Our February workshop

Writing to music with Fiona Thompson – our February workshop

Pedals – who knew? For our workshop with writer Fiona Thompson, there was much excitement when Fiona brought her harp. Few of us had seen one of these beautiful instruments up close.

Fiona's writing workshops are inspired by Natalie Goldberg, a Buddhist writer who combined writing with meditation.

With prompts and listening to passages of music, we were encouraged to write, and keep writing whatever came to us, until each piece of music finished. We shared our writing, from wistful to heartbreaking to witty to the pure enjoyment of listening to the music itself.

A curious lot, our members wanted to know more – and Fiona invited us to have a go at playing the harp. For an instrument with such subtlety, we discovered that it needs some wellie to play its characteristic cascade of notes, the glissando.

And the sketches? Well, I was supposed to be taking pictures but music is so lovely to draw...

A massive thank-you to Fiona for a wonderful evening and particularly for the generosity of transporting her harp to play for us live.

Find out more about Fiona's writing work here and London City Orchestra here.

Photos by Lydia and Alison

Our February walk

Bethnal Green through fresh eyes – our February walk

This month, we found a new view of the neighbourhood we meet in through the beautifully designed and illustrated Oxford House booklet A Young Person's Guide to Bethnal Green (free to pick up at Oxford House). One of its writers is Graham Barker, who has spoken at one of our meetings and led one of our walks.

Starting with a potter along Columbia Road, normally full to bursting with flower and plant stalls on market day, we turned into Jesus Green, greeted by cheery Spring daffodils. The houses bordering it were originally social housing, part of the Jesus Hospital Estate. 

Weavers Fields (here, crocuses to enjoy) was, we learned, named after the weavers' houses in an area that once had many more streets, cleared in the 1960s. We paused for a look at Peter Dunn's Weaving Identities sculpture, referencing the history of the park and created through school and community workshops, and enjoyed the wonderful carvings by the school students in the bricks at its base.

Onward to Oxford House, a Settlement originally opened in in a former school where University of Oxford graduates lived so that they could volunteer in Bethnal Green. Oxford House as it is now was purpose-built and opened in 1892. Early members, many of them teachers or lawyers, provided youth clubs, adult education and Sunday lectures in Victoria Park and in 1931, Gandhi gave a speech through an Oxford House window to a crowd of 3,000.  And it's still a busy place of activities, classes and café. As we left, we enjoyed the fine views of the City through the gardens and chatted about the changing skyline.

Finishing our walk at St John on Bethnal Green, we were treated to a tour by EEWI member Clare. We learned of its Sir John Soane architecture, the modern Stations of the Cross paintings by Chris Gollon and the concerts hosted at St John that make the most of its acoustics. A huge thank-you to Clare – it's a special thing to be shown a place by someone who knows it so well.

Then, a café stop at The Beehive.

Fancy joining us? Look out for our next Coming up blogpost for details.

Coming up in February

Bethnal Green through fresh eyes, writing through music and coffee on the way to art – adventures for February 

Our monthly walk: Saturday 10th February, 11am – Join us in rediscovering our very own Bethnal Green

Using the beautiful booklet from Oxford House A Young Person's Guide to Bethnal Green which Graham Barker helped create, let's explore and enjoy at a leisurely pace the landmarks, green spaces and atmosphere. We sometimes rush through on our way to somewhere else, but this is a chance to appreciate the area in a different way. Coffee break choices all along the way – the Oxford House one is spacious and offers a chance to explore the building and exhibitions.

Meet at Columbia Road Market – junction with Barnet Grove. Clare mentioned that she might be able to include a tour of St John's as a bonus!

You can pick up a copy of the map at Oxford House, and some will have been distributed at the January meeting.

Our monthly meeting: Thursday 15th February, 7pm for 7.30pm start – Creative writing workshop 

Join us for a workshop with writer and harpist Fiona Thompson, using as prompts some music that she has recorded. 

Bring a notebook and pen. And be ready to surprise yourself at what you can release and capture in the written word. 

We will be at our usual venue: St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL.

Please note new 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 come to meetings regularly and haven’t yet had an invitation to the group please contact us via email.

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

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

Our monthly coffee morning: Friday 23rd February – meet between 10.30am and 11am at Zealand Café, 391 Roman Road, E3 5QS

There should be room for us either inside or at a bracing outside table. Afterwards, as we will be in the area, we could pop in to Chisenhale Gallery. The next exhibition, Joshua Leon, will have opened on the previous evening so we can be among the first to visit.

Our January coffee morning

All aboard for Hackney – our January coffee morning

Our President, Heather, writes:

A warm, welcoming coffee in the Barrell Boulangerie. There is plenty of space,  good acoustics for all the necessary catching up that has to be done, and a great display and selection of open sandwiches, if we could only have stayed. Highly recommended. 

The Hackney Museum just over the road next to the Town Hall and inside the Library (fully accessible) has a lovely display of Hackney through the ages. Included is an ancient wooden boat hull but also glimpses of more recent life – domestic, industrial and social.  Some of us may remember kitchens with the old free-standing gas cooker (see photo above) and feel that the upheaval of moving to 'a fitted  kitchen' was worth it after all!  

There is a comprehensive and fascinating photographic display alongside, and a large sculpture of a tower block where you can peep in through the windows, for the curious amongst us.

Of course you can take the bus there, but any youngsters you may have with you can get in their own vehicle (see photo above).

With thanks to Heather for the museum pictures. 

Look out for the Coming up in February blogpost for details of our next coffee morning.

Our January meeting

Our January meeting – British Sign Language with Shahbana

We had a lively and interactive January meeting learning some BSL (British Sign Language) with Shahbana, a BSL interpreter and teacher and a friend of EEWI member Tammy's daughter Charlotte, who is Deaf.

As well as interpreting at events and on TV, BSL supports people at work – Shahbana's interpreting has taken her into a huge variety of settings including offices, beekeeping, Italian cookery, bootcamps, weddings, places of worship and on trips abroad, all through recommendation.

Shahbana took us through the alphabet, which has right-and left-handed versions and each of us had a go at spelling our name. We were interested to discover how subtle signing is, for instance the little shake to signal numbers in the tens.

We heard about the difference between BSL and SSE (sign-supported English), one-handed sign language for babies, how signing varies around the world, cultural differences that affect signs – how we drink tea, for instance – and even differences between regions of the UK. 

We discussed the growing visibility of signage in TV and film and how texting and Facetime have made a difference for young Deaf people. We asked about its history – Deaf people have always found a way to communicate – and looked back to times when Deaf people were forced to do speech therapy.

Shahbana told us about her own path of learning BSL, including going along to Deaf clubs, which welcome hearing people learning BSL, to practise her skills. Shahbana and Charlotte are currently learning Deaf-Blind language.

And we discussed the pros and cons of online and in-person interpreting. Charlotte was strongly in favour of in-person interpreting, which picks up more nuance. 

Was there anything we particularly wanted to learn how to sign, we were asked as we discussed whole-word signs. We said that we'd like to be able to welcome Deaf people to our stalls and have some simple language to serve them.

Tea and cake, anyone? And pointing – totally OK in BSL!

A massive thank-you to Shahbana for a hugely interesting and enjoyable evening, which left many of us keen to learn more. 

Our January coffee morning: 

Friday 26th January, meet between 10.30am and 11am

The Barrell Boulangerie, Mare Street, Hackney (just over the road from Hackney Empire).

Our January walk

Sculpture in the City and a rooftop view – our January walk

"You can walk past these places every day and never walk in to have a look." Busy women, most of us had seen a few of the sculptures and corners of the City that we walked but exploring with the Sculpture in the City booklet, there were plenty of finds and stories to share. 

We took in work by Vanessa da Silva, Emma Louise Moore, Victor Lim Seaward, Larry Bell, Isamu Noguchi, Oliver Bragg, Ugo Rondinone, Phyllida Barlow, Simeon Barclay, Emma Smith, Mika Rottenberg, and other work including Alexander Beleschenko's canopies at 22 Bishopsgate.

The day chilly, we walked briskly from sculpture to sculpture, then the suggestion that we go up to The Garden at 120 gave us rooftop views across to the Thames and, when we decided to defrost, warming teas and coffees at 14 Hills, the restaurant, bar and deli below.

Fancy joining us for a walk? Look our for our next Coming up blogpost.

Coming up in January

Happy New Year! Welcome to a January full of new things to see, new things to learn and tasty treats

Our January Walk: 

Walk, Talk and Sculpture – join us for a cultural walk in the City on Saturday 13 January, 11.00am

Let's open the year rediscovering 'our' city with a brisk walk to enjoy the London 'Sculpture in the City' trail.  The booklet is available from the Tourist information booth nestling just south of St Paul's, near the Millennium Bridge, you can also read it online.

Meet at the St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Churchyard, EC2M 3TL for the Vanessa de Silva Muamba Grove creation, then we'll wander as we please with the map as our guide.

Our January Meeting: 

Exploring BSL – Thursday 18th January, 7pm for 7.30pm start 

Shabana, a BSL recognised teacher, will lead us in a session to familiarise us with BSL signing – the alphabet and some signs – for when we have stalls, are volunteering, at work, within our own family and social group, on public transport, or just noticing that for some people this is a kind and thoughtful way to recognise them and communicate.  

We have some printed copies of the alphabet sign sheets, but do bring your own if you already use/know it. It is also available online at British-sign.co.uk and our blogger is delighted to discover that there is a left-handed version available! 

We will be at our usual venue: St Margaret's House, 15 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL. If the gate is locked when you arrive at St Margaret’s House, there will be a call bell on the right hand side at the back of the gate.

Our January coffee morning: 

Friday 26th January, meet between 10.30am and 11am

The Barrell Boulangerie, Mare Street, Hackney (just over the road from Hackney Empire).

Venturing into Hackney we can enjoy the pastries here and follow up with a visit to the Hackney Museum and/or some shopping. 

National WI news: 

Launching later this month: the WI Learning Hub

Lifelong learning has always been at the very heart of the WI and it will celebrate the International Day of Education on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by inviting WI members to join for the launch of the WI Learning Hub. The WI Learning Hub will provide WI members with access to a range of online courses, with an array of formats, both live and pre-recorded, and the majority of them will be free. For more information, join the learning hub mailing list via the main WI website.