Newsletters

Hello friends

Seems like ages since I’ve seen you all! Hope your Summer has been fabulous.

Next meeting Thursday September 10th

Our treasurer Mary is not just a whizz with figures but also an extraordinarily talented watercolour artist (she modestly protests that I shouldn’t big her up too much as she’s very rusty, but I’ve seen her paintings and I was gobsmacked!). For our next meeting she’s going to be letting us loose with the paint brushes to unleash our inner Monets and Manets. If you already have your own paints, brushes and palettes, could you bring them along please? We do have some to share but more is always better. An old cup for water and a plate or saucer for paint would do too.

Upcoming meetings

October. Author evening with local writer Lizzie Page, talking about her latest book ‘The Airline Girl’.

November Christmas crafting

December The WosWI Christmas Panto. (Oh no it isn’t!)

January Two Atlantic rowers will be sharing their experiences

February James Hillery from Great British Bake Off is coming to talk (and bring biscuits!!)

Quiz

Our quizzes are always great fun, as well as being a really good way to raise money for our charity. The next one will be November 20th at St Edmunds Hall.  £40 for a table of 8 or £5 per person. Reservations now open.

Much love

Vanessa

Hello friends

I was sorry to miss last month’s meeting all about bees as I’m told it was brilliant.

Next meeting Thursday July 9th

Last month was educational, this month is straight up fun! We’re going to be throwing a race night, with the chance to place your bets (not actual money, although that would probably be a good way to swell the WoSWI coffers!) and cheer on your favourite on the big screen. Let’s get into the spirit by wearing our fancy hats or fascinators. A prize for the best one.

So many thanks to the lovely members who bake cakes for us. Looking forward to seeing what we get this time! Raffle prizes would be very welcome too.

Upcoming meetings

August We never have a formal meeting in August, instead organising some sort of outdoor get together. This month we’re planning a picnic on the beach at 6.30pm on August 13th (details will be on Facebook nearer the time). Hopefully it won’t rain on us this year!

September. Water colour painting with our Mary

October. Author evening with local writer Lizzie Page, talking about her latest book ‘The Airline Girl’.

November Christmas crafting

December Still in the planning stage but unless you all beg me not to, I’ll probably cook for you again.

January Two Atlantic rowers will be speaking

February James Hillery from Great British Bake Off is coming to talk (and bring biscuits!!)

Quiz

Our quizzes are always great fun, as well as being a really good way to raise money for our charity. The next one will be November 20th at St Edmunds Hall. We’re giving you plenty of notice so put it in your diary now! £40 for a table of 8 or £5 per person. Reservations now open.

Craft Group

The craft group met at my house in Rayleigh tonight. Lots of people are away but we had seven of us gathering together for knitting, stitching, nattering and cake consuming. The next one will be on August 6th.

See you next week

Much love

Vanessa

Hello friends

Next meeting Thursday June 11th

Stuart and Helen, local bee keepers, are coming to tell us about the practise of apiary. (Look at me with my posh words!) As we all know, bees need flowers, so we have a gift of some bee bombs for you to take away and plant. We’ll also be having a plant exchange, so if you have any left over seedlings etc please bring them along.

Upcoming meetings

July This was supposed to be water colour painting with Mary but she has a big birthday in July and is going to be busy organising all her festivities. We’ve moved her back to September and instead we’re going to be having a race night! Dig out your big hats!

August We never have a formal meeting in August, instead organising some sort of outdoor get together. We’re thinking of a beach gathering but this is still a work in progress.

September. The aforementioned Mary

October. Author evening with local writer Lizzie Page, talking about her latest book ‘The Airline Girl’.

November Christmas crafting

December Still in the planning stage but unless you all beg me not to, I’ll probably cook for you again.

January Two Atlantic rowers will be speaking

February James Hillery from Great British Bake Off is coming to talk (and bring biscuits!!)

Annual Meeting 2026

I’ve been in full WI mode today as the delegate for four local WIs at the Annual Meeting. This year it was conducted on Zoom so instead of sitting all alone on my laptop all day I went to the watch party at Essex HQ in Hatfield Peverel. It was my job to collect and register the resolution votes from our group of WIs. The first was on the reinstatement of public toilets, particularly accessible ones, which are in sharp decline. This was carried by 95%. The second was action on female homelessness, which was carried by 93%. Both of these will be the focus of the WIs campaigning efforts in the coming year. Apart from this we had three speakers; Jane Goodall’s right hand woman (it was supposed to be Jane herself but sadly she passed away), a professor of astronomy talking about some old planet or other (I may have nodded off!) and a really inspiring talk from Ann Todd who founded Starling Bank.

Craft Group

After a bit of a gap while we explored potential places to meet it’s been decided to hold it at my house for the time being. The advantage of this is that it’s completely free! The next meeting will be on Thursday July 2nd at 7pm. Bring any craft you like, within reason. Yes to sewing, drawing and knitting. No to blacksmithing, glassblowing and pottery!

I’m not going to be at the next meeting as I’m off to Kefalonia in the morning. What with me being ill and missing last month’s meeting you’ve probably all forgotten what I look like!

Vanessa

Hello friends

Next meeting Thursday May 14th

Back by popular demand, Gavin, who did our Tai Chi session last year, is coming to lead us through a meditation session. We’ve been asked to wear comfortable clothing and flat shoes so it looks like it isn’t just sitting cross legged on the floor chanting ‘om’

Upcoming Meetings

June. A local bee keeper will be speaking.

July. Our treasurer Mary is also a very talented watercolour artist and she will be leading a painting session for us to unleash our inner artist.

September. We’re planning a rotating board game evening so we can mix and mingle and get to know each other better.

October. Author evening with local writer Lizzie Page, talking about her latest book ‘The Airline Girl’.

November Christmas crafting

Our charity for this year

The winner of the vote is the Lady McAdden Breast Cancer Trust. They have already written to us to say how delighted they are that we’ve chosen them and they’ve offered to come and speak if we would like that.

See you Thursday

Much love

Vanessa

Hello friends

Next meeting Thursday April 9th

Did you know that singing is really good for you? Apparently, it offers significant mental and physical health benefits by reducing stress hormones like cortisol, releasing feel-good endorphins/oxytocin, and boosting immunity. It improves respiratory function, heart rate, and posture, while also enhancing mental well-being, boosting confidence, and supporting cognitive function.

Ever keen to look after you, our lovely members, this month we’ll be having a singing workshop, led by our Helen Greensill. It’s also our Annual Meeting, where we’ll be swearing in the new President (who on Earth will that be, I wonder?!) and committee, and choosing our charity for the year.

Upcoming Meetings

May – Meditation workshop with Gavin (who did the Tai Chi session with us)

June – We have a change of programme and a local bee keeper will be coming to talk to us.

July – Our treasurer Mary is also a very talented watercolour artist and she will be leading a painting session for us to unleash our inner artist.

September – We’re planning a rotating board game evening so we can mix and mingle and get to know each other better.

October – Author evening with local writer Lizzie Page

Guest fees

The fee for a guest to attend one of our  meetings hasn’t gone up for ages so the committee has decided that from April onwards it will go up by a pound to £6.

Sub group report

The walking group will be visiting the bluebells at Gusted Hall on April 12th.

The theatre group has trips to see ‘All Our Sons’ on April 16th, ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ on June 29th and ‘Sh*t faced Shakespeare’ on November 17th.

The craft group is still discussing possible venues.

All sub groups are run on WhatsApp so reply to this email if you would like to be added to a group. Or indeed to set up a new group yourself.

Looking forward to singing with you on Thursday.

Much love

Vanessa

Hello to all you lovely lot

Wasn’t Tony a fabulous Maggie last month? Entertaining but also informative. Following your enthusiastic feedback we’ll definitely be getting him back in the future.

Next meeting Thursday March 12th

The ceramicist Victoria Carlin will be coming to tell us about her acclaimed exhibition, in which she works with women of all shapes and sizes, casting parts of their bodies to create beautiful pieces of art.

Upcoming Meetings

April Singing workshop and AGM

May Meditation workshop with Gavin (who did the Tai Chi session with us)

June. We have a speaker from STARS – the Southend Treatment and Recovery Service –  that provides support for people who are experiencing challenges either with their own use of drugs and/or alcohol, or with that of a significant other.

July. Our treasurer Mary is also a very talented watercolour artist and she will be leading a painting session for us to unleash our inner artist.

Subs and renewing membership

Subs are now due. The full membership fee for 2026/27 is £54 and the multi member fee is £27.10.

If at all possible, please would you pay by bank transfer as this avoids us having to spend your money on SumUp fees.

You will have received an email from Mandy with the new membership form. If this isn’t filled in then you can’t renew your membership so please find the email and do it now, before (if you’re anything like me) you completely forget and leave poor Mandy tearing her hair out, having to chase everybody up.

Charity Nominations

You have until the end of March to nominate your favourite charity to be the recipient of our fundraising efforts over the next year. Please drop us an email with a brief description and then Mandy will put together a voting slip for the April AGM .

Guest fees

The fee for a guest to attend one of our meetings hasn’t gone up for ages so the committee has decided that from April onwards it will go up by a pound to £6.

Sub group report

The walking group will be visiting the bluebells at Gusted Hall on April 12th.

The theatre group has trips to see ‘All Our Sons’ on April 16th, ‘Double indemnity’ on March 31st and ‘Sh*t faced Shakespeare’ on November 17th.

The craft group is still discussing possible venues.

I am going to step down from organising the keen cooks club as there aren’t enough people who can all make the same evening for it to be viable.

I won’t be at the next meeting as I’m having a hip replacement tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Vanessa

Hello friends

Oh dear, forgot to send the newsletter last week! Many apologies.

Next meeting Thursday February 12th

Our meeting this week should be a lot of fun as the actor Tony Harris will be transforming himself into Margaret Thatcher and talking about her life. We all voted on which character we wanted him to portray and – to my horror, as a lifelong leftie – Maggie was the winner. We could have had Henry Vlll, but, oh no, Maggie it is. I’m not bitter…

Cakes

The very least you can do to console me for my disappointment is bring cake! All donations are most gratefully received.

Future meetings

March The ceramicist Victoria Carlin will be talking about her exhibition featuring casts made of women’s bodies.

April Singing workshop and AGM

May Meditation workshop with Gavin (who did the Tai Chi session with us)

June We have a speaker from STARS – the Southend Treatment and Recovery Service –  that provides support for people who are experiencing challenges either with their own use of drugs and/or alcohol, or with that of a significant other.

July We are currently looking at organising a watercolour painting session

Looking forward to your lovely company on Thursday.

Vanessa

Hello friends

Happy new year to you all!

Next meeting January 8th

This month a trained first aider is coming along to equip us with the knowledge we need to save a life, should we have the misfortune to be called upon in an emergency. He’ll be covering things like choking and heart attacks and will be showing us how to use a defibrillator. He also has baby, child and adult mannequins for us to practice our CPR. Hopefully we’ll never need to use any of these skills but it’s definitely best to be prepared.

Coming Up in 2026

February A very entertaining actor is coming to amuse and educate us, in the guise of Maggie Thatcher

March The ceramacist Victoria Carlin will be talking about her exhibition featuring casts made of women’s bodies.

April Singing workshop and AGM

May Meditation workshop with Gavin (who did the Tai Chi session with us)

June. We have a speaker from STARS – the Southend Treatment and Recovery Service –  that provides support for people who are experiencing challenges either with their own use of drugs and/or alcohol, or with that of a significant other.

Sub group news

The next meeting of the Keen Cook’s Club is on January 15th at 7pm. We’re going to be making choux pastry.

The theatre group’s off to see the classic noir thriller ‘Double Indemnity’ at the Palace theatre on March 31st.

The walking group is doing a woods walk on Wednesday, followed by a cream tea, and will be meeting again on January 24th at 11am.

The book group will be getting together on January 12th to discuss ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ by Amor Towles (my favourite book of 2025).

All our sub groups are run by WhatsApp so if you would like to be added to any of them, reply to this email or speak to a committee member on Thursday.

Unwanted gift auction

Got given something that doesn’t hit the mark? Gobsmacked at the peculiar things your nearest and dearest think you might need in your life? One woman’s tatt is another woman’s treasure so bring in your unwanted gifts and I’ll auction them off for our charity. And don’t forget the swapsie table for used things like books and jigsaws. And donations for the food bank.

Looking forward to your lovely company

Vanessa

Hello friends

Welcome to the last newsletter of 2025. Where has the year gone? I swear the older I get the quicker the time goes. I may have written about this before but a friend once told me that you measure time in new experiences. When you are young, and everything is new, time stretches on forever. As you age though it becomes harder to find new things to do and time concertinas in on itself. This is one of the many reasons I love the WI and all the different activities it brings me.

Christmas meeting December 11th

This year I’m going to be cooking us all a three course meal! Really importantly you need to bring a knife, fork and spoon. If you forget I’ll have some bamboo forks on standby but they aren’t all that pleasant to use. We’ll also be doing a Secret Santa; gifts to the value of about a fiver. This is a good time to be donning your party attire -the sparklier the better.

Next year

January CPR and first aid training.

February A very entertaining actor is coming to amuse and educate us and last month we had a vote as to which persona we would like him to adopt. The votes were Churchill 5, Shakespeare 5, Henry Vlll 11 and Margaret Thatcher 14. Thatcher it is then. (My mind is aboggling as to how he’s going to do this!).

March The ceramacist Victoria Carlin will be talking about her exhibition featuring casts made of women’s bodies.

April Singing workshop and AGM.

May By popular request, meditation with Gavin (who did the Tai Chi session with us).

Carol Concert

Many thanks to Katherine, Sally, Sue and Chris for baking cakes and serving tea with me at the carol concert on Wednesday. Also thanks to Tessa for dropping off some delicious brownies. It was a lot of fun and we made £125 to swell our coffers.

Sub group updates

The next meeting of the Keen Cook’s Club is on January 15th at 7pm.

The walking group had a lovely trip to Glow at Hyde Hall last night and will be meeting again on January 24th at 11am.

Dates for other groups coming soon.

Do let us know if you would like to be added to a group or have an idea for a new one.

Volunteer Delegate needed

The NFWI annual meeting is June 4th 2026 and it’s our turn to provide a delegate on behalf of the four local WIs in our group. You won’t need to go anywhere as it’s being conducted virtually. Your duties will be to listen in, vote on the resolutions on behalf of our group, and provide a short written report. People have to pay to be part of the meeting (they usually have some very interesting speakers) but you will get a free ticket. If you’d like to be our delegate please reply to this email.

WI announcement

You may have already seen the news that the WI has made the decision to no longer accept trans gender members. Here is a link to the press release they sent out.

https://www.thewi.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases#:~:text=We%20remain%20clear%20that%20our,remain%20part%20of%20that%20family.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday. If you won’t be joining us may I wish you a very happy Christmas and hope it’s everything you would like it to be.

Much love

Vanessa

Hello ladies,

Many thanks to Asha for planning and delivering a very engaging talk on Diwali last month. The snacks were delicious and I particularly enjoyed Asha’s fabulous dance moves. She clearly put a lot of effort into entertaining us and it paid off.

November 13th meeting
We have a Christmas themed crafting evening planned and will be making some very cute macrame Santa hanging decorations. There will also be the return of our popular shopping stalls, with a variety of local talented people selling their wares. Please remember to bring some cash for shopping as it’s possible not all sellers will take cards.

Essex Federation Carol Concert 3rd December
The Essex Federation annual carol concert is being held at the Kings Road United Reformed church in Westcliff this year and we’ve volunteered to help out with the tea and cakes. There’s a concert during the afternoon and one in the evening; we’ve been allocated the afternoon session along with the Broadway Belles WI. Thanks to everybody who has offered to bake cakes or help out on the day. More info will be forthcoming. All funds raised from the tea & cakes will be split between us and Broadway Belles. Further offers of help are very welcome!

Concert tickets can be purchased for £5 via this link.
http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/FEWI

December 11th meeting – MEMBERS ONLY

I’m going to be breaking out the slow cookers again and cooking a celebratory meal. We’re also proposing a secret Santa; spend no more than £5 on a gift but no obligation to take part. We’ll need to confirm numbers for the meal so we can cater accordingly and will need details of any special dietary needs – you can sign up at the next meeting or please reply to this email. Sorry, no guests at this meeting.

Sub-Groups

I’ve had a fabulous month with the sub groups, which are going great guns. The theatre group had a trip to London to see Minnie Driver in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ which was indeed completely brilliant. A highlight was our Sally Ann being pulled up on stage to play an austere professor. She was amazingly good. On Wednesday the walking group had a wander down the pier to see the poppies, with a bit of lunch thrown in, of course. The inaugural meeting of the Keen Cooks club was last night, with a Scandinavian theme (so delicious!), and the next meeting of the Craft Club is on the 19th. The book club is up and running too. All groups are managed via Whatsapp. Please get in touch if you’d like to be added to any of the groups, or if you’d like to start a new one.

2026

Here’s a sneak peek of the plans  so far for next year

January – First aid and CPR training from an expert

February – The extremely entertaining and amusing Tony Harris will be performing a one man show in the role of a historical character. In December we’ll be voting on who we want him to be!

March – Acclaimed ceramicist, Victoria Carlin, will be talking about her exhibition ‘Our Bodies Are One’.

April – AGM and  singing workshop

May – By popular demand, Gavin is coming back to lead us in meditation

Guests & New Members

We’re accepting new members and guests (though December meeting is for members only) but just ask that you contact one of the committee in advance so we know who to expect at the meetings and can manage our numbers. Thanks.

Have a lovely weekend and looking forward to seeing you next Thursday.

Vanessa