Gemma’s perspective of the MHWI Carnival float

Posted on August 21, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

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 13^th June 2015 will be one of those years I will never forget.

Opportunities for crafters

Posted on August 21, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

Want to meet fellow crafters, swop skills, ideas and sources of materials? Then you may be interested in this new group that meets in Desborough on the last Thursday afternoon of each month: Flyer for August Meeting Final Version (1)

A local organisation running craft courses may be of interest, too: Clevercut

Late deals at Denman College

Posted on August 20, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

We have a few spaces left on a fantastic range of courses running over the coming months.

Event Code	Event Title	From Date	To Date	Discounted WI Member Price	Discounted WI Non-Member Price
145.1888	Patisserie Weekender for Improvers	28/08/2015	30/08/2015	£265.50	£301.50
145.1892	Chinese Brush Painting: Summer Pleasures	01/09/2015	04/09/2015	£355.50	£409.50
145.1910	Drum for Fun	03/09/2015	04/09/2015	£139.50	£157.50
145.1935	Silver Jewellery Reunion	07/09/2015	10/09/2015	£391.50	£445.50
145.1932	Pastels for Beginners	07/09/2015	09/09/2015	£229.50	£265.50
145.1937	World of Cake	07/09/2015	09/09/2015	£265.50	£301.50
145.1977	History and Heritage: Follies, Temples and Grottos	16/09/2015	18/09/2015	£243.00	£279.00
145.1981	Tai Chi for Beginners	16/09/2015	18/09/2015	£229.50	£265.50
145.2052	Digital Photography: Out and About	28/09/2015	02/10/2015	£463.50	£517.50
156.297	All Singing, All Dancing Showstoppers	16/11/2015	19/11/2015	£359.10	£413.10

For more information, search for the course code on www.denman.org.uk/courses.

If you would like to book a place please ring our Guest Services team on 01865 391991 quoting

Fiona wins Denman College bursary

Posted on August 19, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

Congratulations to Fiona Thompson, our MHWI Secretary. Fiona reports, ‘In July, I applied for a bursary to attend Denman College and have been awarded a First-Time Bursary worth £250. I will be going on a 4-day residential Tailoring for Beginners Course in February 2016.’ We look forward to hearing all about it and seeing some pictures of your new skills.

If you would like to visit Denman College for a taster or Designer day, click here for dates in 2016. Dates Letter for 2015-16 – Denman College

Kate Addie at WI Centennial Fair next moth

Posted on August 18, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

With 4 weeks to go, Kate Adie will be joining the Centennial Fair in Harrogate on 5/6 September. Centennial Fair update

Calling budding writers

Posted on August 15, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

How about entering this WI competition? Margaret Johnston 2016

Know a good speaker for WI?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

See how they can audition and be put on the Leicestershire and Rutland list of speakers: SAE October

Tea and tents 2015

Posted on August 4, 2015 by marketharboroughwi

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!