Newsletters

Hello friends

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope it was all you wanted it to be, and that 2025 will be a bumper year for you. I don’t make hard and fast resolutions any more (having spent 48 years vowing to lose weight and failing dismally every time! Very odd to not be in that place this year) but I do think about what I want my life to look like in the coming twelve months. My intentions for 2025 are to travel, have people over more often, and to get out in nature more. I’d love to hear your intentions. How about popping them on our Facebook page?

Thursday January 9th
This month we have the amazing Lindsey Dixon Barrel Rom, owner of the longest name in Essex and expert in British Sign Language, coming to entertain and educate us. If I’m not much mistaken she also runs a burlesque troupe but I don’t think she’s going to be doing any of that. Maybe another time.

We’ll also be having our annual auction of unwanted gifts, so if you’ve been given something that doesn’t quite hit the spot, bring it along and I’ll flog it for our charity.

Cakes are very welcome! Let’s scupper those new year diets!

Have a lovely weekend.

Much love
Vanessa

Hello friends

Thursday December 12th
To finish another great year of WoSWI fun, we have a highly recommended speaker coming to amuse and entertain us. Local musician, writer and quiz master extraordinaire, Daryl Easlea will be jogging our memories with his talk about Christmas music from the past. There will also be some light nibbles and a special bumper raffle.

We’ve decided to have a bit of a change to the jam jar tombola. Instead of a filled jar, could you bring a  wrapped Secret Santa gift instead? Nothing expensive; definitely under a fiver. Personally, I’d be happy with a book you’ve read and enjoyed or an interesting charity shop find. Then to receive a mystery gift you just need to pay a quid towards our charity of the year.

Mugs
Can I please ask that if you use one of the hall’s mugs rather than bringing your own you wash it up afterwards? The last few months have seen a big pile of dirty mugs left behind and it doesn’t seem fair that a committee member gets left with all  the washing up, on top of everything else they do. Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Upcoming meetings
Lots to look forward to next year, starting with learning British Sign Language in January and how to declutter our homes and lives in February.

We need a volunteer
Every year the WI has an annual meeting, with interesting guest speakers and voting on things like the resolutions for the next year. We’re all in a group with other local WIs and we take it in turns to send along a delegate, who votes on behalf of the whole group and prepares a simple report on what happened. Next year it’s our turn to send a delegate, although things are a bit different as the whole thing is going to happen online so you won’t have to actually leave your home. It will be on Wednesday June 4th from 10am to 4.30 pm with an hour for lunch. Would you like to be our delegate? If so, you will get a free ticket. Just reply to this email to register your interest, and if there are more than one of you we’ll do a draw. Everybody else is welcome to join in as an observer but you’ll have to buy a ticket.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week for a mini mince pie and a rousing chorus of Jingle Bells.

Much love
Vanessa

Hello friends

Next meeting Thursday 14th
This month is going to be all things sweet. We’ll be showing you how to make little gift boxes and then I’ll be demonstrating a variety of easy sweets you could make for Christmas gifts or just for noshing in front of the telly. By the end of the evening you’ll have a box of goodies to take home with you. 

Craft stalls
We’re going to be having a variety of craft stalls again this year as they are always popular for Christmas shopping. I don’t know if they will all be set up for card payments so it might be worth bringing some cash with you (if you remember what that is). As we’ll have loads of setting up to do in the hall before this meeting we would be most grateful if you don’t arrive early. We don’t want to have to leave you outside in the cold! Thanks in advance

Cake donations
Many thanks to you lovely, kind and generous ladies who bring in the delicious cakes for us. Donations are always most welcome.

December meeting Thursday 12th
This December we’re going to be entertained by local musician and writer Daryl Easlea, with his fun and festive talk about Christmas music. When he was first recommended to us I knew I’d heard of him but I couldn’t think where. Turns out he’d written the book on Slade that my husband was in the process of reading. Talented man.

Looking forward to fattening you all up on Thursday.

Much love

Vanessa

Hello friends

This month’s meeting Thursday 10th
We’re getting a bit active this month to get our bodies warmed up and ready to fight off the winter chills. Gavin, the partner of Lucy (the blind sailor who was a big hit when she spoke to us earlier this year), is coming to lead us in a Tai Chi session. Don’t forget to wear comfortable clothes you can move in – no pencil skirts and stilettos this month.

November meeting Thursday 14th
Next month we’ll be crafting little gift boxes and I’ll be demonstrating easy sweets you can make to put in them. Yum! We’ll also have an enticing array of craft stalls so you can get ahead with your Christmas shopping.

Craft Club
I remain determined to get a craft club off the ground so I’m going to be hosting an event for all you crafty types at my house in Rayleigh at 7.30 pm on Wednesday November 6th. If you’d like to join in please let me know.

Quiz Night
Our quiz nights are usually very popular but take up on this one has been slow, so we’ve decided to move it to January, when nothing happens and we’ll all be desperate for a night out.

Cake
Huge thanks to you kind and generous souls who bake the delicious cakes for our meetings. Donations would be very welcome this month, as ever. You are welcome to claim back the cost of the ingredients.

Much love

Vanessa

Afternoon everyone, 

Vanessa is on holiday again so I’ll keep it short & sweet as we’re a bit late and need to get this circulated. Plus, the more I mess around with Mailchimp, the more likely I am to press send on a jumble of words that haven’t yet been formed into a nice newsletter! 

12th September
This week we’re being joined by our local author, Rose Cleary. Hopefully some of you have read her debut novel How To Be A French Girl and will have plenty of questions for her. 

10th October
Next month we’ll be joined again by Lucy Hodges, the visually impaired sailor who spoke at our meeting at the start of the year. This time Lucy will be putting us through our paces with Tai Chi. 

Quiz Night – 18th October
As the fund raising quiz nights have always been popular and good fun, we’ve arranged another for next month. We’ve booked the Hawkwell Baptist Church Hall, Rectory Rd, Rochford, SS4 1UG for the evening of Friday 18th October. We can accommodate 10 tables, each with 8 people in a team. Cost is £5 per person and feel free to bring along your own snacks/drinks (alcohol allowed). Exact time to be confirmed but it’ll most likely start around 7pm. Everyone welcome, this event is not just for members. Please reply if you’d like a seat or a whole table and we’ll start a list/make arrangements for payment. 

14th November
Craft/creative evening. We’re also having craft stalls again so you can get your Christmas shopping done. Please reply to this email if you would like a table to sell your own wares (no charge for the stall). 

Things to bring
As usual, donations for the food bank, raffle and swapsie table are always very welcome. Feel free to bring along a cake too if you love to bake and are happy to share. 

See you soon,
Mandy

Hello friends

Apologies for the lateness of the newsletter but I’ve been away having a jolly in Hamburg. No, not for the football. It was actually (don’t judge me!) to go to the world’s biggest model railway. It’s called Miniatur Wunderland and is absolutely amazing. Check it out online and you’ll see what I mean.

Wasn’t Amelia fascinating last month? Such an engaging speaker and such an important topic. She has kindly agreed to share the slides from her presentation which you will find in the newsletter emailed to you.

Thursday’s meeting July 11th
This month we have a group of comedy improv players coming to amuse and amaze us. If you’re feeling brave/reckless you’ll get the chance to join in too! I don’t know about you but I could certainly do with a laugh so I’m definitely looking forward to this.

August 8th
We don’t have a meeting in August (WI subs pay for 11 meetings a year) but we do often have some kind of outdoor get together. This year we thought we’d have a picnic at Chalkwell beach, with swimming for the hardy. More info to follow once plans have been finalised.

September 12th
Don’t forget to buy/borrow your copy of ‘How to Be a French Girl’  – the debut novel of local girl Rose Cleary, who will be coming to talk to us at our September meeting. Here’s a repeat of the blurb that I copied off Amazon last month:-

She’s from Southend. She wanted to be an artist and ended up at the best art school in the country. But that didn’t work out. Now she works as a receptionist in an IT firm, where her only creative outlet is arranging the sandwiches she’s ordered in for other people’s meetings. And she still lives in Southend. Outside work, soulless sex has become a symptom of her boredom. Then Gustav appears: older, perceptive, attentive. And French. He’s her way out, she thinks. But more than that, a chance to be creative again: to become someone new. How to be a French Girl is a fierce, disturbing and funny debut novel about desire, art and what we’ll risk to change ourselves.

Things to bring
As usual, donations for the food bank, raffle and swapsie table are always very welcome. And anybody who would like to bring a cake along will earn the undying love and gratitude of all the members. Not me though…oh no… I hate cake now…sob…

Much love,
Vanessa

Hello friends

Welcome to the June newsletter, and a particular warm welcome to our new members. We have lots of exciting things planned for the months ahead so watch out for the email I send out about a week before each meeting.

Next Meeting Thursday 13th June
This month Amelia, Anne Gunn’s daughter, will be talking to us about autism and how it tends to present differently in women and girls. Should be fascinating and enlightening.

July 11th
Do you remember a year or two ago we had a bunch of comedy improvisation people come and entertain us briefly as part of a comedy evening? So many people said how good they were, and how they wished we could have seen more of them, so next month they have the whole evening!

September 12th
It’s been a while since we’ve had an author come and speak so I’m delighted to announce the welcome return of the Summer Book Read. The book is called ‘How to Be a French Girl’ and is the debut novel of local girl Rose Cleary. You have the summer to read it and then Rose will be coming to talk about her inspiration, creative process etc and answer questions.  Here’s the blurb that I copied off Amazon:-

She’s from Southend. She wanted to be an artist and ended up at the best art school in the country. But that didn’t work out. Now she works as a receptionist in an IT firm, where her only creative outlet is arranging the sandwiches she’s ordered in for other people’s meetings. And she still lives in Southend. Outside work, soulless sex has become a symptom of her boredom. Then Gustav appears: older, perceptive, attentive. And French. He’s her way out, she thinks. But more than that, a chance to be creative again: to become someone new. How to be a French Girl is a fierce, disturbing and funny debut novel about desire, art and what we’ll risk to change ourselves.

Cake donations
Everything is always even better with cake and many thanks to you lovely people who bake for us each month. If you’re happy to bring something along next week just reply to this email to let us know so that we have some idea how much to expect. 

Things to bring
As usual, donations for the food bank, raffle and  swapsie table are always very welcome. 

What a very serious newsletter this is. Not a single joke! I think the miserable weather is throwing me into the doldrums. Hopefully by next month the sun will have shone every single day and my newsletter will be so hilarious that I’ll win a Perrier Comedy Award.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week.

Much love,
Vanessa

Hello friends

Many thanks to Annabelle for running such a great meeting for us last month. I really enjoyed getting down and dirty with a stick of charcoal. Having subjected all my masterpieces to intense artistic scrutiny I’m now having some difficulty in deciding which one to submit to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Next Meeting Thursday 9th May
This month we’ll be having a games evening with an assortment of different  games to play – some sensible, some silly. This is a chance to mix and mingle and generally have some fun.

We have a number of new ladies joining us for the first time and it would be lovely to make them feel welcomed and cherished. Could I ask you all to be on the look out for new faces and to pop over and say ‘hi’? 

Mandy is bringing in a load of sunflower seeds and we’re going to be having a friendly competition to see who can grow a) the tallest sunflower and b) the one with the biggest head. (I won’t be joining in as my husband unaccountably has a fear of sunflowers. Yep, I’ve got a keeper there).

Next month
When the WI was founded over 100 years ago the aim was to educate women and to give us a voice to campaign on issues that are relevant to us. As you know, every year a different campaign is chosen and this year it’s ‘Thinking Differently: Autistic and ADHD Women and Girls’. With this in mind, Anne Gunn’s daughter Amelia is coming to talk to us on this very subject. Important and interesting stuff.

Our chosen charity 
Following the vote at the Annual Meeting last month, our charity until next April will be the Southend Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Here are all the voting results:-

Trustlinks  8
Trinity Family Centre 3
Motor Neurone Disease Association  9
Southend in Sight  10
British Heart Foundation  2
Southend RNLI   14
10th Leigh Rangers and Guides  3

Cake donations
Many thanks to everyone who baked a cake for us last month. It was a top spread! If you’re happy to bring something this month just reply to this email to let us know. Thanks in advance.

Things to bring
As usual, donations for the food bank, raffle and  swapsie table are always very welcome.

Think that’s everything

Much love

Vanessa

Hello friends

I’m back! Following a fabulous three week adventure travelling around Vietnam I’ve wrested the newsletter back from Sally Ann and Mandy. Thanks to them for a job well done. It sounds like I missed a really fun meeting last month too.

Next Meeting Thursday 11th April
This should be a corker. As well as our usual AGM stuff, which we usually get polished off in about ten minutes flat, we’re going to be having a life drawing class (although I’m reliably informed that the model will actually be wearing some clothes) led by one of our past members, the lovely Annabelle Brotherton.  No drawing ability needed whatsoever but you never know, you might surprise yourself. We’re going to be working in charcoal which can be a little dusty, so you might want to bring an apron, or at least not dress head to toe in white.

Renewals
Subs need to be paid this month to secure your membership and stop us from giving your place to one of the eager ladies on the waiting list. You can pay by card at the meeting but it’s far easier for Mary if you do it by bank transfer. The fee this year is £48 for single membership and £23.60 for dual membership. Our bank details are unchanged. 

Cake donations
Anybody fancy baking a cake for us? You can claim back for the ingredients. Just reply to this email if you’re happy to help.

Charity vote
If you can’t make the meeting next week but would still like the chance to register your vote from our list of nominated charities, just reply to this email and Mandy will send you a voting slip.

Things to bring
As usual, donations for the food bank, raffle and swapsie table are always very welcome.

Think that’s everything

Much love

Vanessa

Hi my WI lovelies, 

I am sure that you all enjoyed our February inspirational speakers, Lucy Hodges (award-winning world champion sailor, mentor and disability sports ambassador) & Daryl Sholem (Lucy’s sighted co sailor & RNLI volunteer). I thought that I was a busy woman but Lucy made me seem bone idle in comparison.

Next Meeting – Thursday 14th March
As Easter is fast approaching we thought we’d have a bit of seasonal fun this month .. all you need to know is it’ll involve cake, craft & creativity!  I can tell you that there will be a prize for the winning team however. Please also bring a hard boiled egg (shell on, it’s not a snack!). 

Charity nominations
We will be voting for our charity of the year at our AGM next month in April, so if you have a cause that is close to your heart that you would like to be considered, please let us know by replying to this email and providing a brief description of your charity to be included on the voting slip. Closing date is 31st March. 

Renewals
Subs for the next year are due in April and can be paid any time now, either by bank transfer or by card at the next meeting; bank transfer is preferable to save Mary spending all night using the card machine. The fee this year is £48 for single membership and £23.60 for dual membership. Our bank details are unchanged.

If you’re not renewing this year, we’d be grateful if you can let us know by replying to this email and we can then offer your place to one of the ladies on the waiting list. 

Donations
Please remember that at each meeting the following are always welcomed:

Food Bank items
Raffle prizes
Cake for the meeting
Items for the swapsie table

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 14th.

Much love,

Sally Ann
(Sent on behalf of Vanessa who is away on a superb holiday).