Back to 70's with an "old school" cheese and wine evening

An Old school evening of delicious wine and cheese, chats and a talk on local figure Mary Wollstonecraft by Roberta Wedge from the Newington green action group

Monday October 10th is the next Stoke Newington WI meeting, and what better way to spend an autumn evening than getting to know fellow stokey members with a classic wi social gathering, the cheese and wine evening! The venue is the Londesborough pub on barbauld road and we will be starting at 7.30. There will be a small fee of £4 to cover the cost of wine, cheese.

We are delighted to announce that we will have a guest from the Newington Green action group, who will be giving a talk on local historical figure Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Wollstonecraft was an unknown and unpublished school teacher when she moved to Newington Green in the 1780s. The people she met here radicalised and encouraged her, and she went on to write the world-changing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). The Newington Green Action Group, responsible for revitalising the green itself within the last decade, has set up a campaign, called Mary on the Green, to create a fitting memorial to one of England's first feminists.

Roberta Wedge, who blogs her own Wollstonecraft interests at A vindication of the rights of Mary, will be telling us about the campaign. There will then be a short pub quiz on related areas.

Love your libraries campaign day sept 16th

Last friday September 16th was the WI birthday campaign " Love your Libraries"
To mark the occasion, a small crack team of stokey wi ladies landed at the Stoke Newington Library armed with our library cards and some unique "Love Your Libraries" Bunting...

Here are 3 of the Stoke Newington WI ladies checking out books today as part of The "Love Your Libraries" campaign

Our Lovely "Love Your Libraries" bunting made as a group on monday at a local pub. This bunting will soon be displayed inside the Stoke Newington Library

The Love Your Libraries Bunting was created in a bar with a selection of fabrics and threads brought along by our members

Our Lovely secretary Georgie outside the library with our group's bunting

Thankfully for all Hackney Wi members, hackney council are not cutting any library services and are committed to provide an excellent service to all hackney residents. They have provided us with the most up to date news about the hackney library service below


Hackney Libraries

10 key facts and figures for Hackney residents


1. Hackney Council is keeping all eight of its libraries open and has a budget of around £8.1m in 2011/12 for its library and archives service.

2. As part of this budget, there will be no front line cuts to the services the Council provides to residents.

3. Hackney Council has been investing in libraries to provide a first class service for the people of Hackney.

4. Councillor Jonathan McShane, Cabinet Member for Community Services said: “I’m delighted to be able to announce that Hackney Council is keeping all its eight libraries open. We will also continue to offer some of the longest library opening hours in the country. We are committed to investing and improving the service which is why we have agreed a budget of around £8.1 million this year.

5. The Council is committed to improving the service and soon every library will have Wifi and more reference materials available online. The Council is also looking into the provision of out of hours book drops at libraries.

6. In the last year, for the first time ever, there have been more than 1.5 million visits to Hackney's libraries, and membership is increasing too.

7. Dalston C.L.R. James Library and Archives will be one of the largest in the UK to open in 2011, and the first to be built in Hackney for over 20 years.

8. Clapton Library has been refurbished offering customers a modern comfortable environment within a superb listed building.

9. Woodberry Down library is an excellent example of a community run library. Already twenty eight volunteers have found work, several of them with the council’s library service.

10. Not only can you borrow books, DVDs and CDs from your local Hackney library, you can use a PC or study, search for jobs, develop your skills and find information about a myriad of subjects – and all free.

Love Your Library!

What a cosy and productive evening we had in The Londesborough last night! All the ladies were exercising their sewing prowess with slip stitches and chain stitches a go go! Thanks to CL and all her amazing yarns, fabrics, templates and top tips! We created a wonderful string of bunting with the words 'Love Your Library' to adorn Stoke Newington Library on Stoke Newington Church Street this Friday. We signed a petition and all filled in postcards to send to the government in a bid to save our local libraries. If you would like to sign the petition please follow this link. http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1269

Here is more information from the NFWI.

Carry your library card with pride!
At the heart of the campaign is the belief that libraries are essential resources that are too important to risk losing. That's why we're calling on every member that cares about public libraries to take the simple first step of joining your local library and getting to know your local librarians.

Sign the petition!
Before the last election, the Prime minister, David Cameron MP said he planned to introduce a scheme whereby any petition that raised 100,000 signatures would trigger a debate in the House of Commons. The NFWI wants to call on the PM to honour this commitment and we'd like to see every member sign our petition with their family and friends to demonstrate just how much the WI really values our libraries.

Write to your councillors Individuals and WI groups can make an impact. Please use the information in the campaign briefing,  to write to your local councillor highlighting the Love Your Library campaign, and expressing the importance of libraries to your local community.

Do remember to localise your letter - if you know that libraries are under threat then please do incorporate this information, and any feedback from members about the impact service reductions would have on them

The Londesborough!

Just to let you know that we will all be meeting at the Londesborough Pub at 36 Barbauld Road, N16 and NOT the Tea Rooms for the next session on the 12th of September. Details of the session to follow, see you all there!