In light of the latest advice from the government with regard to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) we are unfortunately cancelling our monthly face-to-face meetings until further notice.
However, we are now running meetings and clubs online via zoom and members will receive details.
Keep in touch via this website, social media and our online newsletter to keep you updated of any further changes to our programme or clubs.
Stay safe everyone.
The Gloucester Road WI is a diverse group of women with some amazing skills and experience.
We formed in 2011, and currently have 80 members who meet monthly and engage in an activity or listen to a speaker. We also fundraise for local charities and participate in the national WI campaigns and initiatives.
Membership for 2021 opens in April and costs £44 per year. You can also attend meetings on a trial basis before joining. If you have any further questions about joining our vibrant and active WI please get in touch.
Review Mar: International Women’s Day and Womankind - International Women's Day and Womankind 16 Mar: International Women’s Day and Womankind - Happy International Women’s Day! Join us for our March meeting and hear from Kyra Bond from Womankind, our nominated charity for 2021
Review Feb: Explorers Connect - Belinda Kirk from Explorers Connect joined us at our meeting to talk about skippering the first women to Row Around The UK. Currently, our meetings are online via Zoom due to the COVID 19 Pandemic
Meetings are free to members and we do accept some visitors.
Aromatherapy for Winter Wellbeing with Anne of AromaWizards
Living adventurously with Belinda of Explorers Connect
International Women’s Day and a talk on the work of our nominated charity for 2021, Womankind.
Pete Insole of Know Your Place Bristol.
Deaf Awareness/Sign Language.
Physical Health and Wellbeing for Women with Physiotherapist Clare Callaghan.
Street art
60s dancing class with the Go Gets
Meet the Mafias – the Italian mafia in popular culture
Our Annual General Meeting will be followed by a talk and demo on the Amazing World of Fungi.
Stir Up Sunday Baking
Date TBC – Christmas Party/Quiz
Additional charges may apply for extra events or activities.
Programme may be subject to change at short notice for absolutely any reason.
We meet at 8pm on the third Tuesday of every month in the:
Bristol St Andrew’s Bowling Club,
Derby Road,
St Andrews,
Bristol
BS7 9AQ
Pete Insole of Know Your Place Bristol, will talk about the Bristol City Council interactive history map, which has been working for the last ten years. Come along and find out more about the streets around you, which we all know for the last year we have got much more familiar with than normally.
We marked International Women’s Day with a discussion about how we’d marked the day.
Kyra Bond attended the meeting to give an overview of the work of our nominated charity for 2021, Womankind.
Womankind supports women in the Bristol area with professional counselling, group psychotherapy, befriending and a helpline service. Womankind is an established charity run by women for women.
Womankind help hundreds of women every year to improve their mental health and well-being so they can experience a better quality of life.
They recognise that the roots of our difficulties are often linked to personal life histories. They also recognise that the social and political environment in which we live affects our mental health.
It’s not always easy to ask for help but they would encourage you to not suffer in silence as talking to someone about your problems and how you feel can really help.
Womankind will work with you to understand your situation and can help you think things through so you get the support you need.
Happy International Women’s Day! Join us for our March meeting and hear from Kyra Bond from Womankind, our nominated charity for 2021
Belinda Kirk from Explorers Connect joined us at our meeting to talk about skippering the first women to Row Around The UK.
Belinda is the leading voice promoting the benefits of adventure on wellbeing and the founding campaigner of the #AdventureRevolution “I believe adventure is a necessity of the human spirit. The modern world has become too easy, too averse to challenge. This is having a negative effect on our physical and mental health. We need a revolution, to learn how to live adventurously” Her new book Adventure Revolution is coming out with Little, Brown later this year
An Explorer in her own right, Belinda has walked across Nicaragua, searched for camels in China’s Desert of Death, discovered ancient rock paintings in Lesotho, pioneered inclusive expeditions for people with disabilities, lead dozens of youth development expeditions around the world and gained a Guinness World Record for rowing unsupported around Britain. An expert expedition leade rand Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Belinda has managed remote trips for, amongst others Ray Mears, Chris Ryan & Bear Grylls.
Belinda launched Explorers Connect, a non-profit organisation connecting people to adventures in 2009. Over 10 years she has encouraged over 30,000 ordinary people to discover a world of outdoor challenges and established Britain’s National Night of Adventure #wildnightout2020
Belinda talked about skippering the first women to Row Around The UK. To date no other women have achieved this and only 11 people on the planet. Its now evolved into the toughest rowing race in the world. The theme of her talk was about the importance of risking failure and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.
Belinda’s new book is now widely available
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Revolution-case-living-boldly/dp/0349428239
https://www.waterstones.com/book/adventure-revolution/belinda-kirk/9780349428239
Belinda Kirk from Explorers Connect will join us at our next meeting to talk about skippering the first women to Row Around The UK. To date no other women have achieved this and only 11 people on the planet. Its now evolved into the toughest rowing race in the world. The theme of her talk will be about the importance of risking failure and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.
Belinda launched Explorers Connect, a non-profit organisation connecting people to adventures in 2009. Over 10 years she has encouraged over 30,000 ordinary people to discover a world of outdoor challenges and established Britain’s National Night of Adventure #wildnightout2020
Aromatherapy for Winter Wellbeing with Anne Polet of AromaWizards – @AromaWizardsnorthdevon on Facebook
Anne trained as an aroma therapist 30y ago. She gave a fascinating talk about a whole array of different essential oils. We learnt about how oils are distilled from plant materials (e.g. it takes 1.5kg lavender makes 15ml oil), how they can have many different effects and how they can help minor ailments e.g. dry skin, Seasonal Affected Disorder, stress to name a few. Whilst they are natural products they should always be handled with care. They are powerful chemicals and shouldn’t be used orally (in large amounts they can damage liver and kidneys note: in the food and drinks industry they are used in very diluted quantities i.e. as 1 drop per 6litres) or neat on your skin. They also don’t last forever so buying small quantities is important.Inhalation is particularly helpful for mental wellbeing. Lemon can be really uplifting in the winter months and other oils can calm your mind and move you from a stressful state to a physiologically calm state. There are published research articles on the effects of lavender and other oils too. Burners and diffusers can be great but remember to use them to only use them for 30-45mins at a time to have maximum effect.
Feel free to contact Anne for more information
Kate from May The Folds Be With You gave us a demo of Book Folding.
Book Folding turns pre-loved books into art by cutting or folding individual pages.
For October’s meeting, following our very brief AGM where we welcomed our new committee, we travelled across the globe for a virtual guided tour to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California! We joined Erin Gates from California State Parks PORTS for a stroll through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to the largest stand of old growth redwood forest remaining in the world.
These giants, the tallest living things on earth, historically covered much of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, but logging in the early and mid 20th Century cut down 96% of old growth Redwoods, with only 4% remaining today.
We walked virtually among these magnificent trees with Erin as she shares the stories they have to tell – about resilience, adaptations, and the history of their preservation which began with a women’s garden group in the early 20th century.
