Welcome to London West End WI

Monday 14 May 2012

LWWI Dates for the Diary - May 2012

Hello Ladies

Goodness can it really be May already. Summer seems to be around the corner.
Am watching Planet Earth Live and struck by how life is always evolving and milestones and moments in human life resemble those found in nature.
Kate and I were discussing the other day how life teaches us interesting lessons which at the time we don't understand why we are experiencing certains situations.Some one said to me the bumps are the rocks we climb on. Watching Planet Earth Live I am struck by how salient this simple sentence is.

We hope to see many of you at our May meeting, full details directly below

As always if you wish to get in touch please do so via londonwestendwi@gmail.com

We are heartily planning a day trip or two for 2012 so watch this space for details.

See you all on May 15th 2012

LWWI



May - London Westend WI monthly meeting event information
- May 15th 2012

Knowing Me Knowing You (Aha!)

What makes us women? Why do some of us identify better with men? And why do some men enjoy wearing angora sweaters?  This Tuesday the 15th Dr Kenneth Demsky will be joining us to speak about gender and the many fascinating issues surrounding it.
Do come join us for a glass of wine and a lively discussion on what makes us tick!

(Questions / queries can be submitted anonymously in writing to Dr Demsky before the meeting – paper & pencils supplied)

Pls do come along, we will be in the Upper Vestry as usual. Pls feel free to bring along refreshments to share with other meeting attendees.

WI AGM Resolution Ratification at LWWI meeting on May 15th
Dear All

Jenny, who is the LWEWI rep at the AGM on 30th May, will need 5 minutes at the start of the meeting on Tuesday to confirm our support of this year's key resolution which the NFWI will adopt if ratified.

Employment of More Midwives
There is a chronic shortage of midwives. The NFWI calls on the Government to increase investment in the training, employment and retention of midwives in England and Wales to ensure services are adequately resourced and are able to deliver a high standard of care.

The info I received from Ruth re the AGM refers to me as a Link Delegate which means I vote on behalf of other WI's, but as this has not been mentioned to me I assume I represent only ours?

I plan to be at the June meeting to report back on the AGM. Many thanks!

Take care
Jenny


The Wizard of Oz at The London Palladium theatre ticket offer        
£22.50WI Groups 10+ SeniorsWednesday Matinees 2.30pmTop Stalls & Dress Circle seats(reduced from £65) 

Also available..£29.50Groups 10+  (any age - why not bring your family & friends !)Wednesday 2.30pm & Sunday Matinees 3pm  
'We're off to see...'

The most magical adventure of them all.

Follow the yellow brick road over the rainbow and into the London Palladium, the capital's home of the family musical. Currently starring Russell Grant as the Wizard for a limited 12 week season, and Sophie Evans as Dorothy.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit production of The Wizard of Oz is an enchanting adaptation of the all-time classic, totally reconceived for the stage by the award-winning creative team that delighted audiences of all ages with their recent London Palladium revival of The Sound of Music.

Developed from the ever popular MGM screenplay this new production contains all the much-loved songs from the Oscar winning movie score, all the favourite characters and iconic moments, plus a few surprises along the way, including new songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Click your heels together and join Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, Dorothy and her little dog Toto, as they journey through the magical land of Oz to meet the Wizard and obtain their heart's desires. Watch out for the Wicked Witch of the West and her winged monkeys as you rediscover the real story of Oz in this fantastic musical treat for all the family.
Booking until 28th October 2012

To reserve tickets or for more information, please contact:

Theresa Baker
Group Bookings - Ambassador Theatre Group
Tel 01327 844263 or j.t@lineone.net


Exhibitions

I have been notified of an exhibition Leather Forever organised by Hermes of Paris by arrangement with the Royal Academy of Arts.

The exhibition runs from 8 - 27 May 2012 10 am - 6 pm daily 10 am - 10 pm Friday.  The venue is 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1S 3ET.  Admission free.For further information please visit Hermes.com


LWWI really embracing new media

Also we are now on face book and twitter so please follow us.    If you want to contribute photos please let us know.
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/LondonWestEndWomensInstitute or you can find us at http://en-gb.facebook.com/LondonWestEndWomensInstitute
Follow us on twitter:  #londonwestendwi



Lets Cook Local Tutor Training - London 2012


Lets cook local Tutor training possibly in London on a weekend for interested London based Wi members.
If interested or you want more details pls contact Lesley Quirk whose email address is l.quirk@nfwi-unit.org.uk
As Ruth mentioned earlier in the month

The National Federation are looking for volunteers for their Lets's Cook Local Project.  Let’s Cook Local is a Big Lottery - Local Food funded project, involving trained WI Volunteers running 112 fully-funded cookery courses over two years. The project targets young, disadvantaged parents across England and provides courses in practical cookery over six weekly sessions using locally produced or sourced ingredients and leftovers to produce basic, healthy, cheap family meals. Courses are held in local venues with cooking facilities, usually through SureStart, PACT or other community-based organisations.  They want to see if there are any volunteers who would be happy to train on a saturday.  If you are interested please let us know and we will forward your details on.


Amazon button on blogspot


The eagle eyed among you may have spotted an Amazon button which has appeared on the blogspot.
If you use this button to shop via Amazon LWWI will receive a donation from Amazon of 5% of whatever you spent. For those of you worried we will know who you are or what was purchased it is all anonymous.

NB LWWI only gets the money if you go in via the button on the blog. we have also put the link here.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/?&tag=wwwlondonwest-21&linkCode=wsw&

Its basically free money for our wi
So far we have about 30pence for the purchase of a £6 book.


Udderbelly at London Southbank

We are delighted to announce that E4 Udderbelly Festival has opened its doors at Southbank Centre for its fourth ox-hilerating year, with family shows, music, theatre and the biggest comedy programme anywhere in London.

With an excellent line-up of internationally renowned artists like Tim Minchin, Greg Davies, Nina Conti, as well as daily doses of The Vocal Orchestra and Havana Rumba it's full cream ahead as E4 Udderbelly Festival entertains us until Sunday 8 July.


People's Supermarket. LWWI opportunity

We have also been asked to run a stall at the People's supermarket on the the 2nd of June selling some of delicious home baking.  The theme is savoury goods.  We are looking for people who would like to volunteer their time and of course baking.  If anyone is keen please contact londonwestendwi@gmail.com


Diamond jubilee celebrations
Please see below details of the Thames Diamond Jubilee event being held at Battersea Park Sunday 3rd June and further information about how you can get involved in the festivities.
 For any more information, or if you have any questions please contact Birdy Imoke by email at birdyat@gmail.com or telephone on 07774243206.


The Diamond Jubilee Festival in Battersea Park on Sunday 3rd
June 2012

The WI Tent needs you!

WI members from across London are needed to help make the WI Tent at
The Diamond Jubilee Festival in Battersea Park on Sunday 3rd June 2012 one
of the top attractions for the day. The tent is in prime position, almost directly
behind the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park and there will be deck chairs, a
croquet lawn outside and a rose lined red carpeted area with a throne (where
you can be knighted throughout the day), plus a crystal cake tier stand is
close by with an area for picnic blankets.

There will be craft and NFWI information, archive photography and WI
merchandise on display, and space for individual WIs to display items that
represent you, and sell some items to raise funds for your WI. If you would
like to use this space, please get in touch with Birdy ASAP (contacts below)
to confirm details. We’re hoping that the tent will be a true reflection of all
aspects of the immense history of the body of women that is the WI and
the unique part that London WI members are playing in its Majesty (no pun
intended…!)

WI activities throughout the day

Inside the Tent we will be hosting the Amazing Angel Adoree from
The Vintage Patisserie and author of The Vintage Tea Party book
www.vintagepatisserie.co.uk, who will be providing some of her exquisite
decor splendour as a back drop, as well as running a jubilee rosette making
workshop. Her team of beauties will also be on hand doing vintage hair and
make up – roll up roll up for your Victory Curls....

The lovely Lydia Leith will be livening things up with her Temporary Tattoo
Parlour - corgi tattoo anyone? And will also have emergency Diamond Jubilee
sick bags if everything gets a bit too much…more details can be found here:
http://www.lydialeith.com/

The Tent itself will be decorated with a full host of WI memorabilia but craft
offerings from WI members across the UK will also be on display throughout
the Festival including the knitted crafts and the flag contributions (see
previous notifications).

Call for cakes

As part of the celebrations we are asking you to help create the most
imaginative and tasty jubilee themed cakes possible and contribute these to
the day. A giant diamond encrusted cake stand is being specifically designed
and built as a centre piece to the event – it will take pride of place within the
Tent – to display and showcase the cakes of the WI.

WI members will then be running the cake stand throughout the afternoon and
selling the cakes to the hungry general public, offering whole cakes for picnic
groups, and individual slices.

The money raised will go to those who bring receipts on the day and wish to
be reimbursed, and any excess profit will be divided equally between those
WIs that volunteer on the day.

Cake details

The cakes should be no bigger than 8 inches diameter and must not contain
any fresh cream as a filling. Please provide a full list of ingredients along
with your name and contact details with your cake. For further information on
making cakes for public consumption, please visit http://www.food.gov.uk/

Please let Birdy know in advance if you are planning to make a cake so we
can gauge if we will have enough on the day to keep the hungry public happy.

The Great Cake Gathering

Birdy will be on site at Battersea Park from 11am till 6pm on Saturday 2 June
and there will be vehicle access to drop your cakes off. Unfortunately there is
NO vehicle access and some closing of roads on Sunday 3 June – the day of
the event – so it may be easier for you to drop off your cakes the day before.
If you are volunteering on the day please bring any cakes with you then –
after you have informed Birdy.

There may be a third option for getting your yummy offerings onto the site by
contacting Birdy directly to arrange pick ups from around London on Friday 1
June as we may have access to a car/van to do some pick ups.

For all options please contact me on birdyat@gmail.com or 0777 4243 206

Volunteering on the day

If you would like to come down and volunteer on the Sunday to represent
your WI, please let Birdy know if you wish to attend. The idea for the day is to
have enough WI members volunteering so that we can split up the jobs of the
day, including:

Discussing WI membership and what you get out of being a WI
member with the general public

Running the craft activities within our tent (mosaic making -
www.artmosaicdesign.co.uk)

Serving the cakes from the cake tier.

Four members will also be needed to make medals with the public on the day.
If you have experience of using knitting machines before, please get in touch
with Birdy and let her know.

Tasks can be swapped throughout the day and there will be plenty of free
time to explore the rest of the Festival – the line up for the day looks amazing.
We would like to involve as many WI members as possible so we all get to
enjoy the day and watch the magnificent spectacle of the 1000 boat Royal
flotilla.

The event will only run as planned with everyone’s help, so please get in
contact with Birdy if you wish to attend so she can sort passes for the day for
you. All Volunteers will be given a lovely WI Sash (provided by NFWI) to wear
on the day to identify us to each other and the public.

The event is running from 12pm until 7pm with the park being open from
10am till 9pm. The plan is to organise a rota with three-hour shifts – this will
be organised once everyone has been in touch.

We will also need some help before and after the event with set up (Saturday
2 June) and pack down – please let Birdy know separately if you can help with
these out of hour times.

Many thanks in advance – please see general details and travel information
for the event below.

Birdy, London WI Diamond Jubilee Event

birdyat@gmail.com 0777 4243 206

http://www.thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org/TeaAndCake.aspx

TICKETS

Tickets are £5 for Adults (booking fee included).
Tickets for Children aged 12 and under are free; children must be
accompanied by an Adult.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and can be purchased here:
http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35004891F49696B3#

OPENING AND CLOSING TIMES

The festival programme commences from 12.00 and concludes at 19.00.
Please note that the gates to the park will open from 10.00 and will close at
21.00.

GETTING THERE

Nearest Stations: Clapham Junction, Fulham Broadway and Victoria

PARKING

General Parking is not available at Battersea Park. Travel on Public Transport
is strongly recommended.

There will not be designated parking for coaches or other methods of private
transport.

ROAD AND BRIDGE CLOSURES

There will be multiple road and bridge closures in place on 3rd June for
the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Road closures will commence
at 7am, with some bridges from Battersea Bridge to Tower Bridge being
closed to road traffic from that time until early evening. Details of the precise
locations and timings of these traffic disruptions, as well as all other important
information will be available from 16th May and communicated via http://
www.thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org/TeaAndCake.aspx.

DISABLED ACCESS

In Battersea Park there is a designated viewing area for the Pageant for
those requiring disabled access. Please note this area will be allocated
on a first come, first served basis. For more information, please contact
info@thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org


Websitesof the month
getaheadofthegames.com - site outlining potential impact of 2012 Olympics on Londoners Travel Plans during the games.
gojee.com - fabulous foodie website.

Two really amusing but slightly edgy twitterers you might want to read if you are having a bad day.
https://twitter.com/#!/MrsStephenFry
https://twitter.com/#!/GreySkyThinking