London West End WI

LWWI January Meeting - Tuesday January 17th 2012

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

Dear All, Happy New Year

December 2011 saw us having a wonderful communal meal together. It was such a lovely way to round off 2011.

And we now look forward to 2012.

Just to remind you that the next meeting will be held on the 17th of January at 6.30pm. To set us up for a positive 2012 we have a speaker who will be presenting a talk on De-stress in 2012.

A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body and a healthy spirit is more than the thing you brush off and wear to church or your grandmother's. Today we will refine your list of how you take care of yourself and those around you to make 2012 a great year.

Also to remind everyone its time to pay our membership fees which is £31.50 for 2012. You can pay by cash, cheque or paypal with the link on the website.http://www.londonwestendwi.co.uk/ under the membership tab.

Hope to see you all there for what should be as always an enjoyable evening.

The West End WI

Dates for the Diary Jan 2012

Concert invitation for February
My name is David Williams and I'm a Director of the London Arts Orchestra. On the evening of 2nd February, we'll be putting on a completely free concert at Christ Church Spitalfields.
I'd love to invite your members to this great community event. I've attached a short letter which will give you further details.

On February 2nd 2012 at 19:30 in the beautiful setting of Christ Church Spitalfields in Shoreditch, the London Arts Orchestra will be performing an epic evening of orchestral music:
* W.A. Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola

* Gustav Mahler – Fifth Symphony

As part of celebrating the tenth performance of the orchestra since its founding in June 2009, we will be making this concert completely free for everyone to attend.

We are conscious that classical music, particularly orchestral music on the scale and depth of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, can often be inaccessible or unavailable. Too often, the problem is the cost of going to watch a concert. We would like to help people ‘dip their toe into the water’ and try classical music without having to take the risk that they may not like it – nor face the restriction of a ticket fee.

We really would like as many people from around the community as possible to hear this music. It has been our experience that these opportunities are all too few – so to enable this performance to be the first of many, we are looking to spread the word out to as many community groups in and around the City of London, Shoreditch and Bethnal Green areas as possible.

If you are interested in bringing a troupe of members, then please let us know by emailing info@londonartsorchestra.co.uk. You can also ask us queries at this address.

I really hope that able to make it. If there are any questions then please get in contact - our details are below.
Thanks

David
London Arts Orchestra Foundation
Registered Charity No. 1139177
4 Clapham Road, London ,SW90JG
Director: David Williams
Mobile: +44 (0) 7752 745325
david@londonartsorchestra.co.uk

Thought for the month: [ no we are not getting all new age just thought it would be nice to put something else in D4D email for our first entry for 2012, weirdly not so much news for this mnth.]

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

I found the following the other week which I thought might be of interest to you all:

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.

I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Source: www.ariseindiaforum.org/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbed/

Website of the month will return next month. I had a list of sites for this month and somehow managed to lose it so will hunt it out for Feb.

LWWI - December Meeting - Tuesday 20th December 2011

2011-12-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Dear All

Just to remind you that there will be a meeting of the West End WI on the 20th of December. In the spirit of the season it was thought it would be nice to have social evening with a few games, mince pies and fizz from 6.30 pm.

If members wanted to invite any interested ones it would be a lovely opportunity to welcome them to the WI. It would be much appreciated if people could bring a contribution towards the refreshments

Regards

West End WI

London West End WI AGM 15th November 2011

2011-12-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

London West End WI AGM 15th November 2011

Reports

* Report on 2011 meetings
* Treasurers report loss of £741, Reserves of £2,000

Generating Income

* Increase membership – recruiting more members
* Seeking grants
* Fundraising projects on regular basis
* Marketing
* Advertising in local businesses
* Invite a friend
* Managing expenditure
* Vote of Thanks
* Resigning Committee

Nominations for new committee Helena Roden
Kate Matheson
Jane White “Treasurer”
Claude Asgill
Pam Young “President”
Christine McMahon
Ruth Hodson “Secretary”
Rachel Bolland
Papiya Chatterjee

LWWI Secretaries Report December 2010 – November 2011
Ladies what a turbulent year we have had 2010-11 at LWWI.

November we elected a new committee. Jane became treasurer; Heather remained President, whilst Kate and Claude remained as Secretaries. Following our AGM Heather our president led a most fabulous Perry (pear cider) tasting session.

In December we had a very quiet meeting as many people were unable to attend due to the snow, including the planned speaker Jacqui who was due to demonstrate beauty products from Neal’s Yard. We had an impromptu Christmas party instead.

January started with a bang almost literally with Professor Butterworth from UCL coming in to talk to us about the Large Hadron Collider.

February saw a cancelled marmalade session as a special one off meeting but the food hygiene course ran attended by 14 participants. For our official LWWI meeting Mariette from Transition Towns came to talk to us about this project.

For March we learned everyone had passed their food hygiene course and had a trip to the British Museum to see Afghanistan and the regular meeting moved to the Cartoon Museum with a talk and private viewing.
April saw us outside starting the first phase of the gardening project in the courtyard under the expert guidance of Chris Raeburn the community gardener from Phoenix gardens. 2012 will see the start of phase 2, the creation of a rockery garden using the masonry from the old church spire[Soft Break]

Additionally in April the committee balloted members if we should change location or meeting date. Ultimately the response to this was that we stay as we are.

May saw LWWI hold a quilting/patchwork evening led most admirably by Helena and Vanessa. We held an additional meeting a few days later in May at 7 Dials club where we had Lynne Parker one of our members talk to us about Women in Comedy. May saw us out and about at the Brunswick Centre's Brunswick Fair and a second visit to the British Museum.

For June we were out and about on a day trip to Woburn Abbey, a most enjoyable affair and our main meeting was Tai Chi led by Viv one of our members.

July saw Saloni Kapur a pet reiki and energy healer come in to talk to us about aromatherapy and back flower remedies. Some footage and photos from this meeting are up on the blogspot.

August saw us once again at the BM this time to see Treasures of Heaven and our planned meeting was flower arranging but to due to a last minute cancellation it turned out to be quick desserts. Selina did 6 minute chocolate cake and Claude did a cream, nut and mandarin Swiss roll.

August saw us out with quite a large group in Brighton where we all enjoyed lunch on the beach, a turn of the Pavilion and the rain held off all day.

For September we held a lucky dip meeting our plan had been a talk by a local youth worker about the riots and what can be done to engage young people. Our speaker cancelled with less than 24 hours notice and so we ended up crafting and making flowers using paper. Thank you so much to Helena for once again stepping in to lead this meeting.
September also saw us out enjoying a day trip to Canterbury. We were also out more locally with our homemade cakes & jams at Phoenix Gardens Annual Fair and at Open House.

For October we were at the BM to see the Grayson Perry exhibition. It also saw David Gleeson give a much anticipated and enjoyable illustrated talk about Women and Iranian Art.
Which brings us back round once again to November, Our AGM, cocktail tasting and WI year end.

Conclusion:
Overall our BM trips have proved quite popular, as have our WI day trips run in conjunction with Friends of Russell Square. Certain fundraising venues have proved more lucrative than others.

Attendance levels throughout the year have been about 23-28 per meeting on average. We have had a number of cancellations in terms of our planned speakers but have done our best to fund an alternate speaker / activity on each occasion often at short notice.

Sewing circle and committee meeting attendance at 7 Dials have been a bit erratic in terms of numbers attending and how we go forward with this will probably need reviewing in the future.

Going forward the present committee have commented that it would be lovely if more members were able to help pack away and tidy up at the end of meetings. As well as helping at fundraising events.

We hope for 2011-2012 that we will see our membership numbers continue to grow, that the funding grant for ICT equipment will come through and that we will be able to arrange a series of interesting and reliable speakers for the coming year.
We plan to arrange once again and to let you all know in good time about trips, offers and exhibitions as the opportunities come up. And we hope to enjoy even more success at the various table cake sales where we raise much needed income for LWWI to ensure we can pay our rent and external speakers.
And that Ladies concludes our report for the year.

Treasurer's Report Year ended 30 September 2011

In the immortal words of Mr Micawber:

"Income £20, expenses £19/19/6, result: happiness.

Income £20, expenses £20/00/6, result: misery."

Sadly we're in the latter category.

Although we made decent profits on the 3 fetes, overall we made a loss of £741.

Even before we start, we have to have 74 members to pay the Federation subs &

the hire of the hall. We have 45 members, so the loss starts there.

Fete results: Brunswick profit £162.75, Phoenix Gardens £315.91 & Open House £52.57.

The Open House figure is inflated, becasue the Vicar told us to give the volunteers free

refreshments & they told me to deduct this amount from their share.

So our true profit was £40.57.

We also made a loss of £100 on the food hygiene course.

We should have excess funds from the garden project, but I can't quantify this until we've dealt with the rockery.

At the moment the excess stands at £1,099.

We are still in funds to the tune of £2,219, ignoring any garden excess, so we're ok.

If possible, we should think of ways to cut costs.

As stated, our main expense is the hall & we had 2 free months this year, so the situation would have been worse if we hadn't had this.

Our speaker expenses are low, because that's mostly a teapot & cosy, so not too expensive.

I know some WIs meet in wine bars, at least in rooms above or below the bar. This could be a way to save money.

If they gave us the room free, we could put £50 behind the bar & members could pay the excess.

However, would they be happy for us to bring food & would there be tea/coffee facilities, facilities for speakers or demonstrations?

This is something to consider.

Maybe we could apply for a grant to help.

Following the London meeting, I suggested we have a London day at Denman next year & Ruth Bond thought we might get a grant towards that.

Sorry not to paint a better picture, but we are still in funds, so no need to panic, but I do think we need to be careful with expenditure.

November 2011 - Dates for the Diary

2011-11-14T12:48:00.000-08:00

Hello Ladies

Goodness can it really be about 8 weeks until Christmas and thus little more than that time until we are at the end of 2011. It seems impossible that we have come through 10 months of the year already.

Weirdly as the nights seem to be drawing closer the amount of content in the Dates for the Diary emails have reduced compared to that seen earlier in the year.
So here is our last official D4D email as LWWI Secretaries
Kate & Claude

LWWI Stuff.
November meeting - Tuesday November 15th

Heather, LWWI 2011 President was leading an alcohal tasting session following our AGM on Tuesday 15th of November but is nolonger able to do this. And so we are going to have a food tasting instead.

Our AGM should last about 45 minutes or so followed by the tasting.

We plan to start the AGM at 7:00PM
During the AGM a summary of the year presented by the secretaries will be read out. And the treasurer will present the accounts to member. It is not as dry as it sounds we promise.

Following that we will elect a new committee for 2012 and we will select a new President and Secretary. Jane has indicated she will stand again as Treasurer but if anyone else wants to stand then do please nominate yourself and let us know.

If you wish to stand as President or Secretary please let us know. LWWI cannot continue to exist without a Secretary and President so these positions have to be filled.
The 2011 Secretaries and President are standing down after two years service and these positions are up for election. Don't worry it is not as daunting as it sounds taking on either position and we personally would recommend job sharing these roles.

For the November meeting Kate is proposing to bring along some home made vegetarian soup and it would be super if members additionally brought along refreshments to share at the meeting.

2012 LWWI membership fees

For 2012 the LWWI membership fee will be £31.50 this was announced a few weeks ago by NFWI and is mentioned in the latest issue of WI Life.

As usual from Janaury you will be able to pay by cheque, by cash or online on our blog using paypal.

December

Not many of you came back and indicated what your preference was for the December meeting. Time is passing quickly ladies and we really do need your feedback as to what we do for the December meeting.

The options were: Quiz night, Just meeting at the pub or having a buffet meal in the upper vestry room with everyone bringing something along to share and us all sitting down to eat together.

BTW The vicar of St George's has invited us to the Carol Service. Helena will be reading at this service representing LWWI.

Proposed calendar of meetings for 2012.

Dear Ladies if you have any ideas about what you would like to see during 2012 at the LWWI monthly meeting please do let us know. If you have any contacts who might make interesting speakers please let us know. If there are any trips/experience etc you think we might like to let members know about please do get in touch.

Attachments

There are a nunber of attachments with this email which have been sent by Surrey and NFWI about days at Denman and the big NFWI AGM next year in London etc. Do have a look at these.

Theatre Project in Holborn looking for interested volunteers.

Hello!

I am writing from a community theatre project in Holborn that is actively seeking members of the 50+ community to get involved.

Here's a little bit more about the project (attached) and maybe you could advise me on the best way to reach your members. Our directors Kate and Morgan are willing to come and present the project in person and show a video and a model of last year's show. People are often hooked when they get to know us in person and want to help. Maybe at an event you run and a mention in a newsletter might be helpful.

You Me Bum Bum Train is a volunteer-driven immersive theatre production that gives individual audience members a range of experiences. To make these scenes as realistic as possible, our team of performers need to be diverse.
We are looking for actors aged 50 and over to come and take part.

Central London location (Holborn).

Suitable for people with little or no experience.

http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2011/10/18/all-aboard-the-you-me-bum-bum-train/

I'm happy to answer any of your questions. I think this is a great way to get senior citizens involved in something exciting. I spoke to a guy who runs a movement class for the mature and he knew his members would be excited about this as they are quite adventurous.

Of course, we are looking for performers of all ages, so any help appreciated.
Thanks

Justin

07841 655 453

youmebumbumtraincast@gmail.com

London mobiliser for the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.

Sam Green wrote to us to say: I'm currently looking for groups or individuals to get involved with our event - the African Climate Connection (www.stopclimatechaos.org/african-climate-connection). The aim is to bring African, Development and green-campaigning groups together to continue pressure on MP's on climate issues. We're running African themed climate events rights across the country during the Durban climate talks, which will be the first to take place in Africa. I was wondering if your WI would be interested running something, potentially involving your local MP, depending on what you wanted to do with the event.
The event would run during the Durban Climate talks at the beginning of December. I am happy to provide, resources, support and anything else you might need. Your event could be something as simple as a film screening or an African lunch!

If you're interested, get in touch and we can discuss it more, You can call me on 0207 095 5420 on Mondays and Thursdays, or else just send me an email and I'll get back to you.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Sam Greene, london@stopclimatechaos.org

Stop Climate Chaos, London

Foundling Museum

If you have been fortunate to visit Florence or Venice you will be sure to know of the Foundling Hospitals there and their association with art and music (Andrea della Robbia and Vivaldi respectively) but do you know of London’s Foundling Hospital and its connections with Handel and Hogarth?

Established in 1739 by a retired shipwright, Thomas Coram, who was moved by the plight of babies abandoned in London’s streets. Coram’s compassion and stubborn determination led to the creation of the Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury, London’s first home for abandoned children, where it remained until the 1920s and then moved to
Berkhamsted.

The Foundling Hospital closed in 1954 (but continues today as the children’s charity Coram) and the poignant yet fascinating history of the Hospital with its connections to Handel and leading artists of the eighteenth century is portrayed in the Foundling Museum. Why not arrange a visit for your members? Please find below some information about visiting the Museum and guided and unguided tours. We look forward to welcoming you to the Museum.Tuz Morrison, Group Bookings, 020 7841 3591 email tuz@foundlingmuseum.org.uk http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/

Website of the month

I came across the lovely little shop whilst out wandering the other day. Its a mainly Spanish themed shop which sells a number of spanish specialist foods as well as spices. But it also sells a number of lovely craft items some of which made me think we might attempt some of the simpler items possibly at Knit and Knatter on the first Tuesdays of the month sewing/committee meetings. The website for the shop is http://www.alhamrahome.co.uk/

I came across this site http://www.page99test.com/ a long time ago and then refound it the other day whilst dejunking. Its basically a site which says you can tell a food book not by the first page or chapter but by randomly flicking to page 99 of the book and reading that page in isolation. And if that page grabs your attendtion then there is every chance you will actually love the book.

The blurb for the site reads: Published and unpublished writers upload page 99 of their book manuscript to Page99Test.com. Huge community of readers read the book excerpts and rate books.

Kate and I came across the following sites which list special offers to try experiences that you might never have considered exploring at a much cheaper rate than normal. These two sites were www.groupon.co.uk and http://www.wowcher.co.uk/

Well keep warm & well and see you all soon

Claude & Kate
LWWI Secretaries.

Dates for the Diary - October 2011

2011-10-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies
Apologies for the tardiness in sending out this email to all of you.

Last week was either London cocktail week or National cocktail week I can't remember which but it did prompt me to think it might be cool if next year we were able to get a cocktail expert to come in and make cocktails with us and talk to us about the history of cocktails. Regardless of which week it was we say Hoorah!!!
This month October is also Black History Month and Big Book Swap month.

And next month November is nanowrimo - also known as National Novel Writing Month

You will notice this months D4D email is quite short as we have been posting all the updates as they have been happening. Pls do check the blog as we always post new updates there. Sometimes we don't always email them out as we don't want to fill up your inboxes with numerous postings from us unless absolutely necessary.

Speaker reminder for 18th of October 2011 LWWI meeting - Women and Iranian Art.
David Glesson is coming on Tuesday 18th to talk about women and Iranian art.
David's talk will be accompanied by a powerpoint presentation illustrating his points. Many of us are very much looking forward to this talk.

If you wish to attend this talk even if you are not a member of the WI please feel free to come along. You will be most welcome.
For those who missed it here is David's bio.
'David Gleeson is a freelance media consultant and art writer originally from Lincoln, now based in central London . He worked for more than eight years at the Whitechapel Gallery, as Information/Front of House Coordinator and also as Press Officer. He has also worked as an exhibition curator and a freelance journalist whose art criticism has been published in the UK , Europe, USA , Canada and Russia . Recent consultancy work has included exhibition, music and theatre venues as well as commissions from individual artists and projects. A member of the Advisory Board of the international touring exhibition The Missing Peace, he is also an advisor for the Modesto Art Museum of California. Over the last year he has curated two exhibitions of Iranian contemporary art in London: 'From Tehran to London' at Jill George Gallery, Soho (May-June 2010) and 'Breakfast in Tehran' at Frameless Gallery, Clerkenwell (June 2011). Since 2006 he has made four trips to Iran, the last being in January this year.'

Sky Atlantic Documentary offer - You need to be quick

We thought some of you might be interested in a documentary

series we're making for Sky Atlantic.

We’re filming a health & fitness weekend at Carlton Towers.

A grand stately home in Yorkshire.

And I’m looking for people who’d be interested in taking part.

We’re providing an overnight stay and covering the cost of the

bootcamp - designed for people who have weight to lose.

We would love to talk to people who are not just keen to take

control of their weight but who'd also be lively and inquisitive

about staying at such a spectacular location.

The event is being run by fitness guru Gavin Walsh

(www.thebootcamp.co.uk) and will take place on the weekend

of the 22nd - 23rd October.

We'd love to get a small group of friends to go up and enjoy

the experience together. It would be great it if you could pass

my information on to anyone involved with your group who

you feel may be interested in taking part.

We’re looking for great characters who would relish the opportunity

to step into the shoes of a Lord and Lady.

I can be contacted at jonathan@landmarkfilms.com or on

07810 303 469 for anyone who would like more information about

the project or indeed about us as a company.

Many thanks,

Jon

November meeting - Tuesday 15th AGM & Alcohol tasting.
Our November meeting will be the AGM swiftly followed by an alcohol tasting arranged by our President Heather. Last years perry tasting was super popular with all concerned.

Your WI needs you.
If any one wants to join the committee or stand for the position of secretary or president please don't hesitate to nominate yourself, your nomination will be seconded. It is possible to job share these positions.
If you are also interested in maybe tweeting on behalf of LWWI or facebooking on behalf of LWWI or looking after our website or blog these services also need additional people willing to help with them.
Basically if you have a skill that you think we could make use of please do get in touch.

Thanks.

December meeting - 20th of December - A conundrum

Ladies we have a conundrum with regard to the December meeting. As usual the weather will be cold and our meeting is 5 days before Christmas this year.

So we propose to ask you our members what you would prefer we do.
1 - Should we cancel the December meeting as it is so close to xmas on the 20th of dec and we know everyone is caught up with Christmas and instead maybe have a post Christmas quiz for our January meeting.

2 - Should we have a Non-Christmas WI Christmas dinner instead of a regular meeting in the hall where everyone brings something to share and we get out the long tablesS

3 - Should we just meet informally at the pub opposite the musem for a celebration of the end of the year and come back in January ready for another fun filled WI year. Which would save us a month's rent.

Please let us know which of these three options most appeals.

December 21st Carol Service at St George's which Father Peebles has invited us to.
He writes:

It would be marvellous if the WI could provide and help serve some mince pies (St G's will provide the mulled wine) at out Christmas Carol Service on Wednesday 21st December at 7pm. I am hoping to make this service something for the whole of Bloomsbury and will be inviting various groups such as yours to participate. Would somebody like to read a lesson at it on behalf of the W!?

Craft Club is making a film tackling the big story – birth, life, death and beyond – and they need YOU to make it happen.

The film will be shown in selected cinemas from early next year to introduce a new audience to the joy of making. It will cover the five ages of (wo)man; Birth & Childhood, Teenage Years, Adult Life, Ageing & Retirement, Death & Beyond.
It’s your story so send us your photos, your films, and most importantly your knitting; anything that reflects the incredible imagination and stories of our knitted world and which reminds you of a stage from your life. We are looking for submissions from all ages and backgrounds, the full spectrum - nothing is too weird or wonderful to be included!

Find out how you can get involved below. If you have any queries email knit1@craftclub.org.uk or visit the Craft Club website

We look forward to seeing your life in stitches!
How to get involved

Send your knitted, crocheted or hand-stitched items by 18 November to: Crafts Council, Craft Club Film, 44a Pentonville Road, London, N1 9BY.

Or bring them along to one of the Craft Club events this autumn

You can also upload photos and film clips to the Craft Club website

While they can’t send your items back, we will have a display of them at the release of the film.

WI subscription early renewal reminder.

Your WI Subscription will need renewing in January.
Our WI year runs January to December.
Membership for 2012 will cost £31.50 NFWI announced this about a week ago.

As usual you can either pay Jane in cash or by cheque.
Otherwise we will enable you to pay online using paypal.
We will update the price on our blog shortly.

Websites of the month.

Absolutely super food site simplyrecipes.com

Quite a nice concept website www.kindessgirl.com Oprah reviewed it. Basically its a site set up by a lady who tries to constantly pay forward good deeds.

If you shop using Amazon if you go through this link to Amazon then a 5% donation is made to a charity called Voluntary Care Centre.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/?&tag=wwwvoluntaryc-21&linkCode=wsw

If you are interested in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) then check out
we are hoping to have a talk about this next year based on the interest shown in the Reiki & Aromatherapy talk from July this year.
http://www.laughingmatters.co.uk/

When trying to find the link to the recipes from Valentine Warner cooks the sixties which was shown on the Yesterday Channel earlier this week but failing miserably to actually find that information managed to find this instead which is a list of food shopping vouchers. We are presuming this list is updated each week. And so we are passing it onto all of you.
http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/7447

Last website is www.seefilmfirst.com sometimes there is the opportunity to as the name suggests see films first and see the films for free. You need to register but it costs nothing so might be worth doing if you like going to the cinema.

Hope you are all well

See you soon
Claude & Kate

LWWI Secretaries

Addendum to September D4D email and meeting announcements.

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Announcements from september 20th LWWI meeting for those that missed the meeting.

British Museum community preview afternoon Sunday 2nd October, to see Grayson Perry exhibition.
We will see it before it opens to the general public.

Pls let us know if you wish to attend as soon as possible as I shall request tickets tomorrow.
So far we have Diana, Vee, Kate, Helena,Denise, Jane all wishing to attend.
NB We do not know what time slot we will be allocated but it will be between 2pm and 5pm

Free Tea and VouchersJane has some PG vouchers and free tea bags which she brought to the meeting, we will put them out again at the next meeting for those interested.

Free BITE Cards
I brought some BITE cards which get you a 20% discount at various food outlets within train stations.
I have lots and left some in the locker which we will also put out next meeting.

The card never expires and its worth carrying one in your wallet if you travel by train and get peckish whilst waiting at the station. Can be used Nationwide.

There is a book club at St George's meeting next on 5th October at 7PM - All welcome.
The book is from the Booker short list it is: The sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
Barnes tackles the disappointments of ageing, the slipperiness of memory and the intensity of youthful experience, as narrator Tony remembers his brilliant schoolfriend Adrian and his difficult first girlfriend Veronica. The bequest of a diary puts all his comfortable certainties into question. (thanks Guardian for the synopsis)

We meet in the Vestry Hall (same room as the WI) on the first Wednesday of the month, glasses of wine available.
Last meeting they read Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac, which generated a wide range of views and a lively conversation.

October meeting - Women and Iranian Art
Don't forget David Gleeson is coming to LWWI October meeting to talk about women and Iranian Art. He will be showing us lots of lovely images via a projector.

Vacancy at St George's
There is a job at St George's for 15 hours a week at London Living Wage, pls see St George's website or contact the office directly beneath where we meet in the upper vestry hall. The website address is http://www.stgeorgesbloomsbury.org.uk/notices.htm

Calais trip - November
There is a trip to Calais organised through the Brunswick for £30 at the beginning of November. If you wish to attend pls email us or speak to Jane who is organising tickets for this event.

Job vacancies with ACWW
Pls see attachments with 3 interesting job vacancies NFWI contacted us about and asked us to pass on to our members. As you can't see them via blog we can email them to you.

Interviews are next week so don't hang around.

Second Free Concert invitation at Purcell Room in October.
Allison Battye has kindly sent us the following invitation to attend a free harp recital.
I would also like to offer tickets to a harp recital that I am organising at the Purcell Room on 13th October 2011 at 7.15pm. The harpist is Maria Krushevskaya, currently principal harpist with the Bolshoi Ballet, and a sought after soloist, who won the Gold medal at the USA International Harp Competition. The tickets are free, and if anyone is interested, they can contact me on 0207 928 8451, allison@holywell.co.uk, or allison_battye@hotmail.com.

Urgent Appeal for Help - Situation rectified.
Ladies thank you so much for those of you who responded to my request on September 22nd, the lady concerned has found suitable accommodation until October 1st. She has asked me to express her sincere gratitude for your speedy responses and kind words.

Last but not least Open House weekend - 18th of September
Not quite the success we had hoped for although lots of interested enquires about the WI from the event. Phoenix Garden financially was much for successful an event for us. But its good to do things for our local community.

See you all in October, we suspect D4D email for October will now be very short

Kate & Claude

LWWI Secretaries

LWWI had an amazingly successful day at Phoenix Gardens this year.

2011-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Gardens - September 2011

London Westend WI and Women at the Well took stalls at the Phoenix Gardens Festival on September 3rd. Both parties reported having a most successful day selling to and meeting the public.

Two of the Nuns from "Women at the Well."

Wi Bunting.

Special thanks go out to the following bakers and producers of food:
Jane, Denise, Viv, Helena, Selina, Jennifer M, Maria Pedro, Diana, Kate Charles, Wendy

And to the following people who manned the stall:
Kate, Selina, Diana, Helena, Jennifer M, Jane, Kate Charles.

Special Thanks to Kate M for co-ordinating this and setting up the stall.

We had a fantastic selection of food including:
Beautiful cupcakes, Selina red velvet were very popular as were the straight chocolate cupcakes and Jennifer M's decorated cupcakes as well as Helena's lemon and coffee cupcakes. Kate Charles brought a welcome replenishment of cupcakes later in the day, she supplied orange chocolare, beetroot chocolate and tutti fruiti cupcakes.

Also big sellers were the flapjacks (plain, chocolate and cinnamon)

There were a lucky few who got to taste the delighful large cakes made by Viv and Denise. They looked amazing.

Selina's ginger cake was super gingery I am told and was scrumptious.

We had a huge amount of brownies which all sold really well as did our jams, chutneys, curds and marmalades. Which were all very popular and saw a return of many customers from the previous year reporting how much they had enjoyed them last year.

The bunting as you can see from the pictures looked great.

Well done one and all. Thank you to everyone who came and bought from us. Thank you also to members who donated produce and did not request reimbursement for their ingredients.

We raised about 400 pounds we think which should hopefully cover a number of month's rent for LWWI.

Can you help LWWI with afternoon tea at Open House at St Georges?

2011-09-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Dear members,

Can you help with afternoon tea at Open House at St Georges?

2 - 5pm St Georges Vestry Hall (our meeting room) on Sunday the 18th September.

I know many of you did a magnificent job at Phoenix Gardens Fair last week end - we made around £400! thank you, but we still need to raise a bit more to pay the rent. We promise we won't ask you again for this sort of help until next year.

If you missed out on sharing your culinary or cake serving skills then this is your chance.

Please let me know if you can:
a) Bring something you have baked.
b) Come and help serve tea/coffe/cake.

We have lots of jam and marmalade left over from Phoenix Gardens so baked stuff is what we need.

Open House is a London wide event where interesting buildings open their doors to the public.

Please email me: helena.roden@o2.co.uk preferably, or call me on 07973 499 881.

I live around the corner from St Georges so if you need to drop stuff off earlier in the week, you can.
Thanks
Helena

September 2011 - Dates for the Diary

2011-09-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Ladies
I have a day by day calendar called Mottos for Success. And the thought for the day over the weekend was: One secret to Victory is the Never Twins - Nevergiveup and Nevergivein, which I thought was quite inspiring.
At times when things seem quite bleak and at times I think they do for everyone, it is hard to remember but important to hold onto such powerful but true statements.

Changing tack completely as we did not have flower arranging as planned for our August LWWI meeting, I thought I would share with you that in WI Life this month (page 55) there is the opportunity to get a free step by step guide to flower arranging on DVD. You just have to pay the postage which is £1.99
Speaking of WI Life there is a cookery competition in the magazine on page 8, draw closes at the end of the month.
A competition to visit Highclere Castle which is the setting for ITV's Downton Abbey. Draw closes on 14.09.2011 so do have a peak in your Wi Life.
There are also details about a free fitness event at Denman College in September, news about a series of offers open to WI members and a reminder about the Jam festival/competition run annually by the WI full details available at http://www.thewirealjamfestival.com/
Now onto business.

Phoenix gardens was on Saturday September 3rd.
The weather promised to be and was indeed lovely.

Many Thanks to all those who came and staffed the stall and/or baked.

We have made enough for about 4 months rent at the very least.

More details about our success at PG in the October D4D email.

Open House - Sunday September 18th at St George's.
LWWI have been asked by the vicar to provide tea and coffee and cake during Open House Weekend when St George's will be open.

If you are interested in helping or baking please email Londonwestendwi@gmail.com and we let us know.

Once again costs will be refunded upon production of receipts.

VAC courses
Ladies, Camden are running a series of courses we thought some of you might be interested in.
Courses are one day or one afternoon and cover such topics as letter writing, grant applications, community facebook pages, producing e-newletters, etc if you wish to attend any of these courses for the benefit of LWWI please let us know, we will send you as many details as we have about the courses and LWWI will pay your fees.

LWWI September meeting - Tuesday 20th September
"September 20th meeting is a discussion with James Dellow, the senior youth worker from Dragon Hall Youth Group who took a party of local youngsters to help clean up the streets following the riots and has some interesting ideas to share with the WI"
It appears the recent unrest has provoked a lot of soul searching and we are happy to announce our current President of LWWI Heather also went cleaning up the streets post riots and her husband Peter is going to volunteer at Dragon Hall with the youth group.
We suspect James will have a number of ideas of how we might all better engage in our local community.

Reminder about October LWWI speaker
Don't forget we have Diana's friend David coming in to talk to us about Women and Iranian Art in October.

The rest of the planned programme for the year was listed in August's dates for the diary email. But will be repeated in next month's DFD email.

WI office holders role courses
If you would be interested in taking up a formal office holder position within the WI please be aware that NFWI are running a series of courses helping office holders/potential office holders understand more fully the role and responsibilities involved. If you wish are interested in attend or wish for further details please email londonwestendwi@gmail.com

LWWI Brighton trip
An enjoyable day was had by one and all who attended, a few pictures fromthe day are available now on the blogspot.

More pictures will be uploaded to our photographic gallery as they come in.

LWWI Canterbury trip
Don't forget those who are attending the canterbury trip on Thursday 15th of September that the coach, (which is large and yellow and will have "Empress" emblazoned across the front,) will be departing from Bedford Way which is the North (SOAS/Birbeck) End of Russell Square at 9AM.
Jane will be at the coach from about 8:30 and should be contacted if you are having an issues on the day.
For those involved we will send out a reminder closer to the time.

LWWI are busy planning more trips for 2012 so watch this space.

Publishing/Printing contacts?
Kate and I are working on a little project and would like to maybe investigate the possibility of getting it published for the benefit of LWWI and so we wondered if any of you have any publishing/printing contacts that you would not mind sharing with us. If you contact us privately we will explain further what we are doing. Thanks.

WI Birthday Library Action Day - 16 September 2011
The 16 September 2011 marks the 96th anniversary of the first WI meeting. Many members have already started to take action on the Love Your Libraries campaign and as a next step, in recognition of the continued importance of the WI ’s early vision to widen educational opportunities and the long-standing commitment of WI members to promote libraries, we are asking members to celebrate this year’s WI birthday by taking the simple step of checking a book out of your local library.
At the heart of our campaign is the belief that libraries continue to be an important resource. They are often at the centre of communities and as well as providing access to knowledge and information, they often deliver a broad range of local services and act as a wider community resource. Love Your Libraries is about celebrating libraries and the WI ’s anniversary provides an opportunity for members to demonstrate just how important libraries are, and how easy they are to use.
In true celebratory style, you might even want to talk to your library about holding a stall outside and give out WI birthday cakes to encourage members of the public to support their local libraries.
You could also invite people to sign the WI ’s Love Your Libraries petition and use the WI ‘library card’ postcard to tell the Minister responsible for public libraries just why the library service is so important.
Postcards will be available from the NF WI from the middle of August and samples will be sent out to WI s in the August mailing.
You can place additional orders with Emma Lindsay (telephone, 020 7371 9300 ext 213 or email, e.lindsay@nfwi.org.uk). Please continue to let us know about your activities on libraries.

Craft Club - London Evening Training events
I particularly want to bring to your attention the London event on Wednesday16th November as it has been designed for your London ladies, many of whom will be working during the day.
The event will be held at the V&A Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London and starts at 6.30pm till 8.30pm with the offer of a glass of wine and some nibbles! Please remember that the training events are free and as WI members, your ladies can claim for their travel expenses to attend. One of the workshops will be given by Rachael Matthews and Louise Harries, self-styled ‘maverick urban knitters’, who own and run a yarn shop in Bethnal Green called ‘Prick your Finger’ so a whole new aspect of the world of knitting will be opening up to spark your imagination for your own Craft Clubs! In order to book, your ladies should visit http://craftclubtraininglondon.eventbrite.com .
We anticipate a huge demand for Craft Clubs across the London region schools and would be grateful if you could encourage as many members as possible to take part. Ladies will receive a training manual on the night and, when they register to hold a Club, will be supplied with free materials e.g. handbooks, bags, stickers and certificates for all the students. Another Craft event which might be of interest to your members is the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace on 6-9 October 2011.
The Learning Curve offers a fantastic opportunity for visitors to learn new skills and to top up the knowledge they already have with regular short talks by renowned crafters while The Upcycling Academy, features Barley Massey (Fabrications), The Street Style Surgery, Craft Guerilla, TRAID and War on Want among others who will offer visitors of all ages the opportunity to work with recycled materials and create fantastic new garments.
Pat Lumsdale and I hope to see your ladies there! I do have some promotional leaflets for volunteers so if you would like me to send you some, get back to me with your postal address.
RegardsLesley Lesley S Quirk
Special Projects Co-ordinator: Centenary Projects – Mondays : Craft Clubs – Tues & Wed : Lets Cook Local – Thurs & Fri

NFWI Unit, Denman College, Marcham, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 6NW

T: 01865 391788 ext. 239 : Fax: 01865 391908 : E:l.quirk@nfwi-unit.org.uk http://www.thewi.org.uk/

Vote for Phoenix Garden
The BA has always been supporting of the work done at Phoenix Garden in providing a unique 'haven of tranquility' in the centre of the hustle and bustle of St Giles.

Please follow the link and give them your support by voting for them for this award.

http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/GreenFlagAwardSites/London/Default.aspx?parkID=1191

'Devi: The Goddess and the Modern Indian Woman' - October 2011 at SOAS.

We have been informed about a series of lectures at SOAS about Devi and the modern Indian woman, which should most interesting.

Knit for peace
We are a voluntary organisation called Knit for Peace who works with a range of communities, bringing them together through setting up knitting and crochet groups. So far we have worked with local faith communities, women’s prisons and universities. We have discovered that by coming together around something as apparently neutral as knitting for other people we can create an environment where people start to discover what they have in common, even if at first it is just the knitting.
After the recent disturbances we have been thinking about what small contribution we might make to helping communities rebuild themselves. Last week we set up tables and chairs in the street outside our offices and invited people to come and sit down and Knit for Peace. We were really encouraged by the response we got – people smiled, sat down for a chat and knitted with us – we taught three people to knit, even getting one of the local police officers involved.
We thought it might be good to organise similar events in other places and thought of you in the WI as the perfect people to approach about maybe holding a joint event in your area to put the smiles back on people’s faces and make a small contribution to bringing back a sense of community.
What do you think?
If you think this is something that you would be interested in doing please get in touch. Alternatively if you would like to know more about our work generally I would be delighted to come to one of your meetings and tell you all about it. I attended Wood Green WI about six months ago and had a lovely evening talking about Knit for Peace and the current knitting scene and having a bit of a knitting teach in.
Here is a link to our website and blog to give you a bit of a flavour of what we do.
http://www.charitiesadvisorytrust.co.uk/knitForPeace

http://knitforpeacecat.blogspot.com/
Best wishes

Jane Lithgow, Knit for Peace Project Manager, Charities Advisory Trust, Radius Works, Back Lane, London, NW3 1HL, Telephone: 0207 794 9835

Mary Wollstonecraft memorial appeal.
Newington Green Action Group has now launched its campaign to raise funds for a memorial to Mary Wollstonecraft on Newington Green, London N16

Since the launch the campaign has gained the support of over 70 MP’s and peers & the TUC and has featured on BBC Women’s Hour.

I was wondering if you could help us to spread the word as far as possible and include our campaign news in any newsletter you may be sending out to your membership . If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Many thanks,

Alex Allardyce, Newington Green Action Group
Find out more or to donate visit website: http://www.maryonthegreen.org/

First Free Concert invitation
Dr. Linda Thomas LThomas@yakult.co.uk wrote to us to invite us to a series of concerts. Full details below.

Dear Madam

My name is Dr Linda Thomas and I Science Director for the probiotic company Yakult in the UK.
I am contacting you because we have been involved with the WI before - nutritionists in the science team have given educational talks to groups around the UK.
I thought your members may be interested to know that we are hosting a celebration concert on Monday 3rd October in the Royal Festival Hall, featuring Lesley Garrett and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to which we are inviting a range of guests: e.g. customers, medical and scientific researchers we are involved with, other supporters, etc. As part of our company philosophy, we have allocated some tickets to charities and organisations of our choice.

This was why I am contacting you – if any of your members would like to come to this concert, please contact me as soon as possible, letting me know how many free tickets you would like (and of course, where to send them).
It is first come, first served – I need to know soon as we are currently allocating the remaining tickets.
Looking forward to hearing from you, Best wishes Linda Linda Thomas PhD
FIFSTScience Director, Yakult UK Ltd. Yakult UK Ltd., Artemis, Odyssey Business Park, West End Road, South Ruislip, Mddx HA4 6QE. LThomas@yakult.co.uk www.yakult.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 8842 7617 Fax: +44 (0)20 8839 3250 Mobile: +44(0) 7968 175903

Second Free Concert invitation at Purcell Room in October.
Allison Battye has sent us thefollowing invitation to attend a free harp recital.

I would also like to offer tickets to a harp recital that I am organising at the Purcell Room on 13th October 2011 at 7.15pm. The harpist is Maria Krushevskaya, currently principal harpist with the Bolshoi Ballet, and a sought after soloist, who won the Gold medal at the USA International Harp Competition. The tickets are free, and if anyone is interested, they can contact me on 0207 928 8451, allison@holywell.co.uk, or allison_battye@hotmail.com.

Many thanks for keeping me informed of your activities, and I hope that the concert will be of interest to some of the members.
Kind regards
Allison

Volunteering opportunity with a small central London charity
Dear London West End WI,
I am sending this to the contact email I find on your website. I am the Administrator for a small charity in central London, we use music as a tool to help homeless people move forward in their lives – we build confidence, self-esteem, social networks, skills, creativity and enjoyment.
We run two programmes: a music Workshop Programme in 11 homeless centres nationally and Professional Productions which involve our performers working alongside top professionals.
In just ten years, Streetwise has grown into a nationally recognised charity with bases across the country and winner of a number of major awards in the arts and homelessness sectors.
We are presently looking for volunteers to help out in a variety of ways including Theatre Trips, Public Performances, Fundraising Events and Workshops and our volunteers have the opportunity to gain skills and experience in the following areas:Working alongside vulnerable adults

Relevant training, Managing large groups, Health and safety awareness, Further knowledge of opera.
We are a dynamic, friendly organisation and our activities present interesting challenges for all involved, whilst also being great fun. I think we can offer some great opportunities for WI members to help a really deserving arts charity.
Would you be able to forward this email on to WI members or inform them about the possibilities of volunteering with us? You can find out more about us at our website: http://www.streetwiseopera.org/ Anybody who is interested can contact me on this email. Best regards,Nicholas Nicholas BartlettAdministratorPhone 020 7495 3133www.streetwiseopera.org

Oxfam interested in working with London based WI's
SCorbett@oxfam.org.uk wrote:
Dear London West End WI
I hope you are all well and happy.
My name is Sarah and I work for Oxfam supporting groups and individuals to campaign with Oxfam to eradicate poverty and suffering in the world (just a small job!) whilst feeling part of a regional movement of changemakers in London and the South East. I was wondering if you would like to work together to campaign and raise awareness of global poverty issues through Oxfam and WI campaigns we work on together nationally such as Mums Matter and Women Reaching Women or other campaigns.
You seem very organised with planning and booking your workshops, I hope I haven't contacted you too late
I have good links with the Shoreditch Sisters. Outside of work I run the Craftivist Collective so have worked with them on their Embroideries project and will be working with them in future on both craftivism and Oxfam campaigning projects. I am passionate about campaigning, crafting and would love to support you with presentations, creative campaign workshops or even a book club night- there are so many possibilities! :) It would be great to work with you and if our sessions together work well we could invite other WIs to join in or I could deliver similar workshops/talks/activities to other WIs (I am currently working with Norwich WI as well as Shoreditch Sisters).
Oxfam are currently campaigning on two themes:

A campaign called GROW - looking at how to fix the broken food system. There are four pillars to this campaign: climate change, the scandal of land grab activities, encouraging and supporting small-scale farming and campaigning on food price volatility. We launched this campaign on 1st June with Picnics across the country.

Health and Education: this year we are focusing on defending the 0.7 aid budget and teaching the public about what 'aid' is.
But the above does not limit you on what we can help with.
I would love to work with you on engaging your groups and wider community about injustices happening to our global brothers and sisters. I would love to have a chat with you about what you think we could do together. Some ideas I have:

All of the WI's I know love making jam so why don't we make Tomato Jam and talk about the issues of women effected by climate change (see the attached).
We could give jam to our politicans, do a stunt at Westminster where we hand out jam sandwiches to politicians before they go into work. Have jam parties.

We could make petition bunting to deliver to your local politican (see here for an example I led on)

We could make a patchwork petition (see here for an example I led on)

I could deliver talks on particular issues you care about

I could deliver workshops on particular issues you care about

Book club session- we could all read a book that talks about an injustice issue and discuss it

We could link in with the local Oxjam team and do something at their gigs if you are interested in that film nights on development issues (not boring films I promise! Food Inc is a very good film)

'Letters for Lives' letter writing night where we write personalised letters to our MPs, particular companies or leave them for people to find on an issue we care about.

Anything else you think fits with your audience
I would rather meet up to discuss the above and hear if and how you think we could work together than bore you with a list of ideas. Are you free at all from 31st August to meet and discuss? I can meet you wherever and whenever works for you.
Best wishes and keep up the amazing work!

Sarah

Website of the month
I came across this website the other day and was so impressed by it that I thought it might inspire some us in the kitchen.
http://foodmadewithlove.wordpress.com

See you all soon

If you wish to get in touch with us about anything please feel free to do so,
Claude & Kate (LWWI Secretaries)

Brighton pictures from LWWI day trip.

2011-08-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

August 2011 - Dates for the Diary

2011-08-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies

I have been in the kitchen this week for the first time in months

I obviously had been going in there daily if only to feed my kittens but not really to indulge in my joy of making preserves much.

But I made this hot spicy sauce the other day which smelt so lovely HRH at home started complaining as soon as he smelt it his mouth started watering. Infact its become a bit of a Pavlovian response where he thinks about the sauce and his mouth starts watering. It became so funny today I took pity on him cracked open a jar, bought him some chips and allowed him to indulge.

So I thought I might share a quick and simple chilli sauce with you.

This makes enough to dip chips in not enough to bottle and is not necessarily one of my favourites but its pretty simple

I will pop it at the bottom of this email

16th August 2011 LWWI meeting - Flower Arranging
We are having a table display flower arranging session in August for our LWWI meeting with the delightful Maggie, who is once again over from the US. Last years talk was very well attended and enjoyed by those present. Maggie will also be imparting some of her top-tips like how to pick the best flowers and how to maintain flowers for the longest time possible.

20th September LWWI meeting- Gardening & Drinks
Kate and I were discussing what we should do in September and Jane suggested we have a gardening session in September like last year but Kate has countered this suggestion with the idea of a gardening and cocktail party.

As such I also enclose below 2 easy non alcoholic drinks recipes to get you all in the mood.
I had a bit of a hunt around and thought about what I would like to share with you all, as Kate and I are aware we only have a few more months until we stop being secretaries. And ironically because of this I have so much I want to share with you all in Dates for the Diary.

Saloni & her July talk about animal healing therapy.
Saloni who gave a lovely talk last month about reiki and other therpaies for animals has sent us list of what each rescue remedy does. I attached this to the emailed version of Dates for the Diary. If you want to see it but didn't get this email please contact us via londonwestendwi@gmail.com and we will pass it on to you. The link to the pictures of her talk are here https://picasaweb.google.com/102427438962228048804/AnimalHealingTalkOnJuly192011#
For those who missed her talk I have recorded and uploaded some of it to our web space, address being..... http://www.youtube.com/user/LondonwestendWI

LWWI Programme for the Rest of the Year 2011.

Provisionally this is the programme for the rest of the year
September 2011Gardening & cocktail party (weather permitting) or a talk about Bell Ringing

October 2011
Diana has suggested we have a talk from a lovely man called David Gleeson

'David Gleeson is a freelance media consultant and art writer originally from Lincoln, now based in central London . He worked for more than eight years at the Whitechapel Gallery, as Information/Front of House Coordinator and also as Press Officer. He has also worked as an exhibition curator and a freelance journalist whose art criticism has been published in the UK , Europe, USA , Canada and Russia . Recent consultancy work has included exhibition, music and theatre venues as well as commissions from individual artists and projects. A member of the Advisory Board of the international touring exhibition The Missing Peace, he is also an advisor for the Modesto Art Museum of California. Over the last year he has curated two exhibitions of Iranian contemporary art in London: 'From Tehran to London' at Jill George Gallery, Soho (May-June 2010) and 'Breakfast in Tehran' at Frameless Gallery, Clerkenwell (June 2011). Since 2006 he has made four trips to Iran, the last being in January this year.'

He can be contacted via dgleeson@live.co.uk

David's talk on October 18th meeting will be Iranian Women and Contemporary Iranian Art

This promises to be most insightful

November 2011
Our annual AGM will be held in November as usual. Please do come along to have your voice heard, to elect a new committee and new President and secretaries for LWWI. This will be followed by another alcohol tasting arranged and led by Heather our departing President. Please do come along as this evening we hope will be very special.

I am saying no more about it than that for now. If you would like to join the committee don't be shy do step forward its a chance to help move LWWI forward into the future and if you would like a formal officer position once again do feel free to nominate yourself.

December 2011
We thought it might be nice to have a quiz night, we had one 2 years ago to celebrate the end of the year and that had proved quite popular. Jane is a Quiz Wiz if I remember rightly so it might be worth trying to get on her team ;-)

LWWI Summer Day Trips
Brighton trip for those who have booked and paid for it is on Thursday 18th of August 2011

And the Canterbury trip for those who have booked and paid for it is on Thursday 15th of September.
If anyone else would like to go on either of these trips, contact Nick Ricorn from the Friends of Russell Square 020 7404 8368 as there may be some spare tickets left.

Phoenix Gardens - Saturday 3rd September
Kate, bless her, has agreed to take on the coordination of our efforts at Phoenix gardens.

Kate has asked if we can perhaps form an online group to work on this so everyone is in the loop. Thank you Selina has already volunteered to help with this.If you would like to be involved (making cakes, jams etc) please contact Kate at londonwestendwi.co.uk, we will also be having a quick 'Fair' meeting after our usual meeting on the 16th

Its on Saturday 3rd of September, which seems ages away but believe me it is not.

I have a few pots of chilli jam made hence HRH and his food cravings and have dropped off some apple and lavendar conserve already

But we will need some more preserves and cakes. (Cost of ingredients on production of a receipt can be reclaimed)

Chris Raeburn who is organising Phoenix Gardens Agricultural show & fayre said the following:

The Phoenix Garden will be holding the 3rd Phoenix Garden Agricultural Show & St. Giles Fayre on Saturday 3rd September in The Phoenix Garden and St Giles churchyard. This year the attractions include;Kidsrome Mobile Farm, Fulham Brass Band, London Pride Morris Dancers, The St Giles Bellringers, Punch & Judy. The Show Market Stalls.

Open House
Open House is on Sunday 18th of September

The Vicar has asked if we will help serve tea and bake cakes and has offered to split the proceeds raised with us.

Ceilidh
There will be a ceilidh at 7.30pm at the 7 Dial's Club on Friday 19th August, tickets are £10 each and can be booked by contacting www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk or ringing 020 7240 6283

Knit and Natter on 6th of September at Seven Dials Club
We are renaming sewing circle/group to knit and knatter.

We usually have our committee meetings at sewing group on the first Tuesday of the month and would ideally like to have one bi monthly so definitely one in September and possibly in October also.

Do come along if you would like to work on something crafty, you don't have to knit or sew infact we often just make bunting or cut material. Its a nice way to keep in touch if you missed a meeting or if you want to get to know people better as sometimes its a bit frantic at the formal LWWI monthly meetings.

LWWI subscription
Please try and ensure you have paid for your LWWI membership for 2011, you can do this in person by paying Jane at the meetings otherwise you can do this online using paypal button at the bottom of the blog.

Please note we LWWI only get to keep about one third of the money you pay for your subscription and this money we spend on our rent of St George's. So it is vitally important people pay their subscription or their £3 visitor fees if they have previously attended a LWWI meeting.

Please also note if you are a potential new member you can join LWWI for 2012 from November 2011 and your subscription will expire in December 2012.

We will make this available online closer to the time

Great British Bake Off
Begins Tuesday 16th August on BBC, don't forget to set your video or catch it on iplayer. Last year's series was fabulous.

Phoenix Gardens
Many of you know Phoenix Gardens, that lovely 'oasis of peace' behind Centre Point where the annual Fair the first Saturday in September is held

Please click this link and vote for the Phoenix Garden in the Green Flag Award's Peoples Choice, and pass this on to anyone else you know -

http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/GreenFlagAwardSites/London/Default.aspx?parkID=1191
Thanks Kate & Claude

Surrey Federation sent us the following
Hi, ladies,
Attached is a flyer advertising our 'This is Jam Hot' event happening on the 21st September 2011. We'd like to try and swell the numbers from last year's choir event where we had 55 ladies singing a three-piece harmony - beautifully I might add! We'd love you to join us in our new venue at Shalford Infant School to make an even bigger noise, and we are throwing in a few simple dance moves this time for the more energetic. Bucks Fizz suddenly sprang to mind then although actually I think it will just be hand waving and hip wiggling but feel free to bring your velcro-fastening skirts!!

Please come, we'd love to see you again. Please let us know in advance if you'd like to come so that we can reserve you a place as numbers are limited.
The Jam Free girls x
P.S Please could you email this flyer to your members/anyone who you think might like to come.

R² Proofreading , 9 Old Farm Road, Guildford , GU1 1QN
01483 533895 07890 800035 http://www.r2proofreading.co.uk/

NFWI campaign - Action for Prisioners Families
The NFWI is working with Action for Prisoners Families on a creative writing project about journeys to prison. As part of this, the NFWI is inviting interested members to make the journey from their home to a prison and write about their experience of making this journey.

The written pieces produced by members will then be published in a collection, to mark the 21st anniversary of Action for Prisoners Families. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the experiences of families who have relatives in prison.

Jenny one of our members is taking part in the project, please get in contact if you would like more details about this.

Many Thanks
VCC now has over 25 friends/likes on facebook and so it is so much easier to find online.

It is also signed up to justtext giving which I think we at LWWI should join as so far its brought in about £100 a month to VCC, since it started its text campaign.

Website of the Month
Oh so many lovely sites this month so I shall nominate a few.

If anyone else has come across some they want to share do get in touch and I will pop them up for next month.

www.coffeeandroses.blogspot.com

www.supersavvyme.com

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/

*Recipes as promised below.*
Dipping Chilli Sauce

1 clove garlic chopped

1 red chilli inc seeds chopped ( i have been growing my own in the garden this year, go on call me Alan Titchmarsh or should that be Nigel Slater, if you have no red or use green. if you have neither add maybe a teaspoon of some crushed chilli flakes)

50g ideally caster sugar (but if you have brown or granulated it should be fine)

2-3 tbsp of vinegar (they suggest white wine but I only had some cider vinegar so used that, use what you have basically)

Boil and simmer and it should reduce by half then pour into a dish to cool

This all takes about 10 mins or so.

I like to add a little mixed herbs (rebel that I am)

Refreshing cranberry water

Handful of ice

500mls of tap or chilled sparking water

2 Good spoonfulls/handfulls of frozen cranberries

(Pop all in a blender and whizz to a slush then pour into a glass)

Tropical water

500ml fizzy water

Again a handful of ice

2 Good spoonfulls/handfulls of frozen tropical fruit.

(Place fruit and ice in blender, whizz to a slush, add water then pout into a glass)

Well That's all for now folks, see you soon
Kate & Claude
(LWWI Secretaries)
--
londonwestendwi@gmail.com

http://www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com/

1st Tuesday of the month Committee meeting & Sewing Group at Seven Dials.
3rd Tuesday of the month WI meeting at Upper Vestry Hall, St. Georges, Little Russell Street, London, WC1

Please arrive after 6:00PM for 6:30PM Start.

July 2011 - Dates for the Diary email

2011-07-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies

Life sometimes makes you change your mind

I was watching Tenko recently and Dr Beatrice Mason began singing Jerusalem and this sparked me in me a number of memories of events that I connect with the WI.

A few months ago we had a query from a potential member keen to join but she expressed concern that she would be expected to sing Jerusalem at the meeting. Well this amused both I and my fellow WI secretary and reminded us that we are not as sterotypical as non members perceive us to be. Not that we didn't one month have a meeting where we had a singing tutor come in and try to encourage us to find our voice and sing out as loud as we might as if no one else were listening.

It is interesting for us at LWWI to meet other WI's especially when we are in Covent Garden. I think our cultural, ethnic and age demographic are a surprise to some. Personally shortly after I finally worked up the courage to join LWWI I won tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show and went with Kate (who is as some of you know my fellow secretary), there are some aspects of that day that will remain between to the two of us but we had a lovely day and it really bonded us together and we sat in the sun in some deck chairs and discovered although on paper we are different that we share a love of Tenko.

I think the lovely thing about WI is that you meet people you might not otherwise get to know and you are open to opportunities that you might not otherwise find. I personally am very glad I joined and remind myself of this fact when I am up well past midnight the night before we are due to take a table at various fundraising events in London.

Back to business. we hope you are all enjoying the summer and we look forward to seeing/hearing from you soon. If you do want to get in touch do so via londonwestendwi@gmail.com.

See you soon

Claude & Kate

Saloni Kapur will be coming to talk to us about Reiki & Energy Healing on Tuesday 19th for our July WI meeting.

Saloni writes:
My main focus is on working with animals, but it is usually the case that the emotions of companion animals are closely linked to those of their humans and it can be very helpful to offer healing to both the animal and humans in their family. If this is not done, then the animal/human who is receiving healing may find that they feel better temporarily, but their energy is drained again when they interact with other family members who are in the original emotional state that the healee was in before their session. So yes, I'm happy to offer healing to humans and their animals; I think that's a holistic approach.

Saloni's talk promises be very interesting

Saloni has further asked us to add:

At this month's talk, Saloni will be discussing reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique and the Bach flower remedies and their applications for animals.

Saloni Kapur is a certified Energy Animal Therapist who offers healing sessions for animals in London to help them regain a sense of balance - emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically. Energy healing can help animals who are timid, those who are depressed or in grief, those who suffer from panic attacks when they are separated from their humans, those who become aggressive when they are fearful, as well as those who are recovering from illness, surgery or an injury, or are nearing death. Saloni mainly uses reiki - a hands-on energy healing system - as well as Emotional Freedom Technique and the Bach flower remedies. Saloni has a Diploma in Energy Healing for Animals and is a Level 2 Reiki Practitioner. Saloni has two dogs of her own - a labrador called Raunak and an Indian mongrel, Rufus.

Her email address is: saloni_k@hotmail.com and her website address is: www.salonikapur.webs.com

Don't forget if you would like to bring refreshments to share with fellow members at our monthly we would appreciate it very much. Juice, wine, cake, biscuits, dips, nibbles, fruit, crisps etc all most suitable.

WI Life Articles from current edition

Incase you have not got your WI life yet there are couple of interesting things in this edition:

Denman College are trying to encourage members to attend courses there see www.denmancollege.org.uk

NFWI 's Education Committee has secured funding for its Let Cook project, we at LWWI are interested in running some cooking and craft courses and will ourselves be applying for grants to fund these if possible.

Kirtie Allsop has brought attending to the fact B&Q are running DIY classes visit www.diy.com/youcandoitclasses.

WI Real Jam Festivsl returns for 2011. See www.thewirealjamfestival.com

Very intersting opinion regarding the relevancy of Jerusalem being sung by the WI

Interesting piece about Grant Money which is available see following websites: www.awardsforall.org.uk www.lloydstsbfoundations.org.uk www.governmentfunding.org.uk

The NFWI has a Centenary Membership Grant to help WI reach its centenary membership target 250000 members

Plus some gorgeous recipes for cupcakes and alfresco dining.

And finally WI are running s craft competition.

Additional WI summer & autumn Trips
As you may or may not know there was a WI trip to Woburn Abbey and its safari park, we were invited as we are part of the Friends of Russell Square. And we are very grateful for the invitation.

A good time was had by one and all. If you have a peak at the link below you will get a flavour of the day.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1024274389622280488/WoburnAbbey02?authkey=Gv1sRgCPD7_eHJpcDdPQ

The Good news is that there are a number of additional trips being organised.
There is one in August on the 18th to Brighton. It should be all very Bhaji on beach meets Calendar girls in terms of fun and laughter if Woburn Abbey was anything to go by.

There will be an additional trip to Canterbury which will be on Thursday 15th of September

As usual both can be booked via our blog using paypal.. (its at the very bottom of this page)
Its dead easy to do. If you need a guide as to how to book your ticket please do email and we will send a copy of the guide over to you.

Tickets again £12 each inc lunch and coach travel with the lovely Colin and his amusing commentary.
NB Kate has said Canterybury is selling out fast. So do get in touch or buy your tickets online via paypal on the blog if you want to go.

Communtiy Evening View - Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum - Free tickets - Saturday evening 13th August 2011

The BM have invited us to another Community Evening View of Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum, Saturday 13^th August 2011. The exhibition view will take place between 6pm – 9pm (last entry at 8pm), and all community groups who wish to bring group members to view the exhibition are welcome.

The evening will also include:

Divine Conversations - Great Court, 6 – 9pm (drop-in)

PhD student Steph Berns will be exploring how museum visitors engage with objects of faith throughout the evening. Drop-in to this experimental session for the opportunity to hold objects and share your thoughts linked to the Treasures of Heaven exhibition.

Please let us know if you want us to book you a ticket by July 30th. we will then let you know what time slot we have been allocated.

Phoenix Gardens is coming up on the first weekend of September.

I know another plug for Phoenix Gardens. We did really well at this event last year.

Our jam and cakes all sold out in about 2.5 hours so it would be lovely if more members were able to make food for us to sell. Last year after we ran out of produce we then had a 2 hour hiatus whilst members frantically went home to bake additional food.
Helena was a complete star in terms of what she produced whilst we placated the hungry mass of people queueing in front of our stall. And some of us marched through Central London carrying steaming hot food back.

STRAWBERRY TEA - SUPPORT BREAST CANCER CARE CAMPAIGN

Dear President,

I’m talking to several WIs around the country on behalf of Breast Cancer Care to ask for help in raising awareness of our summer Strawberry Tea fundraising campaign, the money from which is vital in helping to sustain free support services and expert information to anyone affected by breast cancer.

While recovery rates are better than ever, the disease is on the rise with 80% of breast cancers occurring in women over the age of 50. In women under the age of 35, breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer.

Fundraiser registrations are currently way down on target, something many charities are experiencing this year, so we need all the additional support we can get. I wondered, is there any possibility of including the campaign in your monthly newsletter or as a news flash on your website? If you would be prepared to email London West End members I attach our campaign PDF that has appeared twice in WI Life magazine. I will also tweet you at @londonwestendwi on the off-chance you can retweet to your followers!

Holding a Strawberry Tea is an easy way to make a big difference - any help you can offer us would be very much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Caroline Sargent

Strawberry Tea project support
caroline.sargent@breastcancercare.org.uk

Dates for the Diary - June 2011. (inc latest amendments)

2011-06-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies very brief dates for the diary this month

LWWI meeting - Tai Chi on Tuesday 21st of June.
Meeting will start as usual at 6:30 at St George's.

Vee one of our memebers is doing T'ai Chi for the June LWWI meeting.
She has emailed the following for all attendees information.

It is better not to eat or drink anything for half an hour prior to a
session and afterwards this recommendation really applies to a
meal or sandwich.

We will however have a cup of tea and a snack during the meeting,
then have a bit of a chat mainly about the principles and the story
of the Form

I am planning to talk everyone through the initial stretches,
accentuating the breathing and then (that would bring us to about
half an hour after snacking) work on the 8 Treasures.
We will be aiming for a good feeling of well being result; and
maybe the opening sequence..... depending on how the time goes
....... and of course we will end with the closing sequence.

I am so looking forward to this......

I would like to add that we shall be doing this barefoot and it
may be a good idea to ask people to bring some warm socks
if the floor is cold.

Vee

Other things of Note:
Woburn Abbey trip on Thursday 23rd of June
There are still spaces and there is still time to book a place via the
paypal button at bottom of the blogspot.

Any queries please contact Kate

Future Reminder
Sewing will be on the first Tuesday of the month.

Don't forget we are planning to be at Phoenix Gardens at the beginning of
September.

Kate has asked me to remind everyone about the Museum of Broken Relationships upcoming event in Covent Garden

Website of the Month
This month not come across one particular website that I have been desperate
to share with you. I quite like this one
http://broadsideblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/would-you-rather-be-productive-or-creative/
and I would also recommend this http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/2011/04/tweeting-jackie-collins/
which I came across when looking at various writers online.

Maybe if we follow one of them they might follow one of us;-)

We do have our own twitter account LondonWestendWI after all.

If you have a moment and a facebook account please can you go this link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Voluntary-Care-Centre/136142989794418?sk=wall and select like as
VCC needs 25 friends in order to make finding its facebook account easier online.
Many Thanks

Claude

I also came across this from website http://www.kissedbyanangel.com/recipe/
which I thought was a nice thought to leave you with this month.

" I have a little recipe that isn't hard to make
But you must always start as soon as you awake.
Take a great big mixing bowl and fill it with a smile
Mix half a cup of sunshine with good deeds to last a while.
Add a pinch of work and play, a pinch of thoughtfulness and care
But don't bake it in the oven, just spread it around everywhere."

May 2011 - Dates for the Diary.

2011-05-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Lovely Ladies.

Its May already how quickly time has moved on. One May Bank Holiday gone, and one more Bank Holiday to look forward to. The sun is shining and spring seems to be moving towards summer finally.

As always you can get in touch with us via londonwestendwi@gmail.com if you have news of us or if you need anything from us.

We are tweeting and have a large number of followers now and post items of interest up on www.twitter.com on our website and on our blogspot both listed at the end of this email.

Two LWWI May meetings on 17th and 19th of May.

We are going to be shown how to begin patchworking on Tuesday 17th of May at St Georges. Helena has very kindly agreed to lead this meeting. She has asked Please can members bring along a piece of cotton material, patterned or plain, an old garment or a length of fabric, nothing too flimsy.

And on Thursday 19th of May Lynne Parker will be talking to us about being the founder of “Funny Women” and “Funny Women Awards” which nurtures and promotes new female talent at 7 Dials Club

Both meetings as usual will begin at 6:30pm. Talks will start at about 7pm.

More from Lynne Parker: Do you know any Funny Women?

They may be colleagues, members of your networks, in your family or a good friend. We’re looking for the next ‘big thing’ in female comedy.

The Funny Women Awards, our annual search for the best new female comedy talent, is now launched for the ninth year running. As the leading female comedy brand in the UK we’re setting the benchmark for women breaking into the industry.

We’re not just interested in regular performers. We meet lots of great funny women through business networking and want to open up this year’s competition to a broader entry base and new audiences. Your best friend could be our 2011 champion!

As some of you know, this isn’t just about competing, it’s also about women working with each other and supporting other women to improve their confidence and achieve their potential. We are really aware of how intimidating the comedy world can be for new acts so we provide a supportive friendly environment at all our heats, showcases, workshops and other events. With our 10th anniversary in sight for next year, we want to attract as many different types of women to enter this year as possible.

For more information about the competition visit http://www.funnywomen.com/awards.php

Please come along and see a heat or two – we also need audiences as much as we do entrants!

Lucy Fell - Documentary photographer wants to come to one of our May meetings as she is documenting the WI in the 21st Century on either 17th or 19th of May.

Please see her email below.

My name is Lucy, I am a documentary photographer, and I am currently researching into doing a project based around the Women's Institute.
I would like to explore the different aspects of the Women's Institute through a photographic documentary piece.

I am extremely interested in looking at the contrast between more traditional WI groups, and others that have been set up which instill more modern and unconventional activities, and ones that also have younger members.

Would your group be interested in myself coming along to a meeting and taking some photographs? Although this is currently only a short term project, I am hoping it will turn into more of a long-term piece, with the hope that it will eventually be exhibited or published bearing it in mind with the Centenery in 2015.

I'd be really interested in coming along to your next meeting on the 17th May! I am hopefully shooting with Goldsmiths WI on the Monday of that week, and have had confirmation with Borough Belles for the Wednesday evening too.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions!

Thank you for your time,

Kind regards,

Lucy

WI Stall at the Brunswick Fayre on Saturday 14th of May

LWWI did brilliantly at the Brunswick Fayre last weekend, They made about £150 which it fantastic.
More details to follow.
Thank You so much to everyone who came along to support the event and who helped out on the day.

WI Swishing Event - 21st May.

NFWI have invited us to a Fashion swapping event aka Swishing.

WI Swishing Event
Saturday 21st May from 1.30pm

Entry £5

St Brides Foundation,

Fleet Street
EC4Y 8EQ

*Bring along up to 5 items to swish*
*Find out about the WI’s Fast Fashion campaign & learn new sewing skills*

Places are available on a first come first served basis, but early registration by emailing
e.lindsay@nfwi.org.uk is essential.

Community Evening at British Museum - Afghanistan exhibition

The British Museum have contacted us to see if we want to apply for tickets for the community evening on May 28th.

We will ask for a few tickets and let you know how many if any we get. Please do let us know if you would like to attend this evening via emailing londonwestendwi@gmail.com. It is expected that the preview will take place between 6pm and 9pm.

Sewing Circle - Tuesday 7th June.

As usual sewing and committee meeting will be held at 7 Dials Club on Tuesday the 7th of June from about 6ish.

Woburn Abbey - June 23rd

Don't forget tickets are still available for Woburn Abbey on June 23rd, it is possible to pay via paypal for these. Tickets are £12

Which includes coach trip, entrance to the house, and a packed lunch
Bloomsbury is part of the Duke of Bedford’s Estate and each year the Friends of Russell Square organise a trip to Woburn Abbey There are 15 places available on a first come first served basis please email Kate know if you would like to go londonwestendwi@gmail.com Bookable via paypal button at the bottom of our blogspot.

Big Tea Party - 5th June - SE23 1HU

If you are interested in volunteering and live in South London and want to attend please email info@voluntarycarecentre.co.uk . Tea Party event will run between 3pm and 5pm and is open to all potential new volunteers and is held as part of National Volunteers Week.

Flower Arranging Course currently planned for July

More concrete details as soon as date is finalised.

Phoenix Gardens - September 3rd September

Please can all bakers put a note in their diary of this date and please can ew have some volunteers to help sell produce. Thanks

Future Things to be aware of.

We will be posting a security article advising our members how to mitigate their exposure to the risk following the recent security incidents that have occured with a number of Big name brands. We will post this article up on the blogspot in the next week or so. Please come back to the blog www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com for this information if interested.

Queen's Jubilee next year

LWWI are thinking about what they might do to celebrate the Queen's Diamond jubilee in 2012 if you have any ideas about what we might do please do get in touch.

Website of the month

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/ which generates anagrams. for example London westend wi becomes winded sonnet owl.

April 2011 - Dates for the diary

2011-04-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies

Apologies for the tardiness of your dates for the diary email and reminder about our WI meeting which is on Tuesday this coming week.

LWWI meeting 19th April.
Our April meeting is on Tuesday 19^th April, when Chris Raeburn the Community Gardener from Phoenix Gardens will be helping us to start creating a garden from the rather bleak and derelict looking courtyard at St Georges. Last year we successfully applied for a grant to do this as part of the WI commitment to ‘greening london’, we had a meeting last September where Chris outlined what his plans were for the courtyard.

As usual our meeting will run from 6pm until 8:30pm. The doors should be opening from about 6ish.

If you could bring some refreshments that you are willing to share with other members present that would be super

Please please please ensure you have paid your membership fee for the year £30, you can do this online otherwise please pay Jane (our brilliant treasurer £3 on the night for each meeting you attend)

***********Latest News**********
Gardening in St Georges Courtyard

Tuesday 26^th April

From 6pm onwards

At Last we can start on Phase 1 in the project to create a garden in the rear courtyard of St Georges-Bloomsbury.

Under the direction of Chris Raeburn the Community Gardener from Phoenix Gardener, we will be painting containers, planting out the rockery etc.

Gardening equipment & brushes, Pimms / soft drinks and Snacks will be provided but bring your own gardening glove.

May WI meetings
Regular May meeting Tuesday 17th May - Craft at St Georges.

Extra WI meeting Thursday 19th May – “Women in Comedy – why women are funny”, at Seven Dials Club. 42 Earlham Street. Covent Garden. We plan to organise one day courses and events later this year and want to “test drive” the facilities.

Food Hygiene Certificates
Certificates for Food Hygiene course should be distributed shortly if you have not got yours already please either speak to Kate or email Londonwestendwi@gmail.com

Grant application
We are looking to see if we can get some extra funding so that we can organise some more subsidised courses. We will let you know any progress we make with these applications.

Jams & Marmalades
No definite date as yet for this due to Bank Holidays etc but we hope to run it at 7 dials and either Claude or Tom will most probably run the course.

Summer course - Flower Arranging
We are hoping to run a one day Flower Arranging course one Sunday in July or August. With the possibility of holding a first ever Flower Arranging Competition at the Phoenix Garden’s Fair in September. More details to follow.

Hope you are all well and Happy Easter incase we don't see you

Claude & Kate

Dates for the Diary - April 2011

Please find attached a request from the Fairtrade Foundation asking for support in their efforts to achieve a bunting world record in conjunction with the WI in May. Please see attached document called Bunting.pdf which more fully explains their joint request of us at London West End WI.

________________________________

Brunswick Centre - Village Fete - WI stall - Saturday May 14th 2011

The Brunswick will be holding its Village Fete event on Saturday 14^th May, from 11am – 4pm.

If you would like to come along and help at stall this year you are more than welcome to please email londonwestendwi@gmail.com to confirm whether you will help on the day or make produce.

_____________________________________________

Come along to the Fast Fashion Campaign Swish on Saturday 21^st May

St Brides Foundation, Fleet Street, EC4Y 8EQ

Drop off clothes from 1.30pm, Swish opens from 2.30

£5 entry

As part of the NFWI’s Fast Fashion campaign, WI members are invited to a Swish event to launch the next stage of the campaign.

The event will be a chance to spend a Saturday afternoon swapping clothes, shoes and accessories with WI members and friends from across London, while enjoying tea and cupcakes and finding out more about the Fast Fashion campaign.

The Swish will launch the next campaign actions for the WI’s Fast Fashion campaign, which aims to raise awareness of unfair wages and working conditions for garment workers and the environmental impact of clothing.

Sewing tutors from Traid will be on hand to help you adapt and alter your swish finds, as well as stalls to browse and a film screening.

Please bring along up to five items to swish – these can include clothing, accessories and shoes. You will then be issued with a voucher for each item that can then be exchanged for your swish finds.

Places are available on a first come first served basis, but early registration by emailing e.lindsay@nfwi.org.uk is essential. Do contact me if you would like any more information or have any questions.

Best wishes,

Emma Lindsay

Research and Campaigns Officer
National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI)
104 New Kings Road, London SW6 4LY
T: 020 7371 9300 (ex 213)

E: e.lindsay@nfwi.org.uk
www.theWI.org.uk

There are additional details in attached file called swish flyer.pdf

_______________________________________________

7 Dials Festivals & Covent Garden Community Centre- Easter Weekend of Fun

42 Ear lham Street, WC2H 9LA

Saturday 23rd April - 12 noon to 4pm and Sunday 24th April - lunch 12.30 and 2pm

Lunch menu, snacks and a fully licensed bar available!

Please see attached pdf documents called Easter Weekend page 1 and page 2.pdf for further details of all events occurring at Earlham Street.

Sounds like a super fun day out over Easter.

____________________________________________

Trip to Woburn Abbey – Thursday 23^rd June 2011

Price will be £12 includes coach trip, entrance to the house, and a packed lunch

Bloomsbury is part of the Duke of Bedford’s Estate and each year the Friends of Russell Square organise a trip to Woburn Abbey There are 15 places available on a first come first served basis please email Kate know if you would like to go

londonwestendwi @gmail .com Bookable via blogspot and paypal in next few days

___________________________________________________

John Bishop's Britain series 2

Laura Clark send us the following email :

I am working on the second series of John Bishop’s Britain – the Saturday night entertainment show for BBC1. This show was a huge success last summer so we are making another series. The show is hosted by comedian John Bishop himself but with the involvement of the general public.

We are looking once again for lots of different people, from all walks of life, from all over Britain to take part in the show. We want them to tell us funny, interesting stories from their lives on various topics. Our topics this year are…food, hobbies/DIY, music/fashion/shopping, friends, regional Britain, magical moments and Christmas.

We are really keen to represent British life and traditions and we really feel that The Women’s Institute is just that.

Please find below a couple of clips of the show from the first series to give you an idea of what it is like if you didn’t get to see. Due to John Bishop’s down to earth sense of comedy you’ll see that this show is a very inclusive and light hearted.

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrHKthYVaoE

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fRKPz9UJQE&feature=related

If you would like to chat about this further please feel free to call me on 020 7202 2343. Or if you would be happy to forward on this email to your members that would be wonderful.

Please find attached our advert for the show which details some more information.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Laura

020 7202 2343

_____________________________________________

American Orchestra performance May 1st 2011

I wanted to get in touch regarding an event we promoting for a Professional American Orchestra including a World Renowned Harpist in case it could of interest to your members, not just your branch of the WI but perhaps all your London branches. On the 1^st May 2011 we have a professional American Orchestra who are touring England and performing a Tribute to the Royal Wedding gala concert performance at the Royal College of Music in London. I have attached some details on the director of the orchestra, Marcy Sudock.

One of the reasons I thought this maybe of interest to the WI is as a fundraiser. The orchestra are not seeking to make a profit from the concert, on the contrary they are performing free of charge and are happy for all proceeds to go to local charities. I am not sure if you run charity events but we could supply you with tickets to sell on or raffle etc.

Please do let me know if this is of interest and we can discuss details further.

Thanks very much.

Kind regards

Robin Jackson

UK Travel Designers LTD

19 The Mall

Bromley

Kent

BR1 1TT

www.ukgrouptravel.com

Tel: 020 8325 8965

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“In Their Place” A three month season of work by women playwrights at the Finborough Theatre. March to June 2011

“In Their Place” is a three month season dedicated entirely to the voice of the female playwright. Running from March to June 2011 at the multi-award winning Finborough Theatre, the season celebrates the work of four inspirational women.

The three four-week runs are all by established female playwrights/composer, with each production exemplifying the three different strands of our artistic policy – rediscovered plays, music theatre and new writing – with a rediscovery by Caryl Churchill, the UK premiere of a musical with music by composer Polly Pen, and a world premiere of a new play by Naomi Wallace.

The three Sunday/Monday slots in the season are entirely devoted to introducing the UK to the work of one writer – multi-award-winning Canadian playwright, and our latest Playwright-in-Residence, Colleen Murphy – with a European premiere, a UK premiere and a world premiere of her work. This mini-season within a season marks Colleen’s UK debut.

www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Neil McPherson

Artistic Director

Finborough Theatre

118 Finborough Road

London SW10 9ED

Mobile (urgent enquiries only please) 07977 173135

Email neilmcpherson@finboroughtheatre.co.uk

Website www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk

___________________________________________

Volunteering - National Volunteers Week 1st to 7th June
Check out www.volunteersweek.org.uk

There is a Big Tea Party being held in South London on Sunday 5th of June 12:30 to 2:30 as part of national Volunteers week which is open to anyone interested in becoming a volunteer. A number of local voluntary groups will be co-hosting it. There will be the opportunity to network and speak to current volunteers.

Please do email Londonwestendwi@gmail.com if you are interested in attending and we will send you more details. The only criteria to attend is that you should bring a refreshment item you can share with atleast one other person.

Otherwise there are lots of Big Lunch gatherings occuring all over London, please check out www.thebiglunch.com

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Phoenix Gardens - Village Fete – Saturday 3^rd September 2011
Phoenix Gardens will be holding their annual fete in September this year. It was a fabulous experience last year and we have been asked to have a cake stall with the added plea that Please Please could we make more cakes, jams and marmalade as last year we sold out within 2 hours More details as soon as we have them.

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Interesting websites for April
http://www.surnamedb.com
A most interesting site for looking up the origins of your surname.

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/archives-new

An interesting site with lots of PD articles.

If you want to get in touch pls do so via either our email address, or web presence listed below

londonwestendwi@gmail.com

www.londonwestendwi.co.uk

www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com

Remember 1st Tuesday of the month is Sewing Group at Seven Dials.

3rd Tuesday of the month WI meeting at Upper Vestry Hall, St. Georges, Little Russell Street, London, WC1

Please arrive after 6:00PM for 6:30PM Start.

Belated - March Dates for the Diary 2011

2011-03-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies
We are off to the Cartoon Gallery on Tuesday March 15th

Someone from LWWI will be outside the gates to St George's directing you to the Cartoon Gallery which is literally down the road at 35 Little Russell Street http://cartoonmuseum.org/
We hope to see lots of you there, the talk should be very interesting, we will be the only ones in the Gallery.
Please can a few committee members bring along a few refreshments (food,wine,juice to share with those WI members present)

As always any queries, offers, news etc that you wish to share please contact us via londonwestendwi@gmail.com

Keep checking the blog regularly. Sometimes there are multiple posts for dates for the diary of last minute news/events/offers that have come in after the offical monthly dates for the diary email has gone out to all of you.

LWWI News

Congratulations to all who took their food hygiene/safety course, everyone passed and we will pass on certificates as soon as they come back to us at LWWI.

Lynne Smith who was a member of LWWI 2009 and 2010 and active at W@W has now moved to New Zealand which is why we have not seen her in a while. She wanted to let us all know that she is ok and if anyone wants to keep in touch then she would love to hear from them

LWWI Monthly meeting Dates.

Tuesday 15th March - Cartoon Gallery visit (someone from WI will be outside St Georges to direct you to the Gallery if you are unsure where it is)

Tuesday 19th April - Gardening Project in Courtyard

Tuesday 17 May - Quilt/Crafting eveing

Thursday 19th May - Extra WI meeting - Comedy speaker to be arranged at 7 Dials Club

Tuesday 7thJune - Committee Meeting / Sewing Group / Vote (Meeting at 7 Dials Club open to all WI members)

Tuesday 21st June - WI Meeting (Details to be confirmed
It would be lovely if members from April onwards made a conscious effort to bring some refreshments they are willing to share with their fellow members. You don't have to have made it yourself, Shop bought is absolutely fine. I am sure you will agree that it is always nice to have something to snack on during the meetings.
Please note from April 19th we are proposing to ask for a £1 donation for a glass of wine to cover the cost of wine as recently it has been the same people constantly bringing wine to the meetings and this has seemed unfair. We do not want to make a profit just not have people out of pocket month on month. Tea, coffee, Juice etc will be available as usual at no charge.

LWWI Subscription fees

Apologies to ask again but can all LWWI members from 2010 ensure they have paid for 2011.

You will only be exempt from this if you paid your membership fees in October/November/December 2010. Otherwise your fees are due.

Fees cover the period January 2011 to December 2011.

Fees are £30 of which LWWI keeps about £12, the rest of the money goes to our federation and NFWI

Please either pay at the March meeting or via paypal. (Link to this at the bottom of the blog)

If you have not paid by March 31st come April you will be removed from our members mailing list and will cease to receive mailings from NFWI including your WI Life Magazine.

LWWI Survey

It has been proposed that we consider moving our monthly meeting from Bloomsbury to Covent Garden

Nothing is set in stone yet so don't worry.

As such we have created an online survey that will take about 5 minutes to complete.

You just select your viewpoint from the options given. There are 10 questions in total. 4 of these are compulsory.

It would be most helpful if everyone could complete the survey ideally by the end of March 2011. The survey is located here at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X95YR7C

Don't worry its all anonymous so we won't know who has completed the survey and who has not.

The proposed alternate location is 7 Dials Club, www.sevendialsclub.com

WI Raffle

There is a WI raffle occuring being run by NFWI, Tickets cost £1:00. Sixty percent of the money raised from the raffle goes to our local federation (Surrey).

First prize is £5000, with 4 runner up prizes and 10 additional prizes.

I have left the tickets with Jane our treasurer who will bring them to the meetings incase anyone wants to buy them.

Raffle is being drawn September 16th 2011.

All ticket stubs and monies must be back with NFWI by September 2nd 2011.

LWWI - Your WI needs You

It has been proposed that we set up a rota for certain jobs that happen every month at the WI meeting.
Kate is drawing up a list of the jobs that need doing each month that until recently only a few people have been doing and the strain of this has been proving to be too much. It would be fabulous if members might step forward and agree to help at a couple of meetings per year with certain jobs. (More news of this to come in the next month or so).

Other non WI related Dates for the Diary from March onwards

Soul Train - Tuesday, 8th March 2011 - 100th anniversary of International Women's Day

The day is promised to be full of fun, an event that not only raises awareness but also makes it fun for everyone participating! This event is organised by EQUALS, a colliation of many charities including Oxfam, Save the Children, The White Ribbon Alliance and is also supported and promoted by the NUS. This event is a host to celebrities such as, Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith, Gaby Roslin and many more!! This surely is an event that cannot be missed!

The Facebook link to the event is this:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130852933652191
"What’s the EQUALS soul train?

To celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day through the international language of dance, EQUALS will be creating an EQUALS soul train. We’re inviting you to get down and groove with your EQUAL of the opposite sex - a friend, a relative, or a stranger. Whether you’re fresh to the scene or have been dancing for years, we can all disco!

Why soul train-ing?

Soul trains are all about men and women as equals. Equals as dance partners, equals in life. Both can shine equally in the soul train, with no one person leading or stealing the spotlight. The soul train also allows everyone to express themselves as they wish – whether you have two left feet or twinkletoes, or whether your preferred groove is salsa or hiphop. With our global soul train for International Women’s Day we want to show the world that if equality can be reality on the dancefloor, why not in all spheres of life? We’re using the soul train as a blueprint for how we want society to be…"
As you can see, this event really is important in terms of raising awareness of the fact that we ARE equal. We would all really appriciate it if you could help promote this event? There isn't much time left and we would really like to have as many people as possible!

This event is at:
Southbank Centre’s Jubilee Gardens

London,

United Kingdom
from 3:00pm - 6:00pm
You can also take a look at the promo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRHrP-L7VHY

Bees

Capital Growth is running a second round of competitions for 10 London communities to win a beehive, protective clothing, basic tools training, mentoring, support to enable their community to set up with beekeeping by spring 2012. Info and application instructions at www.capitalbee.org

Breaking The Silence

International Women's Day 2011 - Tuesday, March 15th 7.00 pm £5/3 conc.
Naomi Alderman, Sarah Blake, Elif Shafak

Panel Discussion Chaired by Homa Khaleeli

To celebrate International Women's Day, Woolfson & Tay are pleased to host a Penguin Books' event with renowned authors Naomi Alderman, Sarah Blake and Elif Shafak. Guardian journalist Homa Khaleeli will chair a panel discussion on the topics of 'Breaking The Silence' concerning women and self-censorship.
Naomi Alderman was born in London and brought up in the Orthodox Jewish community in Hendon where she still lives. Her first novel, Disobedience, was published in ten languages; it was read on BBC radio's Book at Bedtime and won the Orange Award for New Writers. Penguin published her second novel, The Lessons in April 2010. In 2007, she was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and one of Waterstones' 25 Writers for the Future. She broadcasts regularly, and writes a weekly games column for the Guardian.
Sarah Blake lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, the poet Josh Weiner, and their two sons. Born in New York City, Sarah Blake is the author of a chapbook of poems, Full Turn (Pennywhistle Press, 1989), an artist book, Runaway Girls (Hand Made Press, 1997) in collaboration with the artist, Robin Kahn, and two novels. Her first novel, Grange House, (Picador, 2000) was named a “New and Noteworthy” paperback in August, 2001 by The New York Times. Her second novel, The Postmistress, was published by Penguin in January 2011.
Elif Shafak is a Turkish writer and the best-selling female novelist in Turkey. She has published novels written in Turkish as well as English. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages around the world. Shafak’s work blends Western and Eastern traditions of storytelling to generate a fiction that is both local and universal. Her work draws on diverse cultures and literary traditions, as well as deep interest in history, philosophy and oral culture. Shafak’s writing has been defiant of bigotry and xenophobia, deeply involved in feminism, Sufism, individualism and Ottoman culture, with ‘a particular genius for depicting backstreet Istanbul’.

To book for this event, please see: http://www.woolfsonandtay.com/intl-womens-day.html

INNER SPACE CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY - March 5th 2011

Title: Life in a Handbag

Date: Saturday 5 March

Time: 1.30pm – 4pm

Venue: Wallace Space, Duke’s Road, London WC1H 9PN (nearest tube stations, Kings Cross & Euston)

Free

A handbag is a woman’s best friend, a woman’s own private little sanctuary; a mystery to everyone but herself! As bits and pieces of a woman’s personality and life come together in her handbag. Explore self-development using the ‘handbag’ metaphor. An event for women by women.
LIFE IN A HANDBAG
Attend 4 SESSIONS (20 min each) from the following:

short talks . . .

1. Fit Everything, Mary Poppins Style! - creating a diverse life portfolio

2. The Mobile Phone - talking is good, too much talking may not be

3. What your Handbag says about You? - organised or a disorganised free spirit?

meditations . . .

4. De-clutter your Bag - get rid of things that don’t work for you

5. The Make-Up - sparkle with confidence

6. Put your Handbag Down - give your back a break

7. Refill your Purse - recharge for abundance

reflective exercises . . .

8. Pack Smart - essentials you just can’t live without

9. Handbag Wars - stop being a drama queen

10. The Umbrella - ready for a rainy day, for every eventuality

11. Forward Planner - what’s next

Registration essential. email: event@innerspace.org.uk
Once you have registered, you will receive an e-form to choose your 4 sessions.
Organised by: Inner Space l 020 7836 6688 l http://www.innerspace.org.uk/

The International Day for Street Children - 12th April 2011

The International Day for Street Children: Louder Together is launched on 12th April, a new campaign to give a louder voice to the millions of street children all around the world. Governments need to listen. We want to help make this happen. We must give street children a voice. Together we are louder and have more impact so we are asking everyone to Raise your Voices for Street Children.

The International Day is being celebrated across the globe: by street children in Morocco, Guatemala and India; school children in the UK; students in Ireland; the Consortium for Street Children and its 60 members in over 130 countries; Aviva in the 28 countries in which it operates; and politicians in Tanzania and the UK.

All countries have signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (other than the USA and Somalia) and have a legal obligation to work towards ensuring that all children’s rights are integrated into national law. The Convention sets out every child’s right to protection, participation, provision, and prevention from harm. It is universally recognised that all children should have these rights realised; however many government policies and practices still do not include street children.
The International Day is supported by Aviva, the world’s sixth largest insurance group, as part of their global Street to School programme which aims to help 500,000 street children get back into education or training over the next five years.

Future Dates for the diary

Open Garden Squares 11th - 12th June 2011

http://www.opensquares.org

Selina one of our members is keen to do this

If anyone else is interested in going around to see some of London's secret gardens then perhaps they might get in touch

I did it one year and it was fabulous. Who knew there was so much hidden green peaceful space.

The Big Lunch - June 5th 2011

http://www.thebiglunch.com/

Denman Taster Day - 26th May 2011

Cost is £40 at Denman College in Oxford. Pls see either WI Life or book via NFWI website.

If you need more details please contact londonwestendwi@gmail.com and we will try and get you more information.

Ceilidh - Kate has asked that her apologies be made but at the present time she has had to postpone the planned Ceilidh which she had hoped to organise for the end of April 2011.
As soon as Kate has a new date those details will be posted here
.

Making a difference in the community

Jam Jars

Ladies pls can everyone make a conscious effort to save their jam jars.

Sometimes we need them if we are doing a jam sessions as in one of our regular Monthly meetings so that people can potentially take away a jar. We also need them for the jam makers who will produce jam for us to sell them on the stalls at various fundraising opportunities we usually take part in.

Used stamps

Please can I also personally ask you to save any used stamps you receive on letters as another charity I am involved with can make use of these and turn them into cash to help school aged children in the Gambia. Please bring along any you have to WI meetings.

Sponsored 10K run - Charity needs runners to run on their behalf.

Is anyone interested in taking part in a 10k run?

A charity helping various elements within the community (older residents, children in need, refuge/hostel occupants) has asked us if we might have ladies willing to run on their behalf.

It is the British London 10K run on Sunday, 10th July starting at 9.35am. Starts at Piccadily and finishes at Whitehall.

This is the link to their webpage: http://www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk/
Anyone interested can email Julia whose email address is juliafcoggins@gmail.com by the end of March 2011.
The Charity will book the places. The charity's website is www.voluntarycarecentre.co.uk

W@W

As always we are still very actively involved with Women at the Well.

We might have sister Linda come back in again to speak to us at one of our monthly meetings.

If anyone wants to find out what we are doing or get more involved at THE WELL, please speak to either Jane White or Kate Matheson.

Useful/Interesting website

I am proposing to add to the very bottom of certain dates for the diary emails/ blog entries any useful sites that we come across that we think could be of benefit to all members. Perhaps other members can suggest sites they think members might find useful. These can cover recipes, craft, current affaris etc.

In the current economic climate I am currently pointing out the useful nature of these 2 sites.
A new associate of mine has set up a website called www.homesavingexpert.co.uk which literally does what is says on the jar.
And ofcourse Martin Lewis' http://www.moneysavingexpert.com which is always good for offers/advice etc/freebies etc.
See you all soon

Claude & Kate

LWWI Secretaries

londonwestendwi@gmail.com

http://www.londonwestendwi.co.uk/

www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com

Additional Dates for the Diary - Feb 2011

2011-02-11T04:10:00.000-08:00

Kind offer from East End WI

As a fellow WI member (East End WI) I wanted to pass on some details about a free event we are organising which I think your members might be interested in. All the lectures in this lecture series are free and open to all and it is a quality line up of speakers and events. Not often you get things like this for free in London!

I have pasted in some text below which should give people all the information they need and I hope you would be happy to forward this on to your members. Tickets are available online right now. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!

LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival: Crossing Borders, Wednesday 16 - Saturday 19 February 2011
Tickets are now available for the LSE Literary Festival 2011: Crossing Borders, which will be taking place from Wednesday 16 - Saturday 19 February. The programme of events is designed to cross disciplinary, international and metaphorical borders, exploring the interaction between the arts and social sciences. All events are free and open to all, but a ticket must be booked online.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/spaceForThought/LiteraryFestival2011/Home.aspx
Speakers at the Festival include sci-fi author Ken McLeod, legendary actor Ron Moody, cartoonist Steve Bell, historian Laurence Rees and journalist Jill McGivering as well as award-winning and best-selling writers Blake Morrison, John Gray, Lionel Shriver, Elif Shafak and Geoff Dyer and former poet-laureate Andrew Motion.
This event was made possible by the support of the LSE Annual Fund, Garanti Bank and Michael Uva.
Ticket Information: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/spaceForThought/LiteraryFestival2011/TicketInfo rmation.aspx

Best wishes Veronika

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Another music concert we have been emailed about

Just wanted to let all music lovers know about a fantastic concert
http://www.msf.org.uk/events.aspx

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Yazmin from Bake With Me wants to come to the Feb meeting to talk about Bake with me.

This year we are hoping to launch a new nationwide fundraising event called Bake with Me and I wondered if I could come along to your next Women's Institute meeting and maybe speak to a small group of approx 8 people to ask their opinions on our new event?

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Go to a not to be broadcast tv pilot in Chelsea on Monday 21st Feb

Well known TV production company are making a not-for-broadcast television pilot about Life Coaches where top Motivational Experts mentor undiscovered talent in the industry.
On Monday 21 February there will be an exciting motivational session taking place, led by the experts and the up and coming professionals. We are looking for people who would be interested in coming along to be part of the audience and get inspired!
The filming will take place in Chelsea, in London, between 11:45 and 1:15pm.

As we do have a limited number of places for this exclusive event anyone interested in coming along needs to email mia.lane@endemoluk.com for a place on the guest list and the details of the location.

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Our Save Our Forests campaign is creating a national sensation! We now have nearly half a million signatures on our petition -- that's more than the population of Liverpool. [1]

That’s because we understand something the government doesn’t: our natural forests are priceless, and once they’re gone - they’re gone forever.

Our campaign is already all over the news and politicians are getting increasingly nervous. That’s why the most important thing we can do right now is spread the word and ensure our petition continues to grow as quickly as possible. [2]

Please forward this email to your friends and ask them to sign. All they have to do is click on the link and add their names:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests

Government ministers are trying to distract us with warm and fuzzy words about how much they love the forests. They've announced a "consultation" on how we'd like our forests sold off - even though they already know most of us don't want them sold off at all!

Even before this so-called consultation finishes they're busy trying to change the laws that currently protect public forests. This is blatantly clearing the way for a massive sell-off. What kind of consultation is that?

Don’t let them get away with it - tell everyone you know about our campaign right now.
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests

If they want a consultation, here it is: 38 Degrees members chipped in to fund a national opinion poll which proved that 84% of the public want our forests kept in public hands for future generations.

Places like the Forest of Dean, the New Forest, Grizedale, Thetford, and Alice Holt are national treasures. We don’t want the natural places that belong to future generations flogged off for a quick cash grab today. But if we don’t rally together now, we may not have a choice.

Our petition already has over 470,000 names on it, including yours. Can you help us get to 500,000? Please forward this email and ask your friends to add their name:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests

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This month’s body confidence message (We had a most interesting debate last summer about Body Image and its presentation in the media and we have a campaigning committee who are passionate about this subject.)

From now on, every month we’ll be sharing a body confidence message in this newsletter – sent in by you, our supporters. This could be a top tip for feeling good about yourself, an experience you’d like to share or an interesting fact.

To get the ball rolling, this month’s message comes from Lynn Crilly:
“Learning to like and accept yourself for who you are and not who you think you should be will give you an inner strength, enabling you to follow your dreams and aspirations to the best of your ability"

Want to see your message in next month’s newsletter? Send your thoughts to info@bodyconfidence.org.uk

The Centre for Appearance Research joins the Campaign for Body Confidence

We are very pleased to welcome the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) to the Campaign’s steering group! CAR is based at the University of the West of England, Bristol, focusing on psychological and interdisciplinary research into appearance, disfigurement and body image.

At present CAR are working with our campaign partners Central YMCA on a study into the impact of airbrushing and labelling on body image – watch this space for their findings!

For more info on CAR’s work, see their website – www.hls.uwe.ac.uk/research/car

Endangered Species unveils ad campaign

Susie Orbach’s Endangered Species London summit is coming to the Southbank Centre on March 4th. It will be accompanied by events around the world celebrating body diversity and challenging the culture that teaches women and girls to dislike their own bodies.

To launch the summit, Endangered Species invited advertising and creative agencies from around the UK to submit ideas for its billboard campaign. The winning entry, by Manchester’s Red C agency, has just been unveiled and you can look out for it at 11 sites across the capital over the next month. You can also see it here - www.endangeredspecieswomen.org.uk/media

For more info about Endangered Species see the website - www.endangeredspecieswomen.org.uk

All Walks present ‘Snapped’ at the National Portrait Gallery

All Walks Beyond the Catwalk are celebrating fashion, beauty and diversity at the National Portrait Gallery this Friday, 11th February. From 6-10pm All Walks will be curating an evening of exciting events surrounding the question, ‘has fashion become the lens by which we evaluate identity today?’.

All Walks will be taking participants on a photographic trail through nine new Rankin portraits created by AW and major fashion designers (including Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood) using a diversity of models. There will also be life drawing and fashion illustration masterclasses, casting for a live portrait shoot, interactive artworks by Josephine Chime and a debate between Lorraine Candy (Editor, Elle), Lynne Featherstone (Minister for Equalities), Linda Papadopoulos (psychologist) and Erin O’Connor (model and co-founder, AW).

The event is free and all are welcome to attend – see attached flyer and for more information visit - www.npg.org.uk/whatson/late-shift/late-shift-extra-snapped

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image

As part of the Campaign for Body Confidence, in the next few months we will be establishing a cross-party interest group for MPs on Body Image – known as an All -Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). The APPG on Body Image will build support across all the political parties for the body confidence agenda and as a future project may conduct an inquiry into the causes, consequences and possible solutions in combating body image anxiety.

A number of MPs have already said that they would like to play an active role in the group – including Jo Swinson, Caroline Nokes and Mary Glindon. However, the more members the better, and we’d love to hear from your MP – so we’ve created an email for you to send to them telling them why the group is so important and inviting them to express their interest, which can be found at: http://campaignforbodyconfidence.wordpress.com/appg

Central YMCA will be providing the secretariat to the group and we hope to launch the APPG this spring - more news soon!

Central YMCA and University of Westminster team up to speak to young people about body image

Central YMCA and its operation Y Touring have secured funding to work with the University of Westminster to develop and evaluate ways of promoting body confidence in children and young people. The project will start in February, and will attempt to identify effective ways of engaging young people in discussion and debate about their body image in both schools and informal education.

Royal College of Psychiatrists Christmas debate

In December, Jo Swinson MP participated in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Christmas debate, ‘are the media to blame for eating disorders?’ with two teams of psychiatrists, chaired by Dr Jim Bolton. The College told us that it was the best -attended debate they have held, well-represented and informative.

Jo set the scene by discussing how poor body image and low self-esteem contribute to eating disorders. Whilst both teams agreed about the negative effects of the bombardment of ‘perfect’ figures in media images, they acknowledged that the causes of eating disorders are more complex that one factor alone.

For more information on the work of the Royal College, visit – www.rcpsych.ac.uk
The podcast of the debate will available be on the CBC website soon.

Sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood review

Back in December, Childrens’ Minister Sarah Teather asked Reg Bailey from the Mothers’ Union to carry out an independent review on commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood, to address parents’ concerns about the pressures on children to grow up too quickly.

The consultation is now calling for the submission of evidence until March 18th 2011, and is expected to report back in May.
You can submit evidence to the consultation at the following website -
www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm? action=consultationDetails&consultationId=1749&external=no&menu=1

Get involved
·         Forward this newsletter to a friend and ask them to sign up to the Campaign for Body Confidence.
·         Spread the word by writing to your MP to tell her/him about the campaign and the Body Image APPG. Find out who your MP is, and write to them here - www.theyworkforyou.com – and our template letter about the Body Image APPG is here - http://campaignforbodyconfidence.wordpress.com/appg
·         Have you found misleading and retouched advertisements? Make a complaint to the Advertising Standards Association. If you find an advertisement that has clearly been digitally altered to an extent that distorts people’s perception of bodies – log a complaint on the ASA’s website - www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA -action/How-to-complain
·         Perhaps you’ve got questions, suggestions or a body confidence message to share with us? Email info@bodyconfidence.org.uk – we’d really like to hear from you.
That's all for this month!

Best wishes,

Campaign for Body Confidence

Pippa Page
info@campaignforbodyconfidence.org.uk
0207 219 8088 - 308 Portcullis House, House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA

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Dates for the Diary - Feb 2011

2011-02-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

WI Dates for the Diary - Feb 2011

Food Hygiene Course - Saturday 5th Feb

Final few days to sign up for the Food Hygiene course which is being run in Covent Garden.

Please pay via paypal link at the bottom of the blogspot

http://www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com/

If you took the course the last time we ran it, please be aware that your certificate is valid for 3 years only and so runs out in 2011.

If you have any queries please do get in touch

Course fees are £25 which is less than the price of taking the course online and half the price of the taking the course in person at another establishment. (We, LWWI, are supplementing the full course fees for all attendees.)

Jam & Marmalade Workshop - postponed for a few weeks

Due to a lower than expected uptake on the food hygiene course, and because we need a certain number of qualified food safety people at the jam workshop as we hope to sell some of what is made, we are going to have to postpone the course for a few weeks until we get back results for some attendees.

Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience of rescheduling.

Please check your email if you indicated you wish to attend or check the blog/website for the new rearranged date.

If you hope to sell preserves or cakes on behalf of the WI please do consider attending the Food Hygiene Course.

February London West End WI Meeting - Feb 15th

The February guest for our WI meeting will be Marietta from Transition Towns.

Please check out their website http://www.transitionnetwork.org/

Sewing Group as usual will be meeting Tuesday March 1st at Seven Dials.

Please do come along, all welcome.

March London West End WI meeting - Tuesday March 15th

We are going over to the Cartoon Museum just down the street from where we normally meet.

Please check out their website http://cartoonmuseum.org/

LWWI Website

Our website is progressing quite beautifully. Please do check it out.

http://www.londonwestendwi.co.uk/

Twitter

We seem to be gaining additional followers via twitter, Thanks so much to Vanessa who is our main new media updater and quite possibly thanks also to Professor Butterworth who came in to see us in January who gave us a most insightful and enjoyable talk and then tweeted about us.

British Museum - Preview of Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World on Sunday 27th February 2011.

The BM have invited us to the Community Preview of Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World at the British Museum, on Sunday 27th February 2011. The exhibition preview will take place between 12 – 5pm (last entry will be at 4pm), and all community groups who wish to bring group members to view the exhibition are welcome.

Kite Making Activity – Great Court, 12 – 2pm

Take part in a creative kite making and decorating activity. Using traditional colours and Afghan patterns decorate your very own kite and explore the significance of this popular Afghani pastime.

Community Evening View

They will also be holding a Community Evening View of the exhibition in late May. Further details of this community view will be available nearer the time.

Please do let us know if you wish to attend the special preview by emailing us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com

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NON WI Related Events

Free Tickets to Ideal Home Show for 21-27 March 2011. Available via http://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/ then go to the booking section of the site and put in the code MOS11.

Apparently they are giving away 20,000 tickets but the weekend ones are already gone.

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Haringey Council - International Women’s Day - 12th March

Haringey Council are hosting an event on 12 March to coincide with International Women’s Day. They theme of the day is resourcefulness in the recession, and they have a number of organisations involved including financial services who will be advising delegates on budgeting and spending, and an organisation that will be hosting a clothes swap shop. The council have been in touch asking if any WI’s are interested in having a stall, or hosting a workshop, or both if you have the energy! They are expecting around 1,000 women to attend so it could be a good opportunity to recruit new members.

If you are interested in getting involved please contact:

ursula.stone@haringey.gov.uk

020 8489 2585

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Million Women Rise - March 5th

Shoreditch Sisters have been in touch as they will be attending the Million Women Rise march against violence against women on 5 March. If other WI’s are planning to attend and would like to join up with the Shoreditch Sisters please contact Shoreditch Sisters Secretary Caroline Brooks on brookscaroline79@gmail.com. We will be lending out the handful of WI placards we have here at head office for use at the march.

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Women Reaching Women Conference, 12th April

The conference is free and open to all members and representatives from international development and gender organisations will also be invited. We will send out a confirmed programme of the day in due course.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes,

Sara

Sara Mason

Campaigns and Administration Assistant

National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI)

104 New Kings Road, London SW6 4LY

T: 020 7371 9300,ext 211

F: 020 7736 3652

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Soil Association

Kathryn one of our members sent us the following which she thought some people might be interested in:

I've recently received a letter from Soil Association asking for support to stop the introduction of pig superfarms to the UK. Pigs are not meant to be confined indoors and keeping this many enclosed so tightly could have serious risk to local environment and human health. 60% of all anibiotics in farming are given to pigs. And they are the same as or closely related to those given to humans. There is reason to be concerned about the build up of antibiotic resistant genes. Then there will be the huge reservoirs of pig slurry etc.

Powerful libel lawyers are attempting to silence Soil Association, for raising their concerns.

If any of our members are interested in finding out more or lending their support they can go to www.soilassociation.org/notinmybanger.aspx

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EC4 choir concert - Barbican - Friday March 11th, 19.30

Susan Evans another our members has sent us the following information

EC4 choir and music are putting on a concert at the Barbican on Friday March 11th, 19.30 (see below for details). Ticket prices are £10, £20, £25, £35 but with a £5 reduction on any of these prices if you quote 'EC4 Music Offer'. All profits to the Prince's Trust. The last time we did this we raised thousands for the trust. Please tell your friends.

You can book direct with the Barbican online booking office or I can do a block booking.

The concert: Barbican Hall

Prokofiev Concerto No 3 in C major for Piano & Orchestra

Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

Duruflé Requiem, Op 9

EC4 Choir and Orchestra

Tim Crosley conductor

Olga Stezhko piano

Claire Seaton soprano

EC4 Music is delighted to return for its fifth fundraising concert in aid of The Prince's Trust with an evocative programme to stir the senses. Conductor Tim Crosley welcomes young Belarusan pianist Olga Stezhko for her debut Barbican performance with Prokofiev's wonderfully lyrical third Piano Concerto. We also hear Mussorgsky's ever-popular Pictures at an Exhibition and are treated to a performance of Duruflé's exquisite Requiem.

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Writing courses

New independent bookshop, cafe, and gallery Woolfson & Tay in Bermondsey Square, London SE1 offers an exciting series of writing and performance workshops for a creative start to 2011.

Woolfson & Tay Bookshop & Gallery, 12 Bermondsey Square, London SE1 3UN www.woolfsonandtay.com Tel. 0207 407 9316

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Comedy, music and more - celebrating 100 years of International Women’s Day - KOKO, Camden, Tuesday 8th March 2011

We are producing a sparkling, innovative evening of entertainment featuring stand up, character, sketches, magic and music. This will take place on Tuesday 8th March International Women’s Day (IWD) at the well known entertainment venue, KOKO in London’s Camden Town, a mecca for music, fashion and comedy.

Funny Women has celebrated IWD with a comedy show for the last seven years. However, this year is the 100th Anniversary of the first ever IWD and this new variety event is the perfect way to mark the occasion and engage the next generation of British women to carry on the tradition of celebrating the day.

The 100thAnniversary of IWD is being celebrated all over the world and our event aims to make young British women more aware of their role in western society and recognise that not all women globally have the same freedom and opportunities that are open to us.

Awareness for IWD has grown in the UK since Funny Women started out in 2002, and there is now a wide range of activities being planned across the UK to celebrate IWD being organised by different groups and networks under the banner of the EQUALS? Campaign see http://www.weareequals.org/. Despite this, the day itself remains an enigma - it isn’t always a news item, there’s no public holiday and it’s not necessarily ‘cool’ or even part of the agenda for the next generation of young women.

Music and comedy are both brilliant mediums for communicating messages – from protest songs to subversive humour, they are a barometer of our culture that we can use to reflect how women’s lives have changed over the last 100 years.

So this show is a modern day ‘march’ on the perceptions of women. It begins with a live show which features female opinion formers and role models. We will invite acts to perform stand up, sketch, music, magic, song, dance and even a bit of drama as we tell a story of change – past, present and future.

Our target audience is broad but the event is aimed at 18 to 25 year olds who are not as aware as we would like them to be. The essence of our event is to make this the place to be on the 8th March – a true celebration in an accessible, fun environment with the message being delivered with a memorable performance.

If you would like to be involved we are looking for sponsorship to cover production costs and organisations and individuals to help us market the show and sell tickets. There is also a corporate entertainment opportunity if you would like to entertain your customers or clients. Please either give us a call or email us at womensday@funnywomen.com so that we can send you more information.

If you work with a charity or NGO and would like to be part of the ‘big picture’ please visit http://www.weareequals.org/ and join the big debate. We want to make sure that women’s voices are properly heard on this very special anniversary.

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1A Arts Course for parents and children.

1A ARTS etc is offering parents and children (aged 7+) another chance to unleash their inner animator and give the creators of Wallace and Gromit a run for their money! This 3 session course will brighten up boring weekends in March. All participants will take home a DVD of their animation brought to life with their own characters and story. Please see attached for details. Early booking is recommended! Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested. If you would like hard copies of this publicity for your workplace please call or email me to let me know how many copies you would like.

Kind regards

Caroline Lister

Director

1A ARTS etc

The 1A Centre

1A Rosebery Avenue

London EC1R 4SR

Tel: 020 7837 3332 Mobile: 07870 197 834

http://www.1a-arts-etc.co.uk/

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Student Volunteering Week 21st - 27th Feb.

Don't miss out! 21st - 27th February

Please do stay in touch via twitter, the blogspot and website if any of you have any news that you would like to share with us please do get in touch.

See you soon

LWWI Secretaries

londonwestendwi@gmail.com

www.londonwestendwi.co.uk

http://www.londonwestendwi.blogspot.com/

1st Tuesday of the month Sewing Group at Seven Dials.

3rd Tuesday of the month WI meeting at Upper Vestry Hall, St. Georges, Little Russell Street, London, WC1

Food Hygiene Course - Feb 5th 2011

2011-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health Food Safety & Catering level 2

When: Saturday 5th February 10am-3.30pm

Cost: £25 for WI members, £30 for non-members

As many WI sell homemade produce to raise funds it is important that as many members as possible obtain a Certificate in Food Hygiene. Courses usually cost between £60 - £75 at local colleges or £30 online.

London West End WI have organised a WI Food Hygiene Course and all WI members and non-members are welcome to attend. The tutor will be Betty Dominy who is the official Surrey Federation Food Hygiene Tutor and the course will be held at the Seven Dial club (refreshments & bar food available)

The cost includes the Food Hygiene Booklet, tuition and Exam. The Booklet and exam papers are in sealed envelopes and are available in various languages so please let us know if you require an exam paper and booklet in another language other than English.

Ideally we would like you to pay for your course fees via the paypal link on londonwestendwi.blogspot.com

Cheques: payable to “London West End WI” sent to Secretary LWEWI, 10 Russell Chambers, Bury Place,
London WC1A 2JS further information email londonwestendwi@gmail.com

Updated Dates for the Diary Jan / Feb 2011

2011-01-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hi Ladies

Happy New Year, apologies that we had to cancel our talk from the herbalist Jacqui from Neal's Yard in December. Hopefully we will have better weather when we reschedule her for later in 2011

We start 2011 with a fabulous talk from Professor Butterworth from UCL on Tuesday January 18th, he will be talking about the Large Hadron Collider. We hope this talk will be of interest to those interested in Science and will spark an interest in those less so.

This should be the first of an exciting programme that the LWWI committee are trying to put together for 2011.

Other highlights coming up which you should note are our next Sewing group meeting is Tuesday Feb 1st at the seven Dials Club in Covent Garden from 6:00 get there when you can. Vanessa and Helena who are organising the WI quilt we hope to make this year will be explaining further about the project. Pls do come along even if you are a beginner and have never sewn or made a quilt.

We also have on Saturday Feb 5th 2011 the Food Hygiene Course, cost £30 per person to members (LWWI are subsidising the course) it is possible to pay for the course either at the January meeting or via paypal.

On Saturday Feb 12th 2011 we are organising a Jam/Marmalade making session at St George's. Further details to follow shortly. Please email londonwestendwi@gmail.com if you plan to come along so we have an idea of numbers and can send you more details closer to the time.

Our WI Membership fees are due for 2011, £30per annum. Pls either pay via paypal or bring your payment to one of our monthly WI meetings.

Other dates for the diary for January and February 2011 are:

Niki Segnit - The Flavour Thesaurus Thursday, January 20th 7.00 pm £5/£3 concessions

Entrance fee includes a glass of wine. Ticket is redeemable for £2 discount on author's book.

Writer Niki Segnit shares the joy of culinary journeys in this palate-tantalising talk. Ms. Segnit had not so much as peeled a potato until her early twenties when, almost by accident, she discovered that she loved cooking. She was inspired to write The Flavour Thesaurus when she noticed how dependent she was on recipes. As she says: “Following the instructions in a recipe is like parroting pre-formed sentences from a phrasebook. Forming an understanding of how flavours work together, on the other hand, is like learning the language; it allows you to express yourself freely, to improvise, to find appropriate substitutions for ingredients, to cook a dish the way you fancy cooking it.”

The result is a compendium of flavour pairings which offers endless diversion and inspiration. In this lively, easy to follow, and exceptionally enjoyable book, Niki Segnit takes 99 popular ingredients and explores the ways they might be combined in the kitchen.

‘An original and inspiring resource’ Heston Blumenthal
‘Intriguing, surprising and remarkably useful’ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

To book: http://www.woolfsonandtay.com/niki-segnit.htmlor or ring Woolfson & Tay on 0207 407 9316.

Woolfson & Tay Bookshop, Cafe, & Gallery, 12 Bermondsey Square, London SE1 3UN http://www.woolfsonandtay.com/ Tel 0207 407 9316

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Bees
Jenny Anderson our membership secretary sent us the following info which she asked us to share with members and interested women about the Bees which is one of the Women's Institute's Main Projects

Dear friends,

Bees are dying off worldwide and our entire food chain is in peril. Scientists blame toxic pesticides and four European governments have already banned them. If we get the US and the EU to join the ban, other governments across the world could follow, and save bees from extinction. Sign the petition and forward this urgent appeal:

Sign the petition
Silently, billions of bees are dying off and our entire food chain is in danger. Bees don't just make honey, they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 90% of the plants we grow.

Multiple scientific studies fault one group of toxic pesticides for their rapid demise, and bee populations have soared in four European countries that have banned these products. But powerful chemical companies are lobbying hard to keep selling this poison. Our best chance to save bees now is to push the US and EU to ban this deadly product -- their action is critical and will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world.

We have no time to lose -- the debate is raging about what to do. This is not just about saving bumble bees, this is about survival. Let’s build a giant global buzz calling for the EU and US to outlaw these killer chemicals and save our bees and our food. Sign the emergency petition now and send it onto to everyone and we’ll deliver it to key decision makers:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?vl

Bees are vital to life on earth -- every year pollinating plants and crops with an estimated $40bn value, over one third of the food supply in many countries. Without immediate action to save bees we could end up with no fruit, no vegetables, no nuts, no oils and no cotton.

Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations -- some bee species are now extinct and others are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers. Some studies claim the decline may be due to a combination of factors including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals. But leading independent research has produced strong evidence blaming neonicotinoid pesticides. This has led to beekeepers and scientists in France, Italy, Slovenia and even Germany, where the main manufacturer Bayer is based, already pushing successfully for bans of one of these bee killers. Meanwhile, Bayer continues to export its poison across the world.

This issue is now coming to the boil as major new studies have confirmed the scale of this problem. If we can get European and US decision-makers to take action, others will follow. It won’t be easy. A leaked document shows that the US Environmental Protection Agency knew about the pesticide’s dangers, but ignored them. The document says Bayer’s "highly toxic" product is a "major risk concern to non target insects (honey bees)".

We need to make our voices heard to counter Bayer’s very strong influence on policy makers and scientists in both the US and the EU where they fund the studies and sit on policy bodies. The real experts -- the beekeepers and farmers -- want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let's support them now. Sign the petition below, then forward this email:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?vl

We can no longer leave our delicate food chain in the hands of research run by the chemical companies and the regulators that are in their pockets. Banning this pesticide will move us closer to a world safe for ourselves and the other species we care about and depend on.

With hope,

Alex, Alice, Iain, David and all at Avaaz

MORE INFORMATION

Bee decline could be down to chemical cocktail interfering with brains
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/22/chemicals-bees-decline-major-study?INTCMP=SRCH

Bee briefing
http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RXLEm9WXrHk%3D&tabid=439

$15 Billion Bee Murder Mystery Deepens
http://www.businessinsider.com/colony-collapse-disorder-still-unsolved-lead-researcher-had-connections-to-bayer-2010-10

“Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/nicotine-bees-population-restored-with-neonicotinoids-ban.php

EPA memo reveals concern that pesticide causes bee deaths
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=79910

Beekeepers want government to pull pesticide
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/beekeepers-want-government-to-pull-pesticide-1107701.html

British Beekeepers' Association to stop endorsing bee-killing pesticides http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/nov/16/beekeepers-end-pesticide-endorsement?INTCMP=SRCH

Pesticide industry involvement in EU risk assessment puts survival of bees at stake
http://www.corporateeurope.org/agribusiness/news/2010/11/16/pesticide-industry-future-bees

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London's Air Ambulance is holding its first ever Frock Swap on Wednesday 2nd February 2011 at the Great Hall at St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield. Suzanne Clements of Clements Ribeiro will be our special guest and will donate an outfit from her collection.

The Great Hall is said to be one of the finest public rooms in London with its approach via the Grand Staircase and Hogarth murals and is a superb venue.   We will have the huge log fire lit for the evening.

As well as swishing and coming away with stunning items, ladies will be able to enjoy cakes and wine and enter the luxury draw with the chance to win some fantastic prizes including: a package of Benefit Cosmetics, haircuts, pampering sessions, etc.

London's Air Ambulance hopes to raise substantial monies from the event as well as to promote its work to a female audience in London. Many of our paramedics and doctors are women.

Francesca Savage
London's Air Ambulance
Registered Charity Number: 801013

(T): 020 7943 1302
(E):www.londonsairambulance.com
(A) The Helipad, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London. E1 1BB

Frock Swap, The Great Hall, Barts. Wednesday 2nd February 2011
Great Spitalfields Pancake Race, Brick Lane. Tuesday 8th March 2011
Charity Abseil, Canary Wharf. Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th May 2011

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Not for Profits Markets open in SW London
One of our members Jennifer Makin is responsible for two not for profit markets serving the community in Chelsea. She writes: We are financially supported by the NHS and our aim is to encourage people to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables as a means of ensuring good health and well being.

Our markets take place on Wednesdays at Chelsea Theatre, World's End Place, King's Road and on Thursdays at New Horizons on the Guinness Trust Estate, Cadogan Street, SW3.

The markets are run by volunteers and if anyone is interested in spending a few hours a week helping us I would love to hear from you. The markets are quite small and offer customers the chance to buy as little or as much fruit/veg as they want at wholesale prices and with no excess packaging, no supermarket queues and a very personal service.

Volunteers work in a friendly and supportive team and we are looking for people with good people skills and who are numerate.   The job entails helping people make healthy choices, weighing produce and using a till. We welcome imaginative ideas to help us improve and expand our service.

If you are interested please get in touch...

Thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely

Jennifer Makin

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Television opportunity 19th Feb

TalkbackThames, the makers of The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent are filming a pilot for an exciting new quiz show and you can be part of it! Come and ‘WALK THE LINE’! They sent us an email asking if we had any members who might be interested.

They wrote: we are filming inside the O2 Arena, London on Saturday 19th February and we want you and your friends and family to come and take part – and you’ll be in with a chance to win £1000!

All you need to do is queue up to have a go at the game and simply answer 5 questions right in a row to win the jackpot - plus there will be other exciting twists and turns on the day. Queuing has never been so much fun!

To register your interest, please email us at walktheline@talkbackthames.tv or ring 020 7691 6582 – just tell us a little bit about yourself and please include your telephone number and age (you must be aged over 18).

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Free workshop for ladies
What are the images of being female?

What are the messages women receive about being female?

How does that impact on you and your community?

How can we develop relationships with different cultures amongst peers and across the generations?
After the success of Manhood, we would like to offer the females of our community a free workshop to give you an opportunity to discuss with other women (young and old) what it means to be female. Please join us for:

Womanhood@ The Stephen Lawrence Centre (Deptford) on Saturday 29th January from 2.00pm to 6.00pm
This is an opportunity to look at our self image, our relationships with each other and how we can develop stronger female partnerships.
To book a place and for further information, please contact:

NCBI London, 0844 856 0678, 07811 374074 ncbilondon@ncbi.org.uk

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Animation workshop for Children and Adults

1A ARTS etc is offering parents and children (aged 7+) another chance to unleash their inner animator and give the creators of Wallace and Gromit a run for their money! This 3 session course will brighten up boring weekends in March. All participants will take home a DVD of their animation brought to life with their own characters and story. Please see attached for details. Early booking is recommended! Please forward this to anyone you know who might be interested. If you would like hard copies of this publicity for your workplace please call or email me to let me know how many copies you would like.

Kind regards

Caroline

Caroline Lister

Director

1A ARTS etc

The 1A Centre

1A Rosebery Avenue

London EC1R 4SR

Tel: 020 7837 3332 Mobile: 07870 197 834

www.1A-ARTS-etc.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @1aARTSetc

Become a member on our Facebook group 1A ARTS etc

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Dare You Workshop - 22nd January
My colleagues and I are hosting Dare You 2011 workshop and we wondered if two of your members would like to have FREE places at our forthcoming Dare You 2011 on 22 January - London SW1W - United Kingdom. This event is a unique opportunity to connect with likeminded and amazing women. Identify and share what you really want, whatever that means for you; and learn new tools/techniques to make it happen. As this is our first event in London, we would very much benefit from receiving feedback from a variety of sources and would value your views being such a well established voluntary organisation for women. It promises to be a fun and inspiring day, a wonderful way to kick off our New Year.
I have attached details of the Dare You 2011 Team and the link to the website and contact details: http://www.thepinkbookclub.com/87-50.html. However, as we are offering 2 FREE spaces please contact me directly to reserve your places and I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
We really hope you will be able to join us. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards
Mary Malecaut

0782 555 4826

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WI Meeting Feb 15th 2011
Transition Bloomsbury will be coming in to on Tuesday Feb 15th 2011 to talk to us about the project they are involved with. Please see their website for further details ahead of this particular meeting.

www.transitionbloomsbury.org.uk

Meeting as usual at 6:30

Dates for the Diary - December 2010

2010-11-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Ladies

I am sending out this Dates for the diary email containing everything we mentioned at our last meeting and all other new items of interest that have come in since which we thought you might be interested in.

We ask you to check the blogspot & website regularly to see if there are any further updates rather than bombard you with emails in the run up to Christmas.

Blogspot address is londonwestendwi.blogspot.com/

Website address is http://www.londonwestendwi.co.uk/

Email address is londonwestendwi@gmail.com

London Westend Women's Institute

See you on Tuesday December 21st at our final WI meeting for 2010

NB Membership renewals for most of us will be due again in Jan 2011

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National Gallery Christmas Shopping evening
At National Gallery - 19th & 26th Nov in Sainsbury Wing
There will be chocolate tasting and mince pies etc
Starts at 6:30

Laughter Yoga opportunity with Carrie 27th November
Lighten up your life with 60 Minutes of Laughter Yoga, no sense of humour or jokes needed. Relax & unwind and reenergise.
10.30 to 11.30am @ Dermalogica, 7 Lancer Sq, Kensington Church st.
No charge
Bring blanket, mat or towel to lie down on, wear loose comfortable clothing
Pre-booking essential phone or text 07789954972 with your name and the date you want to come to

Thanks
Carrie

Soho Theatre trip to see Ronna & Beverly on Thurs 16th Dec 2010
Pls email Dianamath@googlemail.com or contact her on 07952 579059 if you wish to attend
Tickets cost £10

Curwen Gallery Nov 27th & 28th
Curwen Gallery on Windmill Street, WC1E just off Tottenham Court Road are having a fundraising weekend in aid of Macmillan on 27th and 28th November 11am until 6pm.
Prices for pieces from £15

Curwen have also offered to let us have a rummage evening through their bins at a discount. No date for this has been agreed as yet so watch this space.

www.curwengallery.com

Don Giovanni at the ENO
ENO are showing Don Giovanni at the Coliseum on St Martin's Lane

Cultureseekers
Message From: Robert Coleman - London Cultureseekers Group
Telephone: 07905 901 834
Email Address: robert@cultureseekers.org
Comments:
Dear LWWI,
I run a group in London called the London Cultureseekers Group and i wondered if your W.I group might be interested in getting involved?

http://www.cultureseekers.org/

We meet up most weekends to explore London's fantastic history and culture through it's museums, art galleries, historical buildings, go on guided walks and go to the theatre.

The group has over 3000 members, from 25 - 75 years old and we have been running over 4 years.

Membership fee is £12 and if you join now your membership will not expire until December 2011.

We are a very friendly group and it's a fantastic way to explore London whilst making new friends.

Regards

Robert Coleman
Organiser
London Cultureseekers Group

London Bee Summit - 16th December
Bees are in peril and there are a number of suspects, from pesticides to climate change. With human wellbeing so intimately tied to the fate of the bee, we are calling together organisations working with bees in London and the UK to ask: what’s happening to the honey bee? And what can Londoners to do help?

We'll have the inaugural London Honey Tasting, a display of hives and equipment, and refreshments courtesy of the Co-op's Plan Bee.

Speakers include:

Environment minister Lord Henley
Dr Opi Outhwaite from Greenwich University on bee health and regulation;
Nick Fraser from the National Trust on managing parks and gardens without chemicals; and
Elinor McDowall from Bungay Community Bees, the UK's first community-supported beekeeping.

Registration is essential and there's a discount for Capital Growth spaces. Find more information and the booking form at: www.capitalbee.org

Hansel & Gretel
Kate is going to try to reschedule our trip to ROH for Hansel and Gretel further details to follow.

Food Hygiene Course - Feb 2010
Food Hygiene course will be run on Feb 5th

Funny Women Challenge

Funny Women are challenging five prominent business women – Julie Hall, Karen Darby, Claire Pelenc, Mel Burgess and Nora Berge - to perform three minutes of stand up comedy for the first time to a paying audience. The event will raise awareness and funds for locally based charity, The New Victoria Medical Foundation, and takes place in the luxurious surroundings of The Bingham, boutique hotel and restaurant. Each act will be asking friends and contacts to sponsor them. Hosting the show will be television presenter and Richmond resident, Gabby Logan who is also in training to tell a few jokes and a few funny anecdotes about her life with the BBC sports presenting team. Each woman performing will have been mentored for her performance by the Funny Women team and a few of their favourite comedy acts.

Ticket price is £35, which includes good wine and delicious canapés. To book on-line visit www.funnywomen.com/tickets or call 020 8948 4444.

Jacqui from Neals Yard who is coming to talk to us at our December meeting - December 21st 2010 sent us the following link about her and her products

https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/JacquelineTodd

Love shopping on line. Free delivery until end of November. Just log in and shop. Payment by credit card. Some great gifts on offer or just treat yourself....

YOUNG & MADE IN CAMDEN
We invite you to the Launch Evening of our festive boutique pop-up shop in Leather Lane EC1 – see attached for full details and also daytime opening hours. Come and grab some beautifully crafted Christmas bargains! We look forward to seeing you there.

Festive boutique & exhibition
56-58 Leather Lane, London, EC1N 7TP

For three days only, come and explore our festive boutique in the busy thoroughfare of
Leather Lane. Show your support to young designer makers of the future, by purchasing a
unique ‘one off’ Christmas gift or treat!

Opening times

1st Dec 12 - 3pm & 5:30 - 8pm (Launch Party)
2nd Dec 12 - 3pm
3rd Dec 12 - 3pm

Launch Party

5:30 - 8pm free entry
Meet the young designers and volunteers at our launch celebration and community
exhibition. As well as take part in our one night only auction of selected art works.
Enjoy light refreshments, performances, children’s animation screenings and
interactive arts workshops.

Workshops for young people held at the boutique

2nd December 5.30 -7.30pm (free)
Screen Printing - Design and print a t-shirt or canvas bag

3rd December 5.30 -7.30pm (free)
Night Photography - Explore the wonder of Flash & Long Exposure Photography!!!

For more information contact teanne.andrews@1a-arts-etc.co.uk or call 020 7837 3332

Dates for the Diary - Nov 2010

2010-11-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies

Just thought we would pass on the various WI, Community, Charity and Christmas things we have been approached with since we last contacted you.

November WI meeting - AGM and Cider tasting
Hello!

It's that time of year again already! On Tuesday the 16th we'll be having our AGM, complete with our annual review and vote for official positions. If you’re interested in running for a position or would like to join the committee, please feel free to drop us an email at londonwestendwi@googlemail.com – we’d be happy to tell you more about the responsibilities involved.

To liven up the official procedures, we’ll also be enjoying a cider tasting, after which you’ll know your dry perrys from your scrumpies!

December 2010 - Christmas celebration and Neal's Yard talk about herbal remedies.
We have managed to line up a talk and hopefully some free samples from Jacqui a herbalist based in Neal's yard who would like to come and talk to us in December.
We hope to have her speak for 30-40mins and then we plan to celebrate Christmas together after.
Pls do bring along any food/wine/juice etc that you would like to share with the group.

Jan 2011 - Large Hadron Collider talk with Professor Butterworth
Come along all of you who are interested in pure physics and quantum theory. Understand how the universe was formed. Come with an open mind and lots of questions.

My scientific adviser described it to me as an opportunity to "Understand how things are put together at a sub atomic level."

LWWI have had their resolution proposal, submitted in July, regarding the media portrayal of positive body images accepted by Surrey. Further detais available from Carrie, Georgia or Lynne Parker. If you would like to join the campaigning committee pls approach one of the above.

Ikea Trip Thursday 25th Nov
Another free coach trip for those of us who live without cars in the Covent Garden, Bloomsbury area.

Leave from outside Majestic Wine on Drury Lane, Covent Garden at 10am on Thursday the 25th of November, spend time at IKEA, load your shopping into the big luggage spaces under the coach and leave IKEA at 3pm to return to Drury Lane by around 4pm.

The coach can carry big flat pack furniture.

If you, or your neighbour or your family would like to go on this trip call Suzie Herschelle on 020 7240 1738 or her mobile: 07944 544 733 or email her on: suzie@millimeep.co.uk to let her know how many places you need.

Last Opportunity to enter WI Jam Festival - Deadline for jam entries is 20th November
Last plug for the WI Real Jam Festival. www.thewirealjamfestival.com/

LWWI Royal Opera House Trip to see Hansel and Gretel December 28th
Pls contact lwwi and confirm if you would like to attend. Ideally Kate would like you to bring the money for your tickets to the November meeting so she has a firm idea of numbers. Ticket price should be circa £20

Food Hygiene Course postponed to Feb 2011.
Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to postpone our planned Food Hygiene Certificate course which we had hoped to run in November 2010 but will now run in Feb 2011.
Pls do think about doing this as it is so useful. Lots of time to sign up now. Course should still be £30.

British Museum visit to see the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
The trip on Sunday to the the Ancient Egyptian Book of the dead was super. Even though we had a lower than anticipated attendance at the event it was fascinating. We shared our spare tickets within the community. We practically had the whole exhibition to ourselves so much nicer than even the special members only events. And we saw it first folks before the press, BM Members and the general public.

There might be another community date in November I think on the 25th or 27th if anyone else is interested in seeing the exhibition but was unable to make Sunday Oct 31st pls email lwwi and we will make enquiries from the BM to see if we can go again. No promises though ;-) I think tickets to this event are normally £8-£12 but on the special community events they are complimentary.

OTHER THINGS OF NOTE:

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is being shown at the Natural History Museum from October 2010 until early March 2011.
More details at www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto

For the crafters & bakers amongst our WI, Kirstie's Home made home returns to Channel Four Tuesday evenings at 8PM. Further details available on Channel 4 website I am sure.

London Children's Film Festival - Barbican - Oct 30th until Nov 7th 2010
Further details at lcff.org.uk

Turner Prize is on at the Tate Britain until Jan 3rd 2011
www.tate.org.uk

The Voices of The WI album - by The Harmonies - is in the shops from Monday 25 October 2010!
The Harmonies’ spectacular debut album – The Voices of the WI – features a new contemporary arrangement of Jerusalem and all-time favourites including:

* Wonderful World
* When I Fall in Love
* You've Got A Friend
* Imagine
* Annie's Song
* Dream a Little Dream
* Wild Mountain Thyme
* Smile
* Reach Out and Touch
* Teach Your Children Well

PLUS several stunning new original pop songs, all in the unique style of The Harmonies, winners of ‘Search for Stars of the WI’ 2010.

CIY: Craft it Yourself
A fun programme of events to satisfy your crafty urges this Winter @ Craft Central, Oct-Dec 2010 http://www.craftcentral.org.uk/craft-it-yourself
Book online now! http://craftcentralbookings.org.uk/programme/public-events

Cost: All CIY workshops cost an affordable £19.99 (including materials and complimentary wine) Book online! http://craftcentralbookings.org.uk/programme/public-events
Venue: Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square, London EC1M 4DS

Our enjoyable programme of Craft It Yourself workshops offers the chance for anyone to take part in craft - discover the relevance (and fun) of craft and design!

Whether you’re already an expert, or fancy trying something new, come and satisfy your crafty urges at the CIY workshops led by designers. From sharpening up your sewing skills with creating gorgeous handbags from vintage fabrics, to millinery and crafty tips to decorate your home for the festive season, this is an informal opportunity to learn from the experts and have a bit of ‘making’ fun! No experience required!

Join us this winter for the following CIY workshops...

Craft It Yourself: Hat Party! Make a Fascinator with Katherine Elizabeth http://www.katherineelizabethhats.com/ on Mon 1 Nov at 6pm
Craft It Yourself: Make a Luxury Christmas Accessory with Minnie Bats Design http://minniebats.com/ on Mon 8 Nov at 6pm
Craft It Yourself: Make a Handbag with Emily Jo Gibbs http://www.emilyjogibbs.co.uk/ on Mon 15 Nov at 6pm
Craft It Yourself: Make Jewellery with Frilly by Lily http://www.frillybylily.co.uk/ on Wed 8 Dec at 6pm

More information can be found attached and on our website http://www.craftcentral.org.uk/craft-it-yourself . Book online now! http://craftcentralbookings.org.uk/programme/public-events

Best wishes
Sarah

Sarah Hewett
Events and Professional Development Manager
Craft Central
33-35 St John's Square
London
EC1M 4DS

02072510276

sarah.hewett@craftcentral.org.uk
www.craftcentral.org.uk

Volunteering at Guide Dogs
Pippa Block wrote to us LWWI earlier in October with the following message we thought some of you who live or work locally might be interested in:

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me emailing you. I found your details on your
website.

I work in the volunteering department at Guide Dogs. We are currently
looking for volunteers to help the district team based in Euston and
wondered whether any of your members might be interested in helping us.
The district team, made up of Guide Dog Mobility Instructors, carry out
the advanced stages of training with the dogs and match the dogs to
their new owners. They have dogs in the office during normal office
hours (9 - 5ish) and then the dogs stay with volunteer boarders in the
evenings and at weekends.

We are looking for volunteers to help out our volunteer boarders by
collecting the dogs from their homes in the morning and dropping them
off at the Euston office between 8 am and 9am. We are then also looking
for volunteers to come into the office around 5pm and groom the dogs for
an hour or so before dropping them back at the boarders homes. These
volunteers would be able to use our vehicles. Most of the volunteer
boarders live around the Euston or Camden area so the role would suit
someone that lived not far from that area. We would ideally like around
4 volunteers in total for the morning and afternoon driving shifts. We
feel it would be beneficial to do the shifts in pairs on a rota basis.

We would love to talk to you and your members more about these
volunteering roles. Myself and one of the mobility instructors would be
more than happy to come along to one of your meetings (with a dog!) to
talk a bit more about what we do and about the volunteering
opportunities on offer.

My contact details are below so please feel free to get in touch.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Pippa Block
Regional Volunteering Advisor (South & East)
Tel: 0118 9830167
Mob. 07920285750

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association,Walkden House, First Floor, 10 Melton Street, London, NW1 2EB

To find out about volunteer opportunities across the region call 0845 371 7771

Get dining for Guide Dogs! To find out more, go to www.guidedogs.org.uk/gettogether

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
Registered Office: Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 3YG. A company limited by
guarantee registered in England and Wales (291646) and a charity registered in England and Wales
(209617) and Scotland (SC038979).

Tel: 0118 9835555 Website: www.guidedogs.org.uk Email: guidedogs@guidedogs.org.uk

A Star for Christmas’ carol concert in support of Age UK in Euston Dec 9th.
This email came in from Sara.Westrop@ageuk.org.uk advising us of the
next community based event which we thought some people might be interested in was

Her message read:
I was wondering if your members would be interested in hearing about our festive ‘A Star for Christmas’ carol concert in support of Age UK. It takes place on Thursday 9th December at St Pancras Parish Church, Euston Road from 6.30pm. We would love you to join us for an evening of Christmas cheer whilst we celebrate our achievements throughout 2010.

This year we have a host of entertainment and celebrities for you to enjoy as well as the traditional carols to get you in the festive mood. We have an early bird offer on tickets running until the 5th November costing £10 instead of £20. The price of your ticket includes refreshments after the concert.

This winter, Age UK and our partners will provide advice, support and practical services to reach over 350,000 older people who desperately need our help to keep warm, healthy and stay in touch. By joining us for this Christmas celebration you will not only enjoy a fantastic evening of entertainment, but also be reaching out to thousands of lonely older people.

You can book tickets by calling the events team on 020 7239 1922.

With kind regards,
Sara Westrop
Events Fundraising Co-ordinator
Sara.Westrop@ageuk.org.uk

02072391922

LadyFest10
Lux Chell (no I am not making up her name contacted us and a number of our WI sisters from fellow London branches to advise us of LadyFest which is happening in North London in a few weeks time.
Full details at www.ladyfestten.com

Lux's message read:

Hi Everyone,

We're in the final push before Ladyfest 10 and we need your help. We want to get our venues looking as lovely as possible and for that, we'd love some bunting. Funds and time are in short supply so we're asking you, the crafty ladies of London, to help us out. We'd really appreciate it if you could donate us some bunting with any materials you have to hand. Feel free to get creative- you could spell out the name of your group, or inspirational words and pictures. I've attached a pattern you could follow if you want to. The only limitation is that it's ready by November 11th. Short notice, I know, but it's so simple and we know that you can represent. Give us a heads up and we'll be round to pick up your bunting whenever it's ready, and please pass this info on to whoever you think might be interested.

From myself and on behalf of Ladyfest 10, thank you so much for helping us out.
Yours, Lux Chell
abritontheside@gmail.com

British Red Cross
Final community/fundraising request has come in from the British Red Cross's Naomi Kibrit

Her message read:

I am emailing on behalf of the British Red Cross London Fundraising Team to introduce myself as your local contact. I am a Senior Community Fundraiser based in the City of London but covering fundraising activities across the whole of London - broadly speaking within the M25 boundaries.

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global network of volunteers, responding to natural disasters, conflicts and individual emergencies. We enable vulnerable people at home and overseas to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their own communities. And when a crisis is over, we help people to recover and move on with their lives.

In local communities throughout the UK including here in London, the Red Cross is there. We provide life saving first aid training, care for people returning home from hospital when there is no one else to turn to, support refugees fleeing conflict and are ready to respond to emergencies 365 days a year.

As a fundraising team we organise various fundraising events within central London to raise money for our work at home and overseas - such as Abseils, Wine Tasting events, Christmas Markets (one held at Guildhall in the city and one at Kensington Town Hall), Disaster Response Challenge weekends, and annual fundraising collections (namely during our Red Cross Week in May).

Local centres also organise and support local events where they can, along with running local services in their communities. On top of this we have a fantastic (and ever-growing) base of supporters and organisations who organise weird and wonderful fundraising events on our behalf - such as a local quiz night or disco, through to a personal sponsorship challenge or private collection.

I would really like the opportunity to speak with you a little bit more about how the London West End WI may like to get involved with the British Red Cross either on the phone or face to face at one of your regular meetings. Please do let me know if you would be interested in finding out more information about our work and when would be a convenient time to contact you to discuss this further.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards
Naomi Kibrit
NKibrit@redcross.org.uk

Direct line: 020 7382 4651

British Red Cross, 3rd Floor, 64 London Wall, London, EC2M 5TP
www.redcross.org.uk/events

AGM and Cider Tasting. Nov 16th 2010

2010-11-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It's that time of year again already! On Tuesday the 16th we'll be having out AGM, complete with our annual review and vote for official positions. If you’re interested in running for a position or would like to join the committee, please feel free to drop us an email at londonwestendwi@googlemail.com – we’d be happy to tell you more about the responsibilities involved.

To liven up the official procedures, we’ll also be enjoying a cider tasting, after which you’ll know your dry perrys from your scrumpies!

As always we’ll meet at 6.30 in the Upper Vestry Room of St.George’s, entrance on Little Russell Street. We look forward to seeing you there!

Sewing Group is meeting Tuesday November 2nd

2010-10-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

The sewing Group is meeting Tuesday November 2nd at Seven Dials Club.

Seven Dials Club is located at 42 Earlham Street just round the corner from the theatre where Chicago is being shown.

Sewing Group will start at 6ish but please do turn up when you and if you can, pls bring along something you are working on on or bring some material and sewing equipment as we have some patterns you might be interested in making use of.

This is a very nice sociable environment and if you don't want to sew but wish to come along you would be most welcome. Drinks and bar food available from the bar at a most reasonable rate.

Would you be interested in participating in sewing a WI community patchwork quilt?

NB We are also hoping to have a quick committee meeting at the same time.

Reminder about visit to British Museum to see Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Exhibition - 31st October 2010 12:00PM

2010-10-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

If you have indicated that you wish to attend this exhibition at the BM, good news Kate has booked the tickets.

If you might like to attend but have not booked tickets as yet then pls do email londonwestendwi@gmail now as we may have a few spare free tickets.

The tickets are timed for 12:00 and we are meeting in the Great hall of the British Museum
Pls come and find us we will have our mobiles with us if you are running late

We will email all of you who have already booked.

Thanks

Theatre trip to see Tales of the Harrow Road - 4th November at Soho Theatre

2010-10-22T06:17:00.001-07:00

Diana one our our LWWI members is organising a trip to see Tales of the Harrow Road at the Soho Theatre on November 4th 2010

Tickets will cost £5

If you wish to attend please email londonwestendwi@gmail.com and mark the subjact title
Diana- Theatre trip and we will forward your mail to her. Or Email Diana directly on

Pls do remember to put contact details in so she can respond to you

Enjoy ;-)

Bloomsbury Festival Oct 22nd - 24th

2010-10-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

The Bloomsbury festival is on from 22nd until 24th of October 2010

Best visit website www.bloomsburyfestival.org.uk to see all that is occuring during this celebration.

LWWI - October Dates for the Diary

2010-10-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lengthy entry but there is infact quite a lot going on that we wanted to share with you.

Free One day Preview at the British Museum Sunday 31st October
We have been invited by the British Museum to come along to the Museum during the afternoon of Sunday 31st October in order to attend a free preview of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. If you would like to attend this free event on Sunday 31st please email LWWI and we will order the appropriate number of tickets. We need you to decide ideally by the evening of Saturday 16th of October.

Rosemary Anne Sissons is coming to talk to us on Tuesday 19th of October.
She is a Novelist, playwright and script writer.
I enclose for your information a quick blurb about Rosemary from imdb.com.

Rosemary Anne Sisson
Age: 80’s (born in the 1920’s). Novelist and playwright. Lived in Grange Park, North London. Father was Professor Sisson and taught Shakespeare and Eng. Lit at UCL. First Lord Northcliffe professor. (1930’s)

Attended Cheltenahm Ladies College. Civil Service (!) took over the school when war broke out in ’39, so went to Secretarial School to learn shorthand typing and bookkeeping.

Attended UCL to do BA in English. (U.C.L. evacuated to Aberystwyth.) and left after 2 years to join the Womens’ Auxiliary Air Force (WAAFS).

After war went to Cambridge, Newman College, and took M Litt. Moved to Wisconsin in 1949 to lecture in English at the university. Stayed one year. Worked on a ranch as a kitchen help 90 miles from railway station 30 miles from town. Stayed a final week as a dude so she could ride the horses - forbidden for staff. Wrote a western novel based on her experiences – The Killer of Horseman Flats.

Returned to England and lectured at UCL in English for 2 - 3 years, but sacked for overstaying her holiday in Baghdad even though she had arranged a temporary substitute to cover her extra week’s absence.

Father had retired, but then was made first Senior Fellow of the new Shakespeare Institute at Stratford, so RAS lived with her parents and lectured at Birmingham University and became the dramatic critic for the Stratford Herald.

Wrote first play The Queen and the Welshman. Shakespeare Histories performed at Stratford with Michael Redgrave, Anthony Quayle, Richard Burton and this was the sequel.

Performed at the Edinburgh festival and toured – before being produced at the Hammersmith Lyric in 1957 with Edward Woodward and Frank Finlay. Adapted for radio BBC Wales.

Then became writer for Upstairs Downstairs, Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabteh R, adaptation of Wind in the Willows, etc.

Worked for Disney and wrote the screenplays for Ride a Wild Pony, Escape from the Dark, Candleshoe and Watcher in the Woods.

Among a number of other plays produced, she wrote a Ghost on Tiptoe with Robert Morley and was nominated by him to become the first woman member of the Dramatist Club, founded in 1909 by, among others, GB Shaw, Somerset Maugham, Arthur Pinero. Her nomination was seconded by W.A. Dartington of the Daily Telegraph. When she became a member two others resigned.

She became the first woman Honorary Secretary and wrote the Centennial History of the Club, sub-titled “You mean the actors don’t make it all up as they go along?”.

Is a member of the Writer’s Guild (a TU for writers, non-political) and has been Chair and President; has about 1000 members. Continues to write e.g. novels, articles, scripts for charity functions, e.g. Joy to the World.

Sewing Circle
Sewing Circle will now be on the first Tuesday of each month at Seven Dials in Covent Garden

Food Hygiene Course
We are trying to organise a Food Hygiene course for November for interested members
We will have further details about this following the final committee meeting for 2009/2010 LWWI committee.
We will try to keep the cost for this down to a minimum
If you would like to gain your food hygiene certificate which is valid for 3 years and allows you to make and sell produce to the public please email LWWI. The cost of doing this course at a college is usally about £60 per person we hope to offer it to you all at no more than £30 at a maximum.

Concessions may be available depending on the number of people who wish to attend.

Final committee meeting for 2009/2010
We hope to have our final committee meeting for 2009/2010 shortly. Committee pls check your email in the next few days for suggested dates for this meeting.
We have some paper work that must be completed before the AGM in November for both Surrey Federation and NFWI
We need to discuss the food hygiene course.
Website
AGM
Whatsonstage renewal
Potential diary events for 2010 and early 2011
AOB

AGM and Cider Tasting for November 2010
AGM and Cider tasting will occur on November 16 2010
We would appreciate as many members as possible attending this meeting
New and potential members pls do come along

Joining the LWWI committee for 2010/2011
If you would like to join the LWWI committee for 2010/2011 please do feel free to put yourself forward.
The commitment from ordinary committee members is minimum. Most of the committee initially joined as ordinary members before taking formal positions.
If you would like to stand for a formal nominated position like secretary, president, treasurer etc please do email LWWI to nominate yourself.
If you are worried about the amount of work involved in taking a position then rest assured you can always job share as Kate and I have for 2009/2010.

National Baking week
National Baking week occurs this month from 18th to 24th of October
See nationalbakingweek.co.uk

Possible Phoenix Gardens Autumn Event
Following the success of Phoenix gardens event in September we raised circa £275 we have potentially been invited to take part in a Autumn event with them. Further details will be available as soon as Kate has them.

Joining LWWI for 2010/2011
Please do not forget that it is currently possible to join LWWI now and your membership will cost £30 and not expire until the end of December 2011. Please see Maggie our treasurer for further details. We are hoping to make it possible for members to pay via paypal if they wish and will have further details about this shortly.
There are certain perks to being a member rather than paying per visit pls see either Claude, Kate or Heather for further details

Hänsel & Gretel at the Royal Opera House
on Tuesday 28th December 2010 at 12.30pm, tickets will be approximately £20 or less and we will start taking bookings soon.
For more information about the production see the Opera House website www.roh.org.uk
Hopefully we will have the means of allowing you to pay via paypal shortly for these tickets.
Pls email Kate via londonwestendwi@gmail.com if you want to attend so she has some idea of numbers and she can let you know the last date by which you have to book.

Wear it Pink Day 29th October - Breast Cancer Campaign
Is Tuesday 29th October
Pls see website www.WearItPink.co.uk

Breast Cancer Campaign uses all wear it pink donations to fund innovative, world-class research throughout the UK and Ireland to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.

The charity currently supports around 106 projects worth £16.3 million in 38 centres across the UK and Ireland.

When you wear it pink you're part of something amazing - finding a cure for breast cancer, by funding some of the world's most promising and innovative research projects.

The money you have raised in the past has helped to fund projects like Dr Ingunn Holen's award-winning research, which found that if two drugs were given in a particular order at specific intervals, breast tumours were almost completely destroyed. This discovery could ultimately lead to improved chances of survival for thousands of women undergoing treatment.

Breast cancer research has made considerable progress over the past two decades and vital work is still underway. Past research has resulted in improvements in quality of life and survival. However, one woman in nine in the UK will be diagnosed during her lifetime. Each research project funded by the charity brings us a step closer to beating breast cancer.

Heather - the President of LWWI is currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

If anyone would like to sponsor her the link is below.

http://www.justgiving.com/Heather-Willensky

Heather wrote: On October 1st I will be climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in aid of the National Autistic Society. The National Autistic society champions the rights and interests of all people with autism and aim to provide individuals with autism and their families with help, support and services that they can access, trust and rely upon and which can make a positive difference to their lives. Thank you all in advance for all of your donations and support.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

2010-09-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Book now for the Funny Women Awards Charity Final

Monday 20th September in support of OBJECT

We’ve done it again! 24 heats around the UK, 350 new acts and now it’s down to the very last 12. The final of this year’s Funny Women Awards takes place on Monday 20th September at the Leicester Square Theatre, one of London’s leading comedy venues.

The show will be hosted by 2007 Funny Women Awards Winner, Andi Osho, now a major breakthrough act with a host of TV credits including the first series of Channel 4's Tonightly, regular appearances on BBC2 panel show, Mock the Week, and the new Friday night show, Stand Up for The Week on Channel 4. Andi will guide 12 of the newest acts through their best five minutes in front of an impressive array of judges from all corners of the comedy industry. Plus a very special guest performance by 2009 winner, Miss London.

The 10 acts through to the final (so far) are: Jessica Fostekew, Sarah Hendrickx, Alison Thea-Skot, Helen Arney, Rachel Parris, Abigoliah Schamaun, Iona Dudley-Ward, Thankless Child (Liz Black & Freya Slipper), Gemma Whelan and Julia Clark.

Tickets: full price £18.00, or £16.50 if you are on this mailing list and receive our regular e-bulletins – quote ‘Funny’ to get your concessionary rate. BOOK NOW or call 0844 847 2475.

Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX.

Doors 7.00 p.m. for show 7.30 p.m.

We've selected OBJECT, an award-winning human rights organisation that addresses the challenging issues of the pornography and sex industries and their increasing normalisation, to benefit from the final of this year's Funny Women Awards.

If you become a fully paid up member of OBJECT there is an even better discount for the final. JOIN HERE now and find out more.

Best wishes from the Funny Women Team.

PLEASE NOTE: your continued support is very important to us and we very much appreciate the opportunity to send you news about our events and those of some of our partners. However, if you no longer wish to receive these updates, please return this email complete with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject bar. Please note that we really do our best to de-list you if unsubscribe is requested, but with limited resources a few of you slip through the net, for which we apologise.

Funny Women Ltd.

St. David's House, 15 Worple Way,

Richmond-upon-Thames, TW10 6DG

Office 020 8948 4444 Mobile 07973 470577

www.funnywomen.com

Frozen Food Cookery Day at Denman on Monday 4 October 2010.

2010-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Dear all

Please find below details of a Frozen Food Cookery Day at Denman on Monday 4 October 2010. If anyone is interested please see below and contact Denman College direct.

Subject: Frozen Food Cookery Day with chef Serge Nollent and Findus at Denman College - Free Day - Monday 4 Oct 10

Dear All,

Please see the attached information about an exciting free Denman Day, I would be grateful if you could advertise to your members. Please note that applications will only be accepted via post, email or fax (not telephone)

Many thanks

Lynn

l.heffernan@denman.org.uk

Lynn Heffernan
Events and Conference Co-ordinator
Courses Department
Denman College, Marcham, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 6NW
T: 01865 391991 Ext. 237
Fax: 01865 391966

E: info@denman.org.uk
www.theWI.org.uk/college

06 September 2010

Dear Federation Secretary,

Frozen Food Cookery Day with chef Serge Nollent and Findus

Monday 4th October 2010 Denman College, Oxfordshire, Attendance is FREE
Discover the benefits of your freezer with a little help from chef Serge Nollent
and the new Findus Fresher Taste range

A staggering £17bn worth of food sits in our freezers every year, but only a third of this is purchased frozen. The rest is bought fresh and then frozen at home.

So we obviously know how to use our freezers but do we really understand how to freeze food
properly? Do we know the best way to ‘freeze-fresh’? What foods freeze best and what shouldn’t we freeze? What are the ‘rules’ surrounding defrosting? How long can food really stay in the freezer? And how can frozen food help to reduce food waste?

To tell us how, we’ve invited Findus, the experts in frozen food, at Denman College on Monday 4th October. Findus’ head chef, Serge Nollent, will host a unique day where WI members can learn all about the benefits of frozen food.

Serge will talk through the rules of freezing, provide handy hints and tips and host cookery
demonstrations to show you how to create some great tasting recipes that are perfect for freezing. He will also talk through the development of the new, luxury Fresher Taste range from Findus and will challenge you to a blind taste test to see if you can spot the difference between a frozen meal and a fresh one!

Freezing is a great way to reduce food waste and an expert from WRAP (Waste & Resources
Action Programme) will be coming in to talk to members all about how they can do their bit for the environment (and their pockets) by effective use of their freezers.

And finally, we’ve invited a top class sommelier who will provide some fabulous wines to complement Serge’s cooking. Our sommelier will be able to provide top tips on how to match wines to a range of different frozen recipes and will host a mini wine tasting session.

Just make sure you don’t leave without your free, exclusive Findus vouchers so you can try out the new Fresher Taste range with your fellow members and friends!

This is a unique event where we hope even the most expert WI member will gain some invaluable knowledge!

We would be grateful if you would inform your Federation members of this Denman Day. Any
members who would like to attend are asked to complete and return the enclosed application
form or email with the relevant information. Please note that bookings will not be accepted by
phone. Attendance is free and places will be allocated via ballot. The ballot will be drawn on 22nd
September. Attendees are asked to arrive at 10.00am for refreshments in time for a 10.30am start.

The day will finish at 4pm. We appreciate that this is relatively short notice. Please note that we have to work with the marketing schedules of the company concerned. We look forward to seeing some of your members on 4th October.

With best regards,

Head of Programmes

September Dates for Diary

2010-09-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Emma Bridgewater talk 15th September at V&A- Special invite to WI's.

Details: Emma will discuss the iconic British pottery company's 25 years of growth, and its plans for the future.
Date: Wednesday 15 September,
Time:19.00-20.45 (talk 19.00-20.00, wine reception 20.00-20.45) Doors open 18.30
Venue: Held at the V&A, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL (Please use the side entrance on Exhibition Road)
Cost: tickets are £10 (cash / cheque) - spaces are limited and to reserve a place please email Alex Gibbs at the V&A WI on a.gibbs@vam.ac.uk or call 020 7942 2277

Vicar's inauguration on Tuesday 21st of September.
The vicar of St Georges is having his inauguration / installation on Tuesday 21st which is why we are not meeting on this date.
If you would like to attend pls feel free to attend. Kate/Helena have more details about this.

Tube "Ghost" Tours at Aldwych, 24th to 26th of September.
See where Londoners took refuge from the Blitz, open for 3 days to mark the 70th Anniversary of the 2nd world war air raids.

Tickets available at www.ltmuseum.co.uk

Tours last 45mins

Grace Kelly at the V&A finishes on the 26th of September

Fashion, room 40

£6, £4 concessions (seniors, students, 12-17 year olds, ES40 holders)
Free to V&A Members

The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly is on display at the V&A. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywoods most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display presents over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, are on show as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These are accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display also includes the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favourite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent.

Other things of interest this month

Proms at Royal Albert Hall or Proms in the Park on 11th of September
Battle of Britain at Royal Festival Hall on 11th of September
LWWI Sewing Group, Kate will send out details of the date for this

Ladies pls can we take the opportunity to encourage you to seriously consider joining the WI for 2011 (You can join for 2011 from November 2010 so you end up with 14 months membership) as we at LWWI are working on finding even more perks to being a member of LWWI in particular.

Have a good month, pls get in touch if you need anything

Claude & Kate
LWWI Secretaries

August Meeting and other events for your WI diaries for the next month.

2010-08-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 17th August 6.30ish – WI Meeting
Upper Vestry Room, St Georges-Bloomsbury
Maggie Gaunt will demonstrate & advise on
“Small arrangements for small places- tricks of the Florist Trade ”
(or how to create a stunning floral masterpiece with supermarket flowers & a bit of cunning )
Pls bring some flowers if you wish to be a bit more hands on during this meeting
Pls also bring some food / juice you would like to share with the group as we might pop outside for part of the meeting if the weather is nice.

If anyone has any receipts left over from Covent Garden that they want to claim money back from please bring the receipts to the meeting on Tuesday.

Tuesday 19th August 10am-5pm - Fruit Picking Trip
The coach will leave outside Majestic Wines in Drury Lane 10am & return there at 5pm. Bring a picnic lunch.
This trip has been organised by the Covent Garden Community Association & is free.
You will just have to pay for the fruit that you pick.
Lots of you came to pesto/jams and curd making in June so why not pick your own fruit and put your new knoweldge into practice. Remember NFWI are running the real jam festival this year.

NB Another trip to IKEA is being planned for later in the year also arranged by Covent Garden Community Association.

Saturday 4th September 12 – 6pm - Phoenix Gardens Fair
This will be our last fund raising cake stall this year so anyone who would like to volunteer to help: baking, jam making or manning the stall – contact Claude or Kate via email address londonwestendwi@gmail.com (please remember to keep any receipts for ingredients if you want to claim them back.)

Hot topics & Resolutions

2010-08-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

This has been a year in the planning. Last August we had a talk about campaigning and it touch a chord with our members. Georgia and Carrie worked on resolutions around body image.

At the July 2010 meeting the following resolutions were amended & passed by our members.
It's a hot topic in the news at the moment see the Girl Guide http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10865582 and some well known politicians have picked up the topic too.

We have the agreement of our membership to campaign on these issues which are very much in the media at the moment. We are also putting them resolutions forward for selection by the NFWI ... look out for the opportunity to vote on WI resolutions in the November issue of WI life. If it is successful then our WI will be presenting it at the NFWI conference in Liverpool next June.

If you would like to get involved in the planning to campaign on these issues then please contact Carrie Graham or Georgia Machell via londonwestendwi@googlemail.com.

Resolution 1: Disclosing the use of enhanced images of people in advertising
"This resolution urges the NFWI to use its influence to induce advertisers and media owners to explicitly disclose the use of enhanced or air brushed images"

Resolution 2: Media, body image and health
"This resolution urges HM Government and industry bodies to recognise the negative impact overly idealist and unattainable portrayal of men and women in advertising are having on mental health, particularly body image and self esteem, An ideal response would be a Media Code of Conduct for Body Image."

Resolution 3: Opposing the promotion of rapid weight-loss diet plans
"Whilst we recognise that the maintenance of a healthy weight is essential, this resolution urges the NFWI to oppose the promotion of rapid weight diet plans and also urges HM Government to recognize the long term negative physical and emotional impact of extreme weight loss."

September meeting date change to 14th Sept

2010-07-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

The meeting has been moved to Tuesday 14th September because the new Vicar will be installed on our usual 3rd Tuesday (21st Sept) and they need the hall. We are invited to the service on 21st September and have volunteered to make cakes for the event!

So WI members and visitors same time, same place just a one off change to 14th September.

The subject for this meeting is the garden project - we won a grant to create a garden in the courtyard and start off our Beehive on the roof subject to Church agreement. A speaker is coming from the St James Park allotment volunteers.

Tuesday 20th July

2010-07-16T00:30:00.001-07:00

Tuesday 20th July 6.30pm start.

This meeting will be about a chaired discussion and voting for our WI to adopt a resolution. What's the issue - The airburshing of photographs in newspapers and magazines, the use of doctored body images that imply perfection and happiness is only obtainable if one looks like this/that. This affects men & women, boys and girls. Carrie (writer of this blog) & Georgia were inspired by our WIs response at a WI Campaigning talk last year and now we'd like to do something about it and it feels like this may be the time to take it into the WI arena for discussion. We would like our WI to adopt a resolution and put forward a resolution to the National Federation of WIs. Come and be part of the conversation on Tuesday - members & non members are welcome though only members will be able to vote on us adopting the resolutions. Please RSVP to the londonwestendwi@googlemail.com to let us know you intend to join us. Members cannot vote unless present!

Lynne Parker of Funny Women will chair a discussion on the issues with the aim of helping us agree and vote on one or more resolutions relating to this. There is a skill to crafting a resolution that can be acted upon so here are 3 that Georgia & I have worked on. We would like to put these forward for discussion and adoption by the London West End WI

This resolution urges HM Government and industry bodies to recognise the negative impact overly idealist and unattainable portrayal of women in advertising are having on mental health, particularly body image and self esteem, An ideal response would be a Media Code of Conduct for Body Image."

"This resolution urges the NFWI uses its influence to induce advertisers to explicitly disclose the use of enhanced or air brushed images"

"This resolution urges the NFWI to stop the promotion of rapid weight loss diets and also urges HM Government to recognize the negative physical and emotional impact rapid weight loss diets have on those who engage with them"

The voting is only open to members. Non members are welcome to join the discussion. We need a two thirds majority of members present for a resolution to be adopted.

If you would like to do some reading or surfing on the subject have a look at the following links
Article in Evening standard on 17th June had some interesting images!
http://www.fmwf.com/taxonomy/lifestyle/2010/06/debenhams-bans-the-airbrush-from-swimwear-ad-campaign-and-lays-bare-all-the-sneaky-tricks-of-the-trade/

Radio 4 Front Row 30th June : Interview with Elle Macpherson about 7 minutes into the programme about her views and involvement in the programme Britain's Next Top Model http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00stcrn

http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/digitalAssets/36471_Reportof_the_Media_Code_of_Conduct_Working_Group_on_Body_Image_2007__v2.pdf
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/2010/03/campaign-for-body-confidence.htm
Body Image Summit in 2000 - type in body image and lots of interesting articles/webpages show up here's one http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/professional_learning/teachers/2008/body_image_conference.shtml
B-Eat has some good resources http://www.b-eat.co.uk/ProfessionalStudentResources/Studentinformation-1/Effectsofthemedia

Fundraiser for Women@theWell

2010-06-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Laughing & Relief for Hayfever Suffers in Lincolns Inn Fields
nr Holborn Tube Station

Raising funds for Women @ the Well to buy underwear for the women who connect with this charity. It is the simple things that make a difference! Carrie will be leading some events to raise money these sessions are open to members, non members and men.

Laughter & Laughter Yoga in Lincoln's Inn Fields, close to Holborn Tube station on 6.30pm 7th, 14th & 22nd July £8pp conc rate £3pp. Bring a towel or yoga mat to lie down on.

Learn the EFT for Hayfever Recipe Lincoln's Inn Fields 13th July 6.30pm £8pp, £3pp conc. There are also sessions planned in South London - Brockwell, Dulwich & Norwood Parks. Bring a towel or mat to sit on.

To book a place contact Carrie via a text message to 07789954972. Remember to give your name and the date you want to come along.

Date clashes with the football?..... Never fear there is a Wetherspoons just around the corner with lots of screens & atmosphere or stay in the park to escape the football....

Laughing: Please tell your friends and invite them to the laughing, no sense of humour, jokes or special equipment required! A towel or mat to lie down on is very helpful. If there are clashes with the football then the Wetherspoons just around the corner will be available!

EFT... we sold some copies of the recipe at the Covent Garden stall last weekend so if you have hayfever... it's worth a go and probably less expensive than the antihistamines most hayfever sufferers go through in a week!

Would you like to join the WI

2010-06-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is our fifth year and there is still room for new members. Visitors and new members say we " are very welcoming & friendly" so that may account for our recent growing spurt!

What will it cost you to join the WI? Just £29.50! This will cover your subscription till the end of December 2010. If you join part way through the year then it stills costs £29.50 so join sooner rather than later. Anyone who joins between Oct to Dec gets a few extra months as an incentive.

About half of the subs is given to the National Federation & Surrey Federation - we get the remainder! So come to the next meeting with cash or a cheque and complete a membership form. The NFWI will send you a welcome pack and add you to the mailing list for the WI Life magazine. You'll be entitled to attend the montly meeting, vote on WI resolutions and take part in our events & activities. We think the friendship, networking and meetings are great value so we hope to see you soon.

Kent Fruit Picking - 10th July

2010-06-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hewitts farm nr Knockholt railway station
Meet 9am at the farm gates

Want to make jam or freeze fruit for other occasions? We are venturing out of the city for an early morning fruit picking session.

Hewitts pick your own farm near Knockholt train station in Kent about 30 mins from Charing Cross. Expect raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries plus whatever else is ripe! There are some veggies too. It gets very busy with coach trips by 10.30ish so we are opting for an early start.

Travel - take the 8.15am from Charing Cross...the farm is about 10 to 15 mins walk from Knockholt station. Adult ticket costs £10 return or less with a travel card. remember there are other reductions from group save if 3 or more people travel together or check if someone has a season ticket for shared savings on the goldcard offers. And accompanying children can travel for £1 on group save.

We plan to meet at Hewitts farm gate at 9am, yes it is an early start and picking fruit is quite pleasant early in the day before it heats up.

The farm provides baskets and if you are travelling by train consider bringing some tupperware boxes for easy handling.

If anyone is planning to travel by car from central london/south London/anywhere on the south circular then email Carrie/Claude at londonwestendwi@googlemail.com to coordinate lifts. Carrie & Claude are travelling via West Norwood and Honor Oak, so there is room for 2 more in the car if you can arrange to be on that route between 7.45 & 8.15am (whatever happened to a Sat morning lie in?). Carrie will bring flasks & stove for tea-making! Bring a mid morning snack or lunch if you plan to stay longer.

Contact Carrie via the above email address to let her know if you plan to come along.

Covent Garden Sell out

2010-06-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

We had an outstanding two days in Covent Garden Piazza, when the Covent Garden owners offered stalls to around 8 different community grounds (thank you and please offer us space again). There was lots of 'competition' from other community groups and private businesses so we think the £350 gross that we raised is outstanding!

A special thankyou to our secretary Claude who gave encouragement & organising time to making it happen so easily. Thankyou to all those who baked- please bring your receipts to the next meeting to claim back your ingredient expenses (see Claude). A little goes a long way - with £6 of ingredients producing about £40 net profit

The WIs from around the country were out in force that day... we met fellow members from WIs in Norwich, Sussex, Derby. We posed for photos for our fellow WIs and were told our cakes & jams were keeping up the high standards of our fellow WIs (phew says this cook... my slightly well done/singed scones had sold by this point in time)

We made lots of new contacts as a result of being there including potential new members, other community groups and networked with lots of interesting people to spread the word that we are based in this area.

Our next event is at St Giles' in early September so consider some jam/chutney making to stock our stall or keep a space in your diary for the first weekend of Sept.

Make your own Elderflower Champagne

2010-06-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

The Elderflowers are out, you may just have time to make a batch of champagne before the flowers fade. This gives a non-alcoholic refreshing drink for the summer. Serve chilled. Very fizzy just like champagne... I love the tangy lemon flavour

7 Elderflower Heads
2 Lemons
1 Gallon of water
1 1/2 lbs of sugar
2 tablespoons of white vinegar

Boil up the water, dissolve the sugar in the water. Allow to cool
Slice the lemons, & place in a large container (a brewing bucket is ideal) & crush slightly to release the lemon juice. Add the water & sugar liquid to the lemons, add the white wine vinegar. Cover & leave for 24 hours.... bottle. Leave for at least 4 weeks. Take care when opening and remember to label the bottle with date and contents!

Enjoy, I'm hoping mine will be ready for our August meeting
Carrie

10 minute miracle fruit jam

2010-06-17T11:04:00.001-07:00

Quick but delicious frozen fruit jam in the microwave. (You could have a pot in 10 minutes)
Recipe as promised following WI jam demonstration on Tuesday 15th of June by Claude, Nuala and Nathalie.

Recipe:

Put about 800g of frozen berries in a plastic jar
Add 1KG of Tate & Lyle jam sugar with added pectin
Add a knob of butter

Stir well and cook in microwave for about 10-15 minutes if using fresh fruit especially strawberries, it will probably be very watery and you may need to add more jam sugar to make it set or may need to cook it for 20 minutes plus in total.

In my experience frozen raspberries take 10 minutes and make about 3 small 200-250g pots of jam.

My top tip is keep watching it and stir it regularly.

Oh and never put anything metal in the microwave as that would seriously be quite dangerous ;-)

Also remember that the jam is going to be piping hot. Use oven gloves and wear an apron and be safe in the kitchen.

Ofcourse you could do all of this almost as easily on the hob, but where is the fun in that?

Covent Garden Piazza opportunity

2010-05-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

LWWI havebeen invited to take a stall from Friday June 18th to Sunday June 20th.
After our success inBloomsbury it would be churlish not to.

More details to come.

Needless to say we are very keen to take up this opportunity

If you bake, sew, craft, pot, embroider, knit, crochet etc and want to sell something on the stall that you have made pls do get in touch via londonwestendwi@googlemail.com

I will post more details as soon as I have them.

If you would like to help on the stall pls also do not hesitate to get in touch

Thanks

Village Fete resounding success for LWWI

2010-05-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

London West End WI raised lots of money at the Bloomsbury Village Fete Saturday May 15th.

We connected with lots of women. And raised our profile in the local area among local women.

Well done to all involved.

WI - V&A Quilting exhibition social evening - 7th June 2010

2010-05-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

Monday June 7^th WOMEN'S INSTITUTE QUILT SOCIAL AT THE V&A LONDON (see email below)

You book through the V&A box office 020 7942 2211 mention the WI when you book

Cost should be £5

I think everyone is meeting outside before all going in together.

Event starts at 6 I believe

The deadline to reply is in May

WI meeting tonight 18th May

2010-05-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

We are having a 80's style Cheese and Wine evening as our May meeting, Gardening unfortunately had to be cancelled.

Please Do come along.

It will be lovely.

Tuesday's Meeting

2010-05-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

hello!
Firstly, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped out with the bake sale, especially Grace, Claude, Rebecca and Jennifer. All together we raised 233 pounds, which will come in very handy! We also spoke to lots of enthusiastic women about the WI, so don't be surprised to see some new faces!

This tuesday night, we'll be having an 80s themed cheese and wine party! We'll have 80s music and hopefully some 80s board games, along with a cheese tasting, wine, and loads of fun. Feel free to bring your favourite cheese or wine for everyone to taste, and to come in 80s clothing (optional!) - bright colours, shoulder pads, bangles and spangles.

If you have any questions, give us a shout. We can't wait to see you on tuesday!

Cinderella - Royal Opera House - 5th June

2010-04-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday 5^th June

Matinee of “Cinderella” at the Royal Opera House

Pls contact kate via londonwestendwi@googlemail.com if you want more information about this or have not already ordered your ticket.

Bloomsbury Fete WI stall - 15th May - Brunswick Centre -

2010-04-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday 15^th May

The annual Village Fete event at the Brunswick centre is in its third year

the WI will be having a stall, please do come along and either make something or else help.

We had a laugh last year but do need some help and some produce.

If you want to help and need more information regarding logistics etc please either
call Claude or Heather or email londonwestendwi@googlemail.com

Guided walk - 11th May 2010 - Suffragettes in the City

2010-04-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

11^th May Tuesday

Suffragettes in the City guided walk 6.30-7.30pm

Duration: 1 hour

Meet: just before 6.20pm by orange information kiosk outside Holborn tube station

End: By LSE south end of Kingsway

Cost: no charge to LWEWI

Garden Centre Coach Trip - May1st 2010.

2010-04-27T06:43:00.001-07:00

Coach Trip

Saturday May 1st. 10.00am.
Meet outside Majestic Wine at the top of Drury Lane, Covent Garden.
Don't be late!

The coach takes us for free to Crewe's Hill in Enfield to a road lined with about a dozen garden centres (and pet shops and basic cafes) The coach has big luggage spaces so you can bring back big bags of compost and crates of plants. We return in the late afternoon to Covent Garden.

It's organised by Suzie Herschelle and Covent Garden Community Association. If you want to go, call her and let her know before the 28th April on 07944 544 733 or email her on suzie@millimeep.co.uk

Helana and Kate said this was fab last year. Be quick ladies if you want to go ;-)
What better way to start the May Bank holiday.

Date for the Diary - Table Top Sale - may 15th 2010

2010-04-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Table Top Sale

Saturday 15th May 12.30 to 5.00pm. Seven Dials Club, 42 Earlham Street, Covent Garden

WI Meeting - 20th April 2010 - Climate Change & the OPAL Project

2010-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

The talk on Tuesday April 20th will be conducted by Dr Claire Ryder, a post doctoral Research Assistant in Space and Atmospheric Science at Imperial College. She will cover the following topics:

Climate change - what it means; a summary of the key scientific evidence; key questions still open to debate. The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project, its objectives and methodology

How the WI can get involved in the OPAL project

After the presentation, Emily Cleevely, Research and Campaigns Officer, National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) will give a short explanation of how the OPAL project meshes with the NFWI climate change campaign.

If anyone has specific questions for Dr Ryder could you please send them to jennyanderson47@gmail.com by April 16th. Many thanks.

March 2010 WI Meeting

2010-03-31T09:21:00.001-07:00

Apologies for my failure to post details of this meeting online
Apparently a wonderful meeting was had by one and all.

"Not Just a Pretty Face Forum" 2 for 1 ticket offer

2010-02-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

There are lots of events taking place around International Women's Day (on 8th March) and some link to particular WI campaigns such as the Stop Violence against Women. Check out this event on 15th March

This event may link in with the work we want to do on body image & the media.
Funny Women and Candied Thinking present
"NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE FORUM"
Monday 15th March 2010
Shows Start: 5.30pm, doors at 5pm
Tickets: £25.00
See website below for details of how to book - There is a special 2 for 1 offer to Womens Institute members & friends, watch this space for more details very soon.

If women were running things, how would the world be different?
Women are a powerful force in effecting change in the world; we need to learn how to get our voices heard.
The approach; conversation not combat, supporting the idea that we can effect social change.
Speakers include: TV’s Dr Linda Papadopoulos, political advisor Ayesha Hazarika; Davina James-Hanman of the Greater London Domestic Violence Project; PR guru, author and broadcaster Lynne Franks; Dianne Nelmes, creator of TV’s Loose Women, semiotician Malcolm Evans & social entrepreneur Karen Darby.
Whether you are creative or in business, man or woman, you can be part of this conversation.
Ticket price includes tea and cake and a donation to V-day.
Check out the events at this website Http://www.newplayerstheatre.com/london/events/seeyounexttuesday.asp

See also http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/2010/festival between 4th & 12th March for films dedicated to women & women's creativity.

Fundraiser Saturday 15th May - help needed

2010-02-14T10:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday 15th May 10am to 4pm tbc – Village Fete at The Brunswick Centre
A local shopping centre has invited us to have a stall as part of their Village Fete. We went to a similar event last year & sold cakes. This is a great opportunity for us to raise funds, our local profile and recruit local women to our WI. To make this happen we need one or two coordinators to recruit volunteers, bakers & makers for the day. It is good fun and members/friends helping out on the day have often enjoyed working as a team to make it happen. We’ve raised over £200 at this type of event in the past and last year we spoke to lots of women about our WI & WI campaigns. If you would be willing to take on a coordinator role or bake/make/ sell goods then please email londonwestendwi@googlemail with your offer ASAP! Remember we will reimburse the cost of ingredients. Keep the receipt and remember to tell us the cost/cake/bun so that we can charge appropriately.

Monday 22nd Feb WI Social

2010-02-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

Come along to this friendly social. 6pm to 8pm Mon 22nd Feb @ The 52 Club, 52 Gower St, nearest Tube s Goodge st ( 5 mins walk), opposite Cheney St. Down the outside steps to the basement entrance for this UCL hospital health & fitness club. The bar is closed that night but there are drinks vending machines but we suggest you bring a tea or coffee with you from Pret/Starbucks nr Goodge St Tube and meet us in the bar area. Bar is on the left as you walk through the door. Next time we'll go for a night when the bar is open.

The theme for tonight is body image & media & a possible LWEWI campaign. The WI has a long and impressive history around taking up issues that matter to women ( & men). We'd like to test out the interest in our WI for a campaign and WI national resolution on the way the impact that media advertising and articles have on our perception and satisfaction with our body & appearance. There lots of interesting articles on this subject via the internet and we'd like to sound out members for taking up this issue. One possibility is to put forward a resolution to the National Federation of WIs and ask them to campaign for it in the same way that they & we campaign for Stop Violence against women, climate change and Bees! The reason we are holding this meeting now is that we need to get planning to get a resolution voted on by our WI before we put it forward for selection and time is passing. If you can't make the 22nd then do let either Carrie or Georgia know of your interest asap

Bring your knitting /crochet or other craft projects to this session, a warm comfortable venue that are keen to have us there.

Phone Carrie 07789954972 to let her know you are planning to join us.

WI theatre club - 19th May Theatre Trip

2010-02-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

Anyone interested in a theatre Trip. Mrs Warren's Profession George Bernard Shaw

Ambassador theatres have set up WI nights and offering a half price rate on this one. Needs a minimum of 8 people to pay their money in advance £29.50pp. Late payment date is 28th February. Members - You are welcome to invite a female friend for the same price.

Bring your cash on 16th February and speak to Carrie or send her a text before 16th if you cannot be there on the night.

What is Mrs Warren’s profession? Her daughter Vivie has never really known much about her mother. A prim young woman, she has enjoyed a comfortable upbringing, a Cambridge education and a generous monthly allowance. Now she has ambitions to go into Law. Is it conceivable that all this privilege and respectability has been financed from the proceeds of the oldest profession? How will Vivie react when she finds out the awful truth about her mother’s ill-gotten gains?

Shaw’s ultimate test of a mother-daughter relationship is one of his most witty and provocative plays. Written in 1894 but banned from performance until the racy 1920s, Mrs Warren’s Profession lays bare the rampant hypocrisy of Victorian society and its constrained morals.
Felicity Kendal’s television credits include The Good Life and Rosemary and Thyme. Her numerous stage appearances include The Vortex and most recently, The Last Cigarette.
‘It is much my best play. Ah, when I wrote it, I had some nerve’
Bernard Shaw
'Felicity Kendal…superb, Lucy Briggs-Owen…brilliant. A witty and gripping production of one of Shaw’s greatest plays' Daily Telegraph

Women at the Well needs volunteers

2010-01-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

Our WI links with a local charity called Women at the Well based at Kings Cross. It provides a drop in centre for women who have been trafficked or are working as prostitutes. Some of our members volunteer in the drop in centre.

More volunteers are needed to help at the drop in centre, if you think you would like to help then get in touch with them to find out more. CRB clearance will be needed and there are lots of ways to help them including fund raising, baking for the drop in centre, filling in forms.

Email info@watw.org.uk or phone 020-7520 1710

2nd February WI social

2010-01-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Update from Tuesday night social - A very successful social/mixer hosted evening was held at Imagination. We knitted, sewed, crocheted, chatted and put the world to rights. New member Laura discovered the delights of knitting under the expert help of Jenny who was onto her 5th cosy crocheted jumper for the battery hens... lucky hens. Georgia and Carrie started the prep needed for a WI resolution on Body image, diets and the media. The WI has a long history of making change happen and we wonder if you would be interested in our projects on this and climate change. More information will follow... watch this space. Thank you to Claude & her employer for gifting us the use of this comfy meeting space ... we will be back. If you have something that you would like to do as a social thing with fellow WI members. Pls do let us know. Other suggestions have been maybe a book club, or a museum/gallery trip, or maybe a trip out to a shopping village.

At the moment we just meet once a month as a group and if I miss a meeting it feels like a long gap till the next so we are organising an in between social hosted by Claude at her great workplace which also has a socialising area that we can use for the price of a drink each. Warm & welcoming and it's even possible to buy a meal too. If you want to come along then you will need to email londonwestendwi@googlemail.com for more details & invite.

The first one of these evenings will be on Tuesday 2nd February starts 6pm till 8pm. This friendly venue is close to Tottenham Court Road - just 5 minutes walk from the Tube. There will be a knitting surgery for anyone needing help getting started with the Jumpers for retired battery hens project or bring along other knitting or craft projects. Bring your own knitting needles & wool for the battery hen jumpers - pattern available. Or just come for a some friendly chat.

PS Members - your What's on Stage membership is ready for collection when you sign up for this year's membership. Kate has the details.

16th February Meeting - History of the World in 100 objects & pancake supper

2010-01-20T15:16:00.001-08:00

Our February meeting speaker will talk about the History of the world in 100 Objects - a joint project between the British Musuem and BBC Radio 4 from another of our multi-talented members Pam an archaelogist by background though now working on this project at the British Museum. Pam says Archaeology is less Indiana Jones & more mud & backache. Come for an insiders view of how they chose the objects for the programme and how museum objects can be used to tell a variety of stories. Find out more about the project and how to get involved at www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld

We also had an offer from our friends at St George's Bloomsbury to join their Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper. We said Yes please. So members & visitors if you are planning to come on 16th February, please remember to bring your favourite pancake topping with you and rsvp to let us know you are coming along. Helena is going to make the batter and let it stand (hot cooking tip for a great pancake from one of our culinary whizzes). We are starting promptly at 6.30pm with talk soon after this time followed by a Pancake supper. Be prepared to stay a little later this evening and note that we are breaking with WI tradition and inviting the gentlemen attending the Shrove Tuesday service & Pancake supper... to our talk/meeting. A first for LWEWI and perhaps for the gentlemen too!

2010 Members subscriptions were due at the January meeting £29.50, cheques or cash to London West End WI via our Treasurer Maggie.

January's monster making

2010-01-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

As usual Helena inspired us to find our creative side, providing a positive aladdin's cave of delights to make our monsterts. She had raided her craft boxes and we had two tables full of embroidery threads, socks, lace, ribbon, buttons and beads to choose from. I forgot to bring my camera so we no photo's at the moment. Bring your finished monsters to the February meeting for a photo shoot.

19th January 2010 - Monster making craft evening

2010-01-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 19th January @ 6.30pm Upper Vestry Hall

Existing members renew your WI membership tonight.. cheques or cash welcomed. See our Treasurer Maggie Carville at the Welcome desk.

As we come out of hibernation after the snow, we are whiling away the dark evenings with creative projects... SOCK MONSTERS. Bring your sewing & craft bits & bobs to the next meeting. Helena Roden our resident artist & long standing committee member will be leading this very sociable and fun session. If you have never got crafty before this is your chance or just come along to say hello to 'old & new faces'
If you have any of these items bring them along
Socks (old without holes recommended)
Bits & Bobs... Buttons, ribbons, anything that takes your fancy
Needle & thread
Wool
clean holey tights for stuffing your monster,
Scissors

Who knows these could be a fund raiser for us or just a celebration of new & rediscovered skills.

We welcome visitors and say come along to a meeting and find out if you like us and our style... friendly & informal. If you do decide to join us... do so as soon as possible because we will soon have a year long membership waiting list!

The next meetings are 16th Feb & 16th March though we expect to organise an
in-between Social evening hosted by Claude near Tottenham Court Road. Look out for details on this blogspot.

Best Wishes
Carrie Graham

December Meeting

2010-01-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

We started the evening with our brand new President Heather Willensky welcoming visitors & new members. Heather was our secretary and blogspot designer and has now moved into leading our WI out of the Noughties into the second decade of the 21st Century

This was our 4th Christmas celebration and we ended the year style with a great quiz night testing our knowledge of the WI, London Underground, famous faces from past & present and a music quiz. Thankyou to our host Steve Wickham who had clearly put a lot of time & effort into creating this event for us. It was helped along with mulled wine & nibbles.

We were so busy that night that every chair in the house was occupied with new members and visitors joining in the fun.

Thank you to all for making it such a fun evening.

We meet again on 19th January 2010 and remember the annual subscription is due that night, bring cheques or cash ( approx £29 for the year). For those women who joined between October & December your next payment is due January 2011 you canny folk!

If you came along for the first time in 2009 and want to join us then January 2010 is the time to join and get a full year's membership of the WI.

November 17th Annual General Meeting & Mexican evening social

2009-11-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Members & Visitors - please come & be part of our essential AGM, it's only once a year and a great opportunity to find out about WI local politics.

This year we are in the happy position of having new volunteers for the officer roles. So what happens at the AGM - The entire committee retires and the members elect a new committee and President. The current officers President Carrie Graham & Treasurer Helena Roden & Secretary Heather Willensky are retiring from these officer roles after a two year stint. Many of the existing committee are willing to continue and take on the officer roles if re-elected to the committee. A very positive state of affairs! This is great news for our WI. There is room for more members to join the committee......

If you are a member of our WI and would like to volunteer for the committee or take on a non committee helping role then please do email Carrie via londonwestendwi@googlemail.com if you would like to talk it over before saying Yes.

Also if you are a new member and not sure about taking on a role, then you might like to shadow or assist a committee member during this next year to find out more.

After all this business we will be making alcoholic & non alcoholic margheritas at our Mexican themed social, so bring something with a Mexican theme ... not swine flu please.

October's Knitting Tea Party

2009-11-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

This was an outstanding success with members & visitors. Long time knitters, new knitters & reluctant knitters were inspired to give it a go. Close on 30 women knitting & a couple of crocheters (?) spent the evening knitting, exchanging tips and making new connections through knitting.

Remember to bring your knitting to the AGM if you need help, it's a mexican theme night so knitted ponchos & somberos welcome.

Thank you to Heather & helpers for organising this event

Knitting Tea Party 20th October

2009-10-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

By request of our members we will be hosting a knitting tea party. Inviting our members and visitors who want to share their knitting skills, learn to knit or brush up on their knitting skills. As we need to plan for the session do let us know if you would like to come along, if you have wool & needles then bring them with you or tell us you need them... we will provide!
Email Heather via londonwestendwi@googlemail.com to tell her you want to join in. There will be a small charge for visitors to cover needles & wool upto £5(or join up that night £29 for 15 months membership).

Brings nibbles to share

We are at our usual venue of the Upper Vestry Hall at St George's Bloomsbury, use Little Russell St entrance only

Beer Tasting - 15th Sept

2009-10-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

We tasted 10 beers from UK, Europe & US complemented with cheese and bitter chocalate. Wonderful.

Thank you to Lindsey & Heather for bringing enlightenment to our beer tasting taste buds

September - Beer Tasting

2009-08-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Two of our members are tried & tested beer tasters and will be leading a beer tasting session for us on 15th September. Lindsey & Heather will be guiding us through sampling the beer...(they also hosted last year's wine tasting... a very sociable session between the sips, sniffs & twirling of wine glasses) Please bring nibbles to share.

Members are welcome to bring guests and please let us know if you plan to do this. There will be a small charge for visitors & guests tbc but max'm £3pp
We welcome new members or visitors wanting to find out more about our Women's Institute before taking the plunge and signing up.

Do please email us on londonwestendwi@googlemail.com at least 48 hours before the meeting or phone Carrie 07789954972 if you would like to come along to a Tuesday meeting.

WI campaigns & Resolutions

2009-08-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

The August speaker was the Marianne Sladowsky Head of Public Affairs at the National Federation of WIs. Marianne spoke about the NFWIs current campaigns which include Stop Violence against Women & SOS for Bees. She also encouraged us to put forward resolutions as a WI or for individual members to put forward resolutions that they would like to be considered. Her advise on a resolution was keep it simple and be aware of other similar resolutions that have already gone through. We floated ideas on resolutions for in connection with prostitution/criminal record checks ( at the moment women with a prostitution conviction are treated like sex offenders and are excluded from many jobs preventing them from making a fresh start and resolutions on the negative impact of the medias obsession with body image & dieting. So get your thinking caps on... would you like to put forward a resolution to the NFWI. Members are invited to get together to craft the wording. The closing date is the Friday 18th Sept so you would need to have it in the post by 14th to be sure of entry. Get in touch with Carrie if you want to know how to do this... members only!

Recipes from our Jam Expert Claude

2009-08-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
After June's very successful jam-making session, we've had quite a few requests for some of the recipes, which our jam-master Claude has graciously provided us with. So! Without further ado...

Microwave Lemon Curd Recipe

This is close to the curd recipe I follow but I put less egg in as I am not an egg lover.

Ingredients
4 lemons, rind and juice
4 eggs
110g/4oz butter
450g/1lb sugar

Method

Grate rind of lemons and squeeze out juice.
Put sugar, rind and juice, butter and beaten eggs into a large microeaveable bowl.
Microwave for about 10 minutesStir with a wooden spoon until thick and curd coats the back of the spoon.If very runny microwave again for another 5 minutes
Stop and stirIf very runny microwave again for another 5 minutes
When it coats the back of the spoon and is not excessively runny we are done!

Storage

Label jar with date and jam variety.Store somewhere dark and really cool (fridge ideally). Should be good for about 2-6 months depending on storage conditions. Once opened keep in fridge, should be good for about 4+ weeks.

TopTip

I like it less "eggy" so use 2-3 eggs instead and 2-3 large lemons. If lemons are small use at least 4 of them. If its not setting keep lemon shells and pop them in bowl while microwaving. They contain pectin which will help it set. Remember to take them out before trying to pot curd. If your eggs curdle/go start to scramble then strain them through a sieve. If you don't have a microwave you can follow recipe but go through the whole process using a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

1 KG Jam sugar with added pectin by Silver spoon (its in a red and white packet and costs about £1.30)

800+g of soft fruit (fresh or frozen fruit)

small knob of butter

This recipe takes about 20-30mins all in and can be made with raspberries or summer fruits. Also works equally well with frozen fruit.

Get about 800g of soft fruit if fresh wash the fruit and remove stalks where necessary.

NB If using frozen fruit do not wash

Instructions

Put in a bowl that can go in the micowave.
Mash it a bit with a masher/forkCook on high for about 7 mins in microwave
Add sugar and a small knob of butter, stir it a little so sugar and fruit begin to mingle.
Cook on high again for about 8 minutes
Stop it and stir.
Cook on high again for another 8 minutes
Check to see if it looks like its boiling vigourously. If its not give it an additional 2-4 minutes.
When its absolutely piping take out of microwave and set aside for a short time.

Sterilising jam jars:

Please be careful as this will be really really hot.

Take your clean jam jars. Pop some water in maybe halfway up the glass.
Microwave for about 1-2 minutes until its hot.
Empty out water and then dispense jam into jars.Please be careful when doing this, I use a ladle and a funnel.
Seal whilst still hot (if you can get the jam jar wax discs use these under the lids)
StorageLabel jar with date and jam variety.
Store somewhere dark and cool.

Should be good for about 2-6 months depending on storage conditions. Once opened keep in fridge, should be good for about 4+ weeks.

Top Tips

Have a little extra sugar to hand that you can add to the mixture if its not setting (any type will do). Do this just incase the fruit is very watery otherwise you will spend ages trying to boil off the excess liquid. This sets very well normally.If you want larger chunks of strawberry in your jam then mash the fruit less.

WI campaign Stop Violence against Women

2009-08-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

The National Federation of Women's Institutes are supporting a campaign to stop violence against women and locally our contribution has been to support a local charity Women@thewell . Last February we had an inspirational talk from Lynda Dearlove who came to talk about the charity's work supporting vulnerable women caught in cycles of abuse & social exclusion. Since then members of our WI have raised money, baked cakes, provided mentoring, helped at the drop in centre, collected clothes & shoes to support these women.

Based close to King's Cross Station, this charity is aims to equip these vulnerable women with the skills, resources and support they need to rejoin society. If you would like to help or support the work of this organisation and help these women change their lives for the better then here are some suggestions

Make a donation
Donate time
Donate specialised skills or services
Donate goods such as food, clothing, equiment
Tell other people about this organisation

Please contact Women@thewell 020 7520 1710 or email info@watw.org.uk

London West End WI @ The Brunswick Centre

2009-08-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday 1st August found us at the Brunswick Centre who very kindly offered us a stall to offer cakes and meet local people with a view to signing them up. We take the view that man or woman ... you may know a woman who would be interested in joining us.

As usual WI bakers had stayed up late & got up early to get cakes prepared. We had an outstanding stall, raised some funds and met lots of local women. Our helpers include Sue, Sharon, Jane, Claude, Kate & Carrie. As usual Claude's jams were very popular... chilli jam and lemon curd flew off the shelf! Thank you to all our helpers who gave up a precious day off to help out.

We even had a visit from the local Food Safety man who offered helpful advice on seeing Carrie's Strawberry clotted cream scones (sell them or eat them within 4 hours) we did help this along by eating a few and (reluctantly) sold the rest.

We had a small display about our Womens Institute and the WI campaigns including SOS for Bees and Stop Violence against Women ( see www.womensinstitute.org.uk)

August WI Meeting - The WI's campaigning history

2009-07-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 18th August @ 6.30pm at Upper Vestry Hall, St George's Church Bloomsbury, Little Russell St (between Bury St & Museum St). Very close to the British Museum

Come along to this presentation from our friends at the National Federation of Women's Institutes and find out more about the Womens Institute's rich history of campaigns - more than 90 years worth. We think you will be amazed at the influencing power of the WI and just how it has improved women's rights and day to day life.

Visitors are welcome (women only... sorry gents!) at the monthly meetings and we don't make a charge the first time you come along though donations are welcomed.
Vistors - please email or phone before you come to let us know. Email at least 24hrs before the event.

Email:londonwestendwi@googlemail.com or phone Carrie 07789954972.

Finding the meeting place: Use the Little Russell St entrance only. Its the rear entrance to the Church so look for iron railings, go through the gate and up the steps on the RHS into the Upper Vestry Hall.
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road/ Holborn then 5 mins walk.

Tuesday 21 July - Garden Party

2009-07-08T14:47:00.001-07:00

The London West End WI are holding their annual Garden Party at 6.30pm on 21st July, this year we hope to be outdoors. In our first year 06 we managed an outdoor Garden Party since then we've been indoors every year so we hope this year it will be different. The Garden Party is an opportunity to relax, unwind and talk with fellow members. Dress... come as you are ( we know many women are coming straight from work) & bring warm layers in case of a cool evening!

Members are asked to bring food & drink to share (modest amounts... as there is always plenty). We meet at The Upper Vestry Hall, St Georges' Bloomsbury and hope to be outdoors in the courtyard weather & clergy permitting.

Many of our members live or work locally to Holborn/Tottenham Court Road/Covent Garden areas. If you would like to come along to meet us on any of the monthly meetings then please email londonwestendwi@googlemail.com or phone Carrie on 07789954972 for a chat.

Persephone Press at Our May Meeting

2009-05-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

This month we'll be meeting on Tuesday the 19th, where Genevieve and Lydia from Persephone press will be coming to tell us all about their work publishing out of print fiction and non-fiction written by women. Amongst other titles, Persephone Press has recently reprinted "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", which is soon to be made into a film.

On Sunday May 10th, we'll be participating in the Bloomsbury Flower Festival, where we'll have a cake stall in the Upper Vestry Hall of St.George's from 2-5PM. If you'd like to either bake or vend, please contact Helena at helena.roden@o2.co.uk

Aromatherapy Meeting, April 21st!

2009-04-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hello!

This month we'll be given a talk/session tited AROMATHERAPY, A - Z - safe applications of essential oils by Anna Cox, an holistic complementary therapist based in Herne Hill, SE London, who has been giving treatments for the past 13 years from her home practice. Anna has vast experience and expertise in many complementary therapies including Aromatherapy. She makes her own natural products such as creams, lotions, ointments, shampoo and conditioners using a variety of therapeutic ingredients including essential and vegetable oils, sea weed, aloe vera, clay and pure salt. She also adds flower essences where appropriate.

It will be an interactive talk , therefore be prepared to experience some of the pleasures of Aromatherapy. Notes will be provided. Questions at the end.

Anna will bring some of her products with her in case anyone wants to stock up. Prices start from £12ish. And if anyone decides they want a treatment with her the number 68 Bus from Holborn will take you close to where she practises in Herne Hill.

Just a reminder - Membership dues are due this month - £29 pounds for anyone who's not yet paid up. Next month we'll be hearing from the ladies who run Persephone Press. Looking forward to seeing you all!

March Meeting

2009-03-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

hello ladies!

We have an exciting few months of activities planned over the next few months! This month, on Tuesday the 17th, we'll be learning about NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and we'll be learning some exercises to better our mental, emotional and physical states of well being.

Looking into the future, in April we'll be learning about the benefits of Aromatherapy, In May we'll be visited by the founders of Persephone Press, in July we'll be having our annual garden party (and hopefully we'll be graced with better weather than the last three summers!), in August we'll be talking about campaigning opportunities, and in September we'll be having a beer tasting.

As always, we meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30 in the Upper Vestry Room of St. George's in Bloomsbury, entrance on Little Russell Street. We looking forward to seeing you!

June Meeting

2008-06-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 17, in our usual location of the Upper Vestry Room in St.George's at half six. By popular demand, we'll be treated with an introductory lesson to Quantum Physics - it's sure to be fascinating, so make sure you're there!

We've been invited to have a stall at the Village Fete on Little Russell Street on July 5th. Please contact us if you're interested in baking, selling treats, recruiting new members, or simply helping us set up and clean up. Set up is likely to take place between 9 and 10, and we should be closing the stall between 3 and 4. Keep in mind that we can reimburse you for materials such as ingredients and stationary, just as long as you keep your receipts!

Coming up on July 15th, we'll be enjoying a guided wine tasting, accompanied by snacks, so keep your palette's fresh! We look forward to seeing you all very soon.