Hello friends
New Venue
Spring is here and with it comes a new and exciting rebirth of WoSWI! Next Thursday (14th) will be our first meeting in Pebbles Cafe at The Hub in the old Havens building on Hamlet Court Road. The reaction to our move has been overwhelmingly positive but a few concerns have been raised about parking. There is street parking, of course, but also the car park at the top of the road is free after 6pm. There’s a car park on Ceylon Road too. If you don’t feel happy walking alone please contact us and we will arrange for an escort to come and meet you. (Not a male escort – our budget doesn’t run to that!) The meeting starts at 8pm but you can arrive from 7.30.
AGM and Mudlarking
This month we’ll be doing our usual AGM stuff of agreeing the finances and voting in our new president (which will be me again unless anybody else comes forward!) We also have a talk about mudlarking and the treasures you can find washed up along the banks of the Thames. And our lovely new member Alison, herself a very experienced mudlarker, will have a stall selling the jewellery she makes from her finds.
Next Month
Our May meeting (12th) has a gardening theme. A local gardening expert will be talking so if you have any questions you’d like him to address, reply to this email and we’ll let him know in advance. Got a dark corner where nothing grows? Wondering when to prune your clematis? Chris is your man. We’re also going to be supplying plants and compost for you to pot up your own display so you’ll need to bring a small container, and if you have any plants, seeds or seedlings you’d like to share, that would be lovely.
Renewals
Renewals are now due and I’m delighted to announce that the future has arrived at WoSWI in the shape of a brand new card reader!! This means that from now on you’ll be able to pay your subs, buy your raffle tickets etc with the mere tap of your card. Subs are £44, or £21.60 if you are a dual member paying the full fee to another WI. You are still welcome to pay by bank transfer (email woswi@hotmail.com for details) but from now on we won’t be accepting cash or cheques for subs.
If you aren’t planning on renewing this year, please would you reply to this email to let us know? It saves Mandy no end of work following up with people.
Craft Competition
Don’t forget the June craft competition! You can stitch, paint, cake decorate or anything else that you fancy, as long as it has a jubilee theme. And now would be a good time to start thinking about a red, white and blue dress code for our jubilee party. Full on, head to toe patriotic for those that love dressing up, or a token pair of union jack socks for those who don’t, it’s up to you.
Raffle
If you have any good quality, unused items that are suitable for our raffle, Sally Ann would be delighted to take them off your hands.
Can’t wait to see you all in our new home next week. DON’T GO TO THE NAVAL CLUB!
Much love
Vanessa
