The Archaeology group in Spire U3A is to have a meeting in Salisbury Museum on November 15th at 10.30am which is open to all U3A members. Look up the Salisbury U3A website for details.

The village visits organised by John Hawkins will be on the first Thursday of each month, starting on 3 November. Meet at the Royal Oak in Swallowcliffe at 10.15 am.

Outings: to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on 1 December to see The Merry Widow; 8 December to the Macarthur Glen designer outlet in Swindon; 20 January 2006, to the Royal Academy of Arts for the China exhibition; 22 April to the Mayflower theatre to see the Bolshoi Ballet. Salisbury Natural History Society has an outing to Westonbirt on October 16.

The Anniversary Lunch is on 2 November at 12 noon. Please bring a plate of food and cutlery. Wine and juice are provided.

Christopher from the Samaritans gave a most moving and challenging talk on the work of the Samaritans. Chad Varah was a curate in London in 1953 when he realised the need for a sympathetic listener. There are now 18,000 volunteers in Britain, and Samaritans in 41 countries in the world. Salisbury branch is always looking for funds and volunteers. There are 4.8 million contacts per year - 2.5 of them “snap” calls, where the caller hangs up immediately. There are 6,000 suicides every year, mostly young men aged between 25 to 34. Twice as many vets commit suicide as doctors or farmers. The aim of the Samaritans is to be available 24 hours a day for people in despair. All calls are confidential, and the volunteers are not judgemental. Samaritans are ordinary people, good listeners and compassionate. There is a selection process for new volunteers, training for 5 weeks, and duty alongside a mentor for 6 months. The benefits are the wonderful friendship of the other Samaritans, and the gratitude of the callers.