At this busy time of year I thought I would send out a quick reminder of all our activities taking place in December. 9th Dec everyone is invited to meet at 11am at the William Morris Museum to see the Mae Morris exhibition (photo by William Smedley-Aston, 1904) and have lunch. There may be some space in a car if anyone wants/needs a lift. Reply to this email or speak to Natasha on 0770 1015588 for more information. Some may also go on to see the Walthamstow Wetlands, but this will depend on the weather, (which is forecast to be sunny), and other variables. 15th Dec Tower Hamlets Christmas Tea Dance, at the Art Pavilion in Mile End Park, with live music and refreshments. Admission is free, but needs to be booked in advance. Click on the link to find more details. 19th Dec will be our Christmas Party with singing led by, soprano, Bethan Williams. We also want to talk about our local charitable giving, please bring your ideas to the meeting. We meet in St Margaret's Hall, behind the Gallery cafe in Old Ford Rd. from 7 and we aim to start around 7.30. 22nd Dec our Christmas coffee morning will be, as usual, at the Geffrye Museum, from 10.30. EEWI will be buying refreshments for members.  Looking forward to seeing you at some or all of these.

Before talking about parties and our next events I want to thank Magic Me for last week's interesting and fun meeting, talking about manners and creating a manifesto. Following on from which here are links to the video clips we watched. Firstly, Vanessa Kissule delivering her Personal Malleable Manifesto. And we also saw part of the video of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, giving her TED talk, to hear the whole thing go to "We should all be feminists".  The talk has been turned into a book, which is given to all 16 year olds in Sweden, which was featured in an article in the Guardian, and to buy the book (from Amazon) click here. There are still a few places on Magic Me’s Decorum 2 Project. Who decides what good behaviour is?  Are you a woman over 55, living in east London who has an opinion, likes drama, movement and storytelling? If so, and you are able to join them on Wednesday afternoons in the New Year, at the Osmani Centre E1, call Magic Me on 0203 222 6064 or email Katherineeves@magicme.co.uk   *** Coming up in December 5th Dec, 6.30pm will be our next committee meeting. All members are welcome to participate. To find out where it will be please reply to this email or call Natasha on 0770 1015588. 9th Dec everyone is invited to meet at 11am at the William Morris Museum to see the Mae Morris exhibition and have lunch. There may be some space in a car if anyone wants/needs a lift. Again reply to this email or speak to Natasha for more information. Some may also go on to see the Walthamstow Wetlands, but this will depend on the weather and other variables. 19th  Dec will be our Christmas Party with singing led by, soprano, Bethan Williams. We also want to talk about our local charitable giving, please bring your ideas to the meeting. 22nd Dec our Christmas coffee morning will be, as usual, at the Geffrye Museum, from 10.30am. And then we will be into another whole year!

At our next meeting, on Tuesday 21 Nov, we are looking forward to meeting Magic Me, an inter-generational arts project. They will be introducing their Decorum project, an exploration of what ‘good behaviour’ means for women in the 21st Century. And offering a creative workshop, led by two artists asking the question; How is Decorum experienced by women of different generations?  Doors will open at 7 and we aim for a 730 start, at St Margaret's House, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PL. Enter via the gate to the left of the Gallery Cafe and walk around to the garden - you will see us in the hall which is behind the Gallery Cafe.   Our next coffee morning will be on Friday 24 Nov, at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High St, E1 7QX (from 11 as that is when the gallery opens). * * * The annual over 50's  Christmas Tea Dance for Tower Hamlets residents is on Friday 15th Dec, at the Art Pavilion in Mile End Park.  There will be live music and an afternoon of dancing, light refreshments and Christmas cheer. Tickets need to be booked in advance and there are a couple of slots for EEWI members to help out. Another event that could be fun is at the Museum of Childhood on Thursday 7 Dec, when you can enjoy live music from harpist, Ruby Aspinall, and musician, MG Boulter whilst embellishing drawings by artist Amy Brown in the museum’s atmospheric environment. For more details click here

October's meetings

We firstly wanted to send out a big thank you everyone who came to our Black History Month celebration on the 17th October, we had a lot of fun drumming with IROKO and hearing about Lyn's hair adventures, which sparked a lively discussion. There was a great turnout, with lots of friends from nearby WI’s, representatives from Middlesex Federation and a few visitors. To see more photos of the event click here to visit our facebook page

We also wanted to remind you all of a few other things coming up. EEWI’s next meeting is our coffee morning on Friday, 20th October, we will be meeting at the Docklands Museum, E14 4AL from 10.30.   On the same day the swift exhibition that some have knitted for, and others have just heard about, will be opening, at Walthamstow Marshes. For more details on getting there etc.please click here. On Sunday at 9.45pm Lynn will be on BBC Radio London with Dotun Adebayo, talking about her Ska and Reggae workshops. These will be held at 6pm on 25th & 26th October at the Idea Store Whitechapel. A little further ahead at November’s meeting, on 21st November, we will be hearing from Sophie Churchill,OBE, on her varied interests and experiences. These range from copses (as President of the Royal Forestry Society), to corpses, (as part of The Corpse Project, seeking to open up public debate on better ways with the dead body), her interests have recently expanded to include potatoes.  On the 24th November our coffee morning, will be in the cafe at Whitechapel Art Gallery, from 11am.   *** As an aside if there is anyone out there who is able to help with our social media presence, which varies between patchy to non-existent, we would love to hear from you!

Countryside Live, our largest fundraising event of the year, is this week end, Sat 30th Sept and Sun 1st Oct - 11am to 5pm. We can always do with more cakes and more help! The event takes place in the Lea Valley, off the Lea Bridge Rd, postcode E10 7QL, it is behind the ice rink. Click here to find out more. 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   If you are able to help, or have any questions, please email Natasha.chetwynd@sky.com or call/text 0770 1015588 * * * Our next meeting, on October 17th, is due to be bigger than usual as we are hosting the local Middlesex Federation WI get together.    To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Black History Month in the UK, we have invited IROKO, specialists in African theatre to lead one of their programmes. We will also have Lyn Gerald introducing us to the politics and practicalities of black hair, with a demonstration and opportunities for braiding each other’s hair.   These activities will be complemented with themed refreshments and a raffle.  *** 20 October - Coffee morning will be at the Docklands Museum, E14 4AL from 10.30

At our last meeting we had a very interesting and talk and discussion, led by Antonia Jennings from the charity, Economy;  about the economy, its mission to demystify economics and some of our thoughts on the complexity and relevance of the subject to our everyday lives. There will be another event, introducing their activities to the local community, at their offices, WeWork, 115 Mare St on 7th September at 6pm, to which we are all invited. If you would like to go please email  victoria@ecnmy.org, or give her a call at 07443570968.    EEWI Charity of the year We followed with a discussion about our charitable giving. It was agreed that we should be giving 10% of the money we make at cake events to charity; this is likely to be around £300 a year, if we continue with our current level of activity. It should be to a local charity or a local branch of a national charity, where we think it will make a difference. We would also like to tie it in with the WI’s national resolutions, so this year would relate to ‘Alleviating loneliness’. The donation could also be combined with more practical help from members. We should also decide which charity to get involved with, that fits with these principles, each year.   We will have another discussion as to which charity to support this year, most likely in November and would love to hear your ideas.       SEPTEMBER MEETINGS & EVENTS   At our next meeting on, Tuesday 19th September, we will be having fun with paper and glue, with Jill Fullbrook helping us do decoupage.   As usual we will be in St Margaret's Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe 21 Old Ford Rd. E2 9PL. The doors open at 7 and we aim to start at 730.   The coffee morning on Friday 22nd, from 10.30, will be at - The Chesterfield, 341-343 Roman Rd London E3 5QR   Our next committee meeting will be on 26th September, at 6.30. The meetings are open to all members. Please reply to this email and we will let you know the venue.     COUNTRYSIDE LIVE Our next tea and cake event is our biggest of the year - Countryside Live - on the 30th September & 1st October, in the Lee Valley.  If you can help with cakes and biscuits and/or on the day please let us know, by replying to this email or to Natasha.chetwynd@sky.com or calling/texting 07701015588   ***   We have updated the events page of our website, and want to highlight our October meeting where we will be hosting a group meeting inviting other local WI Groups to celebrate Black History month. We have a few ideas for activities and food but thought we would ask you, our members, if you have any ideas and contacts with people who might be able to help with food, drinks or activities fitting the theme of the evening.

East End WI in August

AUGUST MEETINGS   At our next meeting on Tuesday 15th August, we will be talking about economics and the economy. Antonia Jennings, a member of the Economy newsletter team is coming to talk to us about their mission to make the subject of economics more interesting to ordinary people, so we can better understand how economics affects our daily lives.   We would also like to have a discussion about what charity(ies) we as a group might like to support. Support could be via money or donations. If you have a local charity that you think would fit our group please come prepared to suggest it.   As usual we will be in St Margaret's Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe 21 Old Ford Rd. E2 9PL. The doors open at 7 and we aim to start at 730.   The coffee morning on Friday 18th, from 10.30, will be at The Larder, 241-243 Globe Rd, E2 0JD.   ***   Our cake stall at Victoria Park’s Big Day out was very successful, despite the weather chucking everything it could at us - rain, wind, thunder, lightning and even a bit of sun! Thank you to everyone who helped on the day and or by baking.   Our next tea and cake event is our biggest of the year - Countryside Live - on the 30th September & 1st October, in the Lee Valley.   ***    We have updated the events page of our website, and want to highlight our October meeting where we will be hosting a group meeting inviting other local WI Groups to celebrate Black History month. We have a few ideas for activities and food but thought we would ask you, our members, if you have any ideas and contacts with people who might be able to help with food, drinks or activities fitting the theme of the evening.   ***    We have been contacted by a member of another WI group in Essex who is involved withWeavers Adventure Playground, who are in need of funds and volunteers. In particular, they are looking for help with their garden, to maintain borders and they are hoping to start a vegetable/fruit garden.  Other opportunities include helping with the small kitchen for after school snacks, and simple lunches on Saturdays and school holidays. Or woodwork/arts & crafts with the children. If you can help or know anyone who would like to please contact them directly or reply to this email and I will give you a phone/email address of Beverly who contacted us.

Coming up in August

AUGUST EVENTS Next Saturday, 5th August, 11-4pm, at Victoria Park, we have a cake stand at the Big Day Out. The event is near the bandstand. If you can help on the day and/or by baking please get in touch with Natasha by emailing  Natasha.chetwynd@sky.com or calling/texting 07701015588. Tuesday 15th August, we will be talking about the Economy. We have invited a member of the Economy newsletter team to come and talk to us about their mission to make the subject of economics more interesting to non-specialists, so we can better understand how economics affects our daily lives. As usual we will be in St Margaret's Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe 21 Old Ford Rd. E2 9PL. The doors open at 7 and we aim to start at 730. The coffee morning on Friday 18th August, from 10.30, will be at The Larder, 241-243 Globe Rd, E2 0JD.  ***  EEWI WEBSITE We have updated the Coming up in 2017 page of our website, and want to highlight our October meeting where we will be hosting a group meeting inviting other local WI Groups to celebrate Black History month. We have a few ideas for activities and food but thought we would ask you, our members, if you have any ideas and contacts with people who might be able to help with food, drinks or activities fitting the theme of the evening.  *** We have been contacted by a member of another WI group in Essex she is involved with Weavers Adventure Playground, who are in need of funds and volunteers. In particular, they are looking for help with their garden, to maintain borders and they are hoping to start a vegetable/fruit garden.  Other opportunities include helping with the small kitchen for after school snacks, and simple lunches on Saturdays and school holidays. Or woodwork/arts & crafts with the children. If you can help or know anyone who would like to please contact them directly or reply to this email and I will give you a phone/email address of Beverly who contacted us.

Our 10th Birthday celebrations were a lot of fun. Thank you to everyone who could make it, and for the messages received from some of those that couldn’t. It was great to have some old faces there and be told about, or be reminded of, some of the highlights of the past ten years, such as Moira the beefeater and the Air Ambulance man! As well as some of the lowlights, such as the meeting with only a couple of attendees, which reassures me that that things are going well at the moment!   The AGM passed smoothly, and I am very pleased that there was no opposition to me remaining President, for at least the next year. So I am celebrating with the photo at the top of this newsletter, of me and the Middlesex Federation representatives, Carol & Gerry, who helped ensure all went smoothly, including cutting the cake. Thank you.   For our next meeting, on 20 June, from 7pm for 7.30 start – We have comedian and actress, Samantha Baines coming. In preparation for featuring in the Edinburgh Festival over the summer, she will be trialling her new comedy show 1 WOMAN, A HIGH-FLYER AND A FLAT BOTTOM STAND UP COMEDY ABOUT THE LOST WOMEN OF SCIENCE As usual we will be in St Margaret's Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe 21 Old Ford Rd. E2 9PL.    23rd June from 10.30 - Our next coffee morning will be at St Joseph’s Hospice,  Mare St London E8 4SA.   30th June – 9am, Chisenhale Art Gallery, E3 5QZ, coffee morning with a tour of Luke Willis Thompson’s exhibition, which is based on research he has made throughout his residency period, which began with an exploration into the history of the riots in London in 1981 and 2011.     HELP NEEDED – We have a couple of events coming up in the next few weeks for which we need help in the form of cakes and people on the day to make tea and sell cakes. We are regulars at both events and would expect to see many friends old and new. Clare is leading on both events please contact her, or reply to this if you are available.   1 July -Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. Tea & Cakes.   9 July - Park Life Summer Fair & Dog Show, Mile End Park. Tea & Cakes. A few weeks later, on 5 August, will have a cake stall at the Great Day Out event in Victoria Park on August 5th. On which Natasha will be leading.

Come and help us celebrate our 10th Birthday and AGM This Tuesday, May 16th, from 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start, at St Margaret's House, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PLE.      We would love all members, past, present and prospective to come and help celebrate our anniversary.   There will be no visitor’s fee this month and we will be having a more lavish spread than usual. Featuring products from local producers,with amongst others, bread from E5 Bakery, cheese made in Bermondsy by Kappacasein and fish from Secret Smokehouse. The party will include reminiscing about what we have learnt and enjoyed with EEWI over any part of the past decade.  This could include evidence of the output from meetings - for example; tee-shirts, drawings, paintings, beading, swifts and many more. As well as stories of your favourite (or least favourite!) meetings that have been held over the past 10 years. The AGM will feature a summary of last year’s finances and activities, and current members will be able to vote for the President and committee members. We are always open to new committee members, if you are interested please let us know. To find us enter via the gate to the left of the Gallery Cafe, Old Ford Road, and walk around to the garden - you will see us in the hall which is behind the Gallery Cafe. If you have not been before or for a while don't lose heart – we will be there! 19th May from 9-10.30 - our next coffee morning will be at Chisenhale Art Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, London E3 5QZ. It will include a guided tour of the current exhibition. ***Please note the earlier time this month***

First of all I want to thank Graham for our not too strenuous but far-ranging arm/plastic chair tour of Tower Hamlets, earlier in April.   Our first cake stall of the year, at the Museum of Childhood’s St Georges Day event, went very well, raising nearly £140. Our cakes as usual were very well received and extra strawberry cupcakes were much appreciated. A big thank-you to everyone who took part.   We are sending this newsletter out a little earlier than usual to give everyone plenty of time to prepare for EEWI’s 10th Birthday party & AGM on May 16th, starting from 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start, at St Margaret's House, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PLE.    To find us enter via the gate to the left of the Gallery Cafe and walk around to the garden - you will see us in the hall which is behind the Gallery Cafe. If you have not been before or for a while don't lose heart – we will be there!   We would love all members, past, present and prospective to come and help celebrate our important anniversary.   There will be no visitor’s fee this month and we will be featuring local food producers, so having a more lavish spread of food and drinks than usual. If you have any favourites you would like represented please let us know by replying to this email, and we will do what we can to include them.   The AGM will feature a summary of last year’s finances and activities, and current members will be able to vote for the President and committee members. We are always open to new committee members, if you are interested please let us know.   The party will include reminiscing about what we have learnt and enjoyed with EEWI over any part of the past decade.  This could include evidence of the output from meetings - for example; tee-shirts, drawings, paintings, beading, swifts and many more. As well as stories of your favourite (or least favourite!) meetings that have been held over the past 10 years.     19th May from 9-10.30. our next coffee morning will be at Chisenhale Art Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, London E3 5QZ. It will include a guided tour of the current exhibition. ***Please note the earlier time this month***     The Community Garden at Growing Concerns, 2 Wick Lane, London E3 2NA, is progressing well. We have several raised beds and have planted a range of veg. We are meeting regularly on Thursdays at 11am and would love it if anyone else wants to join in.

Hi I thought last month’s information about Freecycle’s Thursday lunches in Hackney and the embroidery with and Stitches in Time were great. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished tapestry, and wonder who will finish the bananas I started! We will pass on more information when we get it. April is looking busy, with Easter closely followed by our regular meeting and the first of our cake stalls for the year. More details are below. We have put together a list of the meetings and events we have planned for most of the rest of the year, and posted it on our website, click here. This is of course subject to change but I would highlight that May is our AGM and we will also be celebrating EEWI’s 10th Birthday, we plan to mark it with a more bountiful than usual feast of locally produced food. We will also have a competition for the best preserved work of art or curio produced at a meeting. It would be lovely if some of our past members could join current members to reminisce over old times and new. If anyone is interested in joining the committee please let us know. There is not too much work involved and it is always good to get new ideas. April’s activities 18 April - Graham Barker, will be talking about walking around the East End. He is the director of Walk East, which offers guided and self-guided walks ranging the length and breadth of our area. 21 April - Coffee morning, from 10.30, at Kafe 1788, 4 Vesey Path, Poplar, London E14 6BT. 23 April - Museum of Childhood Cake stall, 11.30-4.30. Is our first fund raising event of the year and is often a good way of meeting potential new members and raising our profile. Help on the day and cakes are needed. 26 April - Tower Hamlets St. George’s Day Tea dance, held at the Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, 2-4.30. We usually have 2-3 people helping to set-up, serve tea & coffee and tidy up at the end. There are also tickets available for Tower Hamlets residents. 14 April - Deadline for the MFWI Denman Bursary Draw There are 2x£100 bursaries for courses held at Denman to be taken between 1 May 2017 and 30 April 2018. All entrants’ name, e-mail, full address and a contact telephone number must be received at Federation Office by 14 April 2017. If you can help or want more details for any of these events please let us know. Membership Many of you have already renewed or joined for this year, for those that haven’t membership fees for the remaining 9 months of the year are just £29.25. 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 Please email eastendwi@hotmail.co.uk to confirm that you have joined/renewed so we can keep track of who has paid.