december meetings

Yes, yes, yes.  I know it's early to be showing a Christmas tree, but we want to make sure that  you know what we are up to this month because, well, you know what it's like this time of year.  Our December meeting is on 14th December at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, 7.30 for 8, for our annual Christmas Crafts event.  Lots of crafty things to do and no doubt a tipple and other refreshments.   Don't forget to bake some mince pies for our competition too - yes, there will be a prize for the winner!  All welcome - £3 charge on the door for guests/ non-members.

Our coffee morning on Friday 18th December will be at the Geffrye Museum so that we can see their "Christmas Past" exhibition.  Meet in the cafe inside the museum at 10.30. Free entry.

If you are passing by Bethnal Green Mission Church (Cambridge Heath Road, opposite the Museum of Childhood) on Saturday 11th December we'll have an EEWI tree on display there as part of their Christmas Tree festival.  Pop in and see our tree - entry is free and you can bu tea and cake there too.

Finally,  if you want a little virtual stocking filler, you might want to buy a copy of the WI version of Jerusalem which features our very own Harmonies member Gemma, Niki, Jo C and Cynthia. We are very proud of you, ladies.

november meetings

OMG - the clocks have gone back and it's time for the AGM already!  Our 16th November meeting is our Annual General Meeting - members only, please - when we will be rewarded for out rapt attention to the administration of our branch and election of officials etc by a delicious wine tasting, courtesy of the wine experts from Waitrose at Canary Wharf (thank you! thank you!).  Non alcoholic drinks and complementary nibbles will also be available to taste.  Remember to bring along the crafted wonders you have been making with  your Cafe Direct coffee sacks for our competition, with prizes too.  If you have not started snipping yet and need some inspiration, then go over to their flickr page and take a look at the wonderful things other WI members have already done - love those panniers.  The meeting will be at our usual venue,  St Margaret's House in Old Ford Road, next door to the Gallery Cafe.

Our coffee morning on Friday 19th November will be at Fresh, 275 Whitechapel Road which you will find immediately next door to the exit at Whitechapel Underground Station.  It may look small on the outside, but there is plenty of room upstairs.   We'll gather at 10.30am as usual.

If you are into crafting, here will be another meeting of the Curvey Crafters at the Salvation Army Hall on Kerbey Street, Poplar, E14  on Thursday 11th November, 7.30pm - 9pm.  Just bring along whatever you are working on and share some good company.  There is a small charge (£1.50) to cover the cost of refreshments.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

hurwunderful

We had a lovely time this week. Local drama group Phakama ran a warm, welcoming and fun-filled drama workshop for us with singing, stories, games and a little bit of wire scupture too. Even if you, like me, you went along feeling rubbish, what with the cold, wet weather and viruses about this week, you came out feeling energised and full of life. We're delighted that the lovely Corinne from Phakama wants to work with us again and has invited us to become part of their community chorus in their show "The World at My Feet", to be performed in February 2011, so look out for more information in our next newsletter.

Our Friday coffee morning at Hurwundekei was fab too. Good cakes, well up to EEWI standards, in vintage surroundings with a table large enough to accommodate a dozen chatty women and, erm, a horse's head for company. As you can see, not a crumb remaining when we left, though we did leave the horse. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

And, if you like all things crafty, you might think about going along to Curvey Crafters, a new group for over-18s set up by multi-talented EEWI members Jo and Noeline. They are meeting tonight from 7 - 9pm at the Salvation Army building, Kerby Street, Poplar. Just take along a current project - knitting, sewing, card making, whatever - and make progress with some good company. There's a charge of £1.50 - refreshments will be available. The group meets every two weeks; next meeting scheduled for 11th November.

Finally, an apology from me for failing to post info on October meetings on the blog.  I'm getting old and forgetful...obviously.

Message From The President

Dear All,

I am really sorry to have discovered that many of you have not been receiving the newsletter by email. There seems to be a technical issue that we are looking into as when I send the newsletter out it all looks fine from my end. However we now email over 300 women and I recognise that when you are dealing with this many people hiccups can occur. So first of all many, many apologies. Secondly we will do our very best to keep the blog up to date so that it is your first port of call if your newsletter doesn't appear. In the mean time if you think you have not been getting the emails please let me know by contacting me on niki.stevens@btinternet.com.

Next meeting is the AGM and is members only although you can join on the night if you so wish and don't forget that gives you from now until December 2011. The meeting is on Tuesday 16th November at St Margaret's House and is wine and non-alcoholic drinks tasting. 7.30pm onwards.

On the whole we always meet on the third Tuesday of the month however our December meeting will be on the 14th of December to avoid being too close to Christmas.

There will be more information about everything above on the blog in the near future.

Many apologies again

Niki Stevens
President EEWI

a visit from little anne

We had a new visitor, several in fact. Beverley Jeal from the London Ambulance Service brought them along to show us some first aid.

It was harder work than we thought it would be.

And we had to overcome our squeamishness about mouth to mouth.

Once we overcame any initial apprehension, we were really pleased to learn such a valuable new skill. But then we had a great teacher - Beverley was brilliant! - and if all of the ambulance service staff are as good as her, then we certainly are in safe hands.

september meetings

If you missed seeing Niki at Paradise Gardens testing out a LAS paramedics bike, you'll be able to find out a bit more about the real thing at our next meeting on 21st September.  Beverley Jeal, a public education co-ordinator for the London Ambulance Service, will be coming to give us a little talk with information about the London Ambulance Service including their responses and figures etc, the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack and how to recognise them, then the basic life support skills.  After this the floor will be open to questions. This is a great opportunity to leave the meeting with a new life saving skill and a better understanding of The London Ambulance Service.

We are also playing host to a project that recycles and mends old and broken jewellery to raise money for the Alzheimers Society. They are collecting and need anything from gold, silver or fashion pieces and metal to make into new items . Pieces will be for sale and if you have any old or broken jewellery you could donate please do bring it with you.

We'll be meeting as usual at St Margaret's House in Old Ford Road.  Usual time - 7.30pm for 8.00 start.  Refreshments provided, though do feel free to bring a bottle to share. To get to St Margaret's House, from Bethnal Green Underground (Central Line), take the Museum of Childhood exit.  Proceed along Museum frontage to the first corner which is Old Ford Road.

Turn right into Old Ford Road and No.21 is on the other side of the road, just past York Hall.

Buses: Nos. 8 -106 - 254 - 309 - 388 - D3 and D6.

Car: There should be parking in
Victoria Park Square, Approach
Road and other surrounding roads.

Our coffee morning on Friday 24th September will be at Roastars cafe, under the Green Bridge,  389 Mile End Road, map here.  We'll gather at around 10.30am.  Look forward to seeing you there.

harvest time

Here are a couple of events you might be interested in: 

Abbey Gardens Harvest Festival, Saturday 11 September midday - 4pm 
A free event celebrating the second season of What Will The Harvest Be? at Abbey Gardens.

Anyone is welcome to come along and enjoy the garden, delicious food made with produce grown by our gardening club and lots of tea and cake. Activities for grown-ups and children include garden-inspired competitions, garden tours and craft making. Vegetables, plants and flowers to take home are available for donations from our Honesty Stall.

Abbey Gardens is a community garden where anyone may learn to grow organic vegetables, fruit and flowers. There are regular garden club sessions and the garden is open to visitors from dawn till dusk. New gardeners are always welcome.  What Will The Harvest Be? is a project by artists Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope, of Somewhere, with Friends of Abbey Gardens, a group of local residents. The gardens surround part of the ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey.
More information on Abbey Gardens blog;http://www.abbeygardens.org/> or What Will The Harvest Be? <http://www.whatwilltheharvestbe.com/blog/>

Map:   Nearest tubes: West Ham (Jubilee, District and Hammersmith & City) or Stratford (Central). Cyclists usually visit us via the Greenway, which has an exit onto Abbey Road. No residents’ parking restrictions on Saturdays but parking on Bakers Row itself is limited. 

Spitalfields Show and Green Fair Sunday 12th September 2010 12pm – 5pm

The Spitalfields Show and Green Fair 

is being held in Allen Gardens and Spitalfields City Farm, Buxton Street, E1 5AR.

 It combines the annual horticultural show of fruit, vegetables, flowers and home produce with a Green Fair promoting the care and enjoyment of our natural environment.

The Spitalfields Show is a glorious display of home grown produce by people from all over London. Entries are accepted in 13 sections and 101 classes, featuring everything from flower arranging to fruit, vegetables and herbs and from pot plants and preserves to cookery and handicrafts, not forgetting the special children's section. Whether you have a garden, allotment, backyard, balcony or window box you can enter this show.

The Green Fair will feature stalls promoting healthy living and giving out nutritional advice, you can pick up information on recycling, composting and growing your own food or attend a biodiversity and sustainability workshop. Visitors will also have the opportunity to join in with activities on Spitalfields City Farm.