ALTON'S Quaker Meeting House ended a 45-year tradition when it hosted the last of its Tuesday lunches. Launched in the early 1960s by a group of local Quakers who wanted to raise money to support those international charities engaged in development projects in the Third World, these simple cheese, bread and soup lunches have been held ever since. While in the early days the takings averaged a few pounds, in more recent times the group was sending up to £3,000 a year to international charities, thanks to the kindness of those who made the bread and grew vegetables to make the soup. But today things are different. More women are in full-time employment and it has become impossible to carry on. And so it was that on December 18 friends gathered to enjoy the very last lunch served at Alton's ancient Quaker meeting house.
