We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month in the Upper Vestry Room of St George's in Bloomsbury, entrance on Little Russell Street, at 6:30 PM. If you want to get in touch please email us at Londonwestendwi@gmail.com
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| St George's, Bloomsbury |
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| Marchmont Street Party |
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| It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it... |
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| My lovely bouquet that was pinched during the day! |
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| St George's, Bloomsbury source |
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| Pictures from our stall, along with some members of our committee |
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| Some of the highlights of the 4th Phoenix Garden Agricultural Show & St. Giles Fayre on Saturday |
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| Fancy Pigeon |
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
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.
We have a new home! Now that we've had a chance to try out our proposed new venue - The Upper Vestry Room at St Georges Bloomsbury, we've taken a vote and it has been agreed upon that we will move there permanently. We also decided to make this month's meeting a Planning Session to cover the next year or so, deciding who does what jobs, what speakers we'll invite, how we recruit new members and so on. So please come along with lots of bright ideas! And lets hear it for Viv who can play the piano at the more musical events we've planned, starting with a Christmas singalong.
Unfortunately, the fair we signed up for in September has been cancelled. There's going to be a Bloomsbury Festival over the weekend of 19-21st October sponsored by Allied London and we've also been asked if we would like a stall at Queens Square Book Fair on 20th October, which would cost £40. Let's discuss the whole "Fair thing" as part of the planning session. Some questions to consider could included: do we have to make cakes or could we sell something else? Is there another way we can fund raise ? How much are we prepared to pay for a stall?
Fancy Yourself as a Brown Owl? Dragon Hall are starting a Brownie Pack for local girls aged 7-11 , and they are looking for a leader. Full training and on-going support will be given and this could lead to a formal volunteering qualification. This is a great idea, much needed in the local community so if you could find time to get involved please contact Helen at Dragon Hall helen@dragonhall.org.uk . Even if you don't fancy leading, it would be worth asking Helen if there were another way to get involved.
St George's needs volunteers too! The church has been magnificently restored recently and now has one of the most beautiful Hawksmoor interiors in the country. Consequently, lots more people want to see it and the church is now in need of volunteers to greet them and make sure they get the most from their visit. Enthusiasm and the ability to communicate with members of the general public are more important than the ability and experience and people from all religious faiths (or none) are welcome. If you have any spare time and would like to get involved, please contact Alexandra Talisadoras 020 7242 1373, or email at stgbalex@hotmail.com .
Anyone feeling artistic? Dragon Hall has asked if we would like to design a Perspex panel. We are assured it will look like a stained glass window for the entrance of their building. Any Ideas?
As always, we meet every third Tuesday of the Month from 6pm. Here's a list of our upcoming meetings.
16th October - "From Notebook to Screen" : How TV Programmes are Made
20th November - AGM & craft evening
18th December - Christmas singalong
15th January - The Blitz in the West End
We have all been looking forward to the Garden Party we planned for August, but unfortunately this can no longer take place, as the garden is totally waterlogged – it’s quite low lying and has been well and truly soaked! The gardeners who look after it (it’s part of the University) have said that it’s not in good enough condition for people to use.
However, there is a good side – St Georges Church has offered us the use of the Vestry Hall, for a party and this will enable us to try it out and make sure we like it. So, our Next Meeting will be an ‘Indoor Garden Party’, and will take place in the Upper Vestry Room of St George's, Bloomsbury, from 6.30 till 8.30pm. It’s easier to find than Dragon Hall! Entrance via Little Russell Street (at the back of the church, access via Museum St or Bury Place), Come in the iron gate, up the steps on the right, If anyone needs disabled access please contact londonwestendwi@googlemail.com. Please bring food to share, drinks alcoholic or non alcoholic, sheet music if you can play the piano and CDs for background music.
In other news, thanks to great efforts by Kate Matheson who found out all about the scheme and applied on our behalf, London West End WI have been granted £1000 from the Covent Garden Partnership Community Chest Fund. This gives money each year to local projects that contribute towards building strong communities. This will make a terrific difference to the success of our WI – it will pay our rent for the next year and take off the pressure of constant fundraising.
As you may be aware, our branch is considering moving our meetings from our present location, and at the August meeting we need to make a decision whether to stay at Dragon Hall or move to the upper Vestry Room at St Georges Bloomsbury. All members are entitled to vote and if you are unable to come to the next meeting please email /phone the president Kate Matheson at londonwestendwi@googlemail.com and tell her which way you would like her to vote on your behalf.
This significance of this move could mark a new stage in our WI's development. At our September meeting we will be discussing the goals for our local chapter and its role in relation to the Federation, so that we can develop as a group and move forward coherently. More details to follow.
We have been invited to have a WI produce stand at a West Central Community Fair on Friday 21st September, from 3.30 till 8.pm at St Giles Garden, St Giles-in-the-Fields Church, 60 St Giles High Street, LONDON, WC2H 8LG. This is a great opportunity for us to build new connections with the women (working or living) in the area. The first time we went to a fair we raised nearly £200 for the group funds and attracted some new members. Those who took part would say it was fun (even with the stormy weather). To make this happen we need volunteers to bake, make, meet, sell the produce, set up the stand & put away. If you cannot come along on the day perhaps you would be willing to bake/make for us.
Please let Carrie know if you are willing to bake/make help out on the stand help with logistics ( storing baked goodies/transport etc) clear up join us for tea/glass of wine support in spirit if not in body. To help everyone their making / baking we need to make a decision about going ahead with this by 3 September. So please email or phone Carrie if you are willing to help. She can be reached at home eves 02087614882 or 07789954972 anytime, or at carriethecoach@hotmail.com.
Finally, We’re planning to see if Neil McGregor – who’s in charge of the British Museum – will let us have a group visit to the big Chinese Warriors exhibition at the BM in the autumn. We’ll see if we can get a good rate and maybe go along to one of the evening openings. If you’re interested, please let us know at the next meeting.
