Hello friends
Thanks Mandy for taking up the reins and sending out an email while I was on a fancy cruise searching for the northern lights in Norway. I had a completely fabulous time, despite a massive storm with 9 metre waves (which was probably the second worst night of my life, beaten only by my 57 hour labour with my first born! )
Lots to cover this month….
New venue
As you know, we’ve had to quickly find a new home after being unceremoniously kicked out of the Hub, so this month will be at the Trinity Methodist church. The address is Argyll Road, Westcliff, SS0 7HL but the entrance is on the London Road. It’s only a short walk from the car park at the top of Hamlet Court Road, or there’s parking in the nearby streets. Hopefully Trinity will tick all the boxes for us but at the end of the evening we’ll decide if we like it enough to make it our permanent home.
Our next meeting Thursday the 9th. Doors 7.30 for an 8pm start
This month we will be having a pamper and social evening with people doing head massages, reflexology, painting nails etc. There will be Body Shop and Tropic stalls for you to browse and a speaker telling us all about non surgical beauty interventions like botox. I also decided you couldn’t possibly have a girly pamper evening without cupcakes so I’ll be baking a load of my favourite varieties.
We can’t promise that with time restraints and possible numbers attending everybody will be able to have a treatment, so to make it fair we’re going to have a draw, one ticket per member. When your number is called you book your place at the treatment of your choice until all the slots have gone. Even if you don’t get a place it will still be a fun evening with loads going on.
Trinity Food Bank
We are meeting at the church that runs the food bank we’ve been supporting, which seems appropriate. A representative will be coming along next week to tell us a bit more about what they do and if you have any donations you would like to bring, they would be most welcome. As well as food there’s a need for things like toiletries, nappies and wipes.
Swapsies Table
This proved moderately successful last month so we’re giving it another go. Basically, you bring in something that you don’t want any more and put it on the table. Could be a book, a jigsaw, pretty much anything, as long as it’s in good condition. Then everybody else peruses the donations to see if they want to rehome your cast off. If your donation hasn’t been snapped up you have to take it home with you though.
Charity nominations
If you have a charity you would like us to support in the next financial year, please could you let us know by email by the end of the month, along with a two line explanation. Mandy will compile a list and we will then all vote at the AGM in April.
Windsor Trip Saturday June 10th. Free transport!
This should be a great day out, especially in Coronation year. WoSWI is paying for the coach so all you need to cough up is the £26 for entry to the castle. Of course, if you don’t want to see the castle you can just have a completely free day trip mooching around the shops or walking in the Great Park. Please let us know by the April meeting if you would like to reserve a place on the coach, and if you want a castle ticket, transfer the money (with the reference ‘Windsor Trip’) or pay by card in person. Bank details are below.
Essex Federation County Annual Meeting Tuesday June 27th 2023.
This year the Essex meeting is nice and local at the Cliffs Pavilion (last year Jane and I got horribly lost in Colchester!). We will have music from Danny Foster from The Big Soul Corporation and the speaker is Gregg Wallace, who should be entertaining. The early bird rate if you book before April 30th is £16, and after that it will be £20. I announced the draw for a free ticket last month and congratulations to Jo Hughes for winning. Hopefully lots more of you would like to come too and join in the fun. The link for tickets is www.ticketsource.co.uk/fewi
Renewals
It’s £46 this year ( £22.60 for dual members who pay the full whack at another WI) and subs are due in April, although you can pay earlier if you’re feeling organised. Bank transfers are infinitely preferable, as this saves long queues and extra work for the treasurers, but if you can’t do online banking we will accept a card payment. No cash though.
Please could you let us know if you aren’t planning on renewing as it saves Mandy having to chase you up and it means we can offer your place to somebody on the waiting list.
Next Month April 13th
It’s AGM time, where once again I’ll be suggesting somebody else takes over as president, and once again, no doubt, I’ll find nobody else wants to!! On top of the usual AGM business we’ll be having a red, white and blue cooking challenge (and will eat the results!)
Think that’s everything
Much love
Vanessa
ps Bring your mug!
March Newsletter
