East Dulwich WI

EDWI website now live

2008-02-03T11:20:00.001Z

News from Kirsten Ing, Assistant Secretary & Website Developer/Administrator of the East Dulwich Women's Institute:

Good news, the East Dulwich W.I. website is now live and available on the internet. Please go to www.eastdulwichwi.co.uk

All feedback is welcome. The website is an ongoing project and you will notice that new features will be added to it as we go along. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any suggestions, and e-mail your feedback to
websiteadmin (at) eastdulwichwi.co.uk
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Now we have a proper website, this Blog will be closing in a few weeks. The EDWI committee can be contacted via the Contact Form on the new website.

February 6th Meeting: Fitness can be fun

2008-02-03T11:02:00.001Z

Kevin from Push Studios (on Lordship Lane) will be coming to talk to us about Fitness - this will be a fun interactive session where Kevin will show us that there is more to fitness then pain and squats! He will show us fitness can be fun!

If possible, we would recommend you come in loose fitting clothes - though this isn't compulsory as the interactive sessions are optional and can be done in normal gear too!

The session will cover the following aspects and Kevin will be creating a fitness quiz for us all - kindly donating prizes from Push Studios!

* Intro from Kevin about fitness and what he offers at Push Studios
* Fitness through dance
* Interactive examples (foxy moves for weddings, pole dancing, using everyday furniture for fitness)
* Health & Fitness Quiz with prizes from Push Studios
* Q & A Session

ALSO PLEASE REMEMBER THE FEBRUARY MEETING WILL BE THE LAST OPPORTUNITY FOR EXISTING MEMBERS TO PAY SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2008.

Happy Christmas!

2007-12-23T22:11:00.000Z

Very best wishes for Christmas and a Happy New year to all our current and future members.

Ruth
(Blog-mistress)

2nd Jan Meeting: Planning for 2008

2007-12-23T21:48:00.000Z

The meeting will be used as an opportunity for all members to help the
committee plan ideas for the forthcoming year and other opportunities
and ideas you would like the committee to develop such as sub-groups
and trips etc. Something nice and gentle after the frantic festive
period!

Also, please remember cash (£28) or your cheque book as subscriptions
are due! Claire as Membership Secretary will be contacting all members
via email about subscriptions process. Due to the waiting list we will
have to assume that any members that have not paid either directly to
Claire (details will be in the email) or at either Jan or Feb meeting
no longer wish to be members.

For those who want to join the waiting list, please contact EDWI via the Google Group.

AGM November 2007

2007-12-23T21:30:00.000Z

The AGM was held at the meeting of 7th November. Minutes are available on the EDWI Google Group. We are pleased to announce that Katie Arnold has been reappointed EDWI President. A committee of ten was elected, and a further four people co-opted, to serve for the forthcoming year.

One important change that has been voted on is that the meeting time will change to 7.15 for 7.30pm, as that is easier for a number of members either coming from work or with small children.

Work continues on trying to find a larger venue so that we can increase the membership

Christmas Meeting: Dec 5th

2007-12-01T17:54:00.001Z

The Christmas Meeting will be a Christmas party. As discussed at previous meetings we thought it would be nice if members could bring nibbles - anything you like really as long as it doesn't require heating or cutlery!

There will be no planned activities - just drinking, eating, having fun and getting to know each other better!

There will also be a Trading Post. This is a traditonal WI activity where members bring items they would like to sell (homemade wares and baking or unwanted gifts) and they are offered for sale to the Members. 10% of any sale goes to EDWI but the owner gets to keep the rest. Please bring any items labelled with your name, contact number and what you would like to sell the item for.

Phoenix Cards will also be there again.

Date: Wednesday 3rd October 2007 at 7pm
Venue: Magdala Pub, 211 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich. SE22 8H
This meeting is only open to paid-up members (see post below)

Nov 7th Meeting: AGM and Christmas Card Craft

2007-10-14T19:34:00.000+01:00

Our November meeting is jam-packed as we will be holding our AGM before moving on to the more fun business of making Christmas cards. Jayne from Puffin Crafts will be demonstrating card making, and all members will have an opportunity to make a fabulous Christmas card to take away. Come along and learn a new skill to impress your friends and family over the festive
period!

Demonstrator: Jayne McStea, Puffin Crafts
Date: Wednesday 7th November 2007 at 7pm
Venue: All Fired Up Café, 34 East Dulwich Road, East Dulwich. SE22 9AX
This meeting is only open to paid-up members (see Membership Matters post below)

Oct 3rd meeting: My Impact on the Environment:.....

2007-09-30T19:33:00.000+01:00

..........Why should I care & what can I do about it anyway?

Our October monthly meeting will feature a panel discussion with local and national environmental campaigners. The panel will outline our individual impact on the environment, and give suggestions about what we as individuals can to minimise our carbon footprint. This promises to be a lively and thought-provoking evening with plenty of opportunity for Q&A.

Speakers:
Marilyn Donahue (The Sustainable Education project)
Monica McSherry (Healthmatters Proprietor)
Tim Atkinson (Friends of the Earth, Southwark Branch)
Jonathan Mitchell (Liberal Democrat Councillor, East Dulwich)

Date: Wednesday 3rd October 2007 at 7pm
Venue: Magdala Pub, 211 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich. SE22 8H
This meeting is only open to paid-up members (see post below)

Membership matters

2007-09-21T19:53:00.000+01:00

From Elizabeth Varley, Vice President EDWI
We are very sorry but if you have not paid your membership fee already, you will unfortunately not able to come to the next event.

We are working on ways to be able to increase capacity for future events andwill keep you updated with developments, but due to health and safety regulations at our current venue, if you come along at present and are not already a member, you will be turned away.

We're really sorry to have to disappoint those who aren't members already, but we *are* working on ways to allow for greater membership numbers.

Forthcoming meetings

2007-09-21T19:48:00.000+01:00

On 3rd October the theme will be a Green Living panel debate, with invited panel members and covering issues such as the environment, sustainability and recycling.

On 7th November we will be making Christmas Cards, and will be holding the annual election for our president and committee members.

Further details to follow

The story so far

2007-09-21T19:41:00.000+01:00

Since I last posted EDWI has held two meetings.

The first was on fashion. Michelle Williams of pinkgreen personal shopping and fashion consultancy talking about her work and how she started, and giving advice on how to wear current and upcoming accessories, and dressing for your body type. Sadly I had to miss this one, due to my holidays, so there'll only be a more detailed report if I can persuade someone to write one.

The September meeting was on wine-tasting, and was presented by Julie Lawrence of Partners in Wine She introduced us to four different wines and how to taste them and understand more about them. My personal favourite was the Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from new Zealand.

After the holidays

2007-09-21T19:34:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry it went a bit quiet over the summer holidays. I'm back now and ready to bring the blog up to date. Unfortunately, for reasons best known to Blogger, this site has been identified as a potential spam-blog (!) so this post will only appear after they've satisifed themselves it is a legitimate site. For anyone who sent a message here while I was away, hopefully you found any answers you needed through the EDWI google group.

The first official meeting

2007-07-12T23:13:00.000+01:00

On 4th July we met again at the Magdala, and welcomed another 15 people to the group. Following elections WI style, we appointed Katie Arnold as president. As it was Katie who first got us all together this seems only fitting. 17 members volunteered their services for the executive committee, and were all co-opted. The photo shows the committee members who were present posing for photos for the reporter from Living South.

The committee now have the job of planning our programme for the rest of the year. The next meeting on 1st August may well be a wine tasting, in which case the venue may be different. Watch this space and the google group for further information.

In the meantime I'm going off on a long awaited holiday - back soon!

Date of next meeting 4th July

2007-06-23T13:28:00.001+01:00

Oops, just noticed that my next meeting notice says Wednesday 3rd July Now corrected to 4th July - please make sure it's in your diaries!

For anyone who would like to join, just turn up and sign up. We can take subscriptions by cash or cheque at the meeting.

The first EDWI baby?

2007-06-23T13:20:00.001+01:00

We are delighted to welcome the arrival of Jasmine, whose mother Emily Muffett had to go home immediately after joining EDWI at our first meeting because she was having contractions. Congratulations, Emily!

The WI on the BBC

2007-06-19T23:58:00.000+01:00

On Monday 25th June at 9pm on BBC4 there is the first of a series of three about the Women's Institute in the 21st Century. The first programme is concentrating on a new group in Great Yarmouth.

From the BBC4 website:
A new series about the British Institution, The Women's Institute, the largest voluntary women's organisation in Britain, formed in 1915 with the initial aims of revitalising communities and encouraging woman to produce food during World War I.

This programme follows a new group in Yarmouth, which has fast become the largest in the country. The group is headed by 38-year-old Amy who along with her friend Bunty want to implement some changes to the perception of the Women's Institute and bring it into the 21st century.

Now we are official!

2007-06-09T20:36:00.000+01:00

A very successful meeting was held on June 6th, attended by over 40 interested people and four representatives of the WI. The latter had come straight from the WI AGM at the Royal Albert Hall. We heard more about what we were letting ourselves in for, and then the official decisions were made.

So now we have been formally recognised

We are called the East Dulwich Women's Institute.
We will meet on the first Wednesday of each month at 7pm at the Magdala.
The individual subscription for this year is £26.
At the July meeting we will need to fill the posts of President and Vice-president, Secretary, and Treasurer, as well as deciding on what other committee positions we need. Job descriptions and how to express an interest will be posted shortly.

Not only have we been welcomed by the West Kent Federation of the WI, but Katie has also received a very supportive letter from Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood.

How do I join?

2007-05-28T20:42:00.002+01:00

Joining the WI costs £26 a year. We will taking subscriptions at our first proper meeting on 6th June 2007. Please bring your cheque book or pay by cash.

If you can't be there, don't worry. Once we've got things sorted out we will post on both the Google Group and here about how to join.

Dates of forthcoming meetings

2007-05-28T20:37:00.000+01:00

Meetings will be on the first Wednesday of each month at the Magdala at 211 Lordship Lane; time 7.00 - 8.30pm

This year's dates are:

Wednesday 6th June
Wednesday 4th July
Wednesday 1st August
Wednesday 5th September
Wednesday 3rd October
Wednesday 7th November
Wednesday 5th December

The Cake Stall is a success!

2007-05-23T23:16:00.001+01:00

A massive thanks to everyone who baked cakes and/or helped out at the Cake Stall at the Goose Green Fair on 13th June. It was a great team effort and lovely chance to get to know one another.

We had lots of cakes to sell and they sold really well. There were hardly any left by the end of the fair, and we also raised quite a bit of money towards our funds.Clearly the start of our first EDWI tradition!

Date of next meeting now settled as 6th June

2007-05-23T07:56:00.000+01:00

The dates and venue for the East Dulwich WI meetings have now been confirmed. We will be meeting on the first Wednesday of each month in the upstairs meeting room at the Magdala at 211 Lordship Lane; time 7.00 - 8.30pm

The first meeting will be on 6th June and we'll be doing some more planning about how the EDWI will run as well as getting to know one another.

EDWI now has a Google Group

2007-05-09T22:33:00.000+01:00

Like any group of women we need to chat/discuss things etc etc. Elizabeth Varley has kindly set us up a Google Group which you can find at http://groups.google.co.uk/group/edwi?hl=en. In this group, as well as using it as a planning and discussion forum, we can also upload and share files etc, so it will be a central repository of information.

You should also be able to select how you'd like to receive EDWI communications - whether you'd like them to go straight to your email inbox, or would rather read them on the web.

May 13th: Goose Green fair

2007-05-07T22:58:00.000+01:00

As part of the Dulwich Festival the Goose Green fair will be held on Sunday 13th May from 11am to 4pm. There will be a fire engine, free bouncy castles, face painting and badge making for the little kids and then there will be stalls, entertainment and a beer tent for the big kids.

The East Dulwich Forum will have a tent and the fledgling East Dulwich WI will have a table with the traditional WI cakes. If you want to contribute to the cakes, see the forum thread. If you are interested in joining the WI, then just come up and say hello.

(Edited to add link to new specific forum thread)

Date of next meeting: 6th June

2007-05-03T00:05:00.000+01:00

Date now changed to 6th June (see post above)

At the moment the favoured date for the next meeting is Tuesday 5th June, either 7pm or 7.30pm start. The venue is expected to be upstairs in the Magdala on Lordship Lane. Further details will be posted nearer the time.

Welcome to the EDWI!

2007-05-02T21:39:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday 1st May, the first ever meeting of the up and coming East Dulwich Women's Institute was held at Green and Blue Wines in East Dulwich. It all started with a post on the East Dulwich Forum by katiesa looking for a "young and trendy" WI group in the area. It soon became clear there wasn't one, but there were quite a number of young and not-so-young forum members interested in the idea, and before she knew it, Katie was organising a planning meeting.

The first meeting was very well attended - 19 came, and more sent their apologies, and the planning is well underway. Elfy's report is up on the forum and the EDWI blog will be keeping you updated on future meetings and events.

Many thanks to all who came, and to anyone out there who is thinking of joining in, please don't be shy - we're a friendly bunch, and the creation of this group is very much a team effort.

RuthMcT (blogmistress)