream, ice-cream, or custard (at around £5.50).
2. Monday 11 November: At SAVS: Talk on RNLI and its 200th Anniversary
A service dedicated to saving lives at sea, which developed into the Royal National Lifeboat Institute was founded in 1824, 200 years ago. In the early years, crews of fishermen and sailors headed out in heavy wooden boats, a far cry from modern lifeboats!
We will meet at our main venue, the SAVs Centre, at 2pm for 2:15 to about 4 pm for our talk on RNLI. It is not essential to book this with us in advance. You can, if you wish, simply turn up on the day, but it would be useful to know how many to expect if you can let Betty Anderson know you are coming (See Betty Anderson’s contact details near the end of this letter). The SAVS Centre is the HQ of Southend Association of Voluntary Services, of which our Group is a member. It is located at 29-31, Alexandra Street, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1BW. We use the good-sized, light and airy, conference room on the 1st floor, which can be reached by a small lift near the reception desk.(Note: when we meet at SAVs there is a separate entrance fee of £2 to help with the rent. Optional items are tea and coffee at £2 per person (refills free), and a raffle at £0.50. These should be paid for on the day by cash or cheque.)
3. Monday 9 December: Christmas lunch at Tomassi’s
Time and Venue: We will meet at 12.00 noon for 12.15 pm. at Tomassi’s, 7-9 High Street, Southend–on-Sea, SS1 1JE, opposite the Royals shopping centre.
To book a place for the lunch, please complete the booking form at the end of this letter, and post, or email, to Betty Anderson as soon as possible, and definitely by 28 November. She is at 15 Cromer Road, Southend on Sea, Essex SS1 2DU. For later bookings e-mail iandbanderson@btinternet.com or phone 01702 466335.
The menu: We have opted for Tomassi’s for Christmas lunch, because it offers a wide selection of traditional meals. These may not include turkey or Christmas pudding but are expected to include some tasty alternatives. Examples from the menu are:
Starters: Chicken bites, soup, prawn cocktail, and 6 others (priced at £4.85 – £7.65)
Mains: Fish: Grilled Fillet of Plaice, Grilled salmon, and 6 others (priced £12.85 – £ 13.85); Italian: Spaghetti Bolognese, and 4 others (£9.95 – £11.45); Chicken: choice of 7 (£ 10.45 – £13.65); Meat & Grills: All Day Breakfasts, Sirloin Steak, and 6 others (£10.25 – £17.45); Salads: With Quiche and about 10 others (£10.85 – £14.25).
Desserts: Big choice of ice cream-based treats, also apple pie, and sticky toffee pud. (£6.85 to £7.65 each).
4. Looking forward to Spring 2025
As usual, the Group will not meet in January. For February to April, we suggest the following activities:
10 February – meet at 2.15 pm for refreshment at a café in Southend High Street, probably the Remedy Tearoom, or maybe a talk at SAVS
10 March – Spring lunch, probably at Tomassi’s
14 April – Local AGM at SAVS
5. Renewing Group Membership or becoming a new member: The annual Group membership subscription for 2024 is £6.00. This Group subscription is for those expenses not met from the subscription to HQ, e.g. the occasional rent of a local conference room. It can be paid at a Group meeting or send a cheque – payable to:
CSPA (Southend & District) – to our Membership Secretary: Betty Anderson (15 Cromer Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS1 2DU). Please include your address, phone number and email address (if you have one). By providing these, you confirm your wish to be a Group member, and agree to the Group officers contacting you, when appropriate, about Group activities or other CSPA matters. Please note any preference between post, phone, or email contact where possible. (Note: when we meet at the SAVS Centre, there is a separate entrance fee of £2 each meeting to help with the rent. Tea, coffee, etc, are always optional extras!)
Contact details:
If we may be able to help with further information, or you would just like to chat, our contact details are:
Chair and Secretary: Mary King Tel: (01268) 794790
Membership Secretary: Betty Anderson Tel: (01702) 466335 Email: iandbanderson@btinternet.com
Committee Member: Richard Rubin Tel: (01702) 529712
Yours sincerely
Mary King
(Group Chair and Secretary)
