December Craft Club

Nicky led another fabulous craft club this month with a festive feeling perfect for this time of year.

Here are some pictures of the Christmas trees that were made, perfect for decorating your home. If you have a go at these at home do share your creations on our Facebook or Twitter! 

An easy to make festive treat!

PLEASE NOTE:

January's Craft Club will lead to another pretty creation!

Craft Club is usually the first Tuesday of each month but in January we will be meeting on the second which is the 9^th. In this first meeting of the year we will be trying out hand at paper rose (pictured). If you have  some old books, glue gun, cutting mat please bring them along . 

Pop a note in your diary and as always, look forward to seeing you all then!

November Round-up

November’s meeting was our AGM and our new committee was voted in – so here’s to another great year for our group!

Ready  for our close up, Mr. DeMille

Once the official business was dealt with we had the chance to channel our inner Monroe’s and Bergman’s in a drama class run by Matilda Thaddeus Johns, the founder of Tie-Dye Drama. Judging by the amount of laughter that filled the room a fun night was had by all! 

Get ready to get festive in next month's craft club!

Our next meeting on the 20^th of December will coincide with St George's carol service so come along and have a sing song with faces old and new. We will be providing refreshments in our usual meeting space after the service so if you have time, get your pinny on and get into the kitchen and bake something delicious to be enjoyed (with mulled wine) afterwards.

And talking of festivities, December Craft Club on the 5^th we will be making paper Christmas trees – hope to see you all then!

November meeting: Tonight, 15th November

Tonight is our AGM, when we'll be joined by a representative of Middlesex Federation to review the year and vote in the committee for 2018. It's not too late to think about joining the committee, and helping run LWEWI for the next year!

After the AGM we'll be unleashing our inner divas with a drama workshop led by Matilda Thaddeus Johns, the founder of Tie-Dye Drama.

We're in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Bloomsbury from 6.30pm until about 8.30pm, business part of the meeting will begin at 7pm sharp.

British Museum visit, 2nd December

We have been offered Community Evening Preview Tickets for the British Museum on Saturday 2nd December at 7pm.

If you'd like a free ticket to attend either the Scythians or Living With Gods exhibition, please email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com by 20th of November and confirm which exhibition you'd like to see - you can only visit one exhibition on the evening. Full details are in the newsletter.

If you're not a member, one of the perks of joining LWEWI is the chance to visit British Museum exhibitions for free as part of their community partnership work.

October Round-Up

October has been and gone, the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in... it's definitely feeling a bit more chilly out there in the mornings too!

We had our regular Craft Club and monthly meeting in October, as well as a visit to the British Museum to the community preview of the new Living With The Gods exhibition.

At Craft Club we got into the festive spirit a little early, and made Christmas wreaths out of ribbons, rags and embroidery hoops:

At our regular monthly meeting we were treated to a talk all about the local history and characters of Museum Street by Geraldine Beskin, owner of Atlantis Books on Museum Street and host of our Craft Club.

Coming up in November:

Craft Club on 7th November, where we'll be trying some simple book-binding, and you can make & take home a concertina-bound book.

Montly Meeting on 15th November, which is our AGM followed by a drama workshop.

Deeds Not Words Banner Project

September Round-up

Now we're into October, things are definitely feeling more autumnal! September saw the last of our bake sales for the year (with the exception of mince pies at the St George's Carol Service, of course).

In the last update we already mentioned September's craft club, and the successful bake sale at Phoenix Gardens. Since then, we've had our monthly meeting, complete with Morris Dancing, and another bake sale, this time for Open House at St George's on 16th September.

Morris Dancing

Thanks to Tish and Mick for coming along to lead us in another dance (the name of which I've totally forgotten!) - no video this year, you'll be delighted to hear!

Open House

Thanks to everyone who helped out at Open House this year, baking and selling our wares to visitors to the Church.

August (and early September) round up

Despite being holiday season we still managed to have a full craft club in early August, where Nicky led us in making 3D paper cut outs.

 At our monthly meeting, we were joined by the Urban Urchins project officer from London Wildlife Trust, Emma Pooley, who gave us a fascinating talk all about hedgehogs. If anyone wants to get involved in the project, or if anyone sees a hedgehog in London, you can contact the project here.

As we're into September before I've done any writing up, I'll also include early September information here (and why not!). At our September craft club we dug out our glue guns, pliers and boxes of shiny things and made brooches, earrings and bag charms.

On Saturday 2nd September we had a cake stall at the annual Phoenix Gardens Agricultural Fair, and a splendid day was had by all! Thanks to everyone who made things to sell, helped us sell our goodies, or bought from us. 

Ruth, Melonie, Claude and Helena hard at work!

Coming up in September/October:

1. We have a trip to the British Museum on Sunday 10th September for the community preview of the Scythians exhibition.

2. Our next cake sale is at St George's Bloomsbury as part of Open House on Saturday 16th September where it's all about cream teas.

3. Our September monthly meeting is on 20th September, where we'll be Morris Dancing.

4. October craft club turns its mind to Christmas, and we'll be turning ribbons, fabric scraps and embroidery hoops into festive wreaths.

Phoenix Gardens, Saturday 2 September

Bakers, Crafters, Sellers, Buyers... we need your assistance at the Phoenix Gardens Agricultural Fair in Soho this Saturday!!

Email us if you can bake or craft for the table, or help with selling.

August Monthly Meeting

August 16th 

Saving London's Hedgehogs

Consistently voted Britain's favourite mammal, the western-European hedgehog is now suffering from a severe population decline, particularly in urban areas. 

This talk will explore the ecology of the humble hedgehog, while looking at some of the challenges the species is facing in the urban environment. Hedgehog Project Officer for the London Wildlife Trust, Emma Pooley, will reveal how the Urban Urchins citizen science project is aiming to discover more about the status of London's hedgehogs, and simple things you can do to improve your area for them.

Guests are very welcome (£5 for non-WI members). If you're not a member, please email us at londonwestendwi@gmail.com so we know to look out for you!

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St George's Bloomsbury, 6 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HR. Doors open at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start.

Please bring along refreshments to share with the group, (they don’t have to be home made!)

Review of the month - July

We started July with our first bake sale of the year (reported on in our review of June - obviously!), and continued with a second sale at the Chap Olympiad in Bedford Square in the middle of the month, with assistance from Kate and Claude.

Some of our goodies for sale at Bedford Square (c) Claude Asgill

Craft Club took place on 6th July, where we had a go at origami - some of us more successfully than others, it must be said! At our August craft club on 1st August we're going to be doing more papercraft, with Nicky leading us in making 3D paper models/cards.

At our monthly meeting on 21 July we were hoping to welcome Geraldine Beskin to give us a local history talk, but due to illness this meeting will be rescheduled. Huge thanks are due to Helena, who led us in printing cards using fresh flowers, hammers and watercolour paper - a fascinating evening, and who knew it was possible to make such pretty things in this way!  At our monthly meeting on 16 August we'll be learning all about Urban Hedgehogs with a speaker from the London Wildlife Trust.

July meeting - 19th July, art from flowers

In a change to the advertised talk, tonight is a crafty, hands-on session led by Helena. We're going to be taking hammers to flowers and leaves in order to release their natural dyes onto watercolour paper to make works of art which can then be turned into cards, bookmarks etc. Creating art from nature while venting your frustrations? Sounds like a winner!

If you've got any brightly/strongly coloured leaves or flowers in your garden/windowbox you'd like to try with, do bring them along - the darker or brighter the better! We'll have hammers, but do bring your own if you have one. 

Watercolour paper will be supplied, and we'll also have some embellishments for you to decorate your artwork with!

We meet in the Upper Vestry Hall of St George's Church, Bloomsbury. Come along from 6.30pm, we'll be crafting from about 7pm. Bring snacks to share with the group!

June - Review of the Month

June began with Craft Club, where we were trying our hand at Japanese fabric folding - a bit like origami, but making these lovely fabric flowers out of pentagons of pretty fabrics, no cutting required!

Our monthly meeting was also our 10th birthday party, where we welcomed back former members along with current and new members for drinks, a quiz and a fabulous birthday cake baked by founding member Helena!

At the end of June (well, ok, the first day of July!) we had our first bake sale of the year at the Queen Square Fair where thanks to Claude, Ruth, Claire, Laura, Helena and Pam's baking and selling efforts we raised over £220

Coming up in July - craft club has been and gone (details in our next monthly round up), but we've still got our monthly meeting on the 19th where it's a local history talk from Geraldine Beskin from Atlantis Books. We also hope to have another cake sale at the Chap Olympiad on 15th July in Bedford Square.

It Must be Summer - it's Bake Sale Time!

On Saturday 1st July LWEWI will have our annual cake stall at the Queen Square Fair in Bloomsbury (near Great Ormond St hospital). 

Help always needed with baking etc, or why not come visit our stall and buy some cake? And if you've been thinking of joining us, here's your chance to find out more about who we are and what we do!

If you can't come to this one, we'll also be at the Phoenix Gardens agricultural show in September, and St George's Bloomsbury for Open House.

It's our birthday!

London West End WI is turning 10 years old this year (well, roughly anyway - we may be a teensy bit older, but who's counting?)

All current, former and prospective members are invited to come to our birthday party on 21st June, 6.30-8.30pm. We'll have some bottles of fizz, birthday cake and maybe some party games! Hope to see you there?

May Review 2017

At the beginning of May we were kept busy with craft club, where we had another go at cross stitch (with differing levels of success!).

At our monthly meeting we were joined by Nancy from the Positive Society who gave a fab and inspiring talk about the society, the benefits of positivity, and how we could all become involved. 

We also voted in favour of both the NFWI resolutions, on combatting loneliness and micro-plastics in the oceans.

As well as our meetings, members also attended the community preview of the Hokusai exhibition at the British Museum, which is well worth going to if you can. Members are frequently able to visit BM exhibitions for free before they open, just one of the benefits of joining LWEWI!

Monthly Meeting: Wed 17th May, The Positive Society and WI Resolution voting

For this month's meeting we are pleased to welcome Nancyt Steidl, founder of The Positive Society. She'll be telling us all about the society, and the benefits of staying positive. In these changing times, that can be difficult so this should be a wonderful and uplifting evening. 

Nancy will also be telling us about the "achievement diaries' which are run with the Society - they started in January but can be started now. It's a free tool, which lets you set targets and work through them to make your dreams come true, along with reflection on what you've achieved. 

www.thepositivesociety.com
www.facebook.com/thepositivesociety2


Resolutions

Note that at this meeting we will also be asking members to vote on the WI Resolutions for 2017, Alleviating Loneliness and Plastic Soup. 

All members get one vote for each resolution: you are not voting for one over the other, but should vote for or against each one independently. LWEWI will then cast our WI vote for or against each resolution as directed by our members. 

If you have not paid your subscription by the start of the meeting you are not entitled to a vote.

All members can inform themselves of the campaigns by reading pages 20 and 21 of the April issue of WI Life magazine, and check out the resolutions page of the NFWI website by clicking here.

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Guests are very welcome (£5 for non-WI members). You're welcome to email us in advance, but do feel free to just turn up on the night!

Upper Vestry Room, St George's Bloomsbury, Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HR. Door open c.6.15pm for 6.30pm start. Talks generally start at 7pm.