SHWI talks sex!

I've started trying to write this blog post about five times now, so I'm really wondering why I volunteered to be the guest blogger for this month's SHWI meeting! So, after so many failed attempts I'm just going to dive right in and hope that no one looks at my internet browsing history. I'll also give you a heads up that this post, especially some of the links, might not be suitable for the workplace but I'll leave that to your better judgement...

The meeting kicked off in traditional fashion with plenty of tea and cakes (yum!) before Lindsay went through some key pieces of information from the last committee meeting. There are lots of exciting things going on at SHWI at the moment , with the Sheffield food festival, our amazing cookbook, bunting and charity nominations to pick out just a few!

Our guest speaker was Liz Wilson (who had really fab leopard-print tights on by the way!) from the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health was at the meeting to talk to us about women's sexual pleasure.... I was already a bit nervous about what I'd let myself in for and I have to say my trepidation only increased when one of the ladies on my table said "oh my goodness, she has love eggs and lube".

That said, Liz put us all at ease immediately when she told us we wouldn't be recreating any scenes from Fried Green Tomatoes - phew!! Liz gave us a brief history of women's sexual pleasure (I had no idea the Kama Sutra is as old as it is!) before kicking off a discussion about our perceptions of women's sexual pleasure. It was really interesting to hear different views from lots of the women at the meeting, and also really funny. My favourite anecdote was about an awful, and completely useless, sex education video which I also remember being subjected to when I was about 11!

Liz showed us a really funny Friends clip; check out the clip if you can as I won't be able to do it justice, but basically Chandler asks Rachel and Monica for advice about how to please a woman and Monica draws him a diagram and gives him some tips. This led to a discussion about what things we thought affected women's sexual pleasure. There were some really thoughtful and serious points raised but again I have to share the funniest - Xbox!! Liz also introduced us to Geena the 'gina. Yup, you read that right!! Geena is a fold up vagina in a box and a very useful tool for explaining female anatomy. We didn't get to meet him, but there's also a George the ejaculating penis apparently....

If you hadn't guessed by now the talk and discussion was only going one way; how we thought you could increase women's sexual pleasure. I'm not going to go into the ins and outs (no pun intended!) of what was discussed but I do want to share the highlight of my evening. Liz was showing a selection of... items, specifically a picture of a famous model of said item, when someone (who shall remain nameless!) declared that theirs broke within a day! Naturally, we all jumped to the same conclusion but apparently it was not from overuse.

I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone there (and it was another packed meeting!) when I say it was a really fun, vibrant and enjoyable meeting - and also a lot less embarrassing than I'd expected. Stay tuned for next month's blog post though as we will be doing some tea tasting and I'm already really excited as I love tea!!

Leanne, SHWI committee

SHWI is pants!

It was a busy meeting...
we only just had enough chairs!

So, Thursday the 19th January was the new year return of the wonderful Seven Hills Women's Institute meetings, and what a meeting it was!

After becoming fully booked for membership for 2012 even before the first meeting was held, we now have 101 members in total. I was a little apprehensive as to how we would all fit in the meeting hall, but as ladies gradually filtered in up to the start of the meeting, a lovely atmosphere of old friends catching up alongside new members plunging into a probably very scary but exciting organisation developed. 

Several people (including myself) bought some fantastic looking baking; from Vicky's 'smores', a lemon drizzle cake and my own Quality Street muffins (an attempt to use up the last of the Christmas chocolate) and people buzzed around the tea counter in anticipation for the speaker. All the baking was eaten - something that doesn't happen that often- and we even ended up not having enough chairs for the amazing turn out! The bustling atmosphere meant that new members were able to feel much more included and join one of the already filled tables.

After a great catch up presentation by the committee (lots to go through, but this was necessary so everyone knows how we function!), there were lots of people wanting to get involved in the other subgroups such as supper club, knitting club and the walking group - this year should be fun filled and busy for all involved! The enthusiasm and excitement will also hopefully mean lots of opportunities to raise plenty of cash for our nominated charity who will be revealed next meeting, and the Food Festival will hopefully have plenty of baking and helping hands for it to be an even bigger success this year.

Janet with some Queen Victoria-sized
'unmentionables'!

As we all sat down after the 'interval' we excitedly waited for the speaker to arrive - Janet Stain - who was to speak to us about the 'history of briefs'. Everyone had been waiting to see exactly how she would approach such a niche subject but we needn't have doubted her. The talk was ingenious, providing us with true history as well as some fantastically entertaining tales of Queen Victoria's knicker collection, woollen pants of the 1940s, school pants complete with a pocket for your tissue and the emergence of the very sexy french knicker in the 1920s. The speaker herself had amassed an incredible collection of undergarments ranging from huge split bloomers to delicately laced wedding pants, some dating back to the Victorian age for us to ogle and laugh at. It was great to have someone with a bit of fire in her to relate to us all, and she certainly made us laugh (as well as telling me off for using my phone to take photos!).

What an incredible meeting to kick the year off - here is to a truly great 2012 for SHWI!


Grace Tebbutt, SHWI Committee

December meeting: festive fun and 101 members!

Our last meeting of 2011 was a busy one...we opened membership up to everyone at the meeting and were shocked by just how many new people turned up to sign up for 2012 - We signed up more than 40 new people at the meeting taking our member total to 101! The bad news is that makes us full so we can't sign up any more members this year. We've been overwhelmed by the continued interest in SHWI and from the amount of emails and messages we've had, we could probably have signed up 200 members this year but unfortunately our venue is just not big enough!

For those lucky people who managed to bag a space, we've got an exciting year planned, starting with 'A Brief History of Knickers' talk on Thursday 19 January.

As last year, we are operating a guest list for non-members to attend, this costs £3.50 per meeting. We have limited space due to venue capacity restrictions so can only offer a spot to those on the guest list, email Katie at shwiguestlist@live.co.uk to get a place on the list (we operate this on a first come first served basis). NON-MEMBERS: PLEASE DO NOT COME ALONG TO A MEETING UNLESS YOU HAVE A CONFIRMED GUEST LIST SPACE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SPACE YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY, SORRY!

As well as signing up all our new members (good work Vicky and Leanne!) we had mulled wine and mince pies, my annual quiz and secret Santa, a great way to see out 2011!

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing you at a meeting soon.:)

Lindsay
President

SHWI members had a swishingly good time at the November meeting

It was a cold November Thursday evening and I made my way to St. Matthews Hall eagerly anticipating a night of swishing action. For the un-initiated, ‘swishing’ is basically a great big clothes swap. Guests were invited to bring along up to five items (either clothes or shoes) and were given a ticket to swap them for an equal number of items. It was first come, first served – so those who got there on the dot of 7.30pm were in the enviable position of having first dibs of the goodies laid out at the back of the hall.

We hit upon a small obstacle early on when we realised that St. Matthews was locked and the key bearer delayed. Those of us waiting to get in momentarily considered hanging the items from the church railings and commencing swishing al fresco, but were rescued from having to implement that rubbish plan by a kindly old gent named Norman who let us in just in time for the meeting to start.

Myself and Mrs Spataro were responsible for handing out the tickets and resisted the urge to secretly bag the particularly desirable items. We both lusted after an AMAZE Cath Kidston print 50s style dress, handmade by the lovely Angela – I’ve yet to establish why she was prepared to give that little beaut up! At the end of the night, there were a few items that hadn’t managed to find themselves a new home. These were taken by SHWI member Becky Chauhan to a charity shop .

The evening wasn’t just about pretty clothes and an eco approach to fashion, it was also our Annual Meeting in which the committee report back on the year to members. We were all pleased to hear that our finances are in the red, thanks to some nifty number crunching by Treasurer, Vicky Porteous. Secretary extraordinaire, Kim Whelan had also prepared a presentation detailing some of the group’s highlights from the past year, including taking part in the Sheffield Food Festival and subsequently raising much needed funds for local charity, Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service.

The best bit of the evening for me was singing Jerusalem. Whilst most WIs sing this rousing hymn every month, our members voted to only sing it at the Annual Meeting. Beautifully led by Ruth of Music a la Carte (who volunteered her voice for free), we belted it out as best we could. Whilst not quite managing to reach those high notes, I gave it my all and was left with a mini tear in my eye as I was reminded why I love being part of SHWI.

See you next month for some festive fun!

Ruth, Vice President

x

Now we are two

It was Seven Hills WI’s 2^nd birthday this week and what a party we had to celebrate!

Before the party, there was a flurry of activity making sure all boxes were ticked and the meeting ran like clockwork. Adorning the room was our exquisitely embellished new bunting, courtesy of our talented members and of course Kim, who stitched it all together. Prizes were bought and wrapped; numerous times in the case of pass the parcel. Lindsay made sure that our magician BenZ would appear on the night and, thanks to our wonderful bakers, the room wafted with the aroma of homemade goodies.

As we gorged ourselves on cake and even delicious bread, the meeting got underway. Magician BenZ wowed us (and tried to woo us a little, too) with his sleight of hand. Then, it all got a little silly as 80 grown women sat down to play pass the parcel. Who knew it could be so difficult to remember to pass to your right? And still, nothing could have prepared us for the carnage of musical chairs. Children, step back. Your sisters, mums and nans will show you how it’s done.Special mention goes to Wendy and Julie who nearly did themselves an injury in battling it out to the end.

Finally, thanks to everyone who came along and helped make it an enjoyable evening.

Love Jen x

On behalf of the SHWI Committee

We also had a visit this month from Aletheia Gentle from Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service who came to collect the £200 donation Seven Hills WI made to the charity. This money came from the profit we made at our stall at this year's Sheffield Food Festival.


Left: Lindsay, Vicky, Aletheia and Kim.  

September's meeting - Bunting making

There are plenty of SHWI ladies who claim to have no crafting abilities - but give them some fabric off-cuts, ribbons and buttons, and it's amazing what they come up with.

Last night's meeting was bunting making. After the usual business matters, we settled down to an evening of stitching and chatting. Materials were supplied, but a handful of more craft-minded ladies had brought in bits and bobs to help things along.

The idea was for everyone to decorate a triangle flag and Kim (our secretary) would put them together in time for our 2nd birthday party in October.

Some opted for simple, elegant rows of ribbon and the odd button, others emblazoned their flags with Radley style dogs or fancy feathers and lace.

Whether people adopted a simple running stitch or more intricate embroidery work, the results were fabulous. The finished article should look fantastic. There were plenty of "oohs" and "ahs" once all the flags were laid out on the table. Well done ladies!

Laura Bainbridge, SHWI Committee

Sheffield Food Festival

Hi all,

Apologies for not posting on here for so long! The website, Twitter and Facebook have kind of taken priority but I will endeavour to update this more!

So, what's been happening in the world of SHWI? Last weekend we took part in Sheffield Food Festival and held a cream tea stall, raising money for the Sheffield Rape Crisis charity.

The stall was a huge success, we sold out both days, and have made lots of money to donate to the charity.

We also helped with the judging of the festival's 'Best in Show' competition, well done to all the winners and thanks to everyone who entered.

Finally big thank you to all our members who helped by baking scones, helping on the day, bagging us freebies, or promoting our stall. And a special thanks must go to Anna Tebble and Blanche Duggleby who spent so much time organising our stall - thanks girls :)

SHWI

If your name's not down, you're not coming in...

Back last year, the SHWI committee and members decided to cap our group's membership at 100 to make sure that we have enough room to stay in our current venue and also so we can still do all the things we've got planned that may become impossible with many more members.

We are both pleased and saddened to say that the limit has now been reached so we are no longer accepting new members this year.

Also, due to capacity restrictions we can only accommodate a maximum of 10 guests per meeting, so if you want a place you'll need to email Katie at shwiguestlist@live.co.uk with your request for a place and she can tell you whether we have any left or not. The guest fee remains £3 per meeting.

We have also started a waiting list for membership in 2011 so if you want to join it, drop Katie a line at shwiguestlist@live.co.uk

Now we have these new rules, please only come to meetings if you are either a member, or are on the guestlist for that month. If you're not either, we will have to turn you away as we cannot break our venue capacity and insurance rules.

I know people may be disappointed by this but it's the best we can do at the moment, we never expected SHWI would be so amazingly popular within such a short space of time, so you've only got yourselves to blame!

There are also loads more WIs in Sheffield that would love some new members, go to http://www.thewi.org.uk/ for details.

Au revoir xx

April's meeting...

April's meeting saw us learn all about scrapbooking and papercraft with the lovely Joanne Friend. It was really interesting and Joanne brought along her work to show us, which was amazing. We definitely need to start a SHWI scrapbook.

Joanne's scrapbooking stuff

We also had a visit from some of the lovely ladies of Beighton WI and our bestest raffle prize to date of a box of gorgeous cupcakes courtesy of Yummylicious, yum!

Next meeting is on Thursday, 20th May.

Check out these bad boys, nomnomnom!

Go to http://www.yummyliciouscupcakes.co.uk/ to get your own

Buh bye now x

SHWI's next top model...

Ladies and, well, just ladies, here is a lovely photo of your SHWI Committee for 2009/10.

Here's a guide to who's who:

The dons (or something like that)

President: Lindsay Garfitt

Secretary: Kim Whelan

Treasurer: Jen Marsden

The mafia
Vice President: Lisa McCalla

Assistant Secretary: Amy Bradley

Assistant treasurers: Vicky Porteous & Zowie Forwood

Events assistants: Sarah Waterhouse & Blanche Duggleby

Fundraising assistants: Rosie Bates & Ruth Kirkman
Sub-committee: Lucy Crookes & Katie Mountain

Back row, from left to right: Amy, Lucy, Katie, Kim, Blanche, Vicky, Ruth and Lisa.

Front row, left to right: Jen, Rosie, Sarah and Lindsay.

March's Meeting with Milly

We had wonderful Barnsley author Milly Johnson as our guest speaker at March's meeting. She was a thoroughly entertaining speaker and inspired us all to go home and clear the clutter (read A Spring Affair and you'll know what I mean...).

Kim, Milly, Linz and Jen

Milly has three books out and a new one due out in May...can't wait! Go to www.millyjohnson.co.uk for more on SHWI's new favourite author!


See you later alligator...

Knitting Night...

SHWI held its first charity knitting night last week, organised by Rosie.

Thirteen ladies got together to knit or crochet 8" squares which will be donated to the Knit-a-Square charity and made into blankets for AIDS orphans.

We'll be holding more knitting nights in future so keep your eyes peeled for details.

That's all for now...

Burlesque evening...

Our February meeting was a fabulous burlesque evening with Deadly Nightshade and Cherry Du Bois.

The girls told us about how they got into burlesque and taught us a burlesque-style dance to 'Hey Big Spender'.

We had a record number of guest - 33 - along with over 60 members and even ran out of chairs at one point!

Thanks to everyone who came and hope to see you all at the next meeting where author Milly Johnson will be our speaker.

Adios amigos. x

Sorry..

Hello,

I'm sorry for being rubbish and not updating this since October. I have a good excuse cos I bought a house so I was very busy sorting all that out, then it was Christmas and, well, you know how it is. I will try and update this more regularly now. Promise.

Ok, so here's a quick summary of what's been going on in our WI world:

November's meeting: we were let down at the last minute again by our speaker so our lovely Vice Pres, Lisa McCalla, stepped in and did a talk on looking and feeling good.

December: We made lovely snowflake paper decorations thanks to Sarah Mellor and Sarah Hague, and then had a quiz, yummy baking competition and people bingo.

January: Bellydancing! Awesome.

Coming up this month is Burlesque, oooh! And in March we've got Barnsley author Milly Johnson coming to talk to us.

It's busy, busy, busy, got to go design the programme now...byeee! x

October's meeting

Well...we had our third meeting, which was also our official forming meeting, on 15th October and despite last minute panics (involving a new speaker after our planned one came down with flu) it went incredibly well.





We had over 60 women there and 49 of them signed up to be members, yay! We're sure the rest will sign up next month! There were lots of new faces too which was great to see.

Our speaker was the fantasic Mary Jane Baxter who is a milliner/journalist currently doing a project for the BBC called Make Your Way Around Britain where she goes around helping people to make do and mend.
She was incredibly interesting and we'd like to say a HUGE thanks as she stepped in as our speaker at the last minute with just five hours notice and did a superb job. So thanks Mary Jane! This is her blog if you want to know more: makeyourwayaroundbritain.blogspot.com





We are currently in the process of sorting out the committee which will finallly enable Jen, Kim and I to have a bit of help on the organising front and not be under so much pressure.
I can totally see why WI ladies are usually retired cos setting up a new WI at the same time as working full time (all of us), doing a Masters Degree (Jen), going to NZ for three weeks (Kim) and buying a house (me) is almost impossible. And, for that reason I'd like to say a big thanks to Jen and Kim for not laughing at me when I suggested we set up a WI and for being so enthusiastic and getting involved. Couldn't have done it without you two. x

Next meeting is Thursday, 19th November at St Matthew's Hall, 7.30pm.

That's all folks.

Village Fete

We have a stall at the Village Fete which is to be held on The Moor, Sheffield, on Sunday 4th October from 11am to 3pm. Come along for tea and homemade cakes. We also have a brilliant banner thanks to my lovely signwriter brother-in-law Scott.

Hope to see you there...

xxx

Noddys and Wallpaper shots...

Looky here: http://www.thestar.co.uk/video/Forget-jam-and-Jerusalem-meet.5679097.jp

It's us, on the Star website, being interviewed, and we didn't end up looking like complete idiots...amaze!

xx

WI gets crafty...

Our second meeting was held on 17th September and thanks to Lucia and Sarah from Craft Candy we enjoyed a brilliant birdie-brooch making workshop.

There was lots of serious sewing going on and the ladies rustled up some pretty fantastic brooches. I, on the other hand, just repeatedly stabbed my fingers with the needle and got frustrated at my rubbish sewing skills. I finished my brooch later at home though so all is well!

Lucky raffle winners were Rachel, who won two tickets to see Abba the Show at the Arena courtesy of LiveNation, and Claire, who won a bottle of Seven Hills wine!

Thanks to everyone who came.

See you next month.

Lindsay xx

Another new venue

As we had such a brilliant response to our first meeting and were nearly bursting out of the room, we have a new venue as from October.

We will be meeting in the Hall of St Matthew's Rooms, Carver Street.

The next meeting is on Thursday, 15th October at 7.30pm. This is the sign up meet, it's £29.50 for the year, or if you're not sure you can just pay £3 as a guest.

We'll be having a speaker at this meeting, it's related to fashion but I can't say anymore until it's confirmed!

See you there! x

Home Sweet Home...

NEW VENUE!

We will be meeting at the Three Cranes pub, Queen Street, Sheffield, S1 2DW.

First meeting is Thursday, 20th August at 7.30pm.

The Three Cranes is just round the back of Sheffield Cathedral. There is on-street parking on Queen Street and it's near tram and bus stops.

Any questions, just ask.

Thanks.

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation.

Due to circumstances WAY beyond our control, we are having to change the venue for Seven Hills WI meetings.

We found out last weekend that the Red Deer is closing down, although they never actually told us, we had to find out from someone else. Nice.

Anyway, the hunt is on for somewhere new. Any suggestions, let us know!!

Over and out.

Fame!

We are famous. Well, a little bit, in a local newspaper kind of way.

Articles on Seven Hills WI have been in the Sheffield Star and Look Local this week.

Here are the links:

http://www.looklocal.org.uk/detail.php?id=1192

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/New-women39s-group-formed.5457016.jp

That is all.

Stop Press!

Look out for articles about Seven Hills WI in The Star and Look Local...and spread the word!

Our very first ever meeting...

Will be on Thursday, 20th August at 7.30pm at the Red Deer pub, Pitt Street, Sheffield S1 4DD (it's just off West Street).

It's completely free, so come and see what we're all about.

If you like the look of it (and us), you can join up at this meeting. It costs just £29 to join for a whhhoooollle year, which is very cheap considering the amazing things we've got planned for you.

Or, if after the first meeting you're not sure, you can come along to September's meeting (where we will be holding a craft workshop) for just £3 to get a bit more of a feel for what we'll be doing (and then fall so in love with the WI that you just have to become a member...)

We have a Facebook group here:http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=226558630594&ref=mf if you want to have a nosy. Or if you've got a question (preferably WI related!) email sevenhillswi@live.co.uk.

The Seven Hills of Sheffield...

Hello people. You are looking at the blog for Seven Hills Women's Institute - a wonderful new group for the females of Sheffield.

So, you might be wondering who we are, what we do and why you should be bothered, right? Well, I'll tell you.

Who?
Seven Hills WI is an exciting little project, brought to life by Sheffield twenty-somethings Lindsay Garfitt, Jennifer Marsden and Kim Whelan.

What?
A place for women to meet, learn new stuff, share ideas, show off their own talents, fundraise and have fun whilst drinking wine and eating cakes. (Not all at the same time - we're good, but not that good!)
We'll be planning a varied programme with stuff like craft workshops, interesting speakers, bellydancing workshops, picnics, clothes swapping parties and lots more.
It's run for women, by women, so if there is something you'd like to see on the programme, come along and suggest it. We're all really nice, not at all scary, except maybe first thing in a morning...

Why?
Because there are so many talented people in our city and so many women looking for an exciting new interest. Seven Hills WI blends the two perfectly, come and try it, you might just like it!