December and January at a Glance

Heatons W DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER AND JANUARY AT A GLANCE

Thursday, 15th December, 7.30 pm Monthly Meeting The Moor Club, For 7.45 pm start Christmas Party – Blockbuster Quiz, Secret Santa, bring Heaton Moor Road and share supper and carols sung by The Heatons WI Choir. Competition: A Christmas card, made by you. Door: Deborah Symmons, Raffle: Barbara Humpage, Refreshments: Carolyn and Ellen Wheeldon Saturday, 17th December, 10.30 am President’s Brunch Thom’s Bar, A chance to chat over a nice coffee and maybe a bacon Heaton Moor Road butty. Meet in the seats at the rear of the bar. Saturday, 17th December, 2-4 pm The Heatons WI Choir The Moor Club, All welcome, £3 per session. Heaton Moor Road Monday, 19th December, 7.30 pm Book Club Hosted by Barbara Humpage Wednesday, 4th January, Dining Group Foster’s Fish and Chips, 5.15 pm Sign-up sheet at next meeting. Didsbury Thursday, 5th January, 7.30 pm Thursday Book Club Hosted by Jane

Saturday, 7th January, 2-4 pm The Heatons WI Choir The Moor Club, All welcome, £3 per session. Heaton Moor Road Thursday, 12th January, 7.30 pm Creative Crafts Group The Moor Club, Sewing, knitting, crochet, crafting and chatting. Heaton Moor Road Thursday, 19th January, 7.30 pm Monthly Meeting The Moor Club, For 7.45 pm start “The Heatons Book”, talk by Ian Littlechild and Phil Page Heaton Moor Road Competition: A photo from the Heatons, taken by you. Presentation of cheque to representatives of SWA, our chosen charity for 2016. Door: Volunteer needed. Raffle: Volunteer needed. Refreshments: Carolyn and volunteer needed. Friday, 20th January, 2-3 pm Swimming Group The Waterside, Wilmslow First meeting. More details from Shirley Shaw Road, Didsbury ALSO Tuesday evenings, 6.30 pm Walking and Talking Group Various venues in the Details from Sue J. Heatons Alternate Wednesdays, 11 am Badminton Group Life Leisure, Broadstone Details from Shirley Shaw Mill, Reddish

Many happy returns to members who celebrate their birthday in December.

A MESSAGE FROM ANGELA

I would like to wish all our members, families and friends, peace and joy at Christmas and good health and happiness in 2017.

Angela THE HEATONS WI NEWS December Monthly Meeting

We will have a bring and share supper at the December monthly meeting. Please bring a plate with enough food for six people. Don’t forget the Secret Santa - £3 maximum spend.

2017 WI Subscriptions

Subscriptions for 2017 have been set by the NFWI at £39. Envelopes with renewal forms will be available at the sign-in desk at the December meeting and a copy of the renewal form is attached to this newsletter for those who can’t make the meeting. Full details will be available at the December meeting, including details of how to make bank transfers.

As we have a waiting list for new members, please ensure that your subscription is paid for by the 31st January 2017.

Please return the completed form and payment to Krysia at the January meeting.

WI Campaign Resolution Forms

In an article beginning on page 42 of November and December’s issue of WI Life the campaign resolutions for 2017 are outlined. Please spend a few minutes reading this article and make your vote for the resolution you would like to see being taken forward for discussion and adoption at the 2017 Annual Meeting to be held in Liverpool in June.

Please bring your completed forms to the December meeting. These will then be forwarded to Cheshire Federation for counting.

“Don’t leave it to others to have your say: they might be leaving it to you.”

County Quiz

Thank you to those members who have volunteered to represent the Heatons WI at the County Quiz. The preliminary rounds will be held in February 2017, with the final at Comberbach on the 7th April 2017. Good Luck, Ladies!

Monthly Meeting Rotas

Volunteers are very urgently needed to fill various spaces on the rota to help with the raffle, door and refreshments at our meetings. This is a great way to get to know other members. Please help by adding your name to the rota.

SOCIAL EVENTS Post Christmas Tram Trip

Lindsey is running a post-Christmas Tram Trip on Friday, 13 January 2017 to Ziferblat Cafe and the Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Meet at 10.30 am at East Didsbury tram stop. No sign up needed: just turn up.

Ziferblat is on Edge Street: Everything is free inside, except for the time you spend there, which is charged at 6p per minute. Just help yourself to drinks and snacks. Manchester Craft and Design Centre is on Oak Street and is home to 19 working studio boutiques where 35 artists, designers and craftspeople produce and sell work to the public.

Green Hearts Crafty Evening 2017 by Lindsey

A second Green Hearts Crafty Evening to support the Climate Change Coalition will take place on Thursday, 9th February at the Moor Club, starting at 7.00 pm. This will replace our normal craft meeting. There will be a £3 entry fee to cover the cost of any materials, but there is no fee for craft table helpers. Like last time and the Christmas Crafternoon, there will be separate tables with a different craft on each and participants will be invited to move round, trying different craft techniques. Some of our members have kindly offered (had their arms twisted!) to run these green heart tables using different techniques.

I need two or three more people to run a craft table each – maybe something woolly, a paper craft, embroidery or decopatch? You would need to make a sample in advance, recruit a helper for your table and write instructions for the day. Let me know if you're interested. If you would like to help with general running of the event, please let me know too. We are going to invite other local WI members to join in and are expecting around 50 people. If any of you can bring some cakes, it would be much appreciated.

You can find out more about the ideas behind the event at http://fortheloveof.org.uk/show-the-love-green-hearts/

This event is not a fund-raising event, it is to highlight the issues of climate change.

Thank you, Lindsey.

Trip to The Globe Theatre, London

There will be a sign-up sheet at the monthly meeting for initial expressions of interest.

INTEREST GROUPS Badminton Group

The badminton group meets on alternate Wednesday mornings at Life Leisure, Broadstone Mill, Reddish at 11 am.

Walking and Talking Group

The group currently meets at 6.30 pm on a Tuesday at various venues in the Heatons. If you are interested in joining this group, please speak to Sue J.

Swimming Group

The first session of the swimming group will be on Friday, 20th January 2017. Shirley has booked the pool at the Waterside (Galleon), Wilmslow Road, Didsbury (towards Cheadle) on Fridays from 2.00 to 3.00 pm. You can use as much or as little of that time as you wish. When arriving at the gym please say you are with the WI at the reception desk, where you will be issued with a better than half price pass which will give you access to the changing rooms, pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room. This is all for the bargain price of £5 per session. If you are interested in joining the swimming group, please see Shirley Shaw at the next meeting.

CHARITY NEWS

The Heatons WI 2016 Charity – Stockport without Abuse

Following the success of the Crafternoon, we will be presenting a cheque to representatives of SWA at our January monthly meeting.

We have received a thank-you card from SWA for the donations of clothes, Christmas sweets and biscuits collected at the last meeting.

Christmas Crafternoon by Chris S.

I would like to thank everyone who helped or contributed in any way to the Christmas Crafternoon. It was a great success and from the sale of tickets, the raffle and the sale of some cakes, we raised in excess of £450 for this year’s charity, Stockport Without Abuse.

49 ladies took part, including visitors from seven local WIs. There was a lovely relaxed but busy atmosphere and everyone seemed to have a great time, so much so that they didn't want to go home at the end of the afternoon!

The crafts included pompom Christmas puds and reindeer, cinnamon stick fabric Christmas trees, knitted santa hat egg cosies, Christmas cards and curled paper heart bunting. I spoke to one lady who had visited all the tables and made all five crafts but I'm not sure if many others managed to do them all.

NEWS FROM OUR NE CHESHIRE REP, LINDA McDOWELL and NEWS FROM CHESHIRE CFWI Headquarters - WI House, 11 White Friars, Chester, CH1 1NZ. Tel. 01244 347462; [email protected]

WI House will be closed for Christmas from Monday, 18th December, reopening on Tuesday, 3rd January

Christmas Cards, Calendars and Bags : CFWI Christmas cards are available at £2.50 per pack of 10 cards of the same design and there are six different designs. The CFWI 2017 calendar is priced at £3.20 and the NFWI diary available at £4.50. CFWI canvas bags priced at £4.50 make useful presents. All available from WI House.

NECG Carol Service : Tuesday, 13th December 2016, 2 pm, at All Saints Church, Cheadle Hulme. Family and friends welcome.

NECG Winter Walk : January, Lyme Park area – more details to follow.

County Walk : Wednesday, 25th January 2017. Walk from Ness Gardens, over fields onto the Wirral Way and then along the Marsh. Lunch at Net’s.

County Quiz Rounds : 20th-27th February, with the final at Comberbach on the 7th April 2017

Silver Jewellery Workshop : Saturday, 18th February, 9.30 am to 4 pm at WI House

Cheshire Federation Annual Council Meeting : Tuesday, 7th March, Winsford.

Haughton Hall Gardens : 18th May. Situated between Bunbury and Faddiley, Haughton Hall is a hidden gem, made famous as he home of Frances Barden, played by Samantha Bond in “Home Fires”. In memory of Mrs. Joyce Dean who was Founder President of Haughton WI, her great nephew and his wife, Phillip and Becky Posnett, have invited members of Cheshire Federation of WIs to an Open Garden Day. Tickets £5, or £9 with packed lunch. More details to follow.

Royal Cheshire Show : Tuesday and Wednesday, 20th and 21st June 2017.

Wigs and Wellies : 21st to 24th July, Camping weekend at Linnet Clough. See Tiff or Lindsey for more details.

Cheshire Federation Autumn Meeting : Tuesday, 3rd October 2017.

Cheshire Denman Taster Weekend : 22nd-23rd October 2017. More details available soon.

NFWI NEWS 2017 NFWI AGM

Next year’s AGM will take place on Wednesday, 7th June in Liverpool.

MEMBERS’ NOTICE BOARD If you have a notice you would like to be included in the Members’ Notice Board section of the newsletter, or know of any local events other members might be interested in please send details to Sally at [email protected]

A message from the RSPB by Linda McD

"Can you help us stamp out albatross deaths? Each year, 100,000 albatrosses are caught by fishing hooks and drowned. Thankfully, solutions exist and by donating your used stamps you can help fund our work to save these magnificent birds."

The RSPB are working with fishermen in priority areas to provide workable and sustainable solutions and training to eliminate bycatch deaths. Please save your used stamps, ideally with no more than a quarter of an inch border. They will be sent to the RSPB to help with this work.

I thought that as we are no longer collecting them for WI we could put them to good use for another cause. Please let me have your used stamps at the monthly meetings.

Many thanks, Linda.

Food Bank Collections

Each month Esther and Janet will collect donations for the Fallowfield and Withington Foodbank. (More information about the foodbank’s work and the Trussell Trust can be found at www.fallowfieldwithington.foodbank.org.uk). Donations of items such as cereal, tinned food, long-life milk, ladies’ toiletries, sweet treats, etc., can be brought to our monthly meetings for delivery to the foodbank.

Tweet from Fallowfield Foodbank : @TheHeatonsWI a huge thank you for the Christmas chocolates so generously donated yesterday we appreciate your ongoing support.

GENERAL NOTICES

Monthly Meetings

Could we ask that the ladies who are on door and raffle duty arrive at the Moor Club by 7 pm, please?

A gentle reminder: Please make sure your mobile phones are switched off at the start of the meeting and, please, no chatting when the Chair or anyone else is speaking.

The Moor Club it is situated on Heaton Moor Road, opposite Boots Chemist, on the ground floor of the building, accessed by the middle front door. We meet from 7.30 pm with a prompt start at 7.45 pm. We pay 50p on the door to contribute to the cost of the cakes and ingredients and separately for our own tea or coffee – 50p for a cup and 75p for a mug. A full bar service will be available during the tea break.

November Meeting Report

The November competition for the best cheesecake was won by Jane, Lindsey came second and Pat McG third. Refreshments: £23.50; Raffle: £25.50; ACWW: £2.60. Foreign coins – yet to be converted into Sterling.

ACWW (Associated Country Women of the World)

Donations of small change are collected at each monthly meeting at the sign-in desk. Details of ACWW’s work can be found www.acww.org.uk. Please note that stamps are no longer collected.

Name Badges

Name badges are now available for all members. See Sally to collect yours.

The Heatons WI Mugs

If you haven’t received a centenary mug, please speak to Sally. This especially applies to ladies who joined The Heatons WI in the past year. Spare mugs are on sale at £8 from Sally.

Foreign Coins

Don’t forget to bring any foreign coins you may have to our monthly meetings to be changed into sterling for our benefit.

Suggestions Book

The suggestions book is available at all meetings for your comments and suggestions about anything Heatons WI-related.

The Heatons WI Committee Members:

Angela Britland, President; Sally Stelfox, Vice-President and Publicity; Susan Johnson, Secretary; Krysia Kaczmarska, Treasurer; Suze Appleton, IT Support; Karen Catchpole, Meeting and Social Secretary; Linda McDowell, NE Cheshire Representative; Liz Robertson, Assistant Treasurer; Carolyn Rowe, Catering and Competitions; Chris Stables, Craft Co-ordinator;