Our July coffee morning

"The chat is so important"... Our July coffee morning at Bàrd Books
 

You might notice in the pictures above an absence of – well – people. That's because this month's coffee morning was so chatty that pictures went by the wayside. It's fitting that words should take centre stage when a coffee morning is at a bookshop, this, a new arrival on the Roman Road.

Heather writes: "Who... remembered the visit to the Para Olympics 2012? Who has a car with an unbelievably low mileage? Who is giving a talk at Tate Britain on Weds at 11.00? Who was off to a shift at Tate Britain? Who dashed from WFH to have a sunshine break? Who remembered the EEWI at the weird Hauser & Wirth immersive 'Community Centre' at St James' Piccadilly? Who recommended Shetlands so highly as a holiday? Who was off to the coast for the weekend? And more!" 

There were recommendations aplenty too: "A lovely morning at Bard, worth a visit for those who didn't make it.  Not just coffee, books as well." "And wine and chocolate!" "I liked the shop and café." "a lovely spot - time for a good natter and catch up with our equally lovely EEWIs! Prices reasonable and the friendly staff had been very helpful with advice on books for different situations. An interesting Community notice board, too. Highly recommend it."

"Join the conversation next time!" Look out for our coming up blogpost for news of our next coffee morning.

Find Bàrd Books here.

Pictures by Lydia, who had a coffee morning for one to take them. And no, she didn't have a conversation with herself...

Our July meeting

 

Knowledge and know-how – the WI Learning Hub and other online learning platforms

This month, our very own Sally took us through the WI Learning Hub and other options for live and pre-recorded classes and activities. It was while convalescing that Sally discovered that online learning could be of enormous value in bringing interesting activities in when she couldn’t get out. 

Sally started with some alternative platforms that she uses in addition to the WI Learning Hub:

The RVS (Royal Voluntary Service) runs Virtual Village Hall, which is free to join. There are live sessions and a library to choose from, with new sessions added regularly.

Rest Less, a platform for people over 50, is a subscription-based service at £6.99 per month. It has exercise classes, crafts, history talks and Sally showed us The Soothing Season, a session of relaxation and art making. Visit the events section of the Rest Less website to find out more.

The WI Learning Hub evolved from Denman College, which was a physical space for courses. Now, the Hub offers live courses, including crafts, exercise, talks and National Federation training, with recordings available for a week afterwards. Sign-up is free for WI members; there is paid access for non-members. To register, first register in the main WI website under My WI (there’s a video guide to registration). When registered, back on the WI Learning Hub website you can book onto courses via online form and confirmation email (initially, the booking shows a fee but for members, this reverts to zero on checkout) and you receive a weekly email update.

Our Federation, Middlesex, runs Dabble Days. These have a fee and are for WI members only. There’s also a free weekly craft get-together on Zoom, at 19:30 every Monday. Look out for news in your Federation newsletter. 

As ever with our meetings, we all had recommendations and news to contribute: U3A, the Mary Ward Centre, the Idea Store, the Guildhall Library, Bishopsgate Institute, free weekly film nights at Victoria Park Baptist Church and community activities from Sadlers Wells, which will be opening locally at East Bank in the Olympic Park.

So much to do, so little time! Now back at work, Sally’s preference has shifted to recorded activities to watch when she can – and we agreed that what we need changes with our circumstances, whether that’s in-person classes, live courses or a library of online learning that we can visit. 

A massive thank you to Sally for a great session, and to past President, Heather, for standing in for Celya to introduce the meeting.

Our July coffee morning: Friday 26th July – Meet between 10.30 and 11.00 at Bàrd Books, 341-343 Roman Road, London E3 5QR

This is a change of venue from our original plan, the Mary Ward Centre – we hope to return in term time.

Our July walk

A journey through time (with a bonus corgi) – our July walk

There's a new London-themed sculpture trail dotted through central London from Victoria to the Strand. So we joined the throng of visitors to find a few of the pieces and enjoy the many interesting diversions along the way.

Tracking down the teapot quickly, we strode out in search of the telephone box, enjoying the view of the beautiful Westminster Cathedral while we were there. The Guard was a little more challenging to find – it was away for repair – but thanks to the police on duty by Buckingham Palace, we followed the sound of a military band to watch the Belgian Cenotaph parade.

St James's Park delivered a crown and two herons, then, in search of the pocket watch, we happened on a bonus corgi, part of another trail, of corgis that had been installed as part of the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

The postbox sculpture brought us to the Supreme Court, for a pause to admire its architecture and wonder at the frieze of Tudor characters (a bit of post-walk research has revealed that it's the Duke of Northumberland offering the crown of England to Lady Jane Grey).

On our way to find the rain boots in Victoria Tower Gardens, we passed the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst. Next, along the Embankment for the top hat and near it, a tree with long seed pods which we found again in Embankment gardens – an Indian bean tree was the guess and it turned out to be right.

In search of the tea cup, in need of an actual cup of tea we peaked a little early – but it was found and along the way, a curious plaque. Most of the statues we had seen along the embankment commemorated the work of men, some with women in allegorical roles (the weeping woman is on the monument to Sir Arthur Sullivan) but the plaque to Henry Fawcett was placed there by his "grateful countrywomen". The UK Parliament website lists Henry Fawcett as liberal MP for Hackney from 1865 and a supporter of votes for women.

Before our tube journeys home from Temple, there was time for a quick look at the art terrace The Artist's Garden – including a twirl of Lucy Gregory's kinetic sculpture It's all kicking off, a row of cancan legs. 

Photos by Alison, Christine and Lydia.

Fancy joining us on one of our walks? Look out for our monthly Coming up blogposts or if you're a member, the monthly e-newsletter.

Coming up in July

Walking a new art trail, learning about the Learning Hub and coffee at a bookshop – coming up in July

Our Monthly walk: Westminster

Saturday 13th July, 11.00 at Victoria Station, meet by M&S Simply Food

A  new trail of artistic delights has landed in London, just waiting for you to find them all. To celebrate King Charles’ birthday, a series of British-themed sculptures have popped up depicting classic British emblems and iconography. Spread around South Westminster, the ‘Journey Through Time’ trail includes eleven sculptures for visitors to find. There is a trail map for download here.

Keep up to date with info on the day with the walkers’ WhatsApp group

Our monthly meeting: our very own Sally and Celya with info and demonstrations on the WI Learning Hub 

Thursday 18th July, 7.00 for 7.30 start

“Our range of courses at the Learning Hub will give you the freedom and control to learn anywhere, so whether you want friendly experts, guidance, socialisation, interaction or collaborations we have it all for you.”

Celya is working with Middlesex Federation to gather members’ opinions on the recently relaunched Learning Hub. Sally has been undertaking a selection of activities: some standalone sessions and others part of a series with the hub and other online learning communities. We will show you what content is offered and how to take part. And we’ll take a look at some of the other platforms for online learning as a comparison.

Please note the arrangements for access to St Margaret's House:

The new code will be available for our regular members via our member WhatsApp group – if you attend regularly and haven’t had an invite to the group yet please contact us via our email.

If you are not a member of EEWI our white bell will be on the wall, so ring and someone will come to let you in. Sometimes this lets us down, so you can always ring one of the committee if other means of access fail!

If you are coming for the first time, contact us at EEWI via our email to check on access so we can make sure you are able to get access smoothly.

Our July coffee morning: Friday 26th July – Meet between 10.30 and 11.00 at Bàrd Books, 341-343 Roman Road, London E3 5QR

This is a change of venue from our original plan, the Mary Ward Centre – we hope to return in term time.