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Gloucester Road WI

The WI for Bristol's most interesting and independent high street. Meeting the 3rd Tues monthly.

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Gloucester Road WI

We are the Gloucester Road WI, the WI for Bristol's most interesting and independent high street.

19 Feb: Re-gifting auction and swishing

Have an unwanted present? Been doing a bit of decluttering and now have items that no longer spark joy in your life (fans of Marie Kondo will know what we mean by that!)? Bring them along to add to February’s swishing* and re-gifting auction!

We’ll start with the re-gifting where we’ll auction off your unwanted gifts with all proceeds going to our nominated charity. Then we’ll have the swishing towards the end of the night.

*Wondering what swishing is? Bring along some clothes or accessories you no longer want and swap them for something someone else has bought along!

Review December: Xmas bring a dish party!

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Xmas bring a dish party. Such wonderful food from our talented members, and a great night had by all – especially handbag bingo!

Thanks to our wonderful president, Alison Bingham for another great year.

 

 

15 Jan: Membership Sign-ups and a talk on cycling across the USA

Come along to the first meeting of the year to sign-up for 2019 membership. New members and renewals very welcome. Plus we have an inspirational talk from Rachel Lundy on “How an ordinary woman finds herself cycling across America with 8 strangers”!

Doors open at 7.30pm for 8pm start at St. Andrew’s Bowling Club, Derby Road, Bristol, BS7 9AQ. Membership is £42.00 for the year or you can come as a guest for £4 to try us out.

Membership will be on a first come first serve basis. Please bring your cheque or cash and your completed membership form: https://glosrdwi.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/membership-form-2019.pdf

Once membership and WI business is done, we’ll then hear from Rachel on her epic journey across the USA on her bike.

“On 17th May 2016, after giving up my job, I found myself on a flight to Boston, USA to meet 8 strangers. All we had in common was a dream to cycle across the USA via Canada.
5,000 miles of stunning scenery, 91 days of carrying all my belongings on the bike including my tent.  Without a support vehicle, we had to be ready to resolve issues as they arose…and there were many!”

During her talk,  she’ll focus on how she got involved (it was a bad day at
work which made her make a decision about what she really wanted to do), what happened on the adventure (a few tensions along the way), the incredibly generous Americans she met and the lessons she learned.

It promises to be a funny and ultimately inspiring talk about how to make your dreams a reality. Perfect to kick-start your 2019!

Think you know the Women’s Institute? Think again.

Want to try something new? Want to meet new friends? Then why not come along to the Gloucester Rd WI when we welcome new members for 2019?

Forget the Jam and Jerusalem stereotype. Yes, we do traditional crafts and baking. But we also hear from local, national and international speakers and get involved in a wide range of fun activities.

Talks and activities: Past talks include the Prevention of Torture by UN member Professor Malcolm Evans OBE, Tom Hovey on his Great British Bake Off illustrations and Anna Freeman, poetry slam champion and writer on her award winning novel, The Fair Fight. Activities have included wine, gin, beer and chocolate tasting sessions run by local artisans, Bollywood dancing, yoga and a wide range of crafts.

Fundraising: In our first six years we’ve raised over £21,000 for local charities. Our members have completed the Three Peaks Challenge and in 2013 published the hugely popular Gloucester Road Cookbook. And yes, we’ve run cake stalls at local events too.

Campaigning: Every year the WI, at a national level, vote and campaign for a resolution.  Past campaigns have championed the relevant, and sometimes taboo, issues of the day: Equal Pay in 1943, HIV/AIDS awareness in 1986.  And this year we’re tackling micro bead pollution and the stigma of loneliness.

Want to get involved? Come along to 2019’s first meeting on 15th January. We meet the third Tuesday of every month. Doors open at 7.30pm for 8pm start at St. Andrew’s Bowling Club, Derby Road, Bristol, BS7 9AQ.  Membership is £42.00 for the year or you can come as a guest for £5 to try us out.

All women welcome. We look forward to meeting you.

11 Dec: Christmas party

Merry Christmas everyone and we look forward to seeing you all for the bring a dish Christmas party next week.

If you weren’t at last month’s meeting and are not sure what to bring please just bring something to share or just come along. Please can all food be labelled if they contain allergens (gluten, nuts etc) and if it’s a shop bought item please keep hold of the packaging.

In a bid to be environmentally friendly (and save on the washing up!) we will not be using disposable plates so can everyone please bring their own plate and cutlery.

We’ll be running our Christmas raffle, which this year goes to our charity, LinkAge. Plus they’ll be some games, a glass of bubbly (or non-alcoholic), and the traditional announcement of next year’s programme.

Review November: Christmas Patchwork Baubles

Review October: AGM & LinkAge

20 Nov: Christmas Baubles

Come along to November’s meeting for a craft activity demonstrated by Alison. We will be making Christmas patchwork baubles, a skill Alison picked up at this year’s Tea n’ Tents.

Photo credit: joannasheenscountrydays.com

Expressions Art Festival

We were delighted to have a stand at the Expressions Arts Festival which took place at the Paintworks in September 2018. Thank you to our members who made cakes as well as those that came along to help on the stand. All the money raised is going to our 2018 charity – Linkage Bristol.

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