Our next meeting, on 17th December will be our Christmas Party. We are preparing goody bags for all members with some things that will be needed for the meeting, which will include making a decoration, playing bingo and having a chat. Bringing a favourite cracker joke, to make us laugh (or groan!) would also be good. There will be some mulled wine flavourings and herbal tea for you to bring on the night. (Non-members are welcome but we would ask for a £5 donation. To participate and receive a goody bag, please reply to this email). We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 7.30pm. The link will be sent out early that day to our shorter list of members and friends. If you don’t think you are already on this list and and would like to be included please let us know by replying to this email. *** Before then at our coffee morning on Friday 11th Dec there are two choices. If the weather is ok and you feel like meeting near the Pavillion Cafe, in Victoria Park, around 10.30, we can say hello and distribute some of the bags. However, if it is pouring with rain, or you are not able or comfortable meeting in person, we will also send out a zoom invitation (on Thursday) for a chat and catch up.

 

On 19th Nov, at our next meeting, Anna Feldman from Wild and Woolly, in Lower Clapton Rd, will be coming to talk about her woolly adventure and answer your questions on all things woolly. We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 730pm.  The link will be sent out early that day to our shorter list of members and friends. If you don’t think you are already on this list and and would like to be included please let us know by replying to this email.   *** Before then at our coffee morning, on the (in)auspicious Friday 13th Nov, we will be meeting, on zoom for a chat and to catch up on how we are. Maybe bringing something superstitious along. We will also have a coffee morning on 27th Nov. Again invitations will be sent out nearer the time ***  There is a new Regent's Canal Heritage website to explore with this link. It has films, podcasts, learning/school packs and other interesting material.  We are hoping that next year’s festival, celebrating 201 years of the Regents Canal, will go ahead next year (having been postponed this year) and EEWI can again provide tea, cake and company.

 

On 15th Oct, at our next meeting, we will be having a virtual wellbeing meeting, with a workshop for beautiful hands, led by Tanya Marchetti, a consultant with Neal’s Yard Remedies. We will send out details of a small number of things, you will need to bring to the workshop with the invitation. We will also have some sample packs to distribute. All members should get one, which will be delivered before the meeting. Visitors are also welcome: there will be a limited number of extra sample packs, which we can deliver, but we will need to know you are going to attend... We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 730pm.  The link will be sent out early that day to our shorter list of members and friends. If you don’t think you are already on this list and and would like to be included please let us know by replying to this email.   *** Before then at our coffee morning on the 9th Oct we will be meeting, on zoom for a chat. Bringing something beginning with the letter 'E'. We will also have a coffee morning on 30th Oct. Again invitations will be sent out nearer the time   ***  We also wanted to let you know about the Mulberry - Tree of Plenty project. Which will be exploring the taste, colours, uses, materiality and history of mulberry trees in the Bethnal Green area. They are offering a programme of FREE online and hands-on art-science workshops with St Margaret’s House.  To find out more about their events go to their website by clicking here.   *** Zoom can be downloaded onto your computer/tablet/phone when joining one of our meetings or by using this link.          (Image courtesy of NYR/Tanya Marchetti)

 

Our next meeting, on 17th Sept, is our AGM (postponed from May), covering 2019/2020. There will be a report from our Secretary and President about last year’s activities and accounts. There will also be the opportunity for members to elect a new president. We will be joined by an adviser from Middlesex Federation.   We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 730pm.  The link will be sent out earlier in the day to our shorter list of members and friends.   *** Before then we will have a coffee morning on the 11th Sept we thought maybe bringing a heroine or hero would be interesting.   We will also be having a coffee morning on 25th Sept. If anyone has any ideas for future meetings and/or coffee mornings we would love to hear from you.   *** Members should have received an email from Middlesex Federation with details of their 2020 Annual Council Meeting: which will be held on-line on Wednesday 9th September at 10:00. If you want to attend but don't have details on how to log in please reply to this email.

 

At our next meeting on 20th August, we are delighted to be joined by the ineffable artist, Monster Chetwynd, to talk about her life and work. We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 730pm. The link will be sent out early that day to our shorter list of members and friends. If you don’t think you are already on this list and and would like to be included please let us know by replying to this email.   *** Before then at our coffee morning on the 14th August we will be meeting, on zoom for a chat and thought it might be fun if we each brought a joke or something to make us laugh. We will also be having a coffee morning on 28th August, which weather permitting, we are hoping to do as a socially distanced picnic, at a local park. ***  Sorry for the short notice on this, but singer, Lynn Gerald, who has led several of our meetings, will be leading a 1960’s themed Beatles sing-along via zoom on Thursday, 6th August at 3pm. If you are interested in joining her follow the link for more information. https://facebook.com/events/s/the-beatles-songbook-zoom-sess/297410788360829/?ti=ia Image courtesy of Monster Chetwynd, on show at Tate Britain.

At our next meeting on 18th June, we are delighted to be joined by Harriet Vine MBE FRSA, co-founder and creative director of Tatty Devine, the jewellery and design company with a shop in Brick Lane. She is also currently on our screens, as one of the craft expert judges on Channel 4’s The Fantastical Factory of Curious Craft, which concludes on Sunday 14th June. We will again be meeting via Zoom, starting at 730pm.  The link will be sent out nearer the time to our shorter list of members and friends. If you don’t think you are already on this list, and would like to be included, please let us know by replying to this email.   *** Before then, at our coffee morning on Friday 12th June at 1030, we thought it might be interesting if participants came with a tinned food/store cupboard recipe. To help use up some of the overstocked/unusual items we may have hanging around, or have brought more recently, just in case... There will also be a coffee morning on 26th June. ***  Following on from last month's lovely meeting I thought you might be interested in Lydia's blog, with a link to Cordwainers' Grow as well: Joined-up drawing I bring the same curious-minded approach to illustration as I do to design. So when I was asked to run a Zoom workshop on flower  drawing for East End WI, we found ourselves looking at – well – looking! Drawing a flower is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with it and to notice something about it that we might not have seen before.  But it didn’t stop at drawing. The workshop was designed to create pieces that could be sent to members who embroider, joining people up in lockdown. Unexpectedly, it was picked up by Cordwainers’ Grow in Hackney, whose Cordwainers’ Dye project experimented with the sweet pea drawing using natural inks and then embroidered it using donated threads from Edible Rotherhithe (lower two pictures). One drawing, contributors from three London boroughs and bonus colour from plants.

At our next meeting, on the 21st May we will again be meeting on Zoom, at 7.45. Our member, Lydia (graphic designer, creative director and illustrator) will be introducing us to drawing a flower for embroidery. Drawing a flower is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with it, and to notice something about it that we might not have seen. After the workshop, we can pass it on, sending drawings to members who love to embroider. Or if we sew too, we can swap or develop our own pieces. So we’ll also be thinking about how to draw for something that’ll become a design. Bring along a flower to draw, or if you’re stuck indoors with no flowers, find something floral, from photos to textiles. Drawing materials can be anything you have to hand, from a biro to full-on artist kits; from posh paper to scrap paper. No experience necessary and anything goes! We’ll show what we’ve brought, Lydia will do a short demo, we’ll break to clap for carers and get drawing. There’ll be chat as we go and we can share our drawings at the end.   ***  This coming Friday, 8th May as well as on 29th of May we will also be having virtual coffee mornings. At the first Natasha will share a few photos and stories from her trip across Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan last year.   *** We will be sending invitation details for all these meetings to a shorter list of members and friends, who have expressed an interest in keeping in touch. If you are not a member and would like to be included on this list please let us know by replying to this email. Zoom can be downloaded onto your computer/tablet/phone when joining the meeting or by using this link.

East End WI's next meeting is on 16th April. In these extraordinary times we have decided to try holding our meeting via Zoom. We will be sending invitation details, nearer the time, to a shorter list of members and friends, who have expressed an interest in keeping in touch. If you are not a member and would like to be included on this list please let us know by replying to this email. Rachel Crossley (who was expected to come to our March meeting, which we had to cancel) will introduce us to the soon to be opened East End Women’s Museum. She will be giving a short history of the museum, from its unique beginnings through to future ambitions, as well offering us an opportunity to give feedback on emerging plans for the museum’s design. If you have not used Zoom before, it can be downloaded onto your computer/tablet/phone when joining the meeting, or by using this link. If this goes well we may also try to hold our coffee morning on 24th April, this way.

As I am sure many of you will have expected, given the recent Government advice, we have reluctantly decided to cancel our next meeting on Thursday 19th March. Instead of the coffee morning, on 27th March, we are suggesting going for a walk in the park. Meeting at the benches near the Pavillion cafe at 10.30. In the meantime if anyone is having difficulty with anything, or wants a chat, please let us know by replying to this email.

Our next meeting is on 19th March, when we will have speakers from, the soon to be opened, East End Women’s Museum. They will be giving a short history of the museum, from its unique beginnings through to future ambitions, as well offering us an opportunity to give feedback on emerging plans for the museum’s design. As usual, we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm, we will start the meeting around 7.30. Enter via the black gate to the left of the cafe and walk right around the garden. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked for a donation of £5.00 (which will be deducted from your subscription if you join). There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning, on the 27th march, is at E5 Roasthouse, which is in Poplar Union, a community arts centre, at 2 Cotall Street, Poplar. E14 6TL. Meeting from 1030.   *** Bridget Chetwynd is having a private view for her upcoming exhibition on the 12th March,  6-8pm, in The Meditatio Centre, St Mark's Church, London, EC1R 1XX. Click here to find out more. We also have our first cooking/baking event of the year on the 28th March at the Ecology Pavilion on Grove Road. We will be serving tea, coffee, cake and soup at the East London History Society’s AGM. If you would like to bake and/or help on the day please let me know by replying to this email or getting in touch via 07701015588. The Museum of Childhood will be closing for refurbishment shortly after their St George’s Day event, which is on the 19th April. We are looking forward to participating with a cake stall; again if you want to bake or help please get in touch. Our March meeting is included in Alternative Arts program for Women’s month, if you want to find out what else is on click here.   ***  Just to remind you that subscriptions for 2020 are due. Not only  are all our meetings included in your membership, but all paid up members, are put into our draw for £100 contribution to a course or activity you are interested in. Full membership is £43 for the year, while dual members pay £21.10 to the second group they join. Payment can be made by cash or cheque at our next meeting. Or on-line, our bank details are: Lloyds:  Sort Code 30-94-57     A/c 02044729.

Our next meeting is on 20th February, when we will have a speaker on the subject of ‘Tax, Care and Toy Boys’ - Looking after your nest egg. As usual, we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm, we will start the meeting around 7.30. Enter via the black gate to the left of the cafe and walk right around the garden. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked for a donation of £5.00 (which will be deducted from your subscription if you join). There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning, on the 28th February, is at Chiringuito, Museum Gardens, Bethnal Green, E2 9PA. Meeting from 1030.   *** Our website has been updated for the next few meetings in 2020. Click here to see more. If you have any ideas for meetings and coffee morning venues please let us know and we will try to incorporate them.   *** Many of you have already renewed your membership and we have a few new members, which is great, but we are hoping more of you will renew and join. Full membership is £43 for the year, and  dual members pay £21.10 to the second group they join. Payment can be made by cash or cheque at our next meeting. Or on-line, our bank details are: Lloyds Sort Code 30-94-57 A/c 02044729.

HAPPY NEW YEAR   Our first meeting of 2020 will be on 16th January, when Vanessa Meade from the Geffrye Museum, which has been renamed the Museum of the Home will be coming to talk to us about the museum, the refurbishment and reopening later this year. As usual, we will meet at St Margaret’s Hall, behind the Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Rd, E2 9PL - from 7pm, we will start the meeting around 7.30. Enter via the black gate to the left of the cafe and walk right around the garden. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked for a donation of £5.00 (which will be deducted from your subscription if you join). There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning, on the 24th January will be slightly different. It will start earlier than usual, at 9am and is at Chisenhale Gallery. We will be providing some cake and serving tea at their morning open day, and there will be a guided tour by a curator of their current exhibition.   *** Our website has been updated for the next few meetings in 2020. Click here to see more. If you have any ideas for future meetings please let us know.   *** Being a new year it is also time to renew our subscriptions.  Full membership is £43 for the year, and  dual members pay £21.10 to the second group they join. Payment can be made by cash or cheque at our next meeting. Or on-line, our bank details are: Lloyds:  Sort Code 30-94-57     A/c 02044729. Photo by NC.