This month's meeting, on 19th December, will be our Christmas Party.  We are planning food, drinks, star making and roulette (for pennies). We will also decide which charity to give our annual donation to. We have narrowed the choice down to 3 organisations, all of which are local and each has different objectives. Click on the links to find out more about each of them:   Lola’s Homeless – a small Stratford based group distributing essentials to homeless people use in the Stratford shopping centre as a base. We could buy things they need with the donation. Ability Bow – a community gym, in St Paul’s church, off Roman Rd. They are open to all but they focus their support on the people who really need their help. People with disabilities or long-term health conditions, who can experience many barriers to exercise, from not feeling welcome in a gym to not appreciating the many benefits of exercise. Praxis – based in Bethnal Green they provide expert support to migrants and refugees in the UK. Every year they help around 2,000 people through immigration advice, housing and peer support groups. 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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning, the next day, 20th December will be at The Whitechapel Art Gallery, meeting a little later than usual from 11am, when the gallery opens.  *** Our website has been updated for the first few meetings and events in 2020. Click here to see more. Image from google/eventbrite

This month's meeting on 21st November will be all about plastics.  Carolyn Clark will be sharing her knowledge of plastics, allowing us to handle samples and bringing along some star items from her collection.   We will also have Lizzy Mace and Linda Tai, from Plastic Free Roman Road, joining Carolyn to talk about the progress of their campaign for a plastic free Roman Road, including  their borrow a bag initiative.     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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments.   Our coffee morning on 29th November will be at The The Beehive, 305 Cambridge Heath Rd, E2 9LH, meeting from 1030.    *** Last month we discussed where our charity donation for this year should go. We are expecting to make a decision in December, so if you have a charity you would like to propose it is not too late. We would prefer to support a small local charity where our donation will make a difference. Within the WI’s guidelines charitable activities should be focused on ways of advancing education or improving conditions of people’s lives.

We are disappointed to have to let you know that Celeste Bell is unable to come to our meeting tomorrow, 17th October, as she is unwell. However our meeting will go ahead as usual, meeting 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. We would like to decide where our charity donation for this year should go. Please come with ideas for a charity you would like to propose. We would prefer to support a small local charity where our donation will make a difference. Within the WI’s guidelines charitable activities should be focused on ways of advancing education or improving conditions of people’s lives. Preferably it should also be for a specific purpose rather than added to a general pot. Entry for members is free and visitors are asked for £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning on 25th October will be at The Hackney Coffee Co, 503 Hackney Rd, E2 9ED, meeting from 1030.*** Lydia, (who designed our lovely leaflets) is exhibiting some of a set of illustrations she has done of ingredients, Plant Based, in the Gallery Café from early November. To get a preview go to her instagram account The Matchgirls Memorial charity is holding a Community Open Day on Saturday 2nd November at Tower Hamlets Library in Bancroft Road. They think the heritage of the Matchgirls should be enjoyed and celebrated.

On Thursday 17th October we’ve had a change in speaker; and are delighted to have Celeste Bell coming to talk to us about her mother, Poly Styrene, the lead singer for X-Ray Spex. She was a singer-songwriter, an artist, a free-thinker, a post-modern style pioneer and a lifelong spiritual seeker: a true punk icon. Some of you may have seen her at the 1978 Rock Against Racism Festival in Victoria Park. 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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning on 25th October will be at The Hackney Coffee Co, 503 Hackney Rd, E2 9ED, meeting from 1030.    ***   Before the end of the year we would also like to decide where our charity donation for this year should go. Please come with ideas for a charity you would like to propose. We would prefer to support a small local charity where our donation will make a difference. Within the WI’s guidelines charitable activities should be focused on ways of advancing education or improving conditions of people’s lives. Preferably it should also be for a specific purpose rather than added to a general pot.

On Thursday 19th September we will be trying our hands/feet/bodies at Bollywood dancing, with Sonia. 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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning on 27th Sept will be at The Hub, Victoria Park, E9 7OD, meeting from 1030.   *** This year’s group meeting is being organised by Stone Rangers, and will be held on Wednesday 11 September from 7.30pm in the private function room at The Plough & Harrow Pub, 419 High Road, Leytonstone, E11 4JU. It will be a 50's inspired evening of Rock 'n' Roll Jiving. There'll be a dance class, which will be fully accessible and tailored to all abilities, 50's music, and other 50's themed diversions. Vintage dress is encouraged, though not essential. Shoes which allow for twisting moves are advisable. There will be a raffle.

On Thursday 15th August Sinead Armitage from Action for Hearing Loss (formerly RNID), will be coming to talk about understanding, identifying, checking for, and managing hearing loss. Action on Hearing Loss is the largest charity in the UK focused on supporting people with hearing loss and tinnitus. Their research shows that 42% of over 50s have some form of hearing loss, and that jumps up to 73% of over 70s! While tinnitus can affect anyone at any age. 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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning on 23rd Aug will be at the Nunnery Cafe, in the Bow Arts complex, 181 Bow Rd, E3 2SJ, meeting from 1030. There is an exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery called Raw Materials, which explores the forgotten industrial history of plastic in east London around the River Lea. To find out more click here   *** This year’s group meeting is being organised by Stone Rangers, and will be held on Wednesday 11 September from 7.30pm in the private function room at The Plough & Harrow Pub, 419 High Road, Leytonstone, E11 4JU. It will be a 50's inspired evening of Rock 'n' Roll Jiving. There'll be a dance class, which will be fully accessible and tailored to all abilities, 50's music, and other 50's themed diversions. Vintage dress is encouraged, though not essential. Shoes which allow for twisting moves are advisable.

Meet George Major on Thursday 18th July to hear about the Pearly history. George is the Pearly King of Peckham and was drawn into the Pearly King tradition from the age of seven. He is an enthusiastic speaker of the Pearly history; and will tell us about the origins of the Pearly Kings and Queens, the reason behind the iconic suits and maybe even get us all involved in a cockney singalong! 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 £5.00. There is a donation tin for refreshments. Our coffee morning is on 26th July (please check your diaries as I put the wrong date last month’s newsletter, it is definitely Friday 26th not Sunday 28th!). We will meet at The Chelsea Physic Garden, at 11am (admission £11), when the garden opens to the general public. Amanda Claremont, who came to talk to us last year, should be there to welcome us and if there are enough of us will give us a personal tour.   *** Other events in July: 12th July is our next Chisenhale coffee morning and curator’s tour, on their latest exhibition by London and Amsterdam based artist, Ima-Abasi Okon. To find out more about the exhibition clickhere. 14th July between 1-5pm EEWI will be selling cakes and soft drinks at The Women’s Hall Garden Party, which will be celebrating the East London Federation of Suffragettes, at Victoria Park Bandstand.  Please contact Natasha if you can help with cakes or on the day. (0770 101 5588). We will also be having a committee meeting on Thursday 25thfrom 6.30pm.  If you are interested in coming let us know and we will advise where we are meeting.   ***   Janet's last quilting exhibition this summer is with the New Horizons Textile Group, at Christ Church Hall, Wanstead Place, E11 2SW on the 13th July, 11-4pm. Plastic Free Roman Road are planning a Summer Sew-a-thon, a series of workshops over the summer to make the bags from fabric that would otherwise go to waste.  Click here to go to their FB page for more information on what they are up to and how to contact them.