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.

Christmas singing, glitter, wine and laughter!

Defrost your vocal chords at Stoke Newington 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!

If you don't have luck with harmony, you might have better fortune buying a ticket for our Christmas raffle, with three wonderful prizes from local stores up for grabs.

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

Book now

Stoke Newington WI Christmas Party
Upstairs at The Prince public house
Kynaston Rd, N16
Mon 10 December 2012, 8-10pm

Private View - Deck the Walls!

If you're looking for an artistic Christmas gift, come to the private view of Deck The Walls, Outline Editions' Christmas showcase of hundreds of signed editions, woodblock prints and original artworks.

5 December 2012, 6-8.30pm
The Gallery behind Stoke Newington Library
Edwards Lane
Off Stoke Newington Church Street
Stoke Newington N16

Novembers meeting- all that glitters....

November saw the prince pub disappear under a ton of glittery craftiness!

We were delighted to welcome Momtaz, the author of 101 things to do with glitter

The book is a must for crafty fans, and makes a perfect pressie for crafty pals! It's split into 4 sections and contains surprisingly 101 projects. You can pick up a copy here

Momtaz brought a huge selection of materials and members got stuck in and made some fabulous stuff!

 Here are some Committee members taking the evening very seriously!

 Here's a couple of the projects you could make from the book

Glittery supplies can be bought locally from William Gee on Kingsland road or online from Josie Rose

Go on Get glittery for Christmas!

CL Hardie- Secretary SNWI

The UnderWire Film Festival 20-24 November 2012

UnderWire’s founders Gabriella Apicella and Gemma Mitchell launched the festival in 2010 with the belief that women working in the UK film industry needed more encouragement and a bigger platform for their work. The fact remains that women still make up a small proportion of film creatives, and UnderWire looks to recognise the best short work made by women across a range of crafts – from director to cinematographer; screenwriter to editor. UnderWire believes that a more gender balanced industry will benefit everyone by creating a diversity of perspectives, stories and experiences for audiences.

This year they're holding four days of screenings, sessions and networking at the Ritzy in Brixton.

See the full schedule and get more details at www.underwirefestival.com.

Help us plan Stokey WI's 2013 schedule

It's heading towards the end of the year, so we need to start planning the events for 2013.
We'd love you to help us out and answer this really short survey

Thanks in advance for your assistance, looking forward to hearing your ideas for next year!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

CL Hardie- Secretary Stokey WI

101+ things to do with Glitter

101+ things to do with Glitter

An evening with craft author Momtaz-Begum Hossain

Craft author Momtaz will be sharing a few of the 101+ things we can do with glitter. Her new book of the same title is out just in time for getting ready for the christmas season. Momtaz will be arranging some mini craft sessions, so we should all take away something fun we've made

You can read more about Momtaz on her crafty blog here 

This meeting is free for members and for visitors

Hope to see you There!

CL Hardie- Secreatry Stokey WI

Quilt love- sewing for others!

The book Quilt Love is a book about telling stories.  Telling stories about people, places and the times you’ve loved, with fabric, patterns and colour. It isn’t fussy or formal, but it aims to give you the skills and confidence to create objects for your home that tell the story of your life and your personality. 

Would you like to take part in a project running this autumn? - You Don’t Know Them, But You Know They Need It.

We’ve all known people who are down on their luck, who are cold or lonely or forgotten, but it’s not often that we know quite how to help them. One way to make a difference is with a quilt featured in the book Quilt love, based on the idea that You Don’t Know Them, But You Know They Need It. It can be made from leftover pieces of fabric and doesn’t require any quilting experience. With the help of a few friends you can put it together in an afternoon and make a real difference to someone in need. 

Whether it’s contributing pieces of fabric or getting together to make a whole quilt, you can decide exactly how you want to get involved.

There's a drop-in ‘making‘ event happening soon if you'd like to help to put together quilts.

      Raystitch, Islington,  London - Monday 29^th October from 10am-10pm

If you'd like to go along, book a space by contacting Raystitch on 020 7704 1060 or info@raystitch.co.uk.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can still be involved by sending your fabric swatches to the author  at: Studio, Cassandra Ellis, 44 Crofton Road, London, SE5 8NB. Or if anyone would like to donate blankets or larger volumes of cloth, they just need to get in touch.

Kind regards

Cassandra

We love our breasts!

October's meeting was all about 'loving our breasts'.  In a room festooned with 'bra bunting' our lovely new WI member and GP, Zoe, taught us how to check our breasts for lumps as well as what other signs to look out for on our breasts that might indicate a health problem. We all learned something new and the neighbours close by to The Prince must have thought it an odd sight when 30 women all stood up and felt their breasts in unison! 

Next Sue demonstrated the knitted 'Boobie Beanie Hat' using a teddy as her baby. It's a hat that looks like a breast to be worn by a baby while breast-feeding. Funny and confusing! Patterns or knitted hats are available frombabypdesigns.etsy.com

Rosanne from Rosa's Lingerie shop in Stoke Newington Church Street then demonstrated on a couple of 'volunteers' the mind-boggling differences that wearing a correctly fitted bra or a different design of bra can make. With special thanks to our members Anna and Lis who were such brilliant models, again giving the neighbours something to talk about!

We collected a whole Bra Bin full of unwanted bras for charity, and there was plenty of time afterwards for catching up with old members and meeting new ones.....all in all an informative yet important night for Stokey WI. 

November will be something crafty, so watch this space......