Fiona welcomed 63 members and 2 guests.
National Open Garden Scheme: Jan thanked members for their contribution of cakes etc., to go towards the National Open Garden Scheme to be held on Monday, 29th May at 15 The Avenue, Cheam, SM2 7QA. She will be pleased to see anyone who can make it and all proceeds will go to St. Raphael’s Hospice which is our chosen charity this year.
St. Raphael’s Hospice: Fiona was pleased to report that the Quiz Night was very successful and we raised over £800. She thanked everyone who came and those who helped. Also members who brought and bought books on Monday – another £82 was made, thank you.
A representative from St. Raphael’s will be attending our June meeting when they will be presented with a cheque for around about £1,200, being money we have raised for this worthwhile charity.
SFWIs Centenary: Lys has recently had notification from Surrey Federation of WIs that they will be celebrating 100 years next year. They are inviting all Surrey county WIs to produce an entry for inclusion in the Centenary Record Book. Amongst events planned is a ticketed evening event at Wisley on Thursday, 28th June 2018 with music and entertainment, a Centenary Garden Party on 16th September, 2018 and a series of Centenary walks by WIs. Details of all these to be confirmed.
Wimbledon Village Fair: Veronica reminded us that we need to start thinking about making preserves and cakes etc., for the Wimbledon Village Fair as there is only one more meeting before the event.
Please note preserves and jams need to be brought to the May meeting or delivered to Dulcie before 7th June. A Wimbledon Village Fair email will be sent out shortly with all the relevant information.
Future events: There are still places for the following events
National Theatre Backstage Tour, Saturday, 20th May (£8.95). (Please note this will now start at 12.00).
Bevis Marks Synagogue Thursday, 15th June (£5)
Rotherhithe Walk, Thursday, 6th July (£8)
Recovery Café: Eileen wanted to bring members’ attention to a Recovery Café which has recently opened in Wimbledon Chase. It is called Sunshine Recovery Café and is opposite Wimbledon Chase Train Station. It is a cafe offering a safe, inclusive and welcoming space for people who are experiencing difficulties with their mental health and feel unable to cope. It is open from 6.00pm – 11.00pm Monday – Friday and 12 noon to 11.00pm Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays. Please share this information with friends and family.
Speaker for evening Joyce Meader: Joyce gave us a very interesting talk on Historic Knitting which was not only very educational but extremely amusing. Joyce had an amazing collection of knitting patterns and artefacts and together with her funny anecdotes had us all in “stitches”. Joyce is a historical knitting expert and owns an extensive collection of commercially printed knitting patterns dating from 1817 which is thought to be the largest in Britain outside a museum (around 10,000 at the last count). She has knitted clothing from many of these patterns, and brought quite a selection for us to see. As well as being of historical interest, many of Joyce’s historic garments have featured in films, TV programmes and re-enactments.
Next Meeting will be on Monday, 15th May when we will be having a plant sale and making the final vote on the Resolutions. Our guest speaker for the evening will be Pat Mitchinson whose talk will be on “Who do you think you are?”
