Hello on behalf of our newly elected committee! And we would like to thank the outgoing committee for all their hard work over the last few months and years; Battersea WI has grown from strength to strength and is now one of the most active WIs in South London! After the election we had a fun session making Christmas birds:  :The Christmas theme will continue with our BWI Craft Group running a vintage card making workshop on 8th Dec and Foodies Group celebrating all things festive whilst wearing their Christmas jumpers on 12th Dec. And of course, a very important date for your diaries: our Christmas party on 17th December. Our first meeting in 2025 will be on 21 January, when Ruth Nieman will be introducing us to Galilean cuisine. I look forward to seeing you all very soon Jane President Battersea WI E: presidentbattersea@surreyfedwi.org.uk  What’s in your December Newsletter – Meet our WI Groups – Coming up – Offshoots – Surrey Fed and NFWI news and information Our WI Groups Art The Art Group meets on an ad hoc basis in different locations including outdoors to enjoy sketching making art together. Recently we had an evening sketching in charcoal in a session tutored by one of our members; her next tutored session will be pastels on Sunday 8th Dec.  Book Groups We have 3 book groups: Battersea Bookends, Boozy Books and Chapter One. Here’s what we’ve been reading…. Chapter One Reading Group In November the group read To Battersea Park by Philip Hensher. This is an unusual and challenging book both in style and content. It sparked a lively discussion puzzling out what the author was trying to do, whether it was true to the experience of the early months of lockdown during the pandemic and what on earth the final, somewhat surreal, section was meant to be. Next meeting: Tuesday 10th December – The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven.  Bookends Group Our November read was Amor Towles The Rules of Civility. We are discussing The Fraud by Zadie Smith on Monday 2nd Dec. Boozy Books  Our book for October/November was Homecoming by Kate Morton. We picked a rather hefty book and have taken two months to read it! We will be discussing it at our December meet up. Those finishing early have commented how enthralling it becomes. So for our November meeting we met up as usual and enjoyed a meal for a catch up instead. Next meeting: Monday 2 December. Coffee Group meets twice a month at a local pub. Craft Group  The Craft Group runs sessions every 6-8 weeks with the odd extra session thrown in for fun. Our first session took place in October and focused on Sashiko and Japanese style repair/embroidery techniques. We ran an extra session In November, Indigo Dying tutored by @jilly_rutter . You can find out more about her work with Indigo dye on her Instagram page. Our next crafting session will be Vintage Card making on Sunday 8th Dec. Any extra cards we make will be sold in the Thrive Shop to raise money for them. We welcome suggestions for crafts to try, so.if there is anything you fancy, let us know! Exhibitions In November the exhibitions group visited the renovated Garrison Chapel in the old Chelsea barracks. It’s a wonderful exhibition space. The King’s Foundation, which promotes traditional arts and heritage craft skills, was showcasing some of the craft skills it is fostering, both professional and recreational. The intricate beadwork was outstanding as were the quilts:   Film Outings are on the last Monday of the month. Our November film was The Man with a Thousand Faces, a very interesting and sensitively made documentary about deceit, betrayal and the impact on a group of women lied to by one man, ‘Ricardo.’ In interviews with these women we felt their anger, shame and humiliation at having been taken in by the appealing and appalling fraudster. The Director, herself a victim of many deceits, tracked down ‘Ricardo’ and we see a (perhaps too lenient) vengeance meted out on him. There were quite a few unanswered questions but a thought provoking film especially as the increase in fraudsters on dating sites becomes better known. Foodies Usually hosted at a member’s home, every 3rd meeting or so is a trip to a local Battersea restaurant. The ‘at home’ sessions are themed, with everyone bringing their chosen dish.  November’s theme was Bake Off. The technical element was flans and we sampled a delicious assortment of fillings from salmon to roasted vegetables. The showstopper was the gorgeous puddings which included a chocolate bread and butter pudding and an Eton Mess. This month, we are introducing ‘recipe of the month,’ to share favourite recipes from the meet ups with other Members. So here’s a Cheesy Potato Bake: Butter an oven proof dish, add slices of potato with butter knobs, salt, pepper and dried thyme between layers. Beat two eggs and half a pint of milk and pour over. Sprinkle top with grated cheddar. Cover with foil. Bake at 200 for an hour, removing foil half way through cooking. Bon appétit! Next meeting: 12th Dec,’Christmas bites.’ Please note, there is currently a waiting list to join this group. Foraging and Fruit Picking organises seasonal outings to different locations in the Spring and late Summer to make the most of nature’s freebies. Knitting & Crochet Meets in the evening on the last Wednesday of the month at a member’s home near Clapham Common. Members bring their projects along and enjoy a glass or two whilst they knit/crochet, share patterns and tips, and have a catch up about what they’ve been up to. The group also makes items to support local charities like Little Village and Trinity Hospice. Most recently they made orange flowers as part of the End Violence Against Women Campaign for display outside SFWI HQ as well as baby and children’s clothing for Little Village. We will be meeting next on 29th January 2025. Open Water Swimming We tend to only go swimming in a group in warm weather. A few or our members enjoy cold swimming. Photography The photography group meets every 2-3 months; prior to each meeting, the group agrees a couple of themes to inspire photographs to share at the meeting. There are also occasional outings to places like the Photographers’ Gallery and the new Claridges Artspace. The theme for the last meeting Circles and on the Edge; we were especially intrigued by the picture shown in row 2, 2nd from left – can you guess what it is? Answer at the end of the newsletter!   The next outing is 23rd Jan to the Photographers Gallery to see Deborah Turberville: Photocollage. Walking Our regular walks take place on the first Friday of the month, so our walk this month is on Friday 6 December when we’ll be exploring Chelsea, starting at Imperial Wharf and finishing up with coffee at the new Soane Stable Yard.  For our November walk, ten of us and our faithful greyhound mascot met up to walk the southernmost section of London’s newest walking route, The Green Link walking 4 miles from Waterloo via Bankside and down to Peckham. Highlights included visiting the new garden areas at Elephant and Castle and walking through Burgess Park and along the quiet Surrey Canal footpath. We refreshed ourselves at Dovedales Bakery cafe in the railway arches beside Peckham Rye station where we enjoyed our coffees, sampling ripe black grapes from the vines growing overhead as well as various other tasty offerings. Extra outings  In November, we had a fascinating behind the scenes guided tour of the Western Riverside Waste Authority site in Smugglers Way, behind Wandsworth Town Hall. This facility handles and sorts all the waste from our own borough, as well as Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Lambeth. Its education team showed and explained how everything gets sorted and recycled, using a combination of automation and hand-picking. They were patient about answering our questions – while an unexpected fire alarm and evacuation at the very end of our visit certainly added to the excitement. Recycled cool fact: People called Mudlarks looked through riverbanks to find rubbish that they could sell and people called Toshers looked through sewers for things they could sell too. Dustmen collected ash from fires and some people even collected dog poo to sell as a compost ingredient! Coming Up 21 January meeting Guest Speaker  Food writer and culinary author Ruth Nieman will be showcasing the traditional and authentic flavours of the eclectic Middle Eastern cuisine from a cultural, historical and biblical perspective. Through the eyes and palates of local women from Northern Israel, Ruth will be taking us on a journey from the land to the plate, talking through some traditional recipes, and introducing us to the indigenous ingredients and fragrant spices of this ancient cuisine, giving us an insight into the food customs and practices of her heritage and those of the local women that helped her to bring The Galilean Kitchen to our table. During the presentation Ruth will be handing round spices to smell and foods to taste. She welcomes questions as she goes along. Ruth’s Book – Freekeh, Wild Wheat & Ancient Grains Ruth’s Instagram Ruth Member -Guild of Food writers Offshoots A round up of members’ activities inspired by Battersea WI activities Fine Cell Following the talk by Fine Cell in October, two of us went to the Fine Cell Christmas Fair on 29th November    16 Days of Activism On 29th November, two more of us joined the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) march from Clapham Junction along Northcote Road. Click the link to read more about the campaign and local events Charity Christmas Carol Concert 10th December at St Mary’s Battersea  St Mary’s is hosting a Charity Christmas Carol Concert at to raise money for the KLS 100 Appeal. We’ve volunteered to help serve mulled wine and the mince pies from the gazebos outside the Church.  A selection of cards from our Vintage card making morning on 8th December will be for sale in the Thrive Shop. Surrey Fed and the NFWI  Surrey Federation has its own website where you can check all the latest news and find out what’s going on in neighbouring WIs. The December newsletter is out now, the link will take you through to the PDF version which includes a booking form if you want to sign up for any of the courses they are running. They are currently looking for a new Treasurer, if anyone is interested in applying, the details are in the newsletter.  As a member you have full access to the resources available on the NFWI site, including the Learning Hub. Let us know if you do any of the online courses or face to face courses so we can share with other BWI members in a future newsletter. Online courses are free to members as long as you are logged into your account.  The WI Lottery was set up this year to help local WIs fundraise for good causes. If you would like to support your local community we can set up our own lottery – anyone interested in organising this, the committee can give you more information.   The WI campaigns on a huge range of issues – from promoting women’s rights and fostering health awareness to encouraging sustainable development and building a fairer society. For more information about Campaigns please visit the NFWI website. Updates on Resolutions At the NFWI Resolution Shortlist Selection meeting on 3 October 2024, members shortlisted four resolutions which will now be taken forward for further debate and selection by members. The shortlisted resolutions are: – Let’s talk about incontinence – Bystanders can be lifesavers – Join the repair revolution – Eliminate landfill of medication packaging Next steps Every member now has the opportunity to cast their individual selection on the resolution they support the most. WIs are encouraged to hold meetings to provide members with the opportunity to discuss and learn more about each resolution. WIs are encouraged to hold meetings to provide members with the opportunity to discuss and learn more about each resolution. The deadline for members’ selections to reach their federations is 9 February 2025. NFWI ‘count me in’ Survey The ‘count me in’ survey is designed to help NFWI shape the future of their planning. Questions are completely optional (you can answer some and not others if you wish) but all information gathered will be used. NFWI wishes to build a clear picture of WI membership and the more responses they receive, the better their understanding will be of the members who are the heart of WI. You can complete the survey online at https://www.thewi.org.uk/countmein The deadline is 31st January 2025. Annual Council Meeting Saturday 29th March 2025 – to be held on a Saturday so that many more women can attend. The event will be held over Zoom and will be free of charge. Photo quiz answer: wasps’ nest! Copyright © 2024 Battersea WI All rights reserved. |
