Horsham Normandy W.I.

On 5th July 2019, friday night revellers were surprised by suspicious activity that produced an explosion of colour on the Carfax bandstand.

Amazed & intrigued they discovered members of Horsham WI’s covering the Bandstand with knitted or crocheted strips.

The WI were taking the opportunity provided by HDC’s Year of Culture & working with Sussex Green Living, to promote the WI motion to urge Government to promote research to prevent microplastics in our oceans.

Overwhelmed by the support from WI members & families we could have covered the Bandstand twice over.

So enthusiastic were our members that needles were plucked from one another to sew the strips around the pillars. Fortunately it caused much mirth rather than duelling at dawn.

With light fading the sealife bunting was arranged.

Home bound residents stopped to admire, enquire and call support.

Our work was there to be seen the following morning.

Pam, Jilly & Hazel attended The Time is Now mass lobby for climate, nature & people in Westminster on behalf of our W.I.

The mood was well described by Jilly who said, “As a member of Normandy Horsham W.I. I felt it worthwhile to join with others to express our concerns regarding global warming on June 26th in London. We know that there are many interconnected issues that need to change in order to make a difference to this serious situation.”

As we gathered with other WI members to have a group photo, there were many clever, funny , angry and moving banners.

We were allocated a place on the South Bank, across from the Houses of Parliament, in order to demonstrate and wait for our MP to attend our invitation to meet. Sadly our MP declined to accept our invitation to listen to our concerns, unlike many of his colleagues.

We were reminded by enthusiastic young organisers to sound the alarm. At 2pm alarm clocks & phones rang and whistles blew. Those on the terrace of the Houses of Parliament heard us.

We hope for all our sakes they listened.

It was a day we were proud to be part of; as always we made new WI friends, but also engaged with other members of the public, even continuing the conversation with commuters on the train home.

On 23rd May Diana and Pat attended this meeting to learn how to make beeswax wraps and crochet scrubbies. The morning was taken up by the instructor telling us how she got involved with making more eco friendly wrappings and explaining how she did it. We all then went into the kitchen and she demonstrated how to put the pieces of cotton fabric onto a dedicated metal tray, scatter beeswax pellets and some coconut oil to keep the wraps flexible and place it into a warm oven until the wax melted. the picture shows Diana brushing the melted wax evenly on the wrap she was making. Once the the wrap is coated it is taken out and hung up to dry for a few minutes. One of the members was a beekeeper so she was able to explain how the bees produce the wax and how she and her husband send their bees wax to a company who then produce the pellets we were using.

After Lunch we were to learn how to crochet various scrubbies which could be used to scrub pans or apply creams depending on the yarn and stitch used. As 4 of the 6 members didn’t know how to crochet this became a lesson in the actual art of crocheting, so it proved useful even if we didn’t get very far in making a scrubbie!

Karen, chairman of Art& Craft committee had a display of various reusable bags and flexible tops which are available to buy to reduce the use of one off plastic. It was an interesting day and gave us food for thought.

To coincide with  Dementia Action Week our President, Kath, arranged for Lesley and I to meet her at Mill River Lodge to deliver a consignment of Fidget Mats to the manager, Doreen. We were made very welcome, given a tour of the light & airy facilities before joining the morning karaoke session. The resident ladies & gentlemen were clearly enjoying themselves. We were able to hand over 10 mats which were well  received and much appreciated. Whilst we do give mats to East Surrey Dementia Unit, it is our hope that now we have established contact, that we can supply our local care facility. Indeed, on the day of our visit we had learnt that a past member, Vera, is now a resident, and we requested that she receive her own mat. 

Thank you to all those who have given fabric, trimmings & interesting bits; they are being put to good use.

On a very wet Thursday morning, eight members arrived at the cosy Little Gems Pottery Painting Studio to a warm welcome from Gemma the owner. She gave an introductory talk about the techniques and processes involved before setting us free to make the very difficult decision of what to choose from the wide selection of available pottery items to paint. Choices made, it was time to be brave and start applying colour and designs to our chosen items. With Gemma on hand to guide and answer our many questions and requests for help and advice we started painting! Concentration levels were high as designs developed and progressed.

Refreshments including cakes baked by Jill and Lesley were a welcome break as we     admired each others efforts. When all  items were completed we left them  for glazing and firing with Gemma, with our thanks.                                                                                                    It was then a waiting game until our ‘masterpieces’ were collected by Jill and Lesley, and we saw the finished results. Everyone was pleased with their efforts and are now the proud owners of their unique pottery.                                                                                                   Many Thanks go to Jill and Lesley for organising this enjoyable and satisfying activity morning.

There were 55 WI Ladies from across West Sussex, who arrived at the Out of Bounds Centre, Rustington,  with varying degrees of confidence in their ability to take on the challenge of 10 pin bowling. The atmosphere was noisy with greetings and chatting as acquaintances were made and renewed.

The three members from Horsham Normandy, Hazel, Pat and Kath  joined forces with Linda and Gill from Durrington WI to form a team of contestants. For most of us it took a little time to get into our swing but by the end of the session all were improving in technique and were starting to play with more confidence and there was definitely an air of competitive spirit. With a watchful eye and regular comparisons with  the other teams, our performances were deemed respectable. The competitive spirit once again!

All in all it was a lively and enjoyable session and we thanked Lesley Boardman for organising this activity.

On a wet and blustery day in March 2019 Anne R and Hazel joined a team of WI ladies to plant 100 oak saplings on the Slindon Estate. This initiative organised by Al Menzies, is an event to mark 100 years of our West Sussex Federation. In conjunction with the National Trust it is part of the largest woodland restoration undertaken by NT. The Slindon Estate was cleared of much of it’s ancient woodland during the First World War to provide timber for pit props & trench supports. During the Second World War it was planted to increase food production.  After farming ceased on the estate in 2013 the Rise of Northwood project began. Our Federation effort is part of this community project. Gathering at the meeting point it was still a mile walk along country tracks & paths before reaching the designated planting site. Here Gabby & Hannah, the NT wardens, were on hand to provide tuition & support for our activity. They had already marked the planting positions and even dug a few planting holes. As the weather worsened we were pleased to have each other for support,  bracing ourselves against the wind. Hannah’s dog Twiggy was there to enjoy the scene, at one stage believing our little oak tree was a play stick! Sadly Anne is not in the pictures as she was busy capturing the scene as Official Observer, although she did also assist with planting.

Kath, Linda. Anne R, Ute, Andrea and Diana H attended the Federation’s Centenary lunch at the Avisford Park Hotel, Arundel at the start of 2019’s 100-years celebrations. Nearly 100 members enjoyed a lovely lunch in a beautifully decorated room; needless to say the chat didn’t stop as we made new friends from around the county. And Linda won a raffle prize – a WSFWI centenary mug.      Congratulations to Janice and her team for such an enjoyable day.

And we made it home before the snow arrived

!

Nine members and Lesley’s Mum went to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton to see Calendar Girls’, the Musical, on 9th January. We took a direct train to Southampton, the only hitch being no refreshments on board, so by the time we arrived, we were somewhat parched! However, this was soon remedied, as a table had been booked for lunch. Fortified with food and drink we walked the short distance to the theatre, where we had good seats in the circle. The show was excellent, the music foot-tapping and all the cast looked as though they were having fun. We thought the weather was rather cold for stripping off,  but strip off they did,  to enthusiastic applause.

Our thanks to Jill & Lesley for organising a lovely day out. And thanks to Diana H for this report.