Face to face meeting...
THINGS have been moving apace at Thorpe Acre WI. Firstly, we have booked our first face to face or mask to mask meeting on September 14 at 7.30pm at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall.
Secondly, we would like to welcome Rachel and Jennie who have joined us over the last two months. I hope they’re not too disappointed when they meet us en masse.
We have been practicing socialising by having our monthly coffee mornings at a range of venues. In June we met up at either the café in Queen’s Park or in the garden at Sue Y’s or on Zoom hosted by Sue W. In July the out/indoor venue was T and C’s. Twenty eight of us attended various Tea Parties hosted by a Committee member in celebration of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the NHS. The company was convivial, the weather was clement, the tea flowed and the cakes, well….. Who could ask for anything more!
In June, Mark temple, a member of the John Betjeman Society gave us an insight into ‘ The life and Rhymes of John Betjeman’. John Betjeman, an only child, was born 1906. After attending several prestigious schools he went onto Oxford University. He was taught by T.S. Eliot and C. S. Lewis and knew Louis McNeice and Antony Blunt. He started his working life as a journalist and in 1927 published his first set of poems. Over his lifetime he showed himself to be a man of many talents writing books on Architecture and contributing to the motoring magazine ‘Shell Guide to the Country side’. He went into television making programmes such as ‘Discovering Britain’, ’Metroland’ and ‘Birds Eye view’. There were lots of oohs and aahs and ”I remember that” when Mark showed clips of these programmes. Although he died in 1984, his stately form can be seen today at St Pancras Station where he was instrumental in saving the St Pancras Hotel from demolition. It was a really interesting talk especially the walk down memory lane. Zoom proved its worth that evening as Mark was on holiday in Cornwall!
Proving that the WI takes a holistic approach to life we moved from Betjeman in June to Bath Bombs in July! Sarah Purdie was asked very nicely by her mum, if she would show us how she made her beauty products. Luckily Sarah agreed and we had a fascinating demonstration of how lockdown has enabled a hobby to develop into a small business. She concentrated on her Scrub Soap Bars made from essential oils, soap flakes and slices of loofah and Bath Bombs made from essential oils, bicarbonate of soda and citric acid. There is a list of ingredients and a recipe for each product (sounding familiar?). All the ingredients have to come from designated suppliers and each recipe has to be sent to a certified chemist for approval. Before being able to sell the product all this information must be uploaded onto a Government portal. Everyone was so impressed with Sarah’s demonstration that she’s been invited to bring along some of her products to our December’s meeting. Oh no, not Christmas already!
At the same meeting Ruth gave her delegate’s report of the online NFWI Annual Meeting. She found all the speakers, The Duchess of Wessex, Dame Cressida Dick and Baroness Hale of Richmond, very interesting. After some discussion the resolution on Ovarian Cancer was passed. She thought that it was a very well run meeting despite the internet going down for a period of time.
This sentiment was echoed by several members who had seen the online proceedings post event.
At 7.30pm, on August 10, we will be meeting up via Zoom. Sue W has offered to find out what else was happening on the day that members were born. This should prove fascinating. If you would like to participate you would be most welcome to bring along your own alternative birthday event. You can find us by going to the Thorpe Acre WI website. Hope to see you soon. PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY PRESSREADER PressReader.com +1 604 278 4604 . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY . ORIGINAL COPY ORIGINAL COPY COPYRIGHT AND PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW