The October Fulham WI meeting will take place this coming Monday 3 October at 7:30pm. Our speaker will be the Hon Alexa Shackleton.
Please be advised that we are now taking subs for the 2012 calendar year - subs are £30. We also have some of the new WI diaries for 2012 at £3.50 each.
We will be holding elections for committee members at our November meeting, and are actively seeking the following roles:
- Crafts Co-Ordinator
- Speaker Co-Ordinator
- Website/Online Co-Ordinator
Elections for those positions which are currently filled (see here) will, of course, be taking place as well.
CONTENTS
- October Speaker
- Events
- Local Requests
- NFWI Announcements
OCTOBER SPEAKER
The speaker will be the Hon Alexa Shackleton, who has been instrumental in furthering Shackleton historical research.
Based in London, the Hon Alexandra Shackleton has contributed forewords to books on Antarctic exploration, and consulted for the Channel Four/First Sight Films television drama Shackleton, starring Kenneth Branagh. She has even had the honor to christen three ships: the Royal Navy's Ice Patrol ship, HMS Endurance; the trawler Lord Shackleton; and, most recently, the British Antarctic Survey ship,RRS Ernest Shackleton.
She succeeded her father, Lord Shackleton KG OBE PC (1911-94), younger son of the explorer, as President of the James Caird Society, and has been at the heart of all its activities since. She was instrumental with Harding Dunnett in displaying the James Caird at the London Boat Show at Earl's Court in 1994, and in lending support to Trevor Potts's four man (three men and a woman) In the Wake of Shackleton expedition, which sought to recreate the James Caird boat journey and Shackleton's crossing of South Georgia, the first such expedition to attempt this.
She travels around the world lecturing on Shackleton and his legacy to schools and city institutions and everything in between.
As always, the meeting will be in the upstairs room at the Peterborough /Southern Cross pub on the New Kings Road (on the junction of Wandsworth Bridge Road ) nearest tube is Fulham Broadway. Please find here a link to Google Maps for directions. We look forward to welcoming new members and returning members alike.
EVENTS
Saturday 1 October – look forward to those of you who have signed up for the tour of Parliament.
Tuesday 11 October 2011 – Jack the Ripper Walk – Meet at 7.15pm just outside Tower Hill tube to set off at 7.30pm for a guided walk led by Donald Rumbelow, "internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper." Costing £8 a place, this walk lasts just under 2 hours and provides a chance to inspect the murder sites, sift through the evidence - in all its gory detail - and get to grips, so to speak, with the main suspects. Afterward you can steady your nerves in The Ten Bells, the pub where the victims - perhaps under the steely gaze of the Ripper himself - tried to forget the waking nightmare. http://www.jacktheripperwalk.com/
Thursday 17 November 2011 – Pottery Evening – get ready for Xmas at the Pottery Café at 735 Fulham Road, London, SW6 5UL. Starting at 7.30pm, unearth your creativity and decorate pieces of pottery. It costs £5.95 per place for materials, and for whatever you decided to decorate. Pick up your work a week later after it has been fired in the kiln. For more details and lists of pottery pieces thart you can decorate please go to http://www.pottery-cafe.com/ This has always been a popular evening for WI members so please get in touch ASAP to book your place.
And dates for next year …
Saturday 28 January – Changing of the Guard at BUCKINGHAM PALACE – exclusive – at 10.00am- more details to follow …
Friday 3 February – get over detox January and spend the evening in a pub for a great cause, whilst supporting fellow WI member Alex in her pub quiz! In maximum teams of 5 test your general knowledge.
Again, more details to follow …
Please contact Toto on criminalangel@hotmail.com or 07957 323 321 begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting regarding any of these events or anything that you would like to do.
NFWI ANNOUNCEMENTS
Keep on Jamming! Real Jam Festival 2011
Don’t forget that entry forms are now available with full details on how to enter. IT’s fun to take part in the competition and to test your skills. You can send in your entry and in addition, on 8 and 9 October Denman will fling open its doors for activities involving top chefs and more. Dinner, bed and breakfast are available for anyone wanting to come along. More information can be found at www.denmancollege.org.uk and www.thewirealjamfestival.com or by calling 02865 391 991 and asking for leaflets.
Win a kitchen makeover
Share your favourite recipe for a family meal costing under £7.50, and send a picture of it, to have the chance of winning a fantastic kitchen makeover courtesy of Morphy Richards. Other brilliant prizes include a WI cookery course at Denman for two.
Finalists will be invited to Denman on 5 December, when celebrity chef Brian Turner will crown the winner. Two runners-up will each receive a Morphy Richards product of their choice, plus a DAB radio and a WI cookery course for themselves and a friend. Every competition entrant will receive a discount code for Morphy Richards worktop cooking products. For full terms and conditions and to enter, go to www.homeofthehouseproud.com or call Denman College on 01865 391991 to ask for details.
Do You Write a Blog?
With the new WI website under development, the NFWI are investigating the potential for guest blogs. If you write your own blog please send details of it to g.atkinson@nfwi.org.uk.
Love Your Libraries Campaign
After huge support for a resolution on library closures from delegates at the 2011 AGM, WI members are being urged to get involved in the Love Your Libraries campaign.
We are calling on the Government to honour their commitment to act as a champion of the library service, and hope to collect 100,000 signatures and trigger a debate in parliament. We have just launched an online version of the petition, on the Government’s e-petitions website, so please do go to the link below and sign, and pass on to friends and family!
http://epetitions.direct.gove.uk/petitions/1269
There are lots of other ways to take action: by joining your local library, collecting petition signatures, and writing to you local council.
Enter the Fast Fashion ‘Little Black Dress’ Competition
WI members are being given the chance to design and create their own ‘little black dress’ as part of the NFWI’s Fast Fashion campaign, to be showcased at a fashion show at the Fashion and Textiles Museum at the end of the year. Please let us know if you would like more information.
COOL Update
The NFWI held a briefing meeting on 5 July ahead of a crucial European Parliament vote on changes to food labelling regulations. The NFWI Chair and Public Affairs Committee briefed MEPs and representatives from the European Commission and the Environment and Agriculture Committee on WI research and findings from the supermarket action day, when 87 WIs visited 135 supermarkets to gain a snapshot view of labelling on supermarket shelves. Despite Government claims that a voluntary scheme is working, members’ reports showed real room for improvement and a marked variation in labelling practises across supermarkets, particularly on budget ranges.
Hours after the meeting MEPs voted to introduce mandatory labelling for fresh meat products and to tighten up the law to ensure that the presentation of labelling is not misleading for consumers. While this is a major step forwards, unfortunately the Parliament did not take the opportunity to tighten up labelling on products with meant ingredients such as sausages or pies. An impact assessment in two years time will assess the feasibility of this.
Sign up to be a MDGs champion – eight ways to change the world
Building on the success of the WrW project, we are asking interested members to sign up to be Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) champions and raise awareness in their community as to why advancing women’s rights around the world is key to accelerating progress on the MDGs by the 2015 deadline. The initiative will be launched in the autumn and champions will be provided with materials, resources and access to an online forum to share ideas with other MDG champions. If you would like to sign up or find out more information please contact Yetunde Akintola on 0207 371 9300 ext 212. For more information on the MDGs visit http://www.endpoverty2015.org/.
Ex-Offenders Project
Are you interested in helping female ex-offenders with cookery, literacy and numeracy so that they have skills to get them back on their feet and into work? This is a new national project combining basic practical cookery with literacy and numeracy. Please contact Diane Sanderson, Home Economics Adviser, at the NFWI Unit on 01865 391 788 ext 278 or d.sanderson@nfwi-unit.org.uk if you would like to find out more about the project.
ETC.
Maple Village WI Christmas Fayre
Saturday, 19 Nov from 10am – 2pm
Maple Village WI in Surbiton are holding their first FREE Christmas Fayre this year. They are inviting members to come along and partake in some Christmas Shopping, and are also wondering if any members would like to ttake a stall to sell your own products? They are looking for candles, glass or ceramic items, children’s toys and clothes, and Christmas decorations and gifts.
We were contacted by a photographer who is working on a project on the Women’s Institute through a series of portraits. She is aiming to get a sense of the contemporary face of the WI – looking at individuals’ careers, interests, and hobbies.
Peter from Age Concern of Hammersmith and Fulham has got in touch regarding their Volunteer Befriending Service which connects volunteers with older people who may be isolated or housebound. Volunteering involves and hour a week offering companionship or practical support, which means conversation, picking up prescriptions or accompanying someone to an activity, etc…
Please let us know if you are able to offer your time and we will pass your details onto them.
Streetwise Opera Volunteering
We have been contacted by Streetwise Opera, a charity that uses music as a tool to help those who have experienced homelessness move forward in their lives. Their Workshop Programme aims to increase confidence and self-esteem, encouraging an engagement with wider communities through regular singing and acting workshops, performances and work placements, creating unique opportunities that allow people to move forward in their lives.
They are looking for helpful and committed volunteers for both daytime and evening opportunities and any help, however small, is always appreciated. Volunteers can help out in a number of ways including assisting with regular Theatre Trips, Public Performances, Fundraising Events and Workshops.
If you are interested please contact Nicholas at the Streetwise Opera office.
Email: office@streetwiseopera.org
Tel: 020 7495 3133
Parliament Week
Parliament Week is a new national initiative that aims to build greater awareness, understanding of and engagement with parliamentary democracy in the UK.
The inaugural Parliament Week will take place between 31 October and 5 November 2011 with a programme of activities across the UK that explore how and why the House of Commons and the House of Lords matter to everyone.
The theme for Parliament Week 2011 is ‘Stories of Democracy’ – from the past to the present, from local to national. Parliament wants to raise awareness about how democracy affects people and how they can participate in it.
Further information about the programme of events and how you can register to take part is available from www.parliamentweek.org or email parliamentweek@parliament.uk.
Breeze
The Breeze network from British Cycling is all about fun, local bike rides for women, by women – and there’s a whole range of support, training and ride opportunities too. Breeze is part of British Cycling’s commitment to getting more women riding bikes for fun, and encouraging more women to join British cycling. Breeze bike rides are free and getting involved is easy. You can either use the ride finder to look for a Breeze ride in your area or if you’re interested in starting a group, why not become a Breeze champion? To find out more, visit the website www.goskyride.com/breeze or www.britishcycling.org.uk.