Wednesday 3 August 2016

August News.....


Hello Malagoers

July saw us leave the Bedminster Methodist Hall and venture to Windmill Hill City Farm for an evening full of food.  Thank you to our members and guests who were able to attend and take part in an extremely enjoyable evening.  We were able to taste a number of local cheeses provided Rosie Morgan aka The Bristol Cheesemonger and everyone had a go at making their own pizzas which were delicious.

Summer is still with us, so we are out and about once more in August.  Many of you attended our June meeting where Tim Mowl gave us an alternative view of the architecture in Bristol. We are delighted that Tim will be leading a walk to bring this to life.  From a pugilistic pub to a hospital of alternative medicine, our route will start at The Hatchet Inn and take us via the Red Lodge to various medieval buildings and alms-houses, then on to Lodge Street, round Christmas Steps and by Hotel du Vin.  We will then tackle St Michael's Hill to the Homeopathic Hospital where we will be rewarded with its lovely gardens, finishing at the Highbury Vaults for a well-deserved drink.

If you are thinking of attending, drop us an email so we can gage numbers or just come along on the night.

For any of you who are inspired by our walk around Bristol, The Architecture Centre are asking local bakers, designers and architects to recreate their favourite Bristol building in a cake to help celebrate their 20th anniversary.  Visit The Architecture Centre - Architectural Cake Competition for more information.

We will be starting the meeting a bit earlier than normal, meeting at the Hatchet at 7:15 for a 7:30 start. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 31st.

MWI x

Monday 11 July 2016

July news...


Hello Malagoers

After a highly entertaining meeting with Tim Mowl, it is time for us to leave Bedminster Methodist Hall, enjoy the evening sunshine and go for our annual summer outing.

This year’s outing will be to Windmill Hill City Farm on Philip Street, Bedminster.  We have been able to arrange a packed evening for you to take part in.  We will start the evening with a tutored cheese tasting hosted by Rosie Morgan aka The Bristol Cheesemonger.  Already a regular at food markets, Rosie now has a permanent shop in St Nicholas Street which stocks up to 100 different cheeses mainly from the West Country.  Continuing on with the food theme, we will be cooking our own pizzas in the Farm’s wood burning oven.  Dough, sauce and toppings will be provided.  Soft drinks will be available, but please feel free to bring along any other drinks such as wine or beer.

In order to fit everyone into the barn and ensure it is not too much of a squeeze, we have to limit numbers.  Places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.  If you would like to attend, please email us by Monday 18th July to reserve your space and let us know if you have any particular dietary requirements. We will be allocating spaces to members first and we can then offer places to guests at a cost of £10.  This will also be allocated on a first come first served basis.

There were sunshine and showers on 25th June where we had a very successful day at the North Street Summer Fair raising nearly £300.  Thank you to everyone who helped out with setup, staffing the stall and baking a range of delicious cakes.  Without your continued help and support, we would not be able to take part in such fundraising events which are essential to fund activities such as our summer outing.

We will be starting the meeting a bit earlier than normal at 7:15 for a welcome glass of fizz and be finishing by 9:30. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 27th  at Windmill Hill City Farm.

MWI x

Sunday 19 June 2016

June news.....

 
 
Hello Malagoers

Our May meeting was jam packed with talks and demonstrations from Mary Hall on lip reading and Zoe Hunt from Mini First Aid on paediatric first aid.  Both speakers contributed to a highly entertaining meeting.

This month we are delighted to welcome well known writer Tim Mowl. Aside from his many architectural and landscape books he recently published a series of 12 urban walks called Bristol Explored. Unlike conventional guide books he encourages the walker to view the city through fresh eyes giving a light hearted but fascinating insight into its architectural past as well as social history, new buildings, sculptures and even street art.  Tim will also touch on his current project a book on Regency gardens to coincide with the bicentenaries of Jane Austen and Humphry Repton, entitled ‘All around is Fairy ground – Pleasure and the Regency Garden’.  Then for our August meeting, Tim has offered to lead a walk around the Harbourside finishing at a suitable waterfront pub.

In addition to our monthly meetings, we have set up other groups to allow our members to explore some of their interests.  The Sock club has already met on two occasions and three knitters are learning the tricks of the trade with Judi Edwards.  The Craft club and Cocktail club have held their first meetings and a great time was had by all.  The Craft club will be meeting next on 23rd June and the Cocktail Club at the beginning of July with an outing to The Pump House.  If you are a member and would like take part in these clubs, but haven’t had a chance to sign up, please email us.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes AGM was held at the beginning of June.  Over 5300 women attended and that both motions, avoid food waste, address food poverty and appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia, were carried by a significant majority.

We are hoping that the sun will be shining on Saturday 25th June when Malago WI will have a stall at the very popular North Street Summer Fair.  Thank you to those who have volunteered to help out on the stall and bake cakes.  We would like to exceed the funds we raised last year of over £600, so if you can bake a cake or spare some time on the day, please email us.  We will have cake drop off points the day before as well for those who aren’t able to come to the stall on the day.

We look forward to seeing you at 8pm on Wednesday 29th.

Thursday 19 May 2016

May news...


Hello Malagoers

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our April meeting.  The creative juices were following and we were able to make some fantastic bunting to help brighten up the hall and decorate the Malago WI stall at upcoming fairs.  If you took some home to finish, it would be great if you could bring it with you.

This month, we are lucky to have two speakers, Mary Hall and Zoe Hunt.

Mary has been teaching lip-reading classes to hard of hearing, and deaf people, for over 15 years.  Having grown up with two profoundly deaf parents, she feels strongly that deafness is an isolating condition but that it needn’t be like that.   Lip-reading lessons helps empower people to learn skills to help overcome communication barriers.  Mary will talk about her experience, explain the mechanics of lip reading and take us through a hands on exercise.

Zoe is a mumpreneur.  She set up the first franchise of Mini First Aid nearly 3 years ago.  The organisation provides training in infant and paediatric first aid to parents, grandparents and carers.  There are now 14 franchises across the country and it continues to expand week by week.  Mini First Aid was the winner of the Mumpreneur Awards 2015.  As well as sharing her experience of setting up a new business, Zoe will also demonstrate techniques for dealing with choking incidents.

We have now set up a number of additional groups outside of our monthly meeting for Malago WI members and dates for the initial meetings have been arranged.  If you would like to take part in these and haven’t signed up yet, please email wearemalagowi@gmail.com.

Sock Knitting
The first course of sock knitting with Judi Edwards is taking place over 4 sessions in June and is now full. There will be an update about the possibility of a further course if you missed out.

Cocktail Club
Following a great response from members to the Cocktail Club will launch on Thursday 9 June from 8pm.  At this meeting we will have some celebratory drinks and plan how we want to go forward to suit people’s interest in different activities, possible themed visits and rough costs depending on numbers.

Craft Club
The initial meeting will be taking place on Thursday 19th May.  It's a chance to hang out, chat and make stuff (with tea and cake of course!).  You can bring whatever you're working on or just come and browse crafty books for inspiration!  Further dates will be arranged shortly.

As part of the May meeting, we will be asking members to vote For or Against this year’s WI resolutions:
 
  • Avoid food waste, address food poverty
  • Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia

Further information is available in on the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) website. The outcome of our vote will be taken to the NFWI AGM in June.

To help with our fundraising, Malago WI will have a stall at this year’s North Street Summer Fair on Saturday 25th June.  We had a very successful day last year and raised over £600.  We still need volunteers to provide cakes and help out on the stall.  Sign-up sheets will be circulated during the meeting.  Any help you can provide, either baking a cake or staffing the stall for an hour or so, means we can make this year’s fair even more successful.

We look forward to seeing you at 8pm on Wednesday 25th

Monday 18 April 2016

April News....


Hello Malagoers

March’s meeting was a fascinating look at the making of BBC Natural History programmes by Sara Douglas assistant producer and researcher.  Sara shared her experience of working on a number of ground-breaking programmes including the recent Big Blue Live.

This month, we are going to get crafty, with bunting making workshop hosted by Kirsten Clark from Make and Do.  Kirsten and her team, provide inspiration for novice and experienced Crafters, including a wide range of materials for all types of crafts and regular workshops.  Kirsten will be teaching us all about bunting making from cutting to sewing and embellishment with applique techniques.

As the Malago WI bunting is in need of a bit of a refresh, will be focusing on making bunting to help decorate our stall at up and coming events.  All materials and equipment will be provided, but if you have any materials you are able to donate in Malago WI colours, leaf green and cerise pink, they will be grateful received.

At the March meeting, we circulated sign-up sheets for a number of additional groups for Malago WI members; cocktail club, craft club, sock knitting and a number of our members have signed up.  We have also had a request for a Pub Quiz team.  The sign-up sheets will be circulated again at the April meeting, and following this will contact those interested with details of initial meetings.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) AGM will be taking place in June and Malago WI has been fortunate to be able to send a delegate this year.  As part of the AGM, we will be required to vote For or Against this year’s WI resolutions:
 
  • Avoid food waste, address food poverty
  • Appropriate care in hospitals for people with dementia

Further information is available in on the NFWI website.  We will also be providing information at the April meeting and will be asking members to vote at the May meeting.

To help with our fundraising, Malago WI will have a stall at this year’s North Street Summer Fair on Saturday 25th June.  We had a very successful day last year and raised enough funds to pay for two outings in 2015 and are hoping to do even better this year.  We will be asking for volunteers to provide cakes and help out on the stall.  Sign-up sheets will be circulated during the meeting.  Those who have helped out previously can tell you what a fun day it is.

For those of you who are thinking of becoming a member but haven’t got round to it yet, membership fees are £28.10 for the rest of the year.  This includes for eight meetings, two of which are summer outings!

We look forward to seeing you at 8pm on Wednesday 27th.

MWI x