COMMUNITY, friendship and helping others. These are the top of the list for the Forest of Dean’s Inner Wheel club.
Following the news of the club’s recent donation of a bleed control kit to the Belfry Hotel in Littledean, I travelled to Coleford’s Speech House to learn more about this unique group of women.
I met with President Lynn Hyndman, Treasurer Mim Mitchell, Minutes Secretary Sue Bevan, Jenny East and Linda Greene. A small collection of a larger club of 31 members.
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Within five minutes, I felt as though I’d known them the whole of my life. Everybody’s friendly, warm and welcoming everywhere you go.
President Lynn Hyndman, Royal Forest of Dean Inner Wheel
The Inner Wheel has a long history. The organisation itself has been running for slightly over 100 years - celebrating its centenary earlier this year with the Forest of Dean’s club running for 40 of those years.
It’s an international organisation, the biggest women’s organisation in the world, and remains what members describe as “the world’s best kept secret.”
All clubs of the organisation share common goals; friendship, service to the community, and international understanding.
Linda Greene and Jenny East said: “The community is important because we all live here. We try to support people around us who need that extra bit. There’s lots of individual organisations in the Forest, but we’re in the position where occasionally, we can give some financial input to that organisation to help them grow or deliver something different to what they would normally do.”
Over its long history, the group has supported charities like the Food Bank, Baby Bank, Women’s Refuge, Blood Bikes, CANDI’s Youth Space, FRED and many more locally and internationally.
There are many clubs within the organisation. The Forest of Dean’s club is within a district of 12 others, including areas like Swindon and Clevedon.
Linda added: “It’s a Forest of Dean group because we all live in The Forest, but the thing about charity and helping others is it’s not just thinking about The Forest of Dean. Worldwide we distribute our funds as we can, like Ethiopia and Ukraine. When there’s a crisis, we contribute to help them.”
The main fundraising comes from catering for the two annual Rotary Half Marathons, often making over 1,500 cakes and selling t-shirts. The team is already gearing up for the next half marathon which is set for Sunday, September 29 at 10am.
But the club does a lot more than fundraise. They help with car parking at events, sell raffle tickets for Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAC) and work closely with colleagues of The Rotary.
In the lead up to Christmas, The Forest’s Inner Wheel will collect things like toiletries for the Strout Women’s Refuge which covers Gloucestershire. In the past, they have helped Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service (GDASS) and The Salvation Army.
Often, the club will have a speaker from a charity come to explain their cause. The speaker helps them to understand their needs, and then the club will give a donation. In January, the club is expecting a speaker from CANDI; a Cinderford-based arts charity.
Although the club is involved heavily within the community and further afield, they remain somewhat unknown, becoming unsung heroes in The Forest of Dean. The club said - as many people don’t know about them, those in need will often directly contact The Rotary.
But The Inner Wheel is certainly there to help, and is always looking for new members. If you wish to join, get involved or help the organisation, you can find them on Facebook or give them a call on 07730 269362.
They enjoy coffee mornings and fun activities, and meet on the second Thursday of each month at 6pm for dinner at Forest Hills Golf Club.
