BRANSCOMBE WI has been saved at the 11th hour.

Members attended what they thought would be their final meeting last month. November is the annual meeting, at which the current committee stands down and a new one is elected. Up until the meeting, the branch didn’t have a treasurer.

Janet Sindle, who held the post on and off for 30 years, had given notice earlier in the year that she wanted to step down. As treasurer for two other organisations, something had to give.

“I needed some time of my own, rather than always doing something for someone else,” she said.

The WI county adviser was at the meeting to discuss winding the group up.

“Everyone assumed it was a done deal that we’d close, as you can’t carry on without a treasurer,” said branch president Sandi Clark.

But then, Linda Hughes stepped up. “I had given it some thought, and when I went to the meeting and saw all those worried faces, I put myself forward,” she said.

Linda’s mother-in-law Edith Hughes was once branch president. “I thought I’d do it for her and the group,” said Linda. As treasurer for Branscombe Players, she has a head for figures. “I hope the branch will now go from strength to strength, we can’t let these community groups fall away,” she said.

Janet will still look after the group’s annual accounts.

The group, which meets on the second Tuesday of the month at Branscombe Village Hall is now looking forward to tommorrow’a village Christmas fair and its programme of events for 2011. For further details call Sandi on (01297) 680106.