Wednesday 28 December 2016

After an interesting 2016 – in so many ways – I thought I would write to wish everyone a Happy New Year and let you know what EEWI have lined up for January.

17th January Meeting – ‘From Copses to Corpses’. Sophie Churchill, OBE PhD FICFor, will be speaking to us, she has worked in forestry for many years and is the first female President of the Royal Forestry Society. She will also talk about - The Corpse Project, which she also is heading up,

In addition we will discuss and take a decision on which of the WI’s resolutions, we as a group, will vote for.  The choices are:
  • Alleviating loneliness
  • FGM: More awareness for more action
  • Equal access for all who need specialised maternal mental health services
  • Provision of appropriate welfare and safe spaces for women & children in refugee camps
  • Supporting women’s refuges
  • Plastic soup: Keep microplastic fibres out of our oceans
More details of the proposals can be found on the WI’s website and the most recent WI Life. If anyone has a particular interest in any of these proposals and wants to speak for 3-5 minutes to promote the issue, please come prepared.
As usual we will meet from 7 for 7.30 start at St Margaret’s Hall, reached by going through the garden.

Memberships
Being January it is also time to renew your membership, fees for the year are £39.00. This can be done at the meeting, or if you want to pay via a bank transfer our banking details are:-

Lloyds    Sort code 30-94-57    A/c 02044729

And please email  eastendwi@hotmail.co.uk to confirm that you have joined/renewed so we can keep track of who has paid...
 
20th January coffee morning we will meet from 10.30 at The Larder,  241-243 Globe Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 0JD
 
24th January we will hold our first committee meeting of the year, starting at 6.30 venue TBC. These meetings are open to all EEWI members, and we always welcome new committee members to help share the load, spread our skills and learn new ones!

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Sorry I am just learning how to update this - so will post a more up-to-date newsletter/blog  for 2017 shortly!

It was October - nights are drawing in, and it's time for a warm, creative and enjoyable evening with EEWI. This month, Jill will be guiding us in making lino cuts, so bring an apron or a big shirt to cover and protect clothes.

We meet next on Tuesday, 18th October at St Margaret's Hall, 7.00 for 7.30 start. Any contributions of refreshments are welcomed. Natasha will be far away on the other side of the States, and Sioban will be hosting for the evening.

We will be collecting gifts for U-Turn - these are always appreciated and this is our last opportunity to show our support before the project closes. We are all invited to their party on 7th December 12- 4 p.m., with lunch served about 1.00 p.m. We can help make it something special, giving everyone the opportunity to say 'Goodbye'.

Coffee morning - Friday 21st at Chesterfields 345 Roman Road from 10.30.

Everyone is also welcome to Chisenhale Art Gallery for coffee and a tour of their latest exhibition from 9.00 a.m. on Thursday 20th.

Plans for future meetings:
November 15th. Teresa will talk about the Bird Yarn Knitting Project for the Walthamstow Wetlands, which are opening in 2017. Deirdre Nelson, the artist involved with the project, is well-known in knitting circles. We will also be introducing you to Twiddle Muffs.
Coffee morning:18th November Quarantacinque 45 Roman Road - three doors west of the London Buddhist Centre.

November 3rd. We will forward you the publicity and invitation to the De Beauvoir Strictly Dancing celebration at the Crypt Cafe, St Peter's Church, North Church Terrace, N1 4DA, 7.30-9.30. Entrance is free for all our members as we have contributed to the costs.

December 20th. Christmas Party. Bring along a song, a dance, a poem, a joke or anything else to entertain us all.
Coffee morning: 23rd December at the Geffrye Museum. 10.30 a.m. Everyone who comes is a guest of EEWI.

January 17th look forward to Sophie Hill on, 'From Copses to Corpses'.
Coffee morning to be advised.

February 21st. A talk about East End housing from the Local History Library.

March 21st. Graham Barker on walks, and exploring the East End.

Saturday 27 August 2016

I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer sunshine. There is so much going on that this is a rather long newsletter!
First of all I want to thank Sioban for her talk at our Augustt meeting. Here is a link to CalAid’s web page if you would like to find out more or make a donation.

Nearly as importantly we need to start thinking about and baking for Countryside Live. The event takes place over two days – the 24th and 25th Sept, in the Lea Valley, near the ice rink. Click here to find out more.
This is our largest fundraising event of the year and enables us to pay for speakers, buy supplies for our meetings, offer bursaries and make donations to causes we support.  Over the last few years we have raised around £1500’s at this one event – which is an amazing amount of cake and tea - so as much help as possible is required. A quick reminder of a few key points:

  • Most cakes can made in advance and frozen (before they are iced)
  • Due to not having any refrigeration facilities on site, we prefer not to have butter cream or soft cheese icings.
  • Some gluten free and vegan friendly offerings are always appreciated
  • Children friendly cakes, such as smaller cupcakes, we can sell at lower prices are also good
  • We need a list of ingredients to go with each cake, so we can answer any questions for those with food allergies
  • If you keep receipts and send them to us with your bank details we are happy to reimburse for ingredients

In addition we will need help on both days, usually 3-4 people are needed at a time. To serve cake, tea & coffee and take money. If you are able to help, or have any questions, please email Natasha.chetwynd@sky.com or call/text 0770 1015588
 
At our next meeting, on Tues 20th Sept, for our main speaker we have invited Caroline from Growing Concerns to come and talk about our local plant nursery and its history.

Phillip Green from Boundary Green Fun Palaces event will also be coming to tell us about their event on 1st Oct. They are looking for crafters and bakers to help on the day.  Clicking on the link above will take you to more information, including the link to a free documentary film screening on 12th Sept at Rich Mix which some of us have already got tickets for.

Alongside all this we would like to have a Harvest Festival Food Swap. It will be an opportunity for those with excess produce from their gardens or allotments to donate/swap produce, and for those that don’t, to bring in donations in exchange for fresh/homemade produce in support of Bow Food Bank, following their visit earlier this year. As a reminder they accept a wide variety of - in date - tinned or dried food, ranging from meat and fish products to fruit and veg, rice and pasta. (They find fresh food more difficult to cope with.) As well as toiletries and cleaning products.
Finally, we will have an ugly fruit or vegetable competition. Please bring your entries.

Our next coffee morning is on 23rd Sept, from 1030 at  Kiki - 516 Roman Rd, E3 5ES. Before this, from 9am, there is a tea/coffee morning and guided tour of the new exhibition at Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, E3.

Many thanks for getting to the end of this rather lengthy message – if you have!
Best wishes
Natasha


Tuesday 29 March 2016

Welcome to our April newsletter..


Loads to say as usual so let's get on with it.

April's Monthly Meeting Tuesday 19th April 7pm for a 7.30pm start St Margaret's House
This month we are looking at Safe Travel In London. Two officers from the Metropolitan Police Safer Transport Team will be talking to us about cycle security, safety on London's buses and tubes as well as handing out some on theme goodies.They will also be there to answer any questions you have about safety on public transport as well as what it's like to be a woman in the force in the present day.  Those of you that attended our talk about 7 years ago from a female police officer working in Tower Hamlets will know it can be a very interesting topic.
We meet at St Margaret's House on Old Ford Road in the hall which is at the back of the building which you access by going through the black gates on Old Ford Road to the left of the Gallery Cafe and follow the path round the garden to the right - you will see the hall in front of you.
Free for members, £4 for visitors, all women welcome. Refreshments provided and we welcome all donations of the financial or baked (or bought) sort
.
April Coffee morning Friday 22nd April 10.30am  The Peanut Vendor
This month we will be meeting at The Peanut Vendor on Gunmaker's Wharf just off Old Ford Road at the entrance to the park. The peanut Vendor is a vintage furniture shop but it also has a cafe and is in a great position being right next to one of the park gates and a short walk from Roman Road market. For  more info click here.

April and May Afternoon Tea 
April - Monday 4th at Marks and Spencer in Westfield Stratford 3.30pm
May - Monday 9th of May (the 2nd is a bank holiday) Genesis cinema 2.30pm - not earlier meeting time so we can fit in a film. All movies are £4.50 on a Monday and although the programme has not been announced for that date yet, on the day whoever is there will decide what to go and see.

St George's Day Tea Dance Wednesday 20th April  2pm to 4.30pm. 
Every year we help out at the LBTH St George's Day Tea Dance which is taking place at the Art Pavilion. If you are interested in helping out with the EEWI team please contact eastendwi@hotmail.co.uk but also check out the event here as you or someone you know might like to go along. It is always a great afternoon with a really wonderful band.

St George's Day Fete  at Museum of Childhood Saturday 23rd April 11.30am to 4.30pm
We will be running a cake stall at this event on the 23rd. If you can bake or help out, even just for an hour, please do let me know on eastendwi@hotmail.co.uk or grab me at the next meeting. This is a great event and obviously if you are free you should go along and enjoy it. For more info about the day please clickhere.

Blatant Self Promotion 
Tomorrow I am heading out to Palestine to take part in the 2016 Palestine Marathon. Don't panic I am not doing the full marathon. I am having a go at the half. I have never been to Palestine before and have wanted to go for a very long time. Some friends of mine, who have been many times before, and myself are raising money for a school in Jenin that has a leaky roof. If you can spare even a couple of quid that would be amazing and you can sponsor us by clicking here. And if I manage to take enough pictures I will maybe come and share them one evening if we are ever short of a speaker.

East End Women's Museum 
You may remember a number of demonstrations organised outside the Jack the Ripper Museum on Cable Street last year. I won't go into all again here but the two women who co-ordinated those events have set up an organisation called East End Women's Museum and they have an exhibition taking place at the Whitechapel Idea Store until the 21st April. For more info about the museum click here.

Upswing Classes
For those of you interested in getting fit and more specifically learning a little bit about ariel and circus, as shared with us by the amazing Vicki Amedume back at our meeting in January, they have just published their time table for the next round of 'Fit For Flight' classes currently taking place at Cardboard Citizens in Whitechapel. There are lot of other interesting classes too but for more info about Fit For Flight click here
.
Core Buds
I have been supporting the work of Core Projects who work with young people who have learning difficulties. They have a number of floristry projects and 
the items they make are available to buy. I still have my Christmas wreath on my front door as I love it so much and also have a beautiful willow heart. Their latest project involves little succulents that you hang on your window. For more info and for the contact details please look here. And if you order anything I would be happy to deliver to you - either to a meeting or to you at your convenience.

Middlesex Federation Newsletter
Please find attached here this month's newsletter from out federation 

Membership
For those of you that were members in 2015 we would appreciate it if you could renew before the end of March - not much time I realise. The fees for current members for 2016 are £37.50 You can do this via online banking - our details are;
East End WI 
02044729
30-94-57 
And please email our treasurer Jo Kelman on jo_kelman@yahoo.co.uk
If you are new to EEWI and would like to join the membership fees for this year from April are £28.10. This is if you have just started coming to us and are joining to recognise the fact you have missed three months.
Again you can do this online as above or you can join at a meeting.

We want you to be part of EEWI in whatever way suits you, so if you are only going to come a few times a year we are happy for you or just pay the visitor fees, but if you join you get 8 copies of WI Life magazine a year and more importantly opportunities across the year from EEWI such as taking part in the EEWI Bursary - more on that next month.

May meeting - our AGM
This is just a little reminder that our May meeting is our AGM. We have some fun things lined up to go along with the admin but I will be standing down as President and we will be voting in a new one. If you feel you would like to join our committee we are always looking for more people however much or little time you feel you can offer - it is good to have a wide range of heads to put together!
There is so much more to tell you but I think that has to be it for now.

Any questions of queries drop us a line at eastendwi@hotmail.co.uk or grab one of the committee at our meetings.

I hope you are all enjoying the lighter evenings even though they seem to have brought with them very strong winds!

Niki Stevens
President EEWI

Wednesday 16 March 2016

EEWI meets Chapel Cinema

EEWI meets Chapel Cinema



Thank you to everyone who came along to Chapel Cinema last night that EEWI hosted this week as part of Women's History Month. The film is an interesting one taking you on a bit of a rollercoaster. Interesting in that many mainstream films, action movies, have male characters killing dozens of voiceless background actors with no exploration of the grief those deaths might cause and often we don't think twice about it - it never seems to worry the character either. In Thelma and Louise we are following the two friends through their painful exploration of killing Harlan, the hideous rapist, in the car park of a roadside nightclub and how that act, along with the baggage they both drag around with them, sends them on a crime spree that enables them to truly find themselves. If you haven't seen it, see it.

It was really well attended and almost all of the cakes got eaten so that is the main thing. A particular favourite was ......




For more info about Chapel Cinema - the FREE  cinema in the Chapel at St Margaret's House, click here.

And for information about The Insider's Guide, an annual book that celebrates all things Bow and is the product of an amazing journalism course aimed at local people, click here.

We hope to see you at our next meeting on April 19th.



Friday 15 January 2016

a new year and January meetings




January Meeting Tuesday 19th January 7 for a 7.30pm start St Margaret's House
Usually in January we try to find something uplifting to help us navigate the grey days and post-Christmas blues, so this month we have invited Vicki Amedume to come and talk to us about her life and career in circus performance. Vicki is the founder and artistic director of Upswing based at Rich Mix. Upswing creates aerial and circus performance for a diverse variety of venues as well as having a wide programme of training courses for all levels and running outreach programmes working with hard to reach and vulnerable groups within the community. Vicki will be talking to us about how she got involved with aerial and circus as well as how Upswing came about. As new year fitness plans go aerialism may be a bit extreme but all of their classes are loads of fun and something a little bit different. Please note we won't be having a go at aerialism! Don't worry!

As usual we are at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road E2 in the hall at the back of the complex - go through the black gates to the left of the Gallery Café and follow the path round to the right to the hall. 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Free for members, £4 for visitors. Refreshments available - donations to this of the edible, drinkable and spendable kind always welcome.
 
Coffee Morning will be  on Friday January 22nd, 10.30am at the Gallery Cafe, St Margaret's House. All women welcome.

Jumble for the Jungle
Niki is organising a jumble sale on Saturday February 13th at St Barnabas Church in Bow from 12pm onwards to raise money for Calais Kitchens, an organisation that cooks food for the refugees in the jungle at Calais. Set up on Friday 12th from about 6.30pm - just for a few hours then setting up more on the Saturday morning from about 10am. Please contact Niki if you would like to donate, bake or help out.