Gloucester Road WI

We indulged in some self care under the guidance of Rob Mackay.

To aid our appreciation ancient martial art Rob provided an inspiring over view of the history of Tai Chi and why he has so passionately practiced it for the past 30 years.

He then led us through some gentle warm-up exercises and into some of the sequence which took us about 40 minutes. There were some fine flying geese on display!

The system Rob teaches is called TMW (Tai Chi Movement for Wellbeing). Whilst traditional Tai Chi takes many years to learn, TMW was developed to make the benefits of Tai Chi accessible to all in a simplified form.  It can help anyone, of any age, regain and maintain some flexibility of the body and it promotes a state of well-being in both body and mind.

Above all, the movements were beautiful, wholesome and made one feel relaxed, enlivened and able to face life anew. A refreshing night!

Cash was required for drinks and the raffle. 
The cost to visitors was £6.50 cash for this event.

Doors opened at 7:45 pm

This March, we immersed ourselves in a captivating talk by our guest speaker, Geoff King as he vividly brought to life the stark realities of Victorian-era surgeries, in all its gory glory !  
 
As promised this was an entertaining and informative evening.

Doors open at 7:45 pm

In February our meeting was a Quiz with a difference.

Karina, one of our members will organised the quiz and there were some great prizes too. 

This quiz with a difference was really fun night … no boring sports round, no need to swot up on the news, no advantage for hardened quizzers.

Some fun rounds, some random rounds and some just weird – such a good nose needed for the Herbs and Spice Round.

Teams varied in size between 3 and 5 members and it was a great opportunity to make new friends by getting to know some members who you don’t normally speak to.

Doors opened at 7:45pm with a prompt start at 8:00pm and still we over ran slightly with the head scratching, laughter and chatter.

A terrific evening.

In January we started the year in style with a clothes swap – clearing out the old and heralding in the new. Attendees brought along unwanted Christmas gifts and clothes or accessories they no longer wear, to our clothes swap event.

In addition, our guest Becky Barnes, a personal stylist, gave an informative talk on ‘How Your Wardrobe Could Save the Planet – the journey of a pair of jeans from cotton field to landfill.’

Julie McCalden came to talk to us about her mouth-popping, restaurant-style, Texmex-inspired salsas. Julie used to visit her Dad in the States every summer and ate in a Tex Mex restaurant with an unforgettable salsa, that she’s never found over here. Fast forward to the restaurant closing down, her Dad dying and lockdown hitting and you’ll find the start of her Salsa Story. We heard more about herself and got to sample her excellent salsas for ourselves. In keeping with the Tex Mex theme, we also discovered a bit about tequila and tantalized our taste-buds further, with a couple of tequila tasters.

In July Kari Thomas, a qualified shiatsu practitioner and mum of 3 teens came to talk to us about Shiatsu. Shiatsu is a physical therapy which uses a combination of pressure points, gentle manipulation and stretching to re-energise weak areas and reduce tension in the body. Kari told us about the history of shiatsu and how it can support our physical and mental well-being. She also shared her personal discovery of shiatsu and helped us explore how to listen to our bodies more effectively, to get the maximum benefits from the link between mental and physical health. There was also a live demonstration of shiatsu techniques on a lucky member!

In August, Katie Mack, one of our committee led a walk in the neighbourhood around the WI venue showing us lots of secret ‘greenways’ (footpaths and walkways that take us through green spaces, rather than sticking to roads and pavements) This continued the theme of supporting our mental health – by spending time in nature, and socialising as a community. It was also a real eye-opener to many about how much green space there is all around us – if we simply take the time to look. Or have a super-informative guide, like we did! Thank you, Katie.