Blog Archives

March 2012

82 members and 3 guests were interested to hear Patsy Seddon tell us about how she started in the Fashion business in 1979 and developed it into her own vision which she named Phase 8. She eventually sold up, and subsequently started a business called Shircket. Now living in Salisbury, she has decided to retire, and members benefited by being able to purchase her stock at a discount. She has donated ￡100 to our funds, being 10% of sales.

Patsy was initially nervous about addressing so many women, but said afterwards you were all so supportive she ended up thoroughly enjoying the experience!

Big Walk/Little Splash

– Bluebell Walk – Eileen will organise a ‘Bluebell Walk’ at Hatchlands, near Guildford towards the end of April, when the bluebells are at their best. This will be the first walk for ‘Big Walk Little Splash’

– A weekend walk will take place on Wimbledon Common and a swimming session will be organised at one of the local pools.

Details of both these events to follow.

Denman Raffle

Lesley will take your envelopes for the Denman Raffle to the Annual Meeting, and if you are lucky in the draw Surrey will contact you directly.

WI AGM

We were allowed only 6 tickets for the AGM at the Albert Hall, and these have now been allocated to members by a draw. Lucky winners are: Tess Corrigan, Janet Jones, Sally Alger, Eileen Smith, Gill Wilde and Val Barnes

Save The Children Walk

The Save the Children Annual Walk will soon be here. Let’s hope the weather is as good as we are enjoying this month.

FRIDAY 18th MAY 2012 – Meet at 9.15am Wimbledon Common, Windmill Car Park for a prompt 9.30am start. The walk will finish around midday.

After the walk please join Rosey and Sally at 131 Durham Road where Sally will be hosting a picnic.

All welcome, friends, family, animals and children. All donations to Save the Children, a suggested £10 participation would be appreciated. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible. It would be helpful to know if you or your friends are joining us. Many thanks for your support,

Golf

Join Central London Golf Centre’s very popular Ladies Golf Academy. Examples of the different type of courses we provide are as follows:

For just £55 you can do the LADIES SILVER ACADEMY LESSON DATES for 2012

Girls Silver Academy group lessons are based on the following:-

Maximum 4 Girls per coach

Video tuition

Four weekly 1 hour lessons

Beginner and improver classes available

Advanced coaching, developing your game and skills

The ideal way to improve and lower your handicap

Excellent forum to meet with others of the same ability

Excludes range balls

If interested please contact:

Gary Ley

Ladies & Senior Academy Golf Coach

Central London Golf Centre

Burntwood Lane

London

SW17 0AT

Tel 0208 871 2468

Mobile 07770 790 771

Fax 0208 874 7447

Web site www.clgc.co.uk

e-mail golf@clgc.co.uk

Splash Media – tv programme

Splash Media, an independent television production company are working on a new series called ‘Cooks to Market’ forSky1 and thought it might be of interest to the members of our group.

They’re looking for competitive cooking couples (friends/partners/colleagues/relatives) who have a recipe or food product that they believe has the potential to be turned into a profitable business. They will give the couples the chance to meet with industry experts, and potentially get their recipe or product on the market. It can be anything from homemade brownies, to soups and pasta dishes. If they think it can sell then they’re interested.

They’re not necessarily looking for people with professional experience, but also for passionate home cooks who might sell their products small scale to friends/family or at local markets/events, or people who simply cook in their home for loved ones but have dreams of taking it further. They’re particularly interested in hearing from people in and around the London area.

If you’d like to discuss further please contact:

Claire McMahon

Splash Media Ltd.

One Bedford Avenue, London, WC1B 3AU

Direct Line: 020 7255 5404

clairemcmahon@splashmediatv.co.uk

cookstomarket@splashmediatv.co.uk

https://twitter.com/#!/cookstomarket

Reminder – May Meeting Plant Sale

Don’t forget to start growing your plants for the May meeting

VNB

25/03/2012

February 2012

78 members and 6 guests listened to Gwen Edwards give a brief history of the St John Ambulance, and then demonstrate the process of resuscitation, and the placing of a patient into the recovery position. I hope we all feel a little more confident, should we be faced with an emergency. She gave a telephone number if any member wanted to take a First Aid Course. 020 7324 4005.
Thanks to your generosity we were able to give a cheque for £347.50 to Jenny Cairns for our charity, Faith in Action.
All paid up members should now have a membership booklet and a programme. Please note that the programme contains an incorrect date. The November meeting is Monday 19th and not the 12th as stated.
Sally has had some response for the Carer’s Club, but as this was one of the original requests from members, she wonders if there are still women who would like to contact her.
The committee has applied for a stall at the Wimbledon Village Fair, which is on 23rd June.
In the past 3 years this has been a major fund raising event, and so should we be successful in our application we will need lots of help on the day and cakes, biscuits, jam, marmalade and chutney, so start saving your jam jars!!
We are still waiting to hear if we have tickets for the AGM at the Albert Hall.

Gift Aid

A majority of you indicated that you were happy to sign up for Gift Aid. Below is a reminder of what was said at the meeting:

The committee has been considering whether to get our WI registered for gift aid with the Revenue. If we do this, members who are eligible can, if they wish, make a gift aid declaration in respect of their annual subscription, and we can then claim back 25%, so increasing the value to our WI of the subscription monies.

You can make a gift aid declaration if your income or capital gains tax liability in the tax year exceeds the total amount of gift aid donations you have made. Also higher rate tax payers can claim a deduction for a proportion of the donation they have made.

We would like to find out whether there are sufficient number of members who would be interested or prepared to make a gift aid declaration to make it worth doing the process of application and ongoing compliance with regulations being somewhat hard work.

All declarations are sent to the Revenue though as anyone eligible will already be on the radar for tax purposes I am not sure that should be a problem. As with anything else, the Revenue can enquire into the WI’s records or the individual taxpayer’s records if they have reason to believe there have been errors/misstatements.

Anyone who has received a benefit from the WI may not be able to make a gift aid declaration. This would include those who had the Denman bursary and if any rate paid to Denman for a course was lower for them than a non WI attendee.

Social Events

Visit to Highgrove on Tuesday 10th April.  We are opening our visit to Highgrove out to friends and family. Please let Annette know if you would like places. Payment needs to be made at the March WI meeting. The price is £40 which includes the coach.

Bletchley Park visit on Tuesday 24th July.  There are 2 places left for the visit to Bletchley Park. This is open to friends and family so let Annette know if you would like this place.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker 14th March
There is a spare ticket available to see Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker at Wimbledon Theatre on Wednesday 14th March 7.30, price £28. Please email Agnes if you would like this.

Denman visit 3 April
For those who have booked for the Denman visit on 3rd April, Val will contact you regarding the pick-up point.

Notices

Wall Hanging.
Surrey Federation will be celebrating its 95th year in 2013 and has invited all WIs formed since 1993 to record their name and a glimpse of their environment in a small piece of embroidery which will be mounted and framed as a wall hanging at their HQ. The Calico pieces to work on will be handed out at the March meeting and completed pieces have to be back either before, or at the June meeting.

As only one piece is required, members will vote for winning entry and others will be made into our own wall hanging or tablecloth. If you need any other information please contact Dulcie or Eileen.

Cranleigh Show Sunday 5th August
The theme for the WI marquee will be “The Best of British” and will include competitions for craft and floral displays. For further information contact Surrey Federation HQ and the schedule will be on the notice board.

Card Making Day Saturday 17th March 10am – 3pm,
Come all day or pop in, Coffee & Cake provided. Venue is St Lawrence Church Centre, St Lawrence Church, London Road, Morden. Situated between South Thames College Merton site, and the George Tavern. There is free parking in the church lay-by or in college car park. There is no cost for this event. If you haven’t signed up for this event but would like to come please contact Julia Whiting.

Big Walk/Little Splash
Further information will be given at the March meeting.

March for Mothers
Sponsored walk on 17th March in Greenwich Park. March for Mothers is a sponsored walk taking place on 17th March 2012 at Greenwich Park. We hope to raise awareness of the 340,000 women who die each year in pregnancy and childbirth whilst raising funds to help save the lives of mums and babies in some of the world’s poorest countries. There is just a month to go until the event, so if you would like to come along, please sign up here www.marchformothers.com. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Women of the World Festival 6-11 March – South Bank Centre
Women of the World Festival is a joyous celebration of the formidable strength and inventiveness of women. This annual festival presents, celebrates and recognises women from all walks of life, acting as a conversation space for issues of all kinds. WOW includes three days of talks, debates, markets, workshops, mentoring, WOW Bites as well as a series of evening events. Last year WOW had a huge variety of stall holders from hairdressers and manicurists to female plumbers and DIY experts, from charities to designer makers.

The New Wave Weekend at Denman College – Fri 25th to Sun 27th May 2012
Basically is a special weekend get away with the girls. It’s called the ‘New Wave Weekend’ and takes place from Friday 25th finishing after lunch on Sunday 27th May.

There’s loads to do, including opportunities to try a selection of latest trend workshops; from Jewellery making, Zumba, to Learning to sew and Cushion-making; plus a food demonstration (discover the secrets to Petit-Fours), and a chance to taste and learn about some fantastic wines. Included in the weekend are 2 nights overnight accommodation at stunning Denman College, welcome drinks, breakfast, lunch and 3 course dinners, plus some really fabulous evening entertainment laid on for the girls!

We think that it’s a great opportunity for a weekend away, where you can also meet like-minded women from across the UK and hear what other ‘young’ WIs are up to.

Prices are £235 for members and £272 for non-members, that includes the course and all the tuition, accommodation at Denman College for 2 nights, welcome drinks, breakfast, lunch and 3 course dinners, so fantastic value when you break it down. There’s also 10% discount for those sharing a room, and free transportation from Didcot Parkway and Oxford train stations if travelling by train.

There’s further information online at www.denmancollege.org.uk. To book the number to call is 01865 391991, a £50 deposit is required to confirm a reservation. Spaces are allocated on a first come first serve basis.

Lobby for libraries on 13th March

The NFWI is working as part of the Speak up for libraries coalition to give members the chance to lobby their MPs about libraries at an event in Westminster. The day will be a chance to meet other WI members and campaigners, visit a pop-up library and join a rally with speakers and music. Members will then meet their MP to explain why libraries are important to them and their communities. You can arrive any time after 11.30, with the rally and pop up library at Central Hall Westminster, Storeys Gate, SW1H 9NH. You can then go over to Parliament to meet your MP any time from 2.30 onwards. You need to contact your MP to arrange this.

NFWI staff will be on hand all day, and full briefings will be provided. Please do contact me if you would like more information, or are interested in getting involved. 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

International Women’s Day

WINDOW2050 are hosting an Evening Drinks Reception, Speakers and Networking Event at The Royal Society of Arts in London on International Women’s Day, Thursday 8th March from 6.00pm to 9.00pm.

Come to hear six amazing women thought leaders share their intergenerational perspectives on our six themes, including consumption & Sustainable Lifestyles; Gender Equality, Employment & Entrepreneurship and Household; Family & Healthcare, Finance; Pensions & Investing Responsibly; Leisure, Volunteering & Giving and Education and Psychology & Coaching for Change.

If you are interested in attending this event, tickets cost £29 and can be purchased online at http://window2050marchevent.eventbrite.co.uk/.

And finally a letter from Camila Batmanghelidjh:
16 February 2012
Dear Ms Beale, and all at Wimbledon Women’s Institute,
I just wanted to write and thank you for your extraordinary generosity in firstly donating £100 to us way back in May 2011, and subsequently replacing the first cheque when it went amiss.

It is very difficult to communicate what an enormous and significant difference donations like yours make to the lives of London’s most vulnerable and impoverished children and young people.

The value of donations like yours is two-fold: the money itself can obviously be transformative, helping to buy anything from bedding and winter coats to school-books, or supporting our Colour A Child’s Life project and turning a child’s squalid, filthy bedroom into a cosy safe haven. The second, equally important function of generous donations like yours is that they generate the belief that there are people in the world – often complete strangers – who care enough for these kids to contribute to their well-being. I cannot emphasize enough what an important difference this makes to the self-esteem of children who have grown up with nothing.

I also wanted to thank you for welcoming me so delightfully when I came to visit you in May. I remember that wonderful day very fondly, and hope to see you all again soon.

It is my privilege to be able to communicate your kindness to our children. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your contribution towards their happiness.

With love, gratitude and much respect,

Camila Batmanghelidjh , Chief Executive Kids Company

Val
27 Feb 2012

Members emails and phone numbers are not published on the website but will be in your hot topics email, please contact me if you need me to send it again

January 2012

Message from The President:

Happy New Year to you all.

102 women attended our first meeting of the year on Monday, for our Bring and Buy Sale and Quiz. We welcomed some new members, and have said goodbye to others. Every member should have a programme, and a Membership Booklet for 2012. Your membership card is to be found on the first page of this. If you have just joined there will be a name badge for you to collect at the next meeting. If you did not manage to attend and pay your subscription, it can be posted to Val Barnes, or Lesley Challacombe.

December 2011 Hot Topics

77 Members and 2 guests enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine on Monday evening, which put us all in the mood for a most enjoyable sing along of Seasonal songs and led by Michaela Kent, who also entertained us with some solos. We had a most enjoyable evening, thank you to all concerned.

Annual Review 2011

Wimbledon WI celebrated it’s third Birthday last month. We still have 35 of the original 45 founder members. We are still in this lovely hall, and the only change this year is that we have moved our starting time back to the original 7.30.

We have had a busy year with lots of activities, and I shall now remind you all of them!

Last November we held our second Annual Meeting, assisted by Sally Dampney, our Surrey WI Federation Adviser.11 members of the existing committee put themselves forward for re election, we had one new committee member Eileen Smith, and Sheila May was re elected President for a final year.

Because several members of the existing committee will be standing down this November, it was decided to offer two members the opportunity to attend a Committee meeting each month from January to the following October, to see how the committee works.

Chase and St Raphael’s sold Christmas cards.

It was decided that each year members would be asked to donate Christmas gifts for disadvantaged or sick children. Members were very generous and a large selection of toys and games was sent to CHASE, which provides Hospice Care for Sick Children.

The December meeting was to have been Line Dancing, but the freezing conditions meant that our teacher could not travel from Tunbridge Wells, and so 50 of us braved the snow, and had a lovely evening drinking Mulled wine and eating mince pies, and generally chatting amongst ourselves.

In January our member Katharine Blakemore, with her colleague Jenny Ridgewell talked to us about how eating habits had changed over the past 40 years, followed by a quiz, which made us realise how little we we actually know about what we eat!

We also held a Bring and Buy sale to raise funds for St Raphael’s Hospice, our Charity for this year.

Val Barnes. The walking club had it’s first walk from Kingston Bridge to Hampton Court.

Joanna put Wimbledon on Twitter and Facebook, and Elaine, our Public Affairs committee member, started a group called ‘Stand up and be Counted’ to discuss local and national issues.

February saw Sue Prichard, the V&A WI president and Curator of Textiles at the V&A, tell us how she put together the wonderful Quilts Exhibition which was a highlight of the V&As programme last year. She illustrated this with a selection of images from the exhibition.

Members of several London WIs attended a special viewing of this, with wine and canapés, the previous year.

We also had a fascinating guided tour of the Houses of Parliament, organised thought the office of our local MP and the Walking group walked from Leatherhead to Dorking.

In March we had advice from Jill Anderson, who explained how to create a beautiful garden by putting the right plant in the right place. Just the thing to know before we start planting for the spring.

We visited Dennis Severs House in Spitalfields, which was a very atmospheric experience!

The Theatre group went to the Orange Tree Theatre to see Mary Broome.

The members agreed to send a donation of £200 from funds to support the Association of Country Wide Women’s appeal for the Sustainable Food and Water Project.

In April we voted to to support both of the two resolutions being put forward for the NFWI AGM in Liverpool, the Closure of Local Libraries, and Proposed Megafarms.

After which Salme Naylor, ably assisted by her sister Ella Brockbank, gave us a demonstration of Salsa dancing , and then got us all up and moving to the Salsa beat. We had a very energetic evening!

We also had plant sale which raised £60 for our WI.

Sheila and Lesley attended the Surrey Federation meeting in Dorking Halls, taking with us envelopes containing your pound coins for entry into the raffle for a bursary for Denman College, but unfortunately we had no winners. However, Wimbledon WI offered 2 Bursaries for Denman which were decided by a draw, and two lucky members received bursaries to the value £350 , for a course or courses of their choice.

Although Julia Whiting’s card did not win the competition for the Surrey Federation wedding card for the Royal Wedding we sent it anyway on behalf of Wimbledon WI, and later received a letter of thanks from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

A number of members had a very successful visit to Lambeth Palace, and the Theatre Group saw Cause Celebre at the Old Vic.

In May there was an excellent turn out to hear Camila Batmanghelidjh speak about the wonderful work that her organisation Kid’s Company is doing for vulnerable inner city children and how we could help by writing to our MP to draw attention to the problem.

We also held a Super Raffle, with many prizes donated by local businesses, which raised £360 for St Raphael’s Hospice.

There was a visit to the Stanley Picker House in Kingston to see the collection of sculptures and paintings, and to tour the 1960’s house and garden.

There was a theatre visit to see The Lion King, Eileen Smith held an Olympic Pennant Making Workshop, for members wanting help in making Pennants for next years Olympiads, and there was a jam making class, where jams ans marmalades were made and later sold at the Wimbledon Village Fair.

We were all sent down memory lane in June when author Anne Sebba recounted the highs and lows in the life of Laura Ashley, after which she signed copies of her book, the proceeds of which she donated to Help the Heroes Charity.

We also co opted 3 new members on to the committee, to bring our number back up to 12. These members had all attended a committee meeting on a ‘taster’ basis, so knew what they had let themselves in for! We visited Denbies Vineyard and had a train tour of the grounds, and then a trip round the cellars, followed by a wine tasting.

Some members went to the National Theatre to see Rocket to the Moon.

Despite the wind and rain, and our gazebo blowing away twice we had a very successful time at the Wimbledon Village Fair. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our members we raised over£ 1000.00 for our WI from the sale of cakes and preserves.

In July we were entertained by Sam Peacock,a local artists who explained his mixed media techniques, showed us examples of his techniques, and sketched a still life in charcoal to demonstrate perspective.

Joyce Pountain also told us about Abundance Wimbledon, which is a project to prevent fruit in Wimbledon going to waste. A team of volunteers will harvest the fruit, process it and hold a Fruit Day in September to distribute the result.

A cheque for £460 was handed to a representative of St Raphael’s Hospice our chosen charity this year, from the proceeds of our fundraising activities.

We had a lovely day at Eltham Palace, with a guided tour of the House in the morning and the Gardens in the afternoon.

Traditionally we do not meet in August, but a picnic was arranged in Cannizaro park for those members wishing to attend. Unfortunately our August weather ultimately forced a retreat to a local hostelry, where a good time was continued to be had by all.

Highgrove continues to be a popular excursion, and we were fortunate that Agnes once again managed to obtain a booking for us this month.

September saw us back in the Hall for for our usual Monday meeting, when Paula Lamb, also known as Mrs Fixit explained how she became involved in the DIY business, and how no job is too small for her company of skilled craftswomen. She did admit however to sub-contracting out heavy work to a trusted team of male muscle.

Madeleine Rhodes and Jill Evans told us how much they enjoyed their course, ‘Cooking with Alcohol’ at Denman College as a result of winning one of the Bursaries.

Members have been very generous with donations of towels and linen to Merton Women’s refuge. They are very grateful for his, and will be talking to us next year about the work they do .

October was our third Birthday, which we celebrated with a Christmas craft workshop, and a sale of Wimbledon WI Christmas cards, designed by 6 of our members.

We also agreed that we should donate £200 to the Friendship Fund. This is a fund used by Federations to help new WIs form, and to help those WIs in financial difficulties. Now that Wimbledon is in a secure financial position we can repay the sum that was given to us when we set up 3 years ago. A coach took a group to Denman for a Taster Day, which was enjoyed by all.

We have a number of clubs available

There are 2 book clubs running, one on Monday and One on Thursday. A Sunday lunch club, Bridge for both beginners and more experienced players. A knit and natter group. Theatre club, walking group and a wine club.

If I have missed anything or any one out, my apologies. If you let me know I will add it to the online version and it will go into the records.

We continue to maintain a healthy membership, and whenever members leave for any reason, there is usually somebody waiting to take their place, to keep our numbers up.

November 2011 Hot Topics

Hot Topics November 2011

We welcomed 91 members and 2 guests to our Annual Meeting this month, together with Sally Dampney, the Surrey WI Adviser who formed our WI and has supported us ever since. Sally is retiring this year, and so we will have a new adviser at our next meeting. We also welcomed Gill Holder and Sally Winfield from SW19WI, who acted as our tellers. The formal notices were given and then Susan Bowler, the Treasurer presented accounts for the year ended 30th September, which were accepted by the Meeting.

October 2011 Hot Topics

Hot Topics October
88 members and 5 guests attended our 3rd Anniversary meeting and enjoyed taking part in the various crafts on offer. Thank you to Val Barnes, Margaret Brotherton, Joanna Cardwell, Eileen Smith and Julia Whiting for all their hard work and effort.