Welcome to Colwall WINGS WI: What We've Been Up to

An Evening of Festive Fun

Yes, Ali's team won the wooden spoon! But well done to Lynne's team for being such brainies, and Sue's team for their AMAZING Gingerbread Houses!

It was a brilliant evening - as you can see the Gingerbread House making had everyone concentrating like mad ... and Steve's 'Jam & Jerusalem' Quiz was pretty intense, especially as we'd all managed to enjoy a drink or two on arrival!

Well done Bev for winning the beautiful Waitrose Hamper in the free prize draw, and well done Diane for winning the WI Calendar!

A HUGE thank you to Steve & Trish Hockett for making the evening fair ... and fun!

And well done everyone for taking part - it was a fabulous evening - much thought and preparation by our programme organisers Ali & Linda.

A very special evening on Weds 15th November when we held our first AGM. Past President Jane Stratton welcomed everyone and reviewed the year's activities and presented our financial accounts.

Everyone was delighted that during our recent on-line ballot Jane was elected President once more. Huge thanks to Jane for all she has done and for standing as our President once again.

We were then hugely entertained by the wonderful designer Karen Berzack who shared with us some great ideas on how to wrap even the most difficult of presents with style and flair. Even the most elaborate of tree decorations won't be able to compete with the beautiful gifts underneath!

On Wednesday 25th October, in recognition and thanks to Wings members who knitted the wonderful Twiddlemuffs, a few members were invited to Bradbury Court for a wonderful traditional English tea. We loved chatting with the staff and residents ... and were delighted to see the Twiddlemuffs being put to great use!

Our September meeting:


Elaine with committee members Ali, Jane and Sarah

Another fabulous Wings meeting on Wednesday 20th September where we met up with friends old and new. Our speaker this evening was Elaine Lewis of Elaine Lewis Interior Designs http://www.elainelewisdesigns.co.uk/

What did we learn? Decluttering came across strong and loud - making the basics work, not so much paring back but more about making your space work for you. Creating a good palette helps - make rooms work together. Good neutrals so you can change your accessories, and mix fabrics. A quick refresh each season with different cushions and accents can help keep your home up to date throughout the year. Accessorise well. All a mammoth task but Elaine's willing to share her knowledge and help you out.

Ever get that feeling your life's out of control? Sometimes it helps if you just need to get your 'stuff' in order. Create calm at home...

Down to earth with truly realistic ideas ... Check out Elaine's website and perhaps treat yourself to a day's interior design course.

Wings members visited Bradbury Court on 2nd August to present its 24 residents with 24 Twiddlemuffs. One of their recent residents had arrived with her very own Twiddlemuff, and the staff had seen the benefits first hand. They say the muff calms and soothes and amuses her as she plays with all the embellishments, and keeps her hands warm when she goes outside.
So.......we got knitting and yesterday four Wings members presented a further 24 beautifully knitted and decorated Twiddlemuffs. Well done to all involved ... they look fabulous and will be much enjoyed

On Tuesday 8th August, 7.30 - 9.30 at the Yew Tree Pub, Colwall, Mark Ryan gave a welcome talk to some Wings Ladies ... giving us some tips on basic car maintenance. We much appreciated his time and useful information - and thanks also to Dawn Morris for arranging a great evening at the Yew Tree pub.

On Weds 19th July we held a special Wings 'Flicks in the Sticks' at Colwall village hall where we enjoyed watching a fabulous film 'Hidden Figures'.

Our thanks to Flicks in the Sticks for hosting a great evening and to our honorary members who served us wine and icecream!

On Weds 21st June we had the most amazing Summer Celebration with drinks on the lawn at The Colwall Park Hotel, a fashion show courtesy of Promesse Fashions, a raffle and FABulous cupcakes laid out on a Mad Hatter's table.

Resolve, Research, Resell ... That's Why We're WI

A summary note from our Treasurer Sarah Grout:

Thank you so much to everyone who supported last night's meeting either in person or in absentia. Sue, fresh from presenting a Pilates class, delivered two faultless and succinct summaries of the Resolutions being put forward to the National Federation Annual Meeting. Many supported both resolutions but all were overwhelmingly in support of Plastic Soup. Huge thanks Sue Armstrong for a brilliant summary.

Following Sue our very own member Ann Walton, a dementia trainer, gave a quite wonderful talk about dementia. The quiz Ann introduced into the evening had us all looking at our own behaviour and wondering at what might be considered normal signs of aging. At times we were certainly looking at life from the lighter side but gosh - we were also made well aware of the stark realities that dementia brings to families of those affected. Ann is looking to set up a Colwall WINGS interest group on Dementia Support and more news of this will be supplied in our newsletters. Members and visitors had so many questions for Ann - a clear indication of the interest she stirred in us all. Thank you from us all.
Ann Baker showcased the Colwall WINGS Twiddlemuffs that the Crafts Group have lovingly crafted over the last weeks. They are items of great beauty- sensational in every meaning of the word. We look forward to presenting them to the residents of Bradbury Court in due course. Thank you to Ann Baker who single-handedly has embellished so many of these herself.
We finished off the evening with a Bring and Buy Sale, including a Silent Auction for 2 of our more valuable donations. We raised funds for Alzheimer's Research UK, and are delighted to say that £134 was raised.
Many thanks to Liz Hallam for chairing the evening and to everyone for supporting.

Sarah

So, can women really fly?

As we left our monthly meeting on 19th April we were literally flying high. Our talk was presented by Hannah Stock ... former pilot with the RAF and now First Officer with British Airways.

A truly engaging presentation with stories of her training experience, her time serving on Nimrods and VIP jets, to her time with BA. It wasn't all plain flying .. encounters with Russian submarines, time spent in Afghanistan, crusty Generals .. all made up part of an amazing career with the RAF. Now flying short haul on A320 aircraft, Hannah has truly made the grade ... any one of us would be more than happy to hear Hannah's voice over the intercom as we prepare for take off.

Whilst I Was Out

Novelist and blogger Sara Stewart visited our Wings meeting on 15th March. What a great evening! Sara regaled us with stories from her colourful life - delivered, like her book Whilst I Was Out (http://www.sara-stewart.co.uk/), with humour and candour. Raised in Malvern and then going on to study at Newcastle University, Sara went into PR and Marketing working on top brand projects - including 'Power Rangers'! More recently Sara set up her own PR agency 'Mad as a March Hare' in Malvern and is busy working on her next novel as well as being a regular contributor to Huffington Post.

Sara shared with us some personal battles, and how she has overcome them. Sara kindly donated her speaker's fee to Macmillan Cancer Research.

Here's a pic of a few of us Wings members with Sara.

On Wednesday 15th February we had a fabulous meeting where Karen van Hoff of http://www.karenvanhoff.co.uk/ talked to us about how she 'accidentally' became a WI member and how this triggered off an amazing new venture. Her jewellery is stunning - so different and creative - who'd ever have thought of knitting silver wire ... and how amazing it looks. Necklaces, bracelets, earring and even tiaras. Needless to say we were glad she accepts credit cards! Karen's an excellent speaker and her story was highly amusing. A great evening for all who attended.

We also celebrated #showthelove - an initiative with the wider WI wherein we baked, sewed, grew and crafted green hearts to raise awareness against climate change with the Climate Coalition. Here's a few of our pieces proudly modelled by our crafty ladies:

On Wednesday 16th January we had a super meeting where we welcomed Dawn from Club Dance UK. She spoke to us about the history of belly dancing and then, accompanied by fabulous Middle Eastern Music, she led us in a dance. Once our inhibitions left us we moved and shimmied and had a brilliant time.

Members renewed for the year and we had 4 new members join us. In addition Karen Martin talked to us about the WI Resolutions and gave a brief overview of the the options. The members completed their voting slips and these are being sent to our Herefordshire Federation.

A great time had by all at 'Our First Noel'. We enjoyed a visit by Father Christmas (of course!) and a nice buffet meal but the highlight of the evening was the fabulous Doug Watts of 'Find Your Voice'. Even the more tuneless among us belted out both alto and soprano versions of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', Doug's own special arrangement of 'Away in a Manger was beautiful to sing, and as for 'So Here It Is, Merry Christmas' (thanks Jane Stratton for your choice!!!) well it was fun and festive if perhaps a little off-tune! Doug's profession may be a choir master - but he achieved magic on the night ... does that make him a magician as well?

Doug Watts doing his thing - just fantastic!

Jane enjoying a visit from Father Christmas

On 16th November we had a fabulous meeting. We were honoured to be visited by our Federation Chairman, Val Lewis of Herefordshire WI Federation. Val spoke to us about the WI in general, on how we could get involved at Federation level (if you're interested contact us and we'll put you in touch!) and also talked about the fantastic Denman College. A wonderful educational residence just for WI members. Watch this space, we're hoping to arrange a trip there soon. Denman isn't funded by our membership subs and in October this year launched an appeal #savedenmanappeal. After Val's talk we enjoyed a brilliant festive wreath making demonstration from our very own Post Mistress and Florist 'Lady P'. She left us feeling very inspired ...!

Poppy demonstrated two wreaths ... and we held a 'wreath wraffle' in aid of the Denman appeal - lucky winners Diane Arthur and Linda Hartley!

From left Lady P, Linda Hartley, Diane Arthur, Val Lewis and Jane Stratton

A fabulous evening on 19th October where we enjoyed 'Wine Making and Tasting Elgar Wines' with Cathie Rolinson of Lovells Vineyard.
We learned how a local vineyard produces its award winning wines while enjoying the chance to taste and savour their produce.

On 10th October we held a party at Colwall's Thai Rama Restaurant for our first WINGS social. Judging by the fun and chatting going on - it's going to be the first of many.

Our September meeting was just fabulous. Our Treasurer Sarah Grout has long been a supporter of Guide Dogs and we were lucky enough to secure the most amazing talk by Guide Dogs, Ledbury and Malvern Group.

Anne Dicks and her fellow volunteers (Guide Dogs could not exist without an amazing army of volunteers) talked about the charity, the work the volunteers do and of course the fabulous dogs. If you thought you knew about Guide Dogs ... there's bound to be some things you didn't know:

- It costs £50,000 to raise and keep one dog
- Guide Dogs are the biggest dog breeder in the world. Providing not only dogs for the blind and partially sighted, but dogs for search & rescue, buddy dogs, police dogs, dogs for the disabled. Even the pups who don't quite pass the rigourous test to become a fully fledged guide dog are given fabulous alternative careers
- That 'puppy walkers' do cry when they have to say goodbye to their pup when it moves on to work

But for all the facts and figures it was Shirley, with her beautiful dog Taylor, who gave a most candid talk on the difference having a dog has made to her life. Everyone who listened to her felt in awe and humbled by the sheer brilliance, comfort and life-affirming ability her lovely dog gives her.

To help with fundraising please visit https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/aboutus/local-to-you/fundraising-groups/malvern-and-ledbury-fundraising-group.

On the left Shirley with the beautiful Taylor. And Yola who is a puppy in training, with her puppy walker Richard.

August saw a fun evening with Hazel Robinson from Nuts About Style giving us hints and tips on how to look our best, how to plan our wardrobes and how to have a stress free morning getting ready for the day ahead!

The lovely Dawn Harford braved the demo chair as she had her 'colours' done ... definitely a bit of autumn on the chart - belying her sunny/summery disposition!

And what a night - signing up our 80th member! We're flying high!

July - Embracing Domesticity? A really interesting viewpoint ....We had a great meeting when Professor Maggie Andrews came to speak to us about her recent talk at the Hay Festival 'Workplace drudgery drives feminists back to the kitchen'.