Annual General Marvellousness

A little later than scheduled here is a massive thank you to those who contributed to the Bee Craft Competition at this year's EEWI AGM!! There were some inspired entries - including a number of people who could not resist coming along in character - and a fab poem about beehive hairdoos,

The star of the evening by common consent was Jo's quilt, a masterpiece of bee-loveliness. With just the right message for the night.

Thanks are due to everyone who has made this such a busy and active year - bakers, makers, helpers, dancers, prancers, poets, punners, runners, knitters, sew-ers, growers, theatre-goers, speakers, quizzers, scissorers, coffee tasters, toastie makers. The list will go on. We promise.

join the wave

The Wave is a climate change march taking place in Central London on 5 December to draw attention to the dangers of runaway climate change and provide decision-makers with the grassroots mandate to take strong action at the UN Climate Change talks in Copenhagen. The march is organised by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, of which the WI is a founder member, and is timed to coincide with the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen. If you are free on that date, it would be great if you could join the march which will start at Grosvenor Square and march around the Houses of Parliament. Dress code is to wear something blue!

WI members will gather in the events room of the Mayfair Library (25 South Audley Street , London , W1K 2PB). from 11am. This is an opportunity to meet members who have similar interests, catch up with people you haven’t seen for a while, enjoy some light lunch and to feel a little more at home if you’ve never been on a march before.

At midday,WI members will head over to Grosvenor Square for the start of the march, staying together as a WI group. There will be a rally in Grosvenor Square whilst people assemble, then move towards Westminster via Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and 10 Downing Street before encircling Parliament. The climax will be as Big Ben chimes 3pm, when a wave of blue will flow through the people circling parliament. The Wave will then pass over Westminster Bridge and disperse.

See the WI website and the Stop Climate Change Coalition for more details.

november meetings

Our AGM is this Tuesday 17th November at Chisenhale Gallery, 7.30pm for an 8pm start. The AGM is for members only and you can join on the night if you wish. This is the meeting when we vote for our EEWI president and committee. The committee will be reporting back on our achievements throughout the year. It's a bee themed evening, so you are invited to bring along something you have made on a bee-related theme to have a chance of winning a prize.

Our coffee morning on Friday 20th November at 10.30pm will be at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. All are welcome, including children. We'll be cake testing as usual, so come along and share some chat and good company.

Looking forward to seeing you.

run!

It was wild and woolly weather after the worst storms of the year but that didn't stop EEWI members turning out for the Woman's trust fundraising run. I thought I'd be pushing my luck without any waterproofs to go beyond 4km but others were more noble.

There's still time to help Niki reach her fundraising target if you run along to her just giving page.

ladies with aprons

Jenny Edbrooke's hard work paid off. She made us do a lot of thinking, and dancing, and working together to pull together our short performance at Chisenhale Dance Space's"Homelands" Festival. Were we nervous? Only a little. Did we enjoy ourselves? I think the photos speak for themselves.

We were... ladies with aprons.

And we celebrated afterwards with some very special cakes, courtesy of the lovely Jenny.

homelands and hotcakes

Do come along and see our wee performance at Chisenhale Dance Space on Saturday November 7th at 6.30 pm at the Homelands Dance Festival. Our slot is fairly short - around 10 - 15 minutes - which is probably enough for us! We can promise you that it is strictly not come dancing, although it certainly took some of us into places we had not visited for a while. It's been fun trying out something new and Jenny Edbrooke who has been running the sessions has been an enthusiastic and supportive guide along the way.

You can also try some taster workshops during the day, but you must book in advance for these and the performance. Call 020 8981 6617 for your free tickets. They are going like hotcakes!

Hope to see you on Saturday.

who does what?

A new BBC programme is looking for couples, flatmates or friends to take part in a new show for BBC2 entitled Who Does What. The show will focus on who does what within your household and is a programme full of facts and statistics. It really is for anyone who has ever argued over who really does do the washing up, the shoppping, the cooking etc. If you would like more information email sarah.allen@talkbackthames.tv