January's meeting- Meet knit with Attitude

Meet Maya B of Knit with Attitude

Bring your WIP’s, Queries and ears

January’s meeting is with Maya B of the wonderful Knit with Attitude.

Maya will be talking to us about how the craft and particular the yarn industry has been affected by environmental and political issues and how this led to her setting up Knit with Attitude , which specialises in eco-friendly, ethical yarns. Along the way she will touch on the growth of the craft industry in recent years and show us some of her projects.

Maya will be joined by Siobhan Beatty of SNUG, the Stoke Newington Green Users Group. They have been “Knitting the Common” as a community arts project. Creating a 3D model of the Common, which will be displayed in Hackney Museum as part of the Hello Cazenove exhibition starting in January 2014.

Maya and Siobhan will also be answering all your knitting and crochet queries during the second half of the evening, so feel free to bring your WIPs (works in progress) with any queries.  We will also have some tables set up to teach knitting or crocheting or to help “stitch the Common for” SNUG.

 This meeting is free for members, but there is a £5 charge for visiting non members

Defrost your vocal chords at Stokey WI's Christmas party

Come to Stokey WI's Christmas party where we'll have a singing star alongside Yuletide nibbles and tipples to help us get in the festive spirit. 

Vanessa Havell is founder of 40s-style, three-part harmony singing trio, The Marjorie Belles, described by Chris Evans as "mellifluous marvels".

Vanessa is confident she can get Stokey WI and friends singing carols in three-part harmony almost as gloriously - or at least give us a good laugh trying!

 The party is free and open to members and friends, but please book a place as space is restricted.



Claire-Louise Hardie Secretary Stokey WI

November meeting: time to meet the Salmon Smoker!

Next Monday's WI meeting gives host to Ole-Martin Hansen - A.K.A. The Stokey Salmon Smoker. Not something you'd necessarily expect in Stoke Newington, but Ole runs a smokehouse just by Clissold Park, bringing his great-grandfather’s Norwegian recipe to London.


 True to 4 generations of Hansen and Lydersen craft, he insists in producing his salmon according to the long-standing smoking traditions that have made his family’s success for over 80 years.

We're looking forward to hearing Ole's story, the work he does and tasting his delicious salmon - just in time for Christmas party planning too! 

See more about Ole visit: http://www.hansen-lydersen.com

8pm 

The Prince, Kynaston Road, N16

Free to members 

£4 non-members 

Charity Tea party in aid of the Refuge women's association this weekend Sat 21st dec

The Refugee Women's Association came to speak to us this year in march, and one of our members was inspired to organise a fund raising tea party for them. Do go along on Saturday 21st September to show some support for this Hackney based charity. 

October's meeting- Get Social media savvy with Alicia Cowen

Savvy Social media-get started, stay safe and have fun. The ultimate guide to making it work for you!

Fearful of facebook and terrified of twitter? Fear not, this month's special guest speaker knows just about all there is to social media, and will get us online safely. 

There's no denying that 21st century life has moved online! How many times do you feel left out because you missed an event that was only posted online? Would you like to keep in touch more with relatives via socail media, but are anxious about online saftey and security?

Fear not- Alicia Cowan an online and social media trainer and guru is coming to help us!

Alica Cowan a renowned Social media superhero will get you started with social media. 

Having used Social media to launch her own  VA business, and to grow her own business, Alicia began mentoring amd training others with the tips she learnt. Eventually she became such a sought after social media tariner, she gave up her VA business and now works exclusively as a trainer in social media.

Here's a few things about our June speaker Alicia

• She's a fixer and a bit geeky
• She's practical, realistic and honest. 
• She's London born and bred, and lives in a leafy North London suburb
• She loves answering questions – so don’t be shy, bring it on!
• She also loves asking questions just as much
• She's half Swedish – which means I’m partial to great black coffee, cinnamon buns and salty liquorice
• She's a certified social media and online specialist, not just a self taught social media user
• She's a strategist, mentor and speaker and she want to empower you online

Although Alicia mostly works with social media in business, she is passionate about empowering women online, and has tailor made a presentation especially for us at Stokey WI. So come along armed with questions about any socail media, and the fabulous Alicia will de-mystify it for you.

 

This meeting is free for Members and visitors

This September meet Tilly Off the Telly, one of the star's of BBC2's Great British Sewing Bee

Meet Tilly Walnes from "Tilly and the buttons" and one of the stars of BBC 2's Great British Sewing Bee

Did you love The Great British Sewing Bee? Or do you love sewing and crafting? 

 

We are delighted that Tilly Walnes one of the stars of the sewing bee is coming to talk about her sewing experience, and run a crafty activity with us!

Tilly Walnes writes the popular sewing blog www.tillyandthebuttons.com, offering practical tips and inspiration in a positive environment to encourage more people to have fun creating their own handmade wardrobe.

Tilly only discovered sewing a few years ago, and since then has made a wardrobe full of handmade clothing she adores, trained in professional sewing techniques, published sewing patterns, and sewn on TV for BBC2’s Great British Sewing Bee! Yet she still remembers how daunting sewing techniques and jargon can be for beginners, so her aim is to demystify sewing and make it accessible and enjoyable for all.

There will be a small charge to cover materials for this meeting and there is a £5 charge for visiting non members

August meeting- Special after hours tour of Abney park!

After hours tour of Abney Park

  

Our August meeting will be a very special after-hours visit to Abney Park one of the ‘magnificent seven’ garden cemeteries of London

After the gates are closed, we'll have Abney Park all to ourselves!

Abney visitor centre manager John Baldock will take us on an exclusive dusk walk of the cemetery, sharing stories of the people buried there, especially some of Abney's illustrious ladies, such as music hall star Nelly Power and feminist writer and friend of Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Hays.

We'll also learn more about Abney's amazing wildlife, and listen to bats with the help of a bat detector and a local bat enthusiast.

There's a £5 fee for non members. This fee will go to the Abney park trust. This event is free for members. Stokey WI will be donating a fee for each member who attends.

July's meeting- Liberate your power tools with Jo Behari

Liberate your power tools and take over the DIY, with Jo Behari, co-author of good girl's guide to DIY and superhero handy women!

Summer is the perfect time to make the most of the light in the evening and get some DIY done. However, breaking out those power tools can be a little daunting. Fear your drill no more, as Jo Behari will get you power tool confident in no time

Jo Behari started the first all female home improvements and diy company in the uk! The company Home Jane has been supplying female trades women since 2007

In 2011, Jo was one of 3 experts on the channel 4 show Make do and mend, empowering people across the uk to save money and have a go at DIY

Jo is also co-author of a fabulous book called "The Girl's guide to DIY"

Jo  will be answering all our questions about power tools, and showing us a heap of tips and tricks too. Got a drill that you're scared to plug in? Bring it along and get some hands on advice. 

This summer will see a DIY revolution in Stokey, as us ladies take charge!

 This meeting is free for members, but there is a £5 charge for visiting non members

Save Stokey WI!- An update after our 2013 AGM

Stokey WI is your WI, and it can't be fabulous if no-one helps  to run it!

We do still need your help!

3 members stood for the formal committee roles, which has enabled the group  to continue.

We did have several members volunteer to help out on an ad-hoc basis with door meeting and greeting and small roles that need doing at every event

We didn't however get anyone to stand as deputies for the 3 formal roles, which means there is still a big workload for those 3 individuals. If we can't find volunteers to share the workload of the Secretary, President and Treasurer we are still in danger of closure if any of those members resign. 

We'd like some people to volunteer to write stuff for blog and social media.

We'd  still like a couple of volunteer Photographers who will take pics at each event and get them to the website co-ordinator, although as yet we don't have a volunteer to be a blog co-ordinator!

If you're interested in helping out with the running of this group do drop us an email stating how you'd like to help, or make suggestions on events you'd like to see?

stokenewingtonwi@gmail.com

We will be making the annual Secretary and financial reports available soon

CL Hardie- Secretary Stokey WI

May Madness- A cake party. bake or buy, just bring a slice or two to share

May madness- A cake party! Bake or buy, but do bring a slice or 2 to share

This Month's meeeting, looks to be our zaniest party idea yet! Popular in the north of england, we're holding a cake party. Bring a cake to share, and don't worry if you're no Mary Berry, it's ok to buy your favourite cake to bring along!

Wether you bake or buy, we all love a cake, and we all know our favourites. This month we'll be sharing not just cake, but the recipes too( or the name of your fav cake shop!)

It's an informal, light hearted meeting so why not join in the party mood and come in a tea dress.

We'd love to see you there

The event is free for members, but there is a £5 charge for visitors

The icing is on the cake!

The Stokey WI cake party  

Our next meeting, Monday 13th May, will see the our best party yet - a cake party. The plan is for everyone to bring along their favourite cake. A chance to swap a slice and a recipe. Tea dresses are definitely most welcome.

Hope to see you there
8pm. The Prince, Kynaston Road.

Kate
x

p.s. and the icing really is on the cake as last month members came forward to help run meetings so here's to another year of the Stokey WI! 

Save Stokey WI!

We need your help!

The Stoke Newington WI group is at crisis point!
We are about to head into our annual general meeting on April 8th, which means re-electing the committee. Our current fabulous committee members who have done such an incredible job over the last 15 months, need some help. We're all busy and need more committee members to help out. If we can't get more committee member volunteers our group is likely to be suspended!

We need a minimum of 3 members on the committee for the group to be allowed to continue, and we are hoping to get more members to share the workload as we know everyone has lots of demands on their free time these days!

The minimum number of roles for the committee is 3, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a President. This structure does however put a lot of work those 3 individuals who may still stand but all of whom need a deputy, so we need at least one deputy for each of those roles so we can spread the responsibility.
We'd like a couple of volunteer Photographers who will take pics at each event and get them to the website co-ordinator
We'd like some people to volunteer to write stuff for blog and social media.

If you're interested in any committee roles do drop us an email stating how you'd like to help
stokenewingtonwi@gmail.com

Without your help, April could be the last month that Stokey WI meets!

So, it's time for us to put our thinking caps on ladies, and start saving Stokey WI!

If you've got any suggestions e mail us on

March meeting- A celebration of local women's charities, campaigns and action groups

March meeting- A celebration of local women's charities, campaigns and action groups

In March Stokey WI likes to celebrate womanhood not just on international women's day but all Month!

At our meeting this month, we have 3 speakers from 3 different charities all of whom have a local connection and help women. In response to our survey at the end of the year, we've collated info on charities that we feel you'd like to know about and maybe even support.

This fabulous charity who are based just down the road from us in Islington, help women really make an impact at interviews. Often Women who are struggling financially, can't look the part when going for interviews,and this can have a negative effect on their success rate. Dress for success not only provide suitable interview outfits, they also provide interview training for women who have been out of the job market too.

Foodbanks featured in last month's WI Life mag, and are a great way to help others at a grass roots level. Liza Cucco from Hackney Foodbank will be sharing with us how we can get involved. They are looking for donations of the following foods:- pasta, jam, sugar, tinned veg, tinned fish, baked beans etc. You can find out about other ways to get involved too both on the night, and by checking their website

 The refuge women's association work with women refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in London and  see over 600-800 women clients per year.  They provide a range of services to women i.e. training, careers advice and guidance, employment support, case work, advocacy and fundraising to help women who are destitute and in need. They see many clients from Hackney and have had number of projects in Hackney where they are also based. 

The evening starts as usual at 8 pm in the Prince. There's no charge for this meeting, but do buy a drink on your way in, and bring along any donations if you'd like to support one of the charities

Go behind the scenes to discover how stunning West End stage costumes are produced from scratch

Go behind the scenes to discover how stunning West End stage costumes are produced from scratch

Are you dazzled by the amazing costumes you see on stage and screen? Have you ever wondered how they're created? Now you can find out at Stoke Newington WI's January meeting.

Let Stoke Newington WI's talented secretary, Claire-Louise Hardie, transport you on the magical journey of a costume from initial idea to finished garment, introducing you to the many artisans and myriad techniques involved along the way.

Claire-Louise is an established theatrical costumier with an impressive CV. She has worked in all aspects of the exciting world of theatrical costume, all over the UK and abroad, from an RSC tour of Japan to TV's Midsomer Murders.

In her fascinating, interactive talk, Claire-Louise reveals all the people and tricks used to make costumes for stage and screen. There will be a chance for us all to practise what we learn and create a character board for an actor and break down a section of script.

After Claire-Louise's talk there will be a chance for members and non-members to chat and socialise and plan our future meetings for 2013. 

There will also be a chance for new members to join and old members to renew their subscriptions – which are now due!

This event is free for both members and visitors.