Guarlford Women's Institute
News3rd May 2010The heavy snowfalls earlier this year did not affect our meetings, as in January we do not meet in the Village Hall but instead have Sunday lunch with our family and friends. We met for a delicious lunch at The White Lion in Upton-upon-Severn. The speakers in February and March were local ladies who were both enthusiasts in their own fields, able to convey to their listeners an appreciation of their very different lifestyles. In February we were treated to a series of stories told with lively humour, when we heard how the local prize-winning Grange Farm Nursery was set up by one of our members and her friend, using the original farm buildings, where the pair had kept a mix of farm animals. The March meeting was entitled "A Life In Stitches", and not only did Mrs Lynch tell us about her life as a talented craftswoman with her needle, beginning from learning to sew with her grandmother, but we were encouraged to touch and examine all the lovely work of all kinds which she had brought with her. We saw embroideries of all kinds and a beautifully dressed bisque doll (made by Mrs Lynch), as well as photographs of exhibitions. On March 24th eight members attended the Worcestershire Federation Spring Council Meeting at the Three Counties Showground and enjoyed hearing reports from various people, including Karen Tomalin of Second Skin Lingerie, who told us about her fundraising appeal for the Worcester Breast Unit. 1200 bras were donated that day, and our afternoon speaker, Bob Flowerdew, was greeted by hundreds of members waving bras in the air for a 'photo-shoot'! Bob was an excellent speaker and entertained the audience with his ideas in gardening. Running alongside the Council meeting was a Home Economics Rally, and Guarlford W I scored a very pleasing 103 points out of 120 for our display on the Rally theme of "All things bright & beautiful", with an embroidered bag, flower arrangement, photograph and marmalade. At our meeting in April Mrs Allcock led us in a demonstration of Tai Chi, much enjoyed by members and accompanied by haunting music. The library of books and audiotapes continues to be popular with members, who in exchange for borrowing items donate money to ACWW's Pennies for Friendship campaign for fresh water. The Walking Group has resumed now that the ice, snow and muddy tracks have gone (we hope!), and the Skittles Team have completed their matches with a creditable set of victories plus enjoyable meetings with other WIs this season. Mrs Adams came to talk to us about Project Linus UK at a special meeting in the afternoon of April 19th. Project Linus donates homemade patchwork quilts and knitted blankets to sick and traumatised children and teenagers, and there were many samples of the patchwork comfort quilts for us to see. Members have been fired with enthusiasm to create our own donations! It was lovely also to see Mrs Adams' own work, including a special quilt made not for Project Linus but for her daughter's 21st birthday. You can read more about Project Linus UK on www.projectlinusuk.org.uk On May 11th we shall have our Resolutions Meeting, discussing the one resolution presented to us for discussion about the clear and mandatory labelling of food with the country of origin etc. This will be followed by a discussion with a WI Judge, who will give us tips on how to prepare our entries for our own Produce & Craft Show in September. If you are interested in any of our activities, do please contact us via the Guarlford village website.
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