Welcome to Fulham WI

December Meeting - 6 December at 7:30pm

Dear Ladies

 

It’s that time of year again!  The December Fulham WI meeting will take place on Monday 6 December at 7:30pm.  We will be making recycled Christmas decorations and having a social evening.  We will also be having our annual mince pie competition with this year, for the first year, a prize!!!!

Please be advised that 2011 subs, due in January, will be £30.  If you wish to get this out of the way before the Christmas season we are accepting subs now.   
 
We also have some WI diaries for 2011 at £3.50 each.

 

CONTENTS  
 

• Mince Pie Competition
• Harmonies Christmas Single – 12 Dec
• Jewellery Making – 22 Jan
• Wives & Sweethearts Exhibition at National Army Museum
• Ethical Just Got Fabulous Shopping Event
• 2011 Theatre Group Dates 
• Mother’s Day Meeting: 4 April
• Cookbook: Recipes Needed for Parson’s Green Fair July 2011
• 2011 Speakers
• 2011 Activities

HAPPY HOLIDAYS  
 
Practice your recipes for our Annual Mince Pie Competition now as we are planning the biggest and best competition ever.  Prize will be a copy of the new CD by WI singing group, The Harmonies!

As always, the meeting will be in the upstairs room at the Peterborough /Southern Cross pub on the New Kings Road (on the junction of Wandsworth Bridge Road ) nearest tube is Fulham Broadway.  Please find here a link to Google Maps for directions.  We look forward to welcoming new members and returning members alike.    
 

EVENTS

Harmonies Christmas Single

12 December

My name is Naomi Willmott and I belong to the Bitton WI, in the Avon Federation.I belong to the new band "The Harmonies" Voices of the WI, and we are trying to make Jerusalem number 1 for Christmas, this can ONLY be done on the 12th December by downloading of Itunes, costing 99p.  Please can you send this on to any fellow WI members, family friends or collegues.  
 

Jewellery Making at The Make Lounge

22 January     
Glam Jewellery (3 hours, £45 pp)
Fashion your own glitzy earrings and bracelets using Swarovski pearls and crystals, beads and semi-precious stones. Most people create several pairs of earrings and a bracelet, depending on the complexity of the design.

Names and money please asap to confirm places.

 

 

Wives and Sweethearts Exhibition - National Army Museum

 

Keeping love alive in the armed forces is the focus of our upcoming Wives and Sweethearts exhibition which launches in February 2011 at the National Army Museum.  Treasured personal items from the Napoleonic war to present-day conflicts reflect the joys, sorrow and fears of soldiers and their loved-ones.  The displays also highlight the changing role of women from laundresses and cooks to armed serving personnel.

 

We are hoping to organise a visit to this exhibition - more details to follow
 

2011 Theatre Group Dates 
We have set the following dates for 2011 theatre outings.  Please enter them into your diary and we will work out what we want to go and see nearer the time.  
  
Tuesday 1^st March 
Tuesday 14^th June

Tuesday 20^th September

Tuesday 29^th November   
 
2011 Fundraisers

As usual we will be having our Parsons Green Bake Sale.  Along with this we will be compiling a Fulham WI Cookbook.  If you have a special recipe to share, please send it to us by email and we will add it to the book. 

2011 Speakers

January - Monday 10 January - The Homemade Company (http://www.thehomemadecompany.com/) is going to tell us how to make de-tox body scrubs for the new year.  

February - Monday 7 February - (TBC) Tanvir Bush, a writer, who has degenerative tunnel vision (although only in her 30s) and now uses a guide dog., will speak on the challenges of going blind so young and the opportunities it has afforded her.  

March - Monday 7 March – (TBC) Iinterior design. 

 

April - Mother’s Day Meeting - Monday, 4 April, from 7:30pm   
We are planning to have a Mother’s Day meeting on 4 April and invite all members to bring their mothers or aunts or sisters or maybe a friend who is or isn't a member of another WI.  The idea for this meeting came about at a committee meeting where we were all talking about our mothers and their institutes so we thought why not bring them along to ours!  We felt that by giving enough notice you could work out the travel and accommodation!  Not sure yet who our speaker will be but we'll make sure its a good one! 

Claire, our speaker secretary has the list of suggestions that came up at the AGM which she is working on so 2011 will be interesting I am sure.

2011 Activities 
 
We've fixed up the Glamorous Jewellery night and are researching other ideas raised at the meetings.  Keep them coming and we will do our best to put them into action.

Apologies for the rather poor quality of this month's mailer - Laura has been hit by the cold weather and succumbed to a lurgy.  I'm sure standards of FWI mailers will be restored with Laura's health.

 

Hope to see as many of you as possible on Monday night clutching your mince pies and sense of humour and if you can't make it, then every happiness for Christmas and the New Year.

 

Fulham WI x

Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) Campaign

To support the WI's campaign for country of origin labelling (COOL), WI members are asked to put supermarkets' claims of improved labelling to the test. 

Many major retailers claim to have already voluntarily improved the labelling of own-brand meat and fish products.  However, WI members continue to find examples of unclear labelling, particularly of processed meat products.

In January 2011 the WI would like members to visit their local supermarket and:

• Examine a range of own-brand products.  Do they carry country of origin labels?  Do they tell you where the meat was sourced as well as where the product was processed or packed?  We are asking members to focus on own-brand products as these are the ones supermarkets have the power to improve.
• Ask for a meeting with the manager to discuss poor labelling.  Ask how you can find out the origin of unclear products.  Find out what the supermarket is doing to improve country of origin labelling.  It is best to call and arrange this in advance to ensure that the manager is available to meet.  If it is not possible to speak to them, send a letter asking for an explanation.

Please report back to the NFWI with details of any unclear labelling found and any explanation from the supermarket.  At emplate report sheet will be provided for use at the next meeting, as well as an address to send this to once it has been completed.

A question and answer style briefing can be found here to help answer any questions you may have and to use in your conversations with supermarket staff. 

The government has signalled its support for clearer country of origin labelling, but believes supermarkets and manufacturers should voluntarily clean up their act.  This action will help show whether this is a credible approach, as the NFWI continues to push for mandatory country of origin labelling. 

Itis a good idea to let your local newspaper know about the action to raise awareness in your local media.  A draft local press release will be available from the NFWI.