Horsham Normandy W.I.

And the word went out, and a man from the west came to Horsham.

After a vigorous publicity effort by Pam, BBC South heard of our attempts to bring cheer and joy to Horsham town this Christmas.

The call went out to those that could, to meet James Ingham, BBC reporter, at a town centre carpark in order to film a piece about the creation of our post box toppers

Inevitably, the misfortune of two stolen toppers was featured as part of the story. But good news was to arrive in the form of Dominic, from the Black Jug, who had found the removed topper dumped in the shrubs nearby and returned it to it’s post box.

The public reaction to us being filmed was amusing but they were generous with their support & enthusiasm for the project.

We all did individual interviews with James but most of these didn’t make the final edit due to time constraints.

Alas Diana E who did our own photojournalism isn’t seen here. Her own brief appearance on screen was so fleeting it could easily have been missed.

In all it was an interesting morning for about 3 minutes of tv coverage – you just never know where the WI will take you next!

From all the ladies of Horsham Normandy WI, we wish you all, a Merry Christmas.

This is just one of 12 postbox toppers that are suddenly appearing about Horsham. So far they may be found in Clarence Road, Chesworth Close, Highwood village, Bartholomew Road, Rushams Road & Blackbridge Lane. There are more to come, so will you see them all.

Merry Christmas to all from Horsham Normandy WI.

A recent walk has revealed more toppers.

You may well recognise some of these locations and we hope you enjoy them whilst you are out & about. We understand there may yet be some mince pies to join the Christmas pudding. So keep looking out for them but make sure the elves don’t get to them first.

It’s encouraging that the joy of these toppers is being shared in the local press and on social media.

This is a new initiative for our WI. As well as being lots of fun and a great collaborative project we are fundraising for a local cause. If you are able, a donation to Horsham Matters Christmas Appeal will enable deserving local families to have a happier Christmas too https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/horsham-normandy-wi

Thank you and have a Merry Christmas

To coincide with COP 26 some of our members decided to highlight some of the effects of Climate Change by Making the fabulous toppers shown in the photo’s.

Pam posted images of the toppers on several media platforms and the many responses were truly heart warming and encouraging. So also was the response to a quickly made topper placed in Market Square to coincide with Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

We also had coverage in the County Times who gave us a very positive review..

On a less positive note, unfortunately two of the toppers were removed by person or persons unknown.

However this is not deterring the members who are currently working on Christmas themed toppers which is something to look forward to.

Julia Keating, the daughter of a former member, kindly donated fabrics and trimmings from her late mothers’ incredible volume of craft items. The images show a flavour of the fabrics and trimmings donated.

Beryl Harrison was a member of Horsham Normandy from 1988-2004 and an avid crafter. I had the privilege of seeing some of her many pieces of work including quilting and patchwork in her craft room, which was like an Aladdin’s cave for crafters.

Beryl’s name was not on our members tablecloth so her daughter added her name, which has now been embroidered onto the cloth.

Our thanks to Kath, our President, for collecting and storing this fabulous stash of goodies. We have plans to give the card making bits to our birthday card maker and some suitable fabrics & trimmings have been passed on to the team that make fidget mats that we give to care homes in our community.

We have further ideas about the use of the fabrics to make comfort quilts as group projects and again, these will be given to suitable causes in this locality.

These little guys are lining up to be part of our Big Green Week events around Horsham in September…. where will you see them?

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Horsham Normandy WI hosted a meeting on Friday 26^th March 2021 with our MP Jeremy Quin. There were 23 WI members including those from Barns Green and Itchingfield, Horsham North Heath, Trafalgar Treasures, Manning’s Heath, Southwater, Warnham, Warnham Evening, and Horsham Normandy Women’s Institutes in the Zoom meeting.

We were there to commemorate the # Show the Love campaign and ask questions about how the government is planning to reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environment. Jeremy stayed for nearly an hour responding to our questions and has promised to get back to us with those he could not answer. We are hopeful this is the start of a positive dialogue about how we can further protect our planet.