Please come and join us at our next meeting, on Tuesday 18th December, for our Christmas party, featuring a seasonal cheese and wine tasting with a quiz. As usual we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm aiming to start around 7.30. Entry is via the black gate to the left of the cafe and around the garden. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked to pay £4.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our Christmas coffee morning on the 21st December will be at – The Larder, 241 Globe Rd, E2 0JD, meeting from 10.30.  *** Tower Hamlets Christmas Tea Dance is on 13th December and is free for Tower Hamlets residents. It is a fun afternoon with a professional dance band, instructors and partners and refreshments. We help with the later and enjoy the former. To find out more and register follow this link. ***  I also want again to remind everyone that our meetings are moving to the 3rd THURSDAY of each month from January 2019. If you have set reminders in your calendars please change them. Our website has been updated, so you can check what is planned for the next few months by clicking here. Next year our coffee mornings will be on the 4th Friday of each month. Additionally we will be raising the visitor donation requested to £5 per meeting, which is in line with most other local groups and makes membership a good deal.  *** Subscriptions for next year will be £42 for the year. Dual members pay £20 to the second group they join. EEWI’s bank details are: Lloyds:  Sort Code 30-94-57     A/c 02044729

At our next meeting, on Tuesday 20th November, we will be introduced to soap carving with Paula Haughney, a sculptor based in Bow. To find out more about her and her work click here. As usual we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm aiming to start at 730. Entry is via the black gate to the left of the cafe and around the garden.  Entry for members is free and visitors are asked to pay £4.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. This month we are also highlighting Bow Foodbank’s Christmas gift appeal. EEWI will be donating to the appeal, as our charity for 2018, but they need more. It is hoped that they will be able to give all 300 users of their service a small Christmas gift, costing about £5. This is in addition to the 10 items that can be picked up each week. As they are keen to give everyone a gift of a similar value and in the expectation that they will be able to buy more as a bulk purchase they are looking for cash donations. If you want to make a gift aid donation please follow this link, any money collected at our meeting will be forwarded to them. Our coffee morning on the 23rd November will be at - Second Shot Coffee, 475 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 9QH, meeting from 10.30. Additionally  there is a coffee morning at Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd,  the following Friday, 30th November, from 9am, E3 5QZ, not only will there be some EEWI cake, tea & coffee, but also a tour of their current exhibition by Beirut based artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan. * * *  Whilst we still have most of November and December to look forward to, I wanted to warn everyone  that our meetings are moving to the 3rd THURSDAY of each month from January 2019. If you have set reminders in your calendars please change them. Our website has been updated, so you can check what is planned for the next few months and coffee morning locations by clicking here. Next year we will also change the coffee mornings to either the 4th or 1st Friday of each month. If you have a preference please let us know. Image Copyright © Paula Haughney

September newsletter

At our next meeting, on Tuesday 18th September,  Nicola Whittaker, from Fellows - a specialist auction house for jewellery, watches, designer handbags and accessories as well as antiques and collectables, will be coming to talk about Art Deco jewellery. Please bring in anything you  think may be of interest as she happy to look them and hold an Antiques Roadshow type event. As usual we will meet at St. Margaret's House, Old Ford Road Bethnal Green E2 9PL, with the doors opening at 7pm, aiming for a 7.30pm start.  Enter via the gate to the left of the Gallery Cafe and walk around to the garden - you will see us in the hall, behind the Gallery Cafe. Meetings are free for members, and visitors are asked for a £4 donation. There is also a donation tin for refreshments.   *** Our coffee morning on 21st September will be at Poplar Baths, 170 East India Dock Rd, E14 0ED, meeting from 10.30.   *** In September there are a few other events that we have been invited to that should be interesting: Thursday 6th Sept 6.30-8pm, there is a launch party for a new book by Kate Thompson called The Stepney Doorstep Society which tells the moving stories of the selfless matriarchs of London's East End who sacrificed everything to protect their families and communities. At the party there will be a panel discussion with some of the women whose stories are told in the book. It is being held at The Women's Hall, Tower Hamlets History Library and Archive, 277 Bancroft Rd, E1 4DQ If you are interested in going please rsvp to katethompson.research@gmail.com                                                                           On Friday 28th Sept, 7.30–10.00pm, there will be a staged play reading of COMMON WOMEN – A play with songs about the women at Greenham Common, at Kingsley Hall, Powys Road, E3 3HJ Entrance Free There are also opportunities to get involved, if you are interested contact Joan Grifftiths of Bow Drama Group - joangriffiths46@gmail.com or by phone 020 8981 8104   *** N1 WI have also been in touch with a save the date invitation for this year’s Middlesex Federation Group Meeting on 22 October, 7-9pm at St James's Hall, Packington Street, N1. The speaker will be Dr Hollie Price, who is hosting a film screening of MOI films shown to WI groups during WWII. They will also be serving refreshments, holding a raffle, and running two recipe competitions in keeping with the WWII theme: preserves and potato dishes, which will be judged by Middlesex federation delegates.   Image from Fellows

I’m sending this email out a little earlier than usual, to remind everyone that the last cake event we have lined up for this year is Victoria Park’s Great Day Out, this Saturday 4th August, 11-4pm. If you can make a cake or would like to help on the day please email me,Natasha.chetwynd@sky.com or call 07701015588.   * * * At our next meeting, on Tuesday  21st August, we have changed to a holiday themed topic. Andrew Wittingham (Melissa’s partner) will be talking about his intrepid adventures in a number of places most of us would never consider, from Nigeria to Transnistria, Bangladesh to Moldova, this talk is an eclectic collection of travel anecdotes from less commonly visited countries.  ‘You Shouldn’t Go There – It’s Dangerous!’: Tourism Off the Beaten Track. As usual we will meet at St. Margaret's House, Old Ford Road Bethnal Green E2 9PL, with the doors opening at 7pm, aiming for a 7.30pm start.  Enter via the gate to the left of the Gallery Cafe and walk around to the garden - you will see us in the hall, behind the Gallery Cafe. Meetings are free for members, and visitors are asked to pay £4. There is also a donation tin for refreshments   .* * *   Our coffee morning on Friday 24th August will be at The Beehive, 305 Cambridge Heath Rd, E2 9LH (opposite the Museum of Childhood). We will meet from 10.30 .* * * As there have been a few changes to our proposed schedule I thought I would give a quick recap on our line-up of meetings for the rest of the year: 18th Sept - Jewellery talk with Nicola Whittaker, an auctioneer at Fellows, an auction house specialising in jewellery. If you bring along your sparklers and other finery she will be happy to have look, and we can have an Antiques Roadshow type event. 16th Oct - Having missed May we are delighted that Mike Ruff will be bringing his Maypole to give us a twirl in October. 20th Nov - In preparation for Christmas gifts we will be trying our hand at soap carving with local sculptor, Paula Haughney. 18th Dec - Xmas Party with a Cheese & Wine Tasting Quiz.

At our next meeting, on Tuesday 17th July we have Amanda Claremont, a volunteer guide at Chelsea Physic Garden, coming to talk to us about the garden. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked to pay £4.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. As usual we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm aiming to start at 7.30. Entry is via the black gate, to the left of the cafe and walk around the garden.    *** At slightly short notice we have agreed to have a tea & cake stall at the Mile End Park Dog Show on Sunday 22nd July. For which cakes and help are again requested.  Clare will have more information on Tuesday. We will also have a cake stall at Victoria Park’s Great Day Out on Saturday 4th August. Please let us know if you are able to help. Before either of these events, on  on Thursday 19th July, from 9am, everyone is welcome to come to a coffee morning at Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, E3 5QZ. Not only will there be cakes made by EEWI members, but also a tour of their current exhibition by Istanbul based artist, Banu Cennetoglu. To find out more click here. Image of Chelsea Pysc Garden By flickr user flickr-rickr [CC BY-SA 2.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

May Meetings

Our next meeting, on Tuesday 15th May, is our AGM, to be accompanied by English themed food and drinks. The main event for the evening will be Maypole dancing instructed by Mike Ruff. At the AGM we will go over the last year’s activities and accounts and elect officers for the committee. New members are very welcome. Representatives from Middlesex will be there to ensure we do it properly. And we will hold the draw of all paid-up members for our £100 bursary, which can be put towards any course of your choice. We also need to vote on whether to accept or reject this year’s resolution: Mental health matters Mental health matters as much as physical health. The NFWI urges all WI members to recognise the importance of parity between mental health and physical health, and take action to make it as acceptable to talk about mental health issues as much as physical health issues, and to lobby government for better support for mental illness.    Entry for members is free (only members can vote) and visitors are asked to pay £4.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. If you have any surplus seedlings we will have a table for a seedling swap, or a donation to EEWI. Books as well. As usual we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe on Old Ford Rd from 7pm. We will start promptly at 7.30 as we have such a packed meeting.  *** For our coffee morning on Friday 18th May we will meet at  E Pellicci. 332 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 0AG around 10.30.   Image from WikiHow

At our next meeting, on Tuesday 20th March, we are delighted that Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South & Shoreditch is coming to talk about ‘Women in politics’ and her experiences. As usual, we meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd E2 9PL at 7 for a 730 start. Enter via the gate to the left of the Cafe and walk right around the garden - you will see us in the hall. Don't lose heart – we will be there! Visitors are very welcome and are asked to pay £4 on the door. There is a donations tin for refreshments. The venue for our coffee morning on Friday 23rd March, from 10.30, has changed. We will now be meeting at the Gallery cafe, where there is an exhibition of photos of local women, you will recognise! We will go to The Museum of London, to visit their Suffragette/Suffragist exhibits on 20th April instead. We have nearly completed the provisional line-up of events for the rest of 2018. Details are on our website. You will see there are a couple of sessions to be confirmed, there are also a couple of invitations outstanding. As an added incentive to join/renew your membership of EEWI we will be reinstating a £100 bursary, which can be used towards any course of the winner’s choice. All paid up members at the end of March will be put into the hat.

Come and be seen with our banner

The first opportunity to be seen with our banner is next Sunday 4th March, when we will be joining March4Women and the 100 Banners project.The event is due to start at 12 in Parliament Square and end in Trafalgar Square, around 3pm.
We will be picking up the poles for our banner from the Conrad London St. James Hotel, SW1H 0BH at 11. To oin us at the front of the March look for the 100 Banner signs. This event is open to everyone. To find out more, in advance, or on the day, call Natasha on 0770 1015588.
The organisers have asked everyone attending to register using this link.

We will also be going to Mirth Control, WOW Festival, Sunday 11th​ March  at the Southbank Centre, starting at: ​7.30pm. (Heather will also be there earlier in the day, with Magic Me's Decorum project, we participated in last year). There are a limited number of discounted tickets available, I can give you the code and let you know where we  have booked some seats if you contact me by email or by phone. To find out more about the event and book tickets click here.

Our March meetings will be continuing the theme of women in politics. Firstly, on Tuesday 20th March, with Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, she is hoping to be able to come to talk about her experience. As usual this will be at St Margaret’s House, from 7 for a 730 start.

Our coffee morning on Friday 23rd March, from 10.30, will be at The Museum of London, when we can visit their Suffragette/Suffragist exhibits.

***

We have nearly completed the provisional line-up of events for the rest of 2018. Details are on our website. You will see there are a couple of sessions to be confirmed and there are a couple of invitations outstanding.If you have any other ideas of things you would like to see please let us know.

As an added incentive to join/renew your membership of EEWI we will be reinstating a £100 bursary. which can be used towards any course of the winners choice. All paid up members at the end of March will be put into the hat, there are currently 23 of us.

The subscription for 2018 is £41.00. Half of this is kept by us, to fund meetings, including the hire of the hall and pay speakers. The other half is split between the Middlesex and National Federations.

Our Bank Details are:
Lloyds:  Sort Code 30-94-57               
             A/c 02044729
 

Hi Our next meeting, on 20th February, is all about decluttering. Johanna de Valeur, a professional organiser and declutterer, with a background in design, will be introducing/re-introducing us to, the benefits of decluttering. We meet at St Margaret’s Hall, Old Ford Rd, Behind the Gallery Cafe at 7pm aiming to start at 7.30. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked to donate £4.00. Before then, this Friday, 9th February, we will be hosting Chissenhale Gallery’s coffee morning from 9 to 10.30. There will also be a talk on the current exhibition. The coffee morning on the 23rd February will be at Kaffe 1788, 4 Vesey Path, E14 6BT, from 10.30. *** In March we have several opportunities to show-off the fabulous banner we worked on last month, which Janet has finished. She and I will be taking it to the Albert Hall on 8th March for a photo opportunity with all the banners that have been completed There are also opportunities for everyone to get involved: March4Women – Sunday 4th March 12-3pm The 100 Banners project has been invited to take part in Care International’s central London march to commemorate the suffrage movement and celebrate women’s rights and we are planning to walk with our banner. Everyone who wants to come should register with this website. Closer to the time we will coordinate meeting up. Mirth Control – WOW Festival, Southbank – Sunday 11th March 7.30pm A selection of the 100 Banners will be featuring in the final event of the WOW (Women of the World) Festival at the Southbank. Members and non-members are very welcome to join us. If you can let me know if you are interested, by replying to this email, we will then buy tickets (we may get a discount). Tickets are priced between £40-20.  I am most likely to go for the least expensive. Our March meetings will be continuing the theme of women in politics. Firstly on the 20th March, when with Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, is hoping to be able to come to talk about her experience. As usual this will be at St Margaret’s House. Our coffee morning on the 23rd March, will be at The Museum of London, when we can visit their Suffragette/Suffragist exhibits.   *** Being a new year it is the time to join/renew your membership of EEWI. The subscription for 2018 is £41.00. Half of this is kept by us, to fund meetings, including the hire of the hall and pay speakers. The other half is split between the Middlesex and National Federations. Our Bank Details are: Lloyds:  Sort Code 30-94-57                             A/c 02044729

HAPPY NEW YEAR Our first meeting of the year is on the 16th Jan. We will be looking at, working on and talking about our banner for the 100 Banners Project; celebrating 100 years since the Representation of the People’s Act, which first gave women the right to vote. The design is to put out EEWI logo onto a printed brick background and then add bits of personal graffiti, from all of us. So we will provide the materials and are looking for you to come with ideas. Alongside this activity we will also decide which charity to make a donation to for this year and whether and how to work with that charity in some way. At our December meeting there were several suggestions, some that expressly fit in with combating loneliness theme. To enable you to explore these ideas further I have listed them below and added links to take you to their websites. They all have local facilities and we have heard from them over the past few years. In addition a few of us are already volunteering with them and some have benefited from their services. Bow Foodbank - Specifically, we could help with children’s goody bags for next Christmas. Sick Children’s Trust - Stevenson House, provides accommodation for families with a child at the Royal London Hospital. Cocktails in Care Homes - Devised and organised by Magic Me, we could fund and volunteer for one or more cocktail party in Tower Hamlets, or further afield. Hestia - Supports adults and children across London in times of crisis. As usual we will meet from 7, and aim for a 7.30 start at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe on Old Ford Rd.   *** Our next coffee morning will be on 19th Jan, at The Larder Cafe, 241-243 Globe Road, Bethnal Green, E2 0JD, meting from 10.30. *** On the 27th Jan we have our first cake event of the year. We will be offering tea & cake to the East of London Family History Society, between 12-5pm at The Art Pavilion in Mile End Park. We will need some cakes and a few helpers on the day. If you would like to help please get in touch with Natasha  on 07701015588. *** Being a new year it is time to renew your membership of EEWI. The subscription for 2018 is £41.00. Half of this is kept by us, to fund meetings, including the hire of the hall and to pay for speakers and activities. The other half is split between the Middlesex and National Federations. You can belong to more than one WI, by paying the full membership fee to the first WI, and a further £20 to any other WI. Our Bank Details are : Lloyds: Sort Code 30-94-57 A/c 02044729 Or you can bring a cheque or cash to the meeting. As we are currently putting together ideas for this year’s meetings the committee would love to have your ideas for activities and interests you would like us to consider. Our next committee meeting is due to be on the 23rd Jan, and members are welcome to join us. Best wishes for 2018