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
We've welcomed in the new year with colour and fun at both Craft Club and our Monthly Meeting this January! Craft Club At the first meeting of Craft Club this year we had another go at quilling, which we first tried over a year ago. This time round our talented crafty ladies made some amazing cards!
Monthly Meeting
To banish the winter blues, our January meeting was all about Carnival! Our guest speaker, Natalie, gave a presentation about the history of Carnival in the Caribbean and beyond, as well as bringing along some costumes for us to try on, and leading us in some Carnival dances!
Banish the winter blues with an evening dedicated to colour, dance and feathers!
In the lead up to Trinidad Carnival, one of the biggest carnivals in the world, Natalie will be discussing the origins, history and role of women in Carnival in the Caribbean as well as exploring what Carnival looks like today; both in the Caribbean and diasporas in the UK and Europe.
The talk will cover various aspects of Carnival from its origins in slavery and traditional costumes to modern Carnival and 'pretty mas' We'll also discuss how Carnival came to be in Notting Hill, as well as differences in Carnivals across the globe.
There will be costumes on display with headdresses to try on, and some Carnival choreography so wear comfortable shoes!
St George's Bloomsbury, 6 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HR. Doors open at c. 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start. Main business of meeting usually 7pm to 8.30pm
Membership for 2017 is £39.00. Membership is non refundable and will expire at the end of the year. Guests are very welcome (£5 for non-WI members), feel free to just turn up and say hello!
Thank you to all our members, committee, visitors and speakers for a wonderful 2016! Here's a quick round-up of what we, and some of our members, got up to in December.
1. Claude and others helped out with refreshments at the Cosmic carol concert on 5th December - see below for their thank you letter.
2. Long-standing LWEWI member Margaret Busgith responded to a request from the WI for members to be in a choir to take part in the Royal Variety Performance on 6th December.
Margaret writes "[below] is a picture of the whole choir for the event! There were 150 of us... we sang with Gary Barlow and the song is from the new show Girls - taken from Calendar Girls... It was interesting to do and we were in the theatre watching other people at the dress rehearsal. Gary came outside to see us all afterwards and had some pictures taken which was very nice of him."
Well done Margaret! She's towards the back left of the picture, if you can spot her. There's also a video of the performance (from Youtube) posted below.
3. St George's Carol Service.
On 21st December our monthly meeting was replaced by the annual Carol Service in the church. As ever, LWEWI provided the mince pies and mulled wine to the congregation afterwards. Many thanks to those who helped with baking or serving - Ruth, Laura, Kate, Margaret, Claude and Helena. Many thanks to those who helped clear up after the event too! All donations from the refreshements went to the Vicar's night shelter fund, a total of £60.
4. Craft Club
At our December craft club we had a lovely evening turning old jam jars into fancy tealight holders. After tweeting the picture, we seem to have inspired other WIs to make these next year!
Hope to see you all in 2017 for another exciting year ahead! Details of our January meeting will be posted soon.
