Horsham Normandy W.I.

Members of Horsham Normandy WI have been taking part in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. To show our support we shall be wearing orange flowers which is the UN selected colour for this worldwide issue.

Prior to these days of activity we joined with other members of West Sussex WI’s to make orange flowers that have been joined together to make a bright cascade that has been hung outside West Sussex Federation Headquarters at Denman House, Horsham.

We shall also be engaging with our menfolk to wear the white ribbon to show that they to stand against this destructive behaviour. Several of our members were in the Carfax recently engaging with the men of our town and handing out white ribbons.

With other WI’s and members of Horsham District Council we attended a vigil in Horsham Carfax for the victims of violence in our district. The council members are fully behind the white ribbon campaign and are motivated to provide positive support.

Four HNWI members joined the Stitching for Safety project to produce a postcard with a stitched message calling for funding to support women leaving an abusive situation, and education to prevent these attitudes in society.

These will be sent to National WI Headquarters and passed on to Government at the end of this campaign period

One of the positive aspects of Horsham is the way various organisations work together for our community. Just as we are supporting Horsham Green Spaces this Summer with our Postbox toppers for the Wildways Trail, the Horsham Society expressed their thanks to us, for our efforts about the town.

This article featured in the July issue of their newsletter.

A month on and we are completing our mug mats.

Sue K got totally hooked and is making these colour co-ordinated mats.

Monica came to this with new ideas and produced this colourful mosaic design.

A selection of others mats that were transformed with the addition of a border.

Finally 2 pieces for Kath who so kindly provided the plastic canvas for our endeavours.

There were several other wonderful designs but, alas, I have no pictures of these. I believe we all enjoyed ourselves and appreciated a little calm stitching.

We had a fun crafting session exploring stitching on plastic canvas to create a mug mat.

Creating a design on the spur of the moment, using a limited range of colours and getting to grips with a new technique was a challenge met with enthusiasm.

By the end of the day two ladies had shared these efforts which have yet to have the finishing touches.

We shall continue with this, edging and backing them next month. We look forward to seeing all the colourful creations.