In this section, you can read about any news relating to the Forest Group, CFWI or NFWI.
Tuesday 3rd October 2023 CFWI Autumn Meeting at Storyhouse, Chester
Storyhouse is a wonderful venue for our meeting and we were made very welcome, with lots of helpful people to show us to our seats. A slide show of photographs from the Summer Scavenger Hunt was projected onto the screen, including two shots of Kelsall WI: Dorothy and Fiona with top hats by the post box, and all of us at our 90th celebration at Nunsmere Hall.
The meeting began, as you might expect, with the singing of Jerusalem. We were accompanied by a recording of organ and many voices (Albert Hall AGM possibly?) and we sounded great. In her introduction, Chair Selina Prescott invited members to think about fellow members on the Wirral who had been affected by the tragic school bus accident on the M53.
We were then introduced to our first speaker of the day, having been promised that this was a purely social event and there would be no business. Karin Snape decided to celebrate her retirement by walking from Land's End to John O'Groats, dressed in a dog suit and carrying a bucket, to raise funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Karin is a puppy walker for the organisation and she was accompanied by her guide dog puppy Elaine, who lay quietly at Karin's feet throughout her talk. The walk of nearly 1,000 miles took Karin two months and Karin was helped along the way by many, many acts of kindness and generosity. Fellow WI members offered meals and accommodation, a stranger took Karin for a coffee and left £20 with the cafe owner to make sure Karin was well fed before she moved on, and a policeman gave Karin a lift to the canal so she could walk along the towpath instead of along a dangerous, busy road. By the end of the walk Karin had raised over £25,000 but she hopes this amount will rise to £30,000.
Our second speaker, Debra Drake, was a familiar face to devotees of The Great British Sewing Bee, as she was a finalist in last year's competition. It was very interesting to hear about behind the scenes,. The sewers, or sewists as Debra referred to them, had to undergo sixteen interviews by telephone, online and in person, before being chosen and then they had to keep it a secret for months. The series is filmed over two months and for most of that time the contenstants are away from their families. It is clearly a commitment not to be taken lightly. Debra brought along most of the garments that she made on the show, including her "garments of the week".
After lunch our final speaker was Philippa Forrester who was clearly well know to most people but not to me. Philippa has presented television and radio shows and is an author, conservationist and storyteller. Philippa spoke about her love of animals and how they have played such an important role in her life. She is particularly fond of wolves and has recently written a book entitled "On the Trail of Wolves".
Having been promised no businesses, we were then introduced to all the Trustees because a member of the audience wanted to know who they were.
Words: Heather Leather
Storyhouse is a wonderful venue for our meeting and we were made very welcome, with lots of helpful people to show us to our seats. A slide show of photographs from the Summer Scavenger Hunt was projected onto the screen, including two shots of Kelsall WI: Dorothy and Fiona with top hats by the post box, and all of us at our 90th celebration at Nunsmere Hall.
The meeting began, as you might expect, with the singing of Jerusalem. We were accompanied by a recording of organ and many voices (Albert Hall AGM possibly?) and we sounded great. In her introduction, Chair Selina Prescott invited members to think about fellow members on the Wirral who had been affected by the tragic school bus accident on the M53.
We were then introduced to our first speaker of the day, having been promised that this was a purely social event and there would be no business. Karin Snape decided to celebrate her retirement by walking from Land's End to John O'Groats, dressed in a dog suit and carrying a bucket, to raise funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Karin is a puppy walker for the organisation and she was accompanied by her guide dog puppy Elaine, who lay quietly at Karin's feet throughout her talk. The walk of nearly 1,000 miles took Karin two months and Karin was helped along the way by many, many acts of kindness and generosity. Fellow WI members offered meals and accommodation, a stranger took Karin for a coffee and left £20 with the cafe owner to make sure Karin was well fed before she moved on, and a policeman gave Karin a lift to the canal so she could walk along the towpath instead of along a dangerous, busy road. By the end of the walk Karin had raised over £25,000 but she hopes this amount will rise to £30,000.
Our second speaker, Debra Drake, was a familiar face to devotees of The Great British Sewing Bee, as she was a finalist in last year's competition. It was very interesting to hear about behind the scenes,. The sewers, or sewists as Debra referred to them, had to undergo sixteen interviews by telephone, online and in person, before being chosen and then they had to keep it a secret for months. The series is filmed over two months and for most of that time the contenstants are away from their families. It is clearly a commitment not to be taken lightly. Debra brought along most of the garments that she made on the show, including her "garments of the week".
After lunch our final speaker was Philippa Forrester who was clearly well know to most people but not to me. Philippa has presented television and radio shows and is an author, conservationist and storyteller. Philippa spoke about her love of animals and how they have played such an important role in her life. She is particularly fond of wolves and has recently written a book entitled "On the Trail of Wolves".
Having been promised no businesses, we were then introduced to all the Trustees because a member of the audience wanted to know who they were.
Words: Heather Leather
FOREST GROUP Spring Meeting is on Monday 24th April in Tarporley Community Centre at 7.30pm. The speaker is Alice Robinson, fashion designer and exhibitor at the V and A. Anne will be selling tickets at our April meeting. Marie was very lucky at the meeting as she won a beautiful flower arrangement, made by a member of Utkinton WI, she thinks. And here is a photo to show it off!.......
CFWI Environment/Climate. CFWI Climate Ambassadors will be holding a Green Dot Day on Saturday 22nd April at WI House. There will be workshops, demonstrations and lots of ideas. |
FOREST GROUP Autumn Meeting will be held on Monday 16th October in Tarporley Community Centre in the afternoon. The speaker will be Jonathan Fell, Managing Director of the Ice Cream Farm.
FOREST GROUP Carol Service will be held on Monday 4th December in St. Peter's Church, Little Budworth.
FOREST GROUP Carol Service will be held on Monday 4th December in St. Peter's Church, Little Budworth.