A WOMEN'S group is shaking off its "twinset and pearls" image in a bid to attract new members.

Members of the Ladies' Circle, which is the female equivalent of the Round Table, are fed up with people thinking they are staid and stuffy.

They are launching a major publicity campaign next month which they hope will attract new members to the organisation, which has branches in Blackburn, Darwen, Clitheroe, Burnley, Padiham, Nelson and Rossendale.

Lynn Walsh, membership officer for Area 35, which includes East Lancashire, said although the organisation was founded in 1936 for the wives of Round Table members, times have changed - and so has the Ladies' Circle.

You no longer have to be married to a Round Tabler to join and members are drawn from all walks of life.

She said: "With more than 60 years of history the Ladies Circle has decided it is time to shake off its staid image of 'twinset and pearls', and raise its true profile of forward-thinking women, in readiness for the new millennium."

In recent months the activities of her own Circle - Blackburn 318 - has included an evening sampling beer at Moorhouses Brewery in Burnley, a hectic weekend in Dublin, an aromatherapy evening and an archery session.

Members have also teamed up with Round Tablers for several joint parties, including themed fancy dress events, and a camping trip to Coniston.

"Knitting circles and jam making are unheard-of activities for these girls! Yet this is what the majority of women who aren't members perceive the organisation to be about," said Lynn.

She said the group has an important role to play in offering friendship to women.

"Circlers who have to move around frequently because of job or family commitments find there is a ready-made group of friends to be found in other parts of the country," she said.

Anyone interested in joining the Ladies' Circle should ring the East Lancashire headquarters on 01254 705290.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.