Looking for more information

About how to look after the wildlife in your garden? Look no further than this link:  https://www.thehabitatgroup.uk/gardening-for-wildlife

Life on the Edge

 This morning Lynn, Fiona, Anj and I spent a couple of hours in the Chart Room café (it’s a hard life) discussing how we can all make the most of our Life on the Edge project. If you want a bit more information about the pollinators and plants they like, click on this link: https://www.southdevon-nl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LotE-Meet-the-species-optimised.pdf

Have you planted your pocket meadow yet? Preferably in a grass free area with fairly poor soil. You might be using some planters, tubs or a 1m square section of your garden. As long as it is in Brixham (& Churston, Jill H and Aldene!) as we need to make pathways for our invertebrates to follow inland. If you don’t yet have your seeds, we will be giving them out at our next Institute meeting on 16th April.

 A message to all members from the committee - please read to the end! 

We are aware that through the process of dealing with the waiting list and allocating spaces as they came up, there have been several times when women have come to Tina (or maybe their friends have) to say that they are sure they are on the waiting list, and when will they be called. We want to explain how the process Has been handled. Any woman who contacted Tina, or any member who gave me a name and email address, were noted in her book with the date of contact. As spaces arose, they were asked to join our Institute (in date order).
As time passed, the committee decided to close the waiting list and anyone after that was advised of this.
From time to time, Tina emailed the remaining ladies to ask if they were still interested. Those that did not reply were taken off the list.
From there we had a core of ladies, the earliest had come on the list in 2022, and these were invited to join for April 25 (and we had a bye-law to authorise this).
We took every application on the date of first contact, and so to hear there are women out there who think they are on the list is disturbing. So, to give everyone the chance to fill the few spaces we have, we have decided to do the following.
We will announce that applications are open on a certain date and time and the first ones to apply will get the place(s). We will publish this announcement after 16 April 2025 when everyone in our Institute has had the chance to rejoin. We will put it on the blog, and FaceBook (the old WI Members FB, which is open to all). People have to apply through our WI email, which will be published alongside. Calls to committee members or other routes will not be acceptable. This will disadvantage some, but we will accept emails from their friends who apply on their behalf.
This first come, first served approach is the fairest way we can think of, and the applications made by email will also be taken in time​//date order.

Cribbage on Wednesday 2nd April

 Cribbage tomorrow at Brixham Rugby club at 2.pm.

All welcome. Come and learn, or come and play.

I just discovered that the card turned over on the pack, is called the starter card. How many more points would you get if the starter card were a Jack?

Introducing….

 ….Wendy C’s, Fiona’s and

Loz’s bug house at home!

Recycling blister packs!

 It seems that both the Boots shop at Wren Retail park and the Superdrug in Torquay will recycle medicine & vitamin empty blister packs, free of charge.

There is a ‘but’! They won’t accept bulk recycling - see the photo above - so it is either not feasible for one or two of our members to collect and take all of our blister packs, as they would be pretty fed up of trying to post them all through a narrow slot!

So, we could pay for a bag from a specialist recycling company as indicated in the earlier post. (Not from WI funds, as I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t qualify under the WI and/or charity commission regulations) This would mean people to order the bag and bring it to a meeting then take it to a collection point.

Or, each of us remembers to take our own empty packs over to Superdrug in Torquay when we go there!

Here is the weekly calendar update…

 ……with advance notice of our next LotE meeting on 30th April, only 20 places available for Insect Surveying and Recording, meeting at Berry Head car park. There will be a sign up sheet at our next Institute meeting for this one.

In other news: all of the kind food donations you made at our March meeting were delivered to the Brixham Food Bank next to the Strand Bakery last week.

LotE at Brixham WI!

More pollinator activity going on! Ann W has put up her bug house and Anj has spotted a bee on some nettles and something else on a pretty germander speedwell flower on her allotment

 

A Bug House from Lynn

 Here's another one, the bumble bees, butterflies and beetles of Brixham will

be spoilt for choice of AirB&Bee's

(Sorry couldn't resist).

The Bug Houses…

 …are coming home! 

Thank you Mary W and Val P for your photos. Are there any more?

Recycling blister packs?

 Cast your mind back to January’s meeting when we talked about the short list of resolutions. One of them was about the lack of recycling possibilities for the blister packs used for pills.

Sheila-anne Parissien found out that they can be recycled at the Boots at Wren Retail Park in Torquay.

If we did this, someone would be needed to collect the empty packs and drive over to Torquay with them.

There is also this: https://zerowastebag.co.uk/pages/pricing?hsCtaAttrib=187682652273

It seems that we would have to buy a sack, fill it with the empty blister packs and then take it to be collected and recycled.

Obviously someone would be required to keep the bag and bring it to a meeting so we could fill it

Book Share

 ….. was possibly an unusual event because we all enjoyed the book! It was a weighty tome, and most of us felt it could easily have been shorter! Nevertheless, it was a good story, Homecoming by Kate Moreton.

Other recommendations: once again The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone. It is the first of a trilogy: The Collapsing Wave and The Transcendent Tide. (One of these two is at a very good Kindle price today!) Most of us have read the first one! I have a copy if anyone else wishes to read it.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which won the Booker Prize last year. Writings from the astronauts in the space station.

The Unquiet Bones by Mel Star was mentioned by several as a good read as well as The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and The Second Sleep by Robert Harris.

For those who love a historical novel: CJ Sansom, Robert Harris and Bernard Cornwell all very popular amongst us.

Pocket Meadows

 Take a good look at our blog header photo! This is the butterfly who will be able to travel further afield if we all make our pocket meadows across Brixham! Stuart told us that this one will only travel 50m - so we need to provide a good network! 

Photo by Rob Skinner

Life on the Edge

 Our Life on the Edge workshop today, making bug houses, was a great success! Everyone - 27 members - went home with a house for bugs! That will make a difference to the bug population in Brixham!

We were also each presented with a packet of local wildflower seeds, with instructions for making our very own wildflower pocket meadows across Brixham. Stuart gave me enough packets for every one of our members, and explained that whilst the pocket meadow can be a square metre of your garden, it can work equally well in planters or a window box. Imagine the corridor of pocket meadows we will create!

Next week’s calendar, a couple of days early!

 Please note that the Bug House workshop is full - so don’t just turn up, there won’t be space for you! 

March Institute Meeting

 We enjoyed a very entertaining and informative talk about Dark Deeds in Devon yesterday. Our speaker was excellent! Afterwards there was plenty to discuss, and a few things to sign: the GDPR form - if you haven’t yet signed it, please find Tina soon! The list to volunteer to make the teas at our meetings  next year, from April 25 to March 26. All done, thank you! For the bug house making workshop next Wednesday at the Rugby Club, 2 until 4.30 pm, 30 people are coming! No spaces left!

 

WI Learning Hub

 https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/  click on this link!

The WI Learning hub has free courses for us all! Focussing at the moment on help with digital items - using your mobile or tablet

At the WI Learning Hub, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to develop digital skills at their own pace and we understand how important it is for users to feel empowered rather than overwhelmed by technology. That's why we've made it a priority to work alongside trusted organisations, like Barclays, that share our commitment to building your confidence in an increasingly digital world.

Our newest content to the WI Learning Hub, provided by Barclays Digital Wings, offer practical, easy-to-follow guidance on everything from online safety to everyday digital tasks; breaking down digital skills into bite-sized, jargon-free lessons that you can tackle at your own pace. Whether you want to video chat with grandchildren, shop safely online, or simply feel more confident with your devices, there's something for everyone.

Visit the WI Learning Hub today and discover how a little digital know-how can make a big difference in your everyday life!

LotE Glow Worm

 

Calendar of our events

 Another Sunday, another week on our calendar! 

The committee is so very excited to present to you at last our Life on the Edge programme! You will have seen the poster on here already! (Scroll down the page here, if you missed it!) The eagle eyed amongst you will have already spotted from last week’s calendar, that there is a very special workshop on 26th March! Don’t miss out! Places are limited….

Brixham’s community music

Last night a few of us went to the final evening of music provided by Tom Crump and Music at the Edge. It was emotional and rather wonderful, and was also the first evening of music from the Music Factory CIC. 

To continue delivering the activities provided by MusicAtTheEdge, Tom, Andy and the MusicAtTheEdge team have set up a new independent Community Interest Company called The Music Factory CIC. Find us on Companies House here: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.u...

For over a decade MusicAtTheEdge has championed free-to-access music for the community in a truly inclusive way and we want to continue bringing our brand of workshops, gigs and festivals to the people of Brixham and the surrounding areas.

If you would like to help to support us, we have set up a GoFundMe to accept donations.

Your donation will help us to; Continue our free weekly music workshops for young people and adults, Host live music events that showcase local talent, keep our summer music festival alive in Brixham and secure room hire and equipment to make all of this possible

On behalf of everyone involved with MusicAtTheEdge we want to thank you for all of your support and kindness.

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/18f162dc

Our Exciting Life on the Edge programme!

 

Our new header photo

 The photo from Life on the Edge was taken by Stephen Falk

Book Worms - from Rebecca

 Bookworms met today to talk about our latest book. I don’t think Facebook will let me put the title but it was m**der at fleet house by Lucinda Riley. It was an enjoyable easy to read book and reminded me of Elly Griffiths. Those that have read Seven Sisters preferred those over it.

Other recommendations this month include

A terrible kindness Jo Browning Wroe

Love letters -Lucinda Riley

We had a good chat about world events too!

This months book is Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley.

*we have a space left if you would like to join us!!*

Thank you, Rebecca!

Recycling blister packs!

 Blister pack recycling : it was one of the resolutions we discussed in January.

Boots at Wren Retail Park in Torquay will recycle them! TQ2 7BJ

What can I recycle with Boots?

Products made of composite mixed materials, such as metal and plastics.

Products made of non-recyclable materials like toothpaste tubes and lotion pumps.

Small cosmetics, such as travel minis, samples and mascaras.

Thank you Sheila-anne Parissien for finding this out for us!

Life on the Edge

 This is one of the invertebrates in the Life on the Edge project we are beginning! The brown banded carder bee! https://www.southdevon-nl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/LotE-Meet-the-species-optimised.pdf

Photo taken by Stephen Falk

Monthly Coffee Morning

 A small, perfectly formed and very select group of us met for our monthly coffee morning today at the Berry Head Hotel. The camellia in the photo is in their garden - gorgeous!

Thank you all for your lovely company; we covered a few interesting topics of conversation, too!

Another fun and fab painting session!

 A Kick Up the Arts, run by Mark and Sarah Bell ran a second sunset painting afternoon for us! Wow! Look at these results! 

Friday 14th March

 

The month ahead:

 Please note that there is another fun and fantastic evening of Music at the Edge in Bolton street on Friday evening! who is in?

Find out more about your mobile phone!

 The WI learning hub has solutions for all of us who use a mobile phone! Step up and find out more about it! Sign up for this session - free to WI members!

https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/at-home/courses/technology-problem-solving-with-three-discovery-2025-03-12-150000

Notes from our committee meeting today.

As requested at our last Institute meeting 

Results of the discussion held at our February Institute meeting were discussed: already put into practice are the change of day for the dog walk, reminders from all members on WhatsApp to indicate attendance at an event, monthly coffee morning and following each committee meeting there will be a list published to show what has been discussed.

Eight members who do not use WhatsApp or the internet are now receiving weekly emails with details of what has been posted on our blog and Facebook pages.

The LotE project launch and programme will answer many of the requests regarding members having the chance to get to know each other better, more workshops, as well as offering some different, local speakers. 

It will also cover visits to the local area.

Plans for our next year’s programme are being revised in order to comply with members’ expressed preferences; more local and stimulating speakers, with more discussion and opportunities for visits as a direct result of some talks.

A Lunch Club will be set up with members of the club taking it in turns to plan and arrange the meal out.

Still to address: member access to committee telephone numbers, more members joining the committee.

Also discussed: Life in the Edge project and next year’s programme.