
January always feels such a long month but looking at the posts on Instagram, you’ve been a busy bunch, and that’s how we plan to keep it!
For those who missed January’s meeting, we voted to support resolution 2 Bystanders Can Be Life Savers. Once all votes have been tallied at HQ, outcomes will be finalised by the Board of Trustees by the end of February before further discussion and voting in April/May on any amendments and proceeding to Stage 5. Final results will not be published until July/August. In the interim, the British Heart Foundation provides a free online training in CPR. It only takes 15 minutes and could make a huge difference. In addition to the resolutions, there are consultations on the 2025-2030 Strategy about keeping WIs relevant, the Count Me In Survey, consultation on At Home Cervical Screening and for the Gardeners among you, wildlife friendly lawn alternatives.
On to the BWI monthly meeting on the 18th, our February speaker will be Bella Lane, Peruvian embroiderer and Royal School of Needlework trained. See the Coming Upsection for more information and photos of her amazing embroidery.
Next month, we are looking forward to March 8th, which is International Women’s Day. Battersea Library is celebrating on 7th March with a jazz concert – details in our ‘Offshoots’ section. We are holding a planning meeting in the BAC Café on Thursday 13 Feb at 10:30 to put together a half day programme to celebrate IWD. We are asking groups to help fill a stimulating 2 hour programme. We’d love to hear your ideas! So far, activities include a book share/swap of female authors, cake sale, tai chi session and crafting. The date of our celebration and venue will be confirmed soon. We will share more info at our Feb meeting. Please get in touch with any of the committee with your suggestions or feedback. We want everyone to feel part of the BWI family.
I look forward to seeing you all very soon
Jane, President Battersea WI
E: presidentbattersea@surreyfedwi.org.uk
In your February 2025 Newsletter:
- Your BWI Groups
- Coming up – meet up dates at a glance, what’s on in February
- Offshoots – activities inspired by BWI groups
- Surrey Federation – news and activities
- NFWI news – International Womens’ Day
Your WI Groups – keep up to date with BWI via our Instagram feed
Art – Nathalie hosted a ‘Chart’ Session (chat+art=chart) Coffee and cake are clearly conducive to creativity!


Book Groups – what we’ve been reading
Bookends

Much better than last month’s and shorter which is always a plus! It is a fictionalised account of her childhood in India. Told from the child’s perspective, it is a lovely book that evokes in snapshots, the sounds and smells of rural India and brings to life her childhood. The river is a thread running through the book and her childhood as a metaphor for life’s journey.
Boozy Books
Each month we have a different discussion activity related to the book we’ve just read. This month it was the review critique.
We had mixed feelings about Osman’s new offering – it didn’t have the instant likability of The Thursday Murder Club and took the first third of the book to establish the characters. Once it got going the plot had many twists and turns keeping you guessing. It was entertaining with some ‘laugh out loud’ moments.
Chapter One Reading Group

Celebrating the New Year. The group takes a break over Christmas, so instead of reading and discussing a book together in January we met at an Italian restaurant, Toni’s Amalfi, to welcome the New Year. It was a wonderfully convivial evening where we shared our different Christmas experiences including the best components for a perfect Espresso Martini. As well as good food and conversation, the group began planning its next programme of books for the months ahead.
Craft Group A few of us have been enjoying the weekly sessions organised by Craft Forward and 575 Wandsworth Road exploring what ‘Home’ means. There are 3 artists leading the sessions in rotation, covering block printing, embroidery and patchwork.
Film

Our Film Club choice for December was “Better Man” at Clapham Picturehouse. This is a semi-biographical film about Robbie Williams, looking at his rise, fall and rise back to fame from “Take That” days to his solo career. Directed by Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) this was an easy to watch musical with some great set dance pieces. Robbie Williams’ face is rendered as a CGI chimpanzee, which many of us thought actually added to the film: helped by the excellent integration of Williams’ own eyes and facial expressions. I wasn’t expecting to cry at a chimpanzee! I think we all enjoyed this film and personally, I would watch it again.
January’s choice was”The Brutalist,” about the life of visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody). Escaping post-war Europe in 1947, he arrives in America to rebuild his life, career and marriage (Felicity Jones). Toth settles in Pennsylvania, where

a wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) recognises his talent and enlists him to build a monumental new project. This is a sweeping film, full of depth and complexity. Visually, it has great graphics, stunning skylines and very intense scenes excellently accompanied by fittingly powerful, heavy music.The script was written by a husband (also the director) and wife team, and this shows in the excellent and realistic portrayal of the couple coming together again after years apart, separated when they were sent to different concentration camps. The acting is superb and the whole film unsettling and thought provoking. It raises many topics, such as the Holocaust, survivorship, entitlement, respect for other faiths and races, as well as architecture and what that can portray when it is understood. Several of us were surprised to find this is a fictional story, it is so well done! Personally, I didn’t find it too long at 3.5hrs, with a well-timed 15 minute interval.
Foodies

We celebrated the New Year with a tapas evening. We rose magnificently to the challenge to cook everything from tortillas piled high to melt in the mouth croquettes to gazpacho. As it was dry January we sampled 0% Tanqueray gin and agreed it had a good authentic taste, just lacked a kick! One worth buying though if you are looking for an alcohol-free tipple. Our recipe of the month is Sangria.
Knitting & Crochet
We are keeping our hooks and needles busy making Easter chicks for Royal Trinity Hospice. Here’s a selection of what we’ve made so far. There will be an afternoon at the hospice on 28th Feb for stuffing the chicks with creme eggs for sending out to school fairs and shops for sale to the public in the run up to Easter. If you want to contribute any crafted items, here are links to the knitting pattern and a crochet (CAL) video All chicks need to be delivered to Trinity by 21st Feb, so please bring them to our WI meeting on 18th Feb and Joan will collect them to pass on.



Walking



On the first Friday of January fifteen of us and five dogs met up at the Vauxhall Uber Boat Pier for our usual New Year’s walk along the Thames Path back to Battersea. It was a beautiful morning, cold and frosty and sunny; we enjoyed the river views, and also checked out the American Embassy gardens, the Sky Pool and the Christmas fair at the Power Station, before heading through Battersea Park for hot drinks at the Putt in the Park café near Sun Gate – helpful staff and great coffee!
We had an extra outing this month to the Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2025….fourteen of us, warmly wrapped up against the rather damp and windy weather, enjoyed walking its well-organised two-mile trail and checking out this year’s impressive collection of sound and light installations. Great photo opportunities, too.


Full details of what’s coming up are in our members’ newsletter. If you are interested in joining Battersea WI, here’s the link to our contact form
Our February meeting Guest Speaker

Our February speaker will be Bella Lane, whom some of you met when we went to the Silver & Gold Wire Exhibition at the Guildhall last year. Bella’s talk will be about the different styles of embroidery around the world and how they vary in technique, colours, subject matter and patterns, together with samples to show you.
Offshoots

International Women’s Day on 8th March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The first IWD gathering was in 1911, supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation specific. The NFWI is also marking the day – this year is the 110th anniversary of the WI, see the NFWI section below for more information.
The campaign theme for this year is ‘Accelerate Action.’ If you would like to organise a BWI event to mark the date, please contact Jane. Battersea Library is celebrating by hosting a concert on 7th March featuring Helen McDonald – for full details see right

Local Heritage: the Wandsworth Local List is made up of buildings, structures and landscapes which are not listed at national level but are important to the people and communities of the Borough. WBC is running a consultation until 28th February 2025 providing an opportunity to tell them what buildings, spaces or features are important or significant to your local area or community and why. For more information click here
Surrey Federation

The Surrey Federation website has all the latest news about events and news in our neighbouring WIs.
This month, we’re highlighting their ‘Let’s Dance’ event on 2nd March.
Their Annual Council Meeting (ACM) will be held online this year, on Saturday 29th March 2025, so that many more members can attend. There will also be an online raffle – tickets will be available at the next couple of BWI meetings with the draw taking place during the ACM.
For further information about these and other SurreyFed events, visit the website Noticeboard page..
National Federation of WIs

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 My WI section of the NFWI website

Want to find out more about joining Battersea WI? Please use our contact form to get in touch and find out more!