Craft Club Creations

There were no injuries, not even so much as a papercut, when the Craft Group made Exploding Daisies this week.  We made several lovely Halloween cards, and a nice selection of birthday and Christmas ones.

Interesting information from the NFWI Mental Health Action Pack:

Did you know....?

According to a survey of 2,000 adults in the UK experiencing a range of mental health problems, 38% said they had experienced stigma.

Of those:

   55%

stopped socialising or going out

 54%

lost contact with

a loved one

      19%

lost their job

Looking after your mental health

Top Tip 10:
Care for others.
Caring for others is often an important part of keeping up relationships with people close to you. It can even bring you closer together

All of these Top Tips have come from the Mental Health Foundation. Wise words to keep in mind, and good actions to adopt whenever we can.

Wet and dreary afternoon = another successful grouting session!

Five of us spent a very busy afternoon grouting our mosaic pieces - it was somewhat noisier than the original workshop! I guesss we didn’t need to concentrate quite so hard! 

Record of a fantastic September Institute meeting

We had lots of lovely new faces, and a good crowd filling the room to hear Alison Haslam,  a London blue badge guide tell us her tales behind the statues! It was an excellent afternoon, begun in some style by Val who lead us in some exercises to music - fun, with the feel good factor!

Here is the record of the meeting:

MemberMeeting – Brixham WI         Date – 16 November 2017

1. Apologies.  Mavis

2. Val lead a sit-down exercise class which was much enjoyed. 

3. Speaker - Alison Haslam gave an interesting and interactive talk on being a Blue Badge Guide in London with Tales Behind the Statues. Many members mentioned just how interesting this had been.

4. President’s Report / Matters Arising from last meeting
Mary welcomed everyone back after summer breakand said she was pleased to see so many faces including some new ones.
Cream tea at Paignton Club great success, lovely afternoon.
Uffculme visit was also a great success and a fun evening. Barbara gave a report.
Potting. Been really difficult to find a date convenient for all with holidays etc. Kate, Shirley and Jane are going along on Tuesday and would welcome those who have yet to paint to join them. Mary will leave the paperwork at China Blue.
Mosaics.     Had another successful workshop this week. Sparks gave a report.
Glass Fusion. Mary reported progress on Glass Fusion workshop on 8th Nov. The price will be £12 per person, which is excellent value and we would like to pay £28 from funds towards travelling and tuition for this class.  The members agreed to this.
OCTOBER GROUP MEETING.  10th October.  Mary reminded everyone of our October Group Meeting on Wednesday 10th October. The speaker is Pamela Vass who will talk about suffragettes. It will be a lunch of baked potatoes with tuna mayonnaise, Coronation chicken and cheese fillings with an accompanying salad and a choice of gateaux for dessert, plus coffee and tea of course. The competition will be a recipe for a Suffragette Cocktail, feel free to bring real thing!    It will be 12.00 for 12.30 pm. Cost £5.
Mary read email update from Val Bugden-Cawsey. Tina reported that the money raised at the Galmpton Cream Tea morning was £1265.

Ipplepen soup and Sweet will be on 10th November.  We will have a board for next meeting.

Tina told the meeting that the PATH blanket was being completed by Sandy, and Beryl has heard from Sandy that it is nearly done.

Sparks gave a report on her day at YES @The Edge and that there was a walking game where you could gain points going round places in Torbay, walking cycling and running. She got a lot of possible interest for future members.
Craft for Tues 25th. Barbara demonstrated the Exploding Daisy. Bring scissors for card, coloured pencils or felt-tips.

5. Sparks told the meeting that next year’s subs will be £42, and explained our savings club for members who wish to take that opportunity.

6. Correspondence
Tina reported that amongst the new things on the board are a Steel band taster day, our Christmas lunch details, and a panto in Birmingham.   Other correspondence – information about ACWW (Association of Country Women of the World) and a thank you for our coins for friendship, the DFWI 2018-19 budget, Plastic soup update, and Celebrating 100 years of women’s resolutions. There is also information about the Devon Federation Denman Break in early May with 6 different courses to choose from and free coach travel.
Tina spoke about November 13th being World Kindness Day, and National Federation has suggested something for us to do to celebrate this in-line with our WI aim to alleviate loneliness.  It involves making a posy with a WI tag to leave for someone to pick up.   We had spoken about this at committee and decided that their idea of leaving them on a bench or around town would not work in Brixham, as the posy would be taken as a tribute for the person commemorated on the bench. Then we thought that there is possibly that you might know someone who would appreciate a posy like this. We thought that it would be a good idea if we could make posies together and Sparks has volunteered space in her house that morning. Tina asked the members if they agreed, we could buy £20 of flowers to use, as November is not really very flowery in the gardens.   Members agreed to this.  Next month we will take a note of the numbers of those that want to do this.

She also mentioned that she was trying to track down a WI lady in another club who collected used bras and sent them to a charity.  This charity refurbished them and gave them to destitute African women.  The wearing of underwear helped these women as they were less likely to be raped or beaten as they looked more affluent or from a better family if they wore underwear.  The info for this is on the way and I will advise members.  In the meantime if members want to save old bras they need to be clean, but lost wires or broken hooks can be fixed. 

7. AOB - Kate advised the next Drama Club meeting was on Monday 24th at her house. 
No-one had Thought of the Month so Barbara led a small session of ’What your mother used to say’ 

8. Flower competition 1. Marilyn, 2. Kate 3. Ellie

9. Next Meeting 18 Oct

Advice from a Welsh Suffragette society to young ladies

Although, unfortunately, it may be too late for some of us.....

Looking after your mental health - top tips

number 9:-
Accept who you are. We’re all different. It’s much healthier to accept that you’re unique than to wish you were more like someone else. Feeling good about yourself boosts your confidence to learn new skills, visit new places and make new friends. Good self- esteem helps you cope when life takes a difficult turn.

WI Resolutions make a difference!

Just in case anyone was wondering whether or not to be interested in our resolutions:- here’s  one of our earlier resolutions which had a great impact!

The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes)

In the 1960s, 2,500 women died annually from cervical cancer and it was the WI who brought forward the much needed national conversation on this issue. 

In 1964, a resolution proposed by Whitchurch on Thames WI called on ‘Her Majesty’s Government and the Regional Hospital Boards to treat as a matter of urgency the provision of comprehensive facilities for routine smear test for cervical cancer’.

The WI began educating its members about screening facilities and encouraged women to ask for the test which was extremely under-utilised at the time. 

Even after a routinized smear test system was brought in for women in 1966, the WI was still concerned that women were not receiving the tests. After a further 22 years of pressure from the WI, in 1988, the Department of Health launched a computerised call and recall system and the first external quality assessment scheme for the laboratories that were processing the test results.

Today the NHS considers cervical cancer screening as one of its biggest victories in the fight against cancer which saves an estimated 4500 lives each year. 

#100YearsWICampaigns

Mosaic Workshop!

Well! Didn’t we have a great morning! Hardly a word was spoken, we were all concentrating so hard!
Thank you to Tracy Johnson, and to everyone for organising, setting out, refreshments and for making it all a great success! Grouting party at Sparks’ house next Saturday at 2 o’clock!

Looking after your mental health: top tip 8

 
Do something you’re good at. Enjoying yourself can help beat stress. Doing an activity you enjoy probably means you’re good at it, and achieving something boosts your self-esteem.

Looking After Your Mental Health tips

7. Take a break. A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health.
It could be a five-minute pause from cleaning your kitchen or a half-hour lunch break at work. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress you. Give yourself some ‘me time’.

Bee Well day at The Edge on Saturday

Brixham WI will be represented at the special day to showcase what Brixham has to offer in support of mental health, on Saturday 15th September, 10.30 until 4 pm. 

Drop in to see what is going on! Everyone welcome! 

Mental Health Matters

  Top tip number 6:
Ask for help. None of us are superhuman. We all sometimes get tired or overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan. If things are getting too much for you and you feel you can’t cope, ask for help.

Looking after your mental health

Top tip number 5 from the NFWI Make Time for Mental Health action pack:

Keep in touch.There's nothing better than catching up with someone face to face, but that’s not always possible. You can also give them a call, drop them a note, or chat to them online instead. Keep the lines of communication open: it’s good for you!

A festive Dart Bay sewing course.

Sorry  to be mentioning the Christmas word in early September.....

  

Top tips for looking after your mental health

4. Drink sensibly. Some people drink to deal with fear or loneliness, but the effect is only temporary. When the drink wears off, you feel worse because of the way the alcohol has affected your brain and the rest of your body.

Our visit to Uffculme

We were warmly welcomed to Uffculme WI, despite arriving almost an hour early! Fortunately the Uffculme members were already there, preparing everything, and they very kindly made us all a cup of tea whilst we were waiting!
Our link with Uffculme was organised by Joan Collins! She used to live in Brixham and was a WI member here; when she moved it was agreed that we would keep in contact - and so we do!
The evening speaker was Janet Williams, a milliner, who told us about her career in hat making. She was very entertaining, demonstrated how she forms a brim and crown and then we were able to try on  all of her beautful hats! What a fabulous evening! Have a look at the website: hatsahead.com

We sat to have our head measured! The average head size is 22 1/2 inches! 

There was a bit of a scrum trying to try everything on! 

Here is Janet, our speaker.

WI past resolution: Time to talk about organ donation.

This week is #OrganDonationWeek. Sadly, many organ donation opportunities are lost every year because families don’t know if their loved one wanted to be a donor or not. Help us change things, talk about organ donation today. #WordsSaveLives

Another top tip for looking after your mental health.

 Eat well. Your brain needs a mix of nutrients in order to stay healthy and function well, just like the other organs in your body. A diet that’s good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.

WI Life offer....

Is anyone interested in sharing an order - and the postage cost?
Take a look at your last copy of WI Life, Page 55. There are some stunning tulips and really pretty hyacinths, amongst other things!
Let me know if you would like to share placing an order!