WI calendar raises almost £1,700 for city cancer charity

L-R Seven Hills WI’s Kim (and her son Dex), Jen and Laura present the cheque to PACT dad Kevin Jacobs,
and PACT family Ellie Thompson, Lindsey Thompson, Josh Thompson and Carl Thompson. 

South Yorkshire's largest WI group has raised £1,690 for Sheffield cancer charity, the Parents’ Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT), through sales of their city landmark calendar.

Members from Seven Hills WI (SHWI) spent months creating the calendar which features them at some of Sheffield's best loved landmarks, including the Lyceum, Castle Market, the Botanical Gardens and Don Valley Stadium.

Local businesses sponsored the printing of the calendar so every penny of sales could be donated to PACT and the limited edition calendar was sold out in a matter of weeks.

Seven Hills WI chose to support PACT after the charity helped group President Lindsay Garfitt's four-year-old niece Isabelle Touhey who was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma, in July 2012. After undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Isabelle is now doing well with no sign of the disease. 

The calendar project was organised by SHWI Secretary Kim Whelan and Vice President Jennifer Marsden and committee member Laura Bainbridge took the photos. The sum from the calendar takes the money raised over the year for PACT by Seven Hills WI to £2,746.

Jennifer, 32, said: “PACT is a fantastic charity and we are so pleased to be able to donate almost £1,700 which will be put to great use helping children with cancer and their families. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who bought a copy of our calendar and helped us to make this happen.”

PACT Vice Chair Robin Jeeps added: “It is great to have the support of Seven Hills WI; we thank the members for their donation which will help us to continue to provide support to children with cancer and their families.”

SHWI say it with flowers

Tracey from Campbell's Flowers demonstrates

Even though we’re hurtling towards Christmas, it’s the start of the new year for Seven Hills WI! We’ve entered our fifth year (I know, I can scarcely believe it either) and that means that the third Thursday in November saw us hold our Annual Meeting. It also saw members queuing in droves to renew their membership. We began the meeting by naming those members interested in taking up committee roles – and much to the relief of our willing volunteers, there were no objections!

Exciting news about our all our upcoming events, including the fabulous-sounding Christmas party followed. We also heard that our charity calendars are selling like hot cakes which was fitting since Robin Jeeps, trustee of our chosen charity, came along. Robin was kind enough to share with us why PACT is so important to him and to other parents whose children have battled with cancer, as members listened attentively. Then our photographer, Laura Bainbridge, snapped away as he accepted a cheque for the money we’ve raised so far this year. 

Kim, Vicky and Jen give Robin from PACT our cheque

In our looking back at the past twelve months, we remembered our meetings, outings and first sighting of the helter skelter at Electric Works! Then, all the women in the room stood and joined in for that great WI tradition – a rousing rendition of Jerusalem.

Next, Tracey from Campbell’s Flowers was introduced and explained that she’d be showing us how to complete a hand-tied bouquet, before giving us all the opportunity to make our own wrist corsage. The room hushed to complete silence. Believe me, this could-have-heard-a-pin-drop atmosphere is a rare occurrence at SHWI and a blatant sign that we were utterly engrossed as we watched Tracey work. The result was a natural-looking, vintage-inspired bouquet of seasonal flowers – and a round of applause for Tracey. The lucky winner of our raffle got to take the bouquet home, but none of us went empty handed. We had a demo on how to make a simple-looking wrist corsage, followed by Tracey and her daughter dishing out flowers and ribbons so that each of us could have a go. Some women were undoubtedly naturals, whilst others (me included) could probably do with a tincy bit more practice.

Our members make some lovely wrist corsages

As we all prepared to head out, adorned with our corsages, we were reminded that next month, people on the waiting list can also sign up for membership next year. It’s a meeting not to be missed - and not just because of Secret Santa or President Lindsay’s infamous annual quiz. WI member and force to be reckoned with, Liz Mellors, joins us to talk about the award-winning women’s development programme, Springboard.

Right, I’m off to write my Christmas card list….

Jennifer (Vice President)

The SHWI 2014 charity calendar

Look how pretty it is! 

So, you’re interested in our lovely charity calendar? That’s great news!

We’ve spent the past few months creating the 2014 calendar which features our members at some of Sheffield's best loved landmarks, including the City Hall, the Leadmill, the Cutting Edge sculpture, the Lyceum and the Peace Gardens fountains, and we are really proud of the result!

The calendar is raising money for the Parents' Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT), a charity based at Sheffield Children's Hospital which supports families whose children have been diagnosed with cancer. We chose to support PACT this year after the charity helped our President Lindsay Garfitt's three-year-old niece Isabelle who was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma, in July 2012.

The calendar photography was done by SHWI member and talented photographer Laura Bainbridge and the cover design was done for free by Daniel Rose of DRD Studio. 

Local companies Apollo, BAPP, Beer Central, Boudoir, Dale Hirst, Exposed, Foster's Dental, Gregory's Haulage and Sheffield Signcraft also got on board to sponsor the printing of the calendar, meaning that every penny from sales can go to PACT.

One half of the Calendar Team, Jen and Kim 

The money bit

Each calendar costs just £10 and you can feel good knowing every penny is going to help children with cancer and their families.

If you’d like us to post your calendar to you, the cost is £12. The extra is to cover the envelope and postage.

The calendar is limited edition (and we've already sold more than half!) so if you want one, please act fast before they all go! Simply email us at sevenhillswi@live.co.uk with your name and how many calendars you’d like (plus your address if you want it posting) and we will reply with our bank details so you can transfer the money. Please ensure you use your name as the reference when making an online payment.

Your calendar will be posted via Royal Mail second class once payment is received. If you’d like to collect your calendar from us instead, please let us know when you email us. You can collect from the Chapeltown or Meersbrook areas or from Electric Works on our meeting nights (Thursday 21 November and Thursday 19 December from 7pm to 7.30pm). Please note if collecting, we must receive cleared payment beforehand (either bank transfer or cash on collection).

SHWI in a flap

It’s October. The leaves have turned brown and there’s a distinct chill in the air, which can only mean one thing – it’s time to renew WI membership. At Seven Hills WI, members have both October and November meetings to bring their cheques or cash (exact money please!) before we open up the doors to the numerous ladies of Sheffield who’ve been on the waiting list to join South Yorkshire’s largest group. 

On Thursday, Treasurer Vicky P-M and Assistant Treasurer Leanne were ready and waiting to collect payment before the meeting began. They do a great job - just a glance at their incredibly detailed spreadsheet baffled me!

Women busied themselves making all-important cups of tea, catching up and having a slice of Di Coupe’s amazing SHWI pie – handmade sausage, chicken and stuffing pie. It was the star prize on the raffle at our Sheffield Food Festival stall and I was keen to have a slice (or two!) with picallili. Nom.

It was soon time to settle ourselves in the main room of Electric Works where Lindsay went through meeting business before we could kick off with the activity. We had the debrief on our visit to the Don Valley Rally (the Don Valley group of WI’s recent get-together) and Lindsay thanked those who had helped put together our brilliant yet unsuccessful entry into the seaside themed table competition. Zoe Loveday, organiser of our stall at Sheffield Food Festival was presented with a gorgeous bunch of flowers as a thank you for all her hardwork in raising £1,056 for PACT.

Our next fundraising effort for PACT is the SHWI calendar which is soon to be finished. Featuring famous landmarks of Sheffield, the limited edition run will go on sale soon so get yours quick!

We had a quick sneak preview of next year’s exciting programme and Lindsay also announced the new committee for 2014 who will take their position’s after next month’s AGM. After spin-off group updates, it was time for a quick break before our dance teacher Sue would start our Charleston lesson.

Charleston was very risqué at it’s time – Sue compared it almost to pole dancing! Flappers caused a bit of a stir so we had to keep that in mind with our movements. We would be learning the dance routine to Fat Sam’s from the musical ‘Bugsy Malone’. It sounded a bit ambitious to me but we rose to the challenge! Sue broke it down into chunks and we swapped places in the room to ensure she could see everyone – including those hiding at the back! After completing the first session, I nipped out for a quick drink of water which meant I missed the last bit of the routine. As a spectator, I was able to see the routine in full which looked amazing! Well done ladies!

It was soon time to pack away and say our goodbyes until next month’s meeting – flower arranging! How traditional!

Kirsty Bowen

SHWI Committee

Seven Hills WI presents...

You will have probably heard us talking about our amazing 2014 charity calendar, raising money for the Parents' Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia, and we are pleased to report it's shaping up nicely! 

We are in the final stages of putting it together now and shot the front cover picture this week with a little help from the lovely people at O2 Academy Sheffield! It was a proud moment for us seeing our name up there and it'll be a fantastic way to start our Sheffield landmarks calendar.

Ian Delaney, Assistant General Manager at O2 Academy Sheffield, said: "We were more than happy to help out Seven Hills WI with a photo for their calendar which is raising money for a great local charity. It features lots of the city's famous landmarks and with its rich history, our building is definitely one of them."

We've truly been overwhelmed by the support we've had from both our calendar sponsors and those local venues and organisations who have helped us get our brilliant photos. Our sponsors are Apollo Distribution, BAPP Group, Beer Central, Boudoir Hair, Dale Hirst Painter and Decorator, Exposed, Foster's Dental Practice and Sheffield Signcraft. 

Our 2014 calendar will be available at our November and December WI meetings and also through the PACT shop at Sheffield Children's Hospital. You can also order it directly from us and we'll give more details about this soon. We are only having 150 copies of the calendar printed so if you want one, you'll need to get in there quickly!

We made over £1,000 from cake!

SHWI members with the lovely James Morton from GBBO

We raised an AMAZING £1,056 for the Parents’ Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT) at our cake stall at this year's Sheffield Food Festival.  

We ran a cake stall in the Winter Gardens which saw members bake a variety of treats including cupcakes, cookies, cakes and muffins, and the Best in Show competition held on Sunday. Winners were announced in three categories – Victoria Sponge, Jarred goods and Puddings – by James Morton from the Great British Bake Off. 

Lindsay Garfitt, President of Seven Hills WI, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have raised over £1,000 for PACT. I would like to say a massive thank you to all our members who baked or helped on the stall across the weekend and also a big thanks to everyone who visited our stall or entered our Best in Show competition, helping us raise so much for such a worthwhile charity.”

SHWI's Lindsay, Kim and Vicky at the stall

Robin Jeeps, Vice Chair of PACT, added: “This is a fabulous effort from the Seven Hills WI team and PACT is proud to have been chosen as their charity of the year. Every pound we spend helping children and families comes from public donations like this so we are very grateful.”

The Best in Show winners were as follows:
Victoria Sponge - Neil Askew 
Puddings - Sara Curtis
Jarred Goods - Clare Savage

Well done and thank you to everyone who entered!

From Arctic Monkeys to Seven Hills WI...

Committee members Anna, Sarah, Lindsay and Katie with Timm (and an NME Award)

February’s meeting was my first in the Electric Works and my second as a fully paid up member of the WI. So, after unpacking my short bread biscuits and leaving them with some very delicious mojito mini cupcakes I went to explore the new home of SHWI and was surprised with the building. I won’t bore you with the details again as Laura did a great job of describing the Electric Works in January’s blog, however I feel the need to say HELTER SKELTER!

We were very lucky this month and did not only have the planned speaker, but we also had Jo Davison from the Star newspaper. She talked to us about a new women’s supplement that she is working on and how she would like us to be involved. Many SHWI ladies gave Jo their details so they can get involved in doing things like baking features, beauty and “the last five things I bought” (I couldn’t do that, I have to sneak many of my purchases home and then if anyone asks claim I have had it for ages...!).

Some of Timm's photos..spot a famous album cover?

This month's speaker was Timm Cleasby and he spent time talking about his life as Tour Manager for Sheffield's own Arctic Monkeys, who he worked with for five years and saw rise to huge fame. Timm's career so far has also included DJing at the Leadmill (where he met his wife whilst hanging out of the DJ box!), going on tour with Bon Jovi and the Darkness, and now being the festival director for Tramlines, managing Sheffield band Dead Sons, and running a successful photography business (www.thepicturefoundry.com)...busy guy!

A recurring theme throughout Timm’s story was how he set himself goals, reached each one, and the rollercoaster that journey was. Throughout his speech there was a reel of photos which were taken by Timm during his many adventures and the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' was definitely true of those that Timm shared with us.

February’s meeting also gave us a chance to vote on the charity we will support in 2013. Our President, Lindsay, gave an honest, moving explanation about the charity that she had nominated and the reasons why (the Parents' Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia - PACT- because her three year old niece has been battling cancer since last summer). I did well up towards the end of this, and so did many others, and I'm pleased to say that PACT won after the voting was completed during the break.

Jo Davison talks to us

Also during the break some of the committee members had their pictures taken for this blog and it would seem that there are some potential models on the committee (I won’t go into detail about what kind of model).

Finally, if anyone hasn’t bought their SHWI Women’s Day event ticket, there are still some left. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate women, drink cocktails and meet Jane Robinson? These are selling quickly, so get yours now!

Janine, SHWI member