Dates for the Diary - March 2012

Hello everyone

March Madness is upon us. Lots seems to be happening. Some items are about to happen in the next few days. Apologies I missed Wold Book Day and World Women's Day of Prayer. NFWI have sent us notification about a number of things happening this month. We have also included some interesting exhibitions occuring in London.

HRH has been very excited about the launch of the Raspberry PI a few days ago, its a tiny computer which it is hoped will be in every school by the end of the year costing about 30 pounds maximum. I am sure there will be lots in the news about it in the next few months. They think it could revolutionise IT, science & technology and our relationship to our computers.  http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Sorry for the length of this month's entry. Please try to make it to the bottom.

LWWI

WI Related items

LWWI March Meeting - March 20th

Pam our President will be giving a talk on London Cemetaries. Pam is a very engaging speaker and is very knowledgeable about this subject so can promise you this talk will be far more engaging than I have made it sound here.

WI membership fees

Please try and ensure you have paid your membership fees for 2012 by our March meeting.

Fees are now 31.50 for the year and you will receive no discount for joining later in the year so please pay as soon as possible. Membership covers all of 2012.

WI Life

A number of interesting articles in WI Life this month including a piece showing how much publicity the Women's Institute has garnered in the wider media in the last few months.

If you have paid for 2012 and are not getting WI Life please either let Jenny know at the next meeting or email londonwestendwi@gmail.com

Amazon button on blogspot

The eagle eyed among you may have spotted an Amazon button which has appeared on the blogspot.

If you use this button to shop via Amazon LWWI will receive a donation from Amazon of 5% of whatever you spent. For those of you worried we will know who you are or what was purchased it is all anonymous.

NB LWWI only gets the money if you go in via the button on the blog.

Craft Club Training Day

National Federation sent us the following details about a craft club training day.

Zinc Arts Centre, Chipping Ongar, Essex - Tue 27th March 2012. 10.30am – 3.30pm

Booking can be made online at - http://zincessex.eventbrite.co.uk/ or by phoning Lesley Quirk on 01865 391788 x 239.

Full details are on the Craft club website www.craftclub.org.uk and The Moodle.

WI ladies can claim up to £50 in travel expenses to attend these free training days.  Each attendee will receive a training manual.

Birds Eye View

Hi there,

I think my colleague Ewelina contacted you recently about this year's Birds Eye View film festival. It would be fantastic to have your help getting news up on your site and out in the social media sphere this week for our last marketing push.

Breaking news is that Romola Garai will be the opening speaker for our International Women's Day Gala on the 8th - we would very much appreciate it if you could tweet/facebook this info for us!

Our facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeViewFilmFestival?v=wall&ref=ts

Twitter is: http://twitter.com/#!/birdseyeviewff

More info on this year's three events here: http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/4484/overview/bev-springs-2012.html

As this is breaking news, and there's less that two weeks to go 'til the gala, it would be really great if you could get this out today, Tuesday 28th or Wednesday 29th March.

A tried and tested ideal tweet is:

Check out @BirdsEyeViewFF's events next week: Romola Garai, Mary Pickford, fab films, music & cocktails!http://tinyurl.com/7xwktoz #bevsprings

As ever, do shout if there's anything we can do in return; if you fancy joining us yourself let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Kind regards and I hope to see you there.

Emily Vermont, Programme Co-producer, www.birds-eye-view.co.uk

 

Join the 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.

 

NFWI staff will be on hand all day, and full briefings will be provided. Attached to this email is background information and a draft letter that you can send to arrange a meeting with your MP.

Please do contact me if you would like more information, or are interested in getting involved.

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

WINDOW2050

Dear London WIs,

Please find attached a letter regarding an event hosted by WINDOW2050 for International Women's Day on the 8th March for your information.

Dear London WIs,

Re: Evening Drinks Reception & Networking Event

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/.

From Volunteering to Paid Employment

Brand new course and it is free!

Do you volunteer?

Have you ever thought of how volunteering may be a good way

to secure paid employment? Then this is the course for you.

You will also have an opportunity to look at how to go about

setting up as a sole trader or a small enterprise, how to market

your services and get your costing’s right. There will also be

an opportunity to hear from someone who has done it already!

There will be two courses running for six sessions each from

mid-March to the end of April.

The course is a partnership initiative between VAC and the

Mary Ward Centre. It is also supported by Volunteer Centre

Camden and CENTA.

For further details please contact acharles@vac.org.uk. Tel:

7284 6550/3. Fax: 0020 7284 6551.

Type Talk: 18002 0207284 6551. VAC is fully accessible.

Phoenix Gardens needs our help with a letter of support for their planning application to improve the gardens facilities.

Kate is on the case representing LWWI.

Remember we do usually make some money for LWWI at the summer fete held there in September each year.

Kate has also been out and about involved with The People's Supermarket which was under threat.

Kate's SENT US THE FOLLOWING .

Dear Members,

We have received overwhelming support from thousands of people in the last few days, more than 3,000 people signed our petition and we received more the 6,000 pounds in donations.

Yesterday, we were approached by Fredericks Foundation who have offered us a long-term loan of 20,000 pounds. We have accepted their offer. This, together with the donations we received, will enable us to clear our debt to Camden Council.

This means that we are no longer in immediate danger of closing. Thank you so much to all of the members who have contributed their time and energy to making The People's Supermarket the amazing place that it is!

Of course we all have lots of questions about what this means and where we go from here. The Special General Meeting for Friday at 7pm is still on. We will be at the Millman Street Community Center. Hope to see you all there!

With a sigh of relief,

TPS Team

I am sure we would all agree this is super news. TPS are also going to be holding cake competitions which perhaps some of our members might like to enter. We missed the March one as we only got details about it today 5th and the deadline was today but hopefully we can get our thinking caps on for what we might do in the future.

World book day appears to have passed us by this year it was on March 1st.

 http://www.worldbookday.com/  Apologies I thought it was later in the month.

March for mothers 17th march

I contacted you recently about Health Poverty Action’s upcoming event, March for Mothers and I was wondering if any of your contacts would be interested in signing up.

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.

With best wishes,

Lizzie Helps

Lizzie Helps | Outreach Fundraising Officer | Health Poverty Action

Ground Floor, 31-33 Bondway, London, SW8 1SJ | :Tel: +44(0) 20 7840 3762

www.healthpovertyaction.org | Registered charity in England and Wales no. 290535

ARTS & CULTURE

Stitch & Craft Exhibitio at Olympia in March

Dear all

Please see the attached for details of the the Stitch and Craft Exhibition being held at Olympia, London between 12 - 15 March 2012.  There will be some of the pennants made for the Olympic Games displayed.  Over 500 quilts will be there and hopefully will include some made by Surrey WI members.

http://www.stitchandcraft.co.uk/

David Hockney at RA until April 9th

The Royal Academy of Arts presents the first major exhibition of new landscape works by David Hockney RA. Featuring vivid paintings inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape, these large-scale works have been created especially for the galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts.
'David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture' spans a 50 year period to demonstrate Hockney’s long exploration and fascination with the depiction of landscape.
The exhibition includes a display of his iPad drawings and a series of new film produced using 18 cameras, which are displayed on multiple screens and provide a spellbinding visual journey through the eyes of David Hockney.

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/

Lucian Freud at NPG until 27th of May.

Reflection (Self-portrait), 1985
Private Collection, Ireland © The Lucian Freud Archive.
Photo: Courtesy Lucian Freud Archive

'I've always wanted to create drama in my pictures, which is why I paint people. It's people who have brought drama to pictures from the beginning. The simplest human gestures tell stories.'

Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011) was one of the most important and influential artists of his generation. Paintings of people were central to his work and this major exhibition, spanning over seventy years, is the first to focus on his portraiture.

Produced in close collaboration with the late Lucian Freud, the exhibition concentrates on particular periods and groups of sitters which illustrate Freud's stylistic development and technical virtuosity. Insightful paintings of the artist's lovers, friends and family, referred to by the artist as the 'people in my life', will demonstrate the psychological drama and unrelenting observational intensity of his work.

Featuring 130 works from museums and private collections throughout the world, some of which have never been seen before, this is an unmissable opportunity to experience the work of one of the world's greatest artists

HRH Duchess of Cambridge has just become a patron to the National Portrait Gallery

http://www.npg.org.uk/freudsite/index.htm

Hajj

Don't forget we have been offered tickets to see Hajj at the British Museum later this month.`

Helena is coordinating this.

Pls confirm before 10th of March if you wish to attend. We can have a maximum of 15 tickets