Category Archives: Market Harborough WI

Special events at Denman

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Greys Court and Lady Brunner

Lady Brunner was National Chair of the NFWI in the 1950s. At this unique event her son, Sir Hugo Brunner, will spend the morning talking about her life and house, Greys Court, accompanied by Denman Archivist Anne Stamper, who will discuss Lady Brunner’s close association with Denman and the varied activities of the WI during her tenure, including the formation of Keep Britain Tidy. After a two-course lunch at Denman, you will be taken to visit the beautiful Greys Court and its splendid gardens near Henley-on-Thames, which featured on Downton Abbey. On Wednesday 30 September 2015, this event is priced at £50 for members and £55 for non-members.

 

Why not combine this event with an overnight stay in the beautiful environs of Denman with its Georgian manor house and seventeen acres of grounds? This includes an overnight stay on Tuesday 29 September 2015 with breakfast, plus a three-course dinner and is priced at £109 for WI members and £119 for non-members.

 

Food and Flowers with David Martin and Kelly Mauger

On Wednesday 21 October 2015 come and join Denman stars David Martin and Kelly Mauger for a fabulous extravaganza of flowers and food. Share David’s love of all things floral as he tells us about his life as a florist and demonstrator, all accompanied by stunning flowers arrangements. Then, after a delicious two-course lunch, join Kelly for a cake and meringue masterclass as she demonstrates how to bake and decorate a beautiful bespoke cake, adorned with fashionable rainbow meringue kisses and a selection of edible flowers. Priced at £50 for Wi members and £55 for non-members, this event is not to be missed!

 

WI Archivists Conference

Hosted by Denman Archivist Anne Stamper on Thursday 12 to Friday 13 November 2015 this conference will give you the opportunity to hear about the various events that have been arranged to celebrate the centenary. It will enable students to start thinking about how they will celebrate the centenaries or other significant anniversaries of their Federations and WIs. Everyone can learn from their experiences this year to plan ahead. Priced at £159 for WI members and £179 for non-members, this course includes an overnight stay at Denman and all meals.

 

Mother and Daughter Weekend

Due to popular demand, we have added another Mother and Daughter Weekend to the calendar on Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November 2015. A weekend packed with workshops, fun and entertainment to bring the generations together: mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, aunts, nieces, sisters or friends. Learn a selection of new skills in the stunning environs of Denman and spend some quality time with your nearest and dearest. Priced at £265 for WI members and £305 for non-members, the price includes two nights of accommodation, plus welcome drinks, breakfast, lunch and three-course dinners.

 

The Ivy Crowson Dance Weekend

In an exciting twist on our popular taster weekends, this course is made up of three different dance workshops with time to relax and be entertained along the way. The discounted price is funded by a legacy from WI member Ivy Crowson who wanted to encourage people to take up dancing. Participants should be mobile and fairly fit, but you don’t need to bring a partner and no experience is necessary. Just come brimming with enthusiasm and a willingness to give it a go!

 

Due to take place on Friday 8 to Sunday 10 January 2016 the workshop line up will include Denman stalwarts Elaine Bywaters, Annabel Brash and Sally Sheppard teaching everything from Bollywood to the foxtrot. On Friday you’ll watch Funny Face, a musical dance extravaganza starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. Then the spectacular Oxford University Dance Club will provide the entertainment on Saturday evening. Priced at £215 for WI members and £255 for non-members, this includes two nights of accommodation, plus wine and popcorn with the film, breakfast, lunch and three-course dinners.

 

For further information or to book, please call our Guest Services Team on 01865 391991 or go to www.denman.org.uk

Watch Loose Women being recorded

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Message from Loose Women production team:

Dear WI members

 

Firstly, happy birthday! 

 

On the 16th September, the ITV show Loose Women will be celebrating the WI’s centenary with a special episode in which we’ll be highlighting some of the things that make your organisation so special. 

 

And on this day, we want our whole studio audience to be made up of WI members! So we need 100 of you who’ll be able to travel to the ITV studios on the Southbank in London on that day, to watch the show as it’s recorded, live. You’ll need to be here for about 11am and will be finished at 1.30pm. Sadly we’re unable to pay any travel costs but we can guarantee a very nice time! 

 

We only have 100 places and will allocate them on a first come, first serve basis. All you have to do is email forwardplanninglw@itv.com with your name, contact details, and the name of your WI.  

 

So we hope to see you on the 16th. 

 

With very best wishes, 

 

The Loose Women team. 

‘Hellova’ Hobby Night

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I  know I say it a lot, but I flippin’ love the WI!!  Tonight members met at Gallones ice cream parlour in MH to share an informal hobby night.  We have so many talented and interesting ladies.  I was so impressed by the quality of crafting, needlework, artistry and baking.  I was in awe of Fiona’s needle case collection, which reminded me of one of those amazing finds on The Antiques Roadshow;  the endlessly talented Gemma, sat in a corner producing intricate chinese rice paper paintings; and as for Laura and her handmade leather shoes….beautiful!!

For those of you who missed out on this amazing show and tell, don’t be down hearted.  This evening felt like a small taster preview of the goodies to be won in the Handmade Raffle at the AGM September meeting.  Don’t forget to bring along a handmade gift of some sort to be able to join in.  Judging by tonight’s turnout there will be a variety of fabulous gifts to be won!

We must extend our huge THANKS to the lovely staff at Gallones that looked after us all so well. If you haven’t yet been in for an ice cream, we can thoroughly recommend it!  And don’t forget that they can organise kids parties too!!

Well done ladies, see you in September! 

Clare Farquhar, President

Hobby night this Wednesday

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We are looking forward to seeing you at the hobby night this Wednesday at Gallones.  Please note that this will be an earlier start than usual. Gallones will be available to us from 7pm onwards.

Gallones management have kindly agreed to stay open to accommodate our evening.  Please show your support by being prepared to buy teas, coffees, ice creams, etc.  I, for one, will be hankering after a sea
salt caramel naughtiness!!

So what’s it all about??  Don’t worry you don’t have to do a presentation. It’s an informal evening to share your hobbies and iinterests with other members.  So bring along a show and tell and chat to other ladies over ice cream about things that interest you.
Whether this is crafting, collecting or cooking;  ballet, boxing or bouquets come prepared to share!!

Looking forward to seeing you.  Clare Farquhar, President

Gemma’s perspective of the MHWI Carnival float

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Market Harborough WI Celebrating 100 years in style!

 

Its Friday night, the sun has set and it has been raining on and off for the past two hours, I stand looking at our half-finished carnival float and I think what possessed me to take this on. I remember seeing the post months ago online, the possibility of making a carnival float for this year’s parade in Market Harborough, at the time It seemed easy, think of an idea, collect/make the items needed to decorate the float and set it up the day before, simple! Now as I clean the rain of my glasses for the fifth time I am starting to have my doubts but everyone around me is in high spirits and the music system has just blasted into life.

The market Harborough WI’s motto is ‘something old, something new’ and I seriously wanted to base the float on this because that is what we are we do everything from Tai Chi to Cocktails but never forgetting the tea and cakes which is at the heart of every WI meeting! I myself being one of the younger members at 23 I can say this WI really changed my perception of what the group actually was and I have never had so much fun since joining over 2 years ago. I have made some really great friends and was thrilled at the amount of them that wanted to be a part of this celebration float

I spent a large percentage of Friday night (which I am sure several other ladies did as well) my mind whirling over every possible thing trying to make sure nothing had been forgotten, was that chair strapped down? Did I tape up that decoration? Where did the banners go? Has the rain stopped yet? And so on. Saturday morning and my alarm buzzing in my ear came all to quickly and at 7:30am I was back at the float finishing off from the night before the rain still ever present but it had the grace to hold off for a little while as we did the finishing touches. Then it was a mad dash to quickly get changed into our costumes and up to the judging, I arrived to see float after float all lined up along the road with people bustling around getting onto the trucks and getting everything ready, the judges came and went but I had no expectation of winning. Five minutes before we were about to set off everyone on our float suddenly starting cheering I turned around to hear someone shout to me ‘we’ve won’, after the whoops had subsided a little I found out we had actually won first place for our float! Nothing was going to dampen our sprits now as Pharrell Williams ‘Happy’ started playing over the speakers the parade set off.

It was great how all these amazing women came together to build this float, there were some stressful times but as the float was going round the town with everyone waving in their macs and umbrellas undeterred by the rain and all of us having an amazing time with ‘Girls just wanna have fun blasting out’ of the speakers it made it all worth it.

Thank you to all the members of the Market Harborough WI that made this float possible, the 13th June 2015 will be one of those years I will never forget.

 

Tea and tents 2015

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Clare Farquhar and Fiona Thompson enjoying Tea and Tents 2015

What have your President Clare Farquhar and Secretary Fiona Maxwell Thompson been up to now?!  Tea & Tents 2015 was as much fun as last year.  This year was bigger and better and Walesby Activity Centre that allowed more space and a wider range of activities. 

 The yarn bomb, We’re Not In Kansas Anymore, that depicted characters from The Wizard of Oz was STUNNING, especially the 3 sections of road supplied by MHWI!  This year the yarn bomb was raising money for Daisy Change.  This is the first WI to be set up in a mental health facility.  They will be using the installation at a charity event to raise more funds.  Then in October, the city of Bradford have asked to borrow the whole lot as part of their No Place Like Home event.  Then to top it all, one of the campers happened to work at The National Textile Archive specifically looking after WI treasures, and they want to keep the yarn bomb and preserve it!  They even want to take it on tour!  Thanks to all MHWI ladies that contributed to road, especially Carmen, who I know loved joining it altogether!😉
Next year’s yarn bomb has already been decided upon as Discwoolled, which is celebrating the writing of  Terry Pratchett.  This is in tribute to Terry Pratchett and we hope to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research.  As soon as we know any details we’ll let you know and we hope that MHWI will rise to the challenge!
The weekend was filled with lots of giggles, making and doing.  It was a great event to see the true diversity of the members of the WI.  This is a volunteer led event and lots of ladies shared their skills and ideas during workshops and seminars.  There were sports events too, and though we didn’t join in, we’re keen to get the rules of Quidditch for Muggles, as it looked really good fun.
There were lots of ladies with flowers in their hair following a Flower Crown Workshop, and a few. funky “arm knitting” scarves could be spotted.  Fiona and I got busy making lampshades.  It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and as long as you have a helpful friend to give a hand it’s definitely worth a go.  (Might just have a MHWI craft night coming on!)  I also had a go at papercutting which I missed out on last year.  Again this is great fun with quick results.  (N.B. Craft night no.2).
There was knitting and crochet galore.  Complete beginners to improvers classes.  There were sessions on felting, braiding and zip flowers to name but a few.  As well as crafting, Speakers Corner allowed ladies to share things close to their hearts for means of education, but also, being able to voice certain subjects in a safe and supportive environment.  Fiona heard one lady sharing the story of her son who lives with epilepsy.  Another woman talked about caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s.  Others spoke of how they have set up WI’s such as Daisy Change mentioned above and in a women’s prison in Northern Ireland.

No WI event would be the same without tea and jam and there was an abundance of both.  Sue Foster from Stanwick WI had organised a tea party that was sponsored by Yorkshire Tea, Waitrose and a cream company that I currently do not have to hand!  She organised afternoon tea and scones for 2 days.  On top of that she also led a jam making workshop, and let us tell you, that woman knows how to make jam!!  

There were competitions aplenty.  Make a camp blanket; make a bag out of a pair of trousers; poetry reading (won by Clare!); and of course the obligatory WI raffle with prizes donated by the ladies that had sold their wares at the Market Place for 2 hours on Saturday.  Clare had a stall again this year and did really well!

Evenings had group events to join in with, a camp fire and then a quiz night.  But the beauty of Tea and Tents is that you come and go as you please.  Some ladies had organised their own Curry Night and another group had a beer swap, and, try as we might to find it, (apparently we walked past it twice) there was also a Gin Palace for a tasting or two!

We hope that this gives you some insight.  It sells out quickly, but if you are interested in going next year we will keep you posted.  Can’t recommend it enough, it’s just so much fun!

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Volunteering for our local Loros shop – can you help?

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Do you have a few hours to spare each week or maybe once a fortnight (perhaps you are working and can do a half day one week and a friend the other?)?  If so, please contact Karen, the new manager of the Loros shop in Market Harborough.  Volunteers are needed for front of shop work, behind the scenes and clothes sorting.  Pop in and have a chat with Karen.

Loros raises money for the Leicestershire and Rutland Hospices.  The shop in Harborough is being given a face lift in September and so why not join at this new turning point?  The shop is located at Unit 5, Manor Walk, Coventry Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 9BP.  Call on (01858) 432539  Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 9am-4.30pm