Four Ladies Go to Leeds - SHWI at the WI Annual Meeting

A damp and grey Saturday morning dawned and four SHWI ladies braved the inclement weather on the M1 North to Leeds for the WI Annual General Meeting. Over five thousand ladies were present from all corners of the United Kingdom brought together by a mutual bond and a love of bunting.

The AGM took place at the Leeds First Direct Arena

The meeting was opened, business discussed and the resolutions raised. This year, the resolution proposed highlighting and promoting the importance of making friends and relatives aware while living of your wishes after death, specifically the donation of organs and tissues. A delicate subject, handled with the decency and gravitas it deserved. All speakers were informed, eloquent and thought-provoking, even the lady tasked with the difficult assignment of arguing against organ donation found it hard not to support the resolution. The floor was opened then to members of the delegation, I think it would be fair to say there were few WI members not moved to tears as we heard tales of a mother who consented to her 10 year-old son's organs being donated, or the lady who was able to see because of a double cornea transplant and the lady who’s donated kidney allowed her to live. With this, the resolution was passed with a 98% majority. Given that the UK has one of the highest family refusal rates in Europe, this motion has such a fantastic potential to save a huge number of lives.

Following the resolution debate was a talk on poetry, literature and the importance of saving our nation's countryside from Sir Andrew Motion. His passion for improving the housing crisis through the use of brown field sites rather than encroaching on our ever-diminishing green belt was almost palpable.

The lunch break came soon after and the SHWI ladies nipped off for a refreshing beverage and cheap lunch at a local Wetherspoons. Luckily, other WIs had the same idea and the Hedley Verity pub was soon invaded by members of Tea and Tarts WI, Cambridge Blue Belles WI, Cookridge Crumpets WI, Holmfirth WI and more. 

WIs from around the country gathered for lunch

The afternoon commenced with a harrowing talk on the worldwide effects of deforestation by Dr George McGavin, failing to protect the nation's rainforests will ultimately lead to their complete destruction, the loss of entire ecosystems and the extinction of species we have yet to discover. The knock-on effects of this would be catastrophic for us in ways we are as yet unable to imagine, but it is within our powers to prevent it. As Dr McGavin highlighted, Plan A is to protect as much natural environment as possible, which will take an immediate, co-ordinated, international effort. This is of such importance because there is no Plan B.

The next item on the agenda was exciting for all - the plans for the WI's Centenary year. Wheels are already in motion to celebrate this auspicious event with the Baton relay underway, the history/cookbook (a double threat and a must for any bookshelf) being published, the documentary due to air and the centenary AGM to be held in the Royal Albert Hall. Each and every WI was encouraged to celebrate our 100th birthday in their own way. If any SHWI-ers have ideas for how this can be done please let the committee know!

The final speaker of the day was the ever effervescent Bill Turnbull, talking about the art of reluctant beekeeping, working at the BBC, sequins and Strictly Come Dancing and how to use the punchline 'hung like a donkey' infront of HRH Queen Elizabeth. An entertaining, light-hearted talk to round off the day - and apparently even the most experienced of television presenters still fears the infamous WI slow clap.

Kirsty, Sarah and Sam from SHWI

Five thousand ladies singing Jerusalem rounded off the day, reminding us all that the WI is more than just making friends and learning. We are part of a movement, we are part of history, and in our own way we have the power to change the country for the better. It was a moment that brought goosebumps out on the skin of even the most sceptical delegates. Roll on our centenary and here's to the next 100.

Sam Foster
SHWI Member

We baked our way to £1,170 at Sheffield Food Festival!

Members at this year's Food Festival

We are celebrating after raising £1,170 for the Young Women’s Housing Project through our stall and competition at this year’s Sheffield Food Festival.

We raised the sum by selling cakes, biscuits and buns made by SHWI members on their traditional stall and through entry fees for their Best in Show competition at the Festival held last month. It is the fourth year running that SHWI has taken part in the event.

Seven Hills WI President, Lindsay Garfitt, said: “We’re thrilled to have raised such a lot of money for the Young Women’s Housing Project. Last year, we made just over £1,000 at the Food Festival and really wanted to beat that total this year so we are very happy to have done so. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and bought cakes from us or entered our competition.”

Jo Meagher from YWHP added: "It really motivates the team knowing that people want to support the project, and the young women are really grateful that Seven Hills WI wants to raise money to help them get back on their feet.

“With the funds raised we are hoping to take the young women and children on a family day out to the seaside, something many of them will not have done for many years, if at all. We will also be able to provide some specialist parent and child sessions to support these young families to build strong, trusting relationships and develop their strengths for coping with difficulties. The support from Seven Hills WI will make a real difference for these young women; we can't thank the members enough."

The winners of the Seven Hills WI Best in Show competition were as follows:

Strawberry Jam – Clare Savage
Victoria Sponge – Neil Askew
Bread – Clare Savage
Children’s Cupcakes – Lia Touhey and Frances Williamson (joint winners)

All About Beauty

Hello, Ruth here.

Hands up who doesn’t love a freebie?

Anyone? Anyone?

Nope, thought not. I definitely do love a freebie, so I was more than a little excited to find a bag of fragrance samples and No.7 goodies on our each of our chairs upon entering the meeting room at Electric Works for May’s meeting. Yes, this month was all about beauty as we were joined by Meadowhall’s No.7 consultants, Clare and Natasha.

No.7 goodies were brought along

After Lindsay and Kim (our President and Secretary) gave their updates on local and national WI news, including welcoming new members to the committee, we were each given the opportunity to be colour-matched using the swanky No.7 Match Made machine. Essentially, it takes a picture of your skin, and then tells you which one of their foundation shades is most suitable for you. 

Members find out their perfect shade in the break

After the break, it was down to the real beauty business. Lots of hands shot up when Clare asked for two volunteers to help during her talk and Victoria was chosen to receive a skincare consultation.  As an avid skincare fan, I was interested to find out about the No.7 take on cleansing, toning and moisturising, and  I was particularly pleased to hear that they don’t advocate the use of face wipes (*cough* even though they sell them *cough*). Clare shared some other useful tips, including how exfoliating a couple of times a week will remove dead skin cells and help improve absorption of products, and she talked about the importance of wearing facial sunscreen rather than relying on a moisturiser with SPF which won’t provide adequate protection.

Amy gets her new look

Next up, member Amy was treated to a makeover. As someone who doesn’t usually wear much make-up she wanted a natural look, which Clare achieved through a sheer base and neutral tones on the eyes, lips and cheeks. Once again, multi-tasking Clare shared some useful snippets with the rest of us whilst working her magic on Amy. Members seemed particularly keen to find out more about primer, which Clare advised can smooth out uneven complexions and add longevity to your usual base. The other burning question was about eyebrows. As someone cursed with straggly albino brows, I’ve long known the face-lifting benefits of adding colour and shape to my brows, and Clare advised us on how to achieve a natural look whilst avoiding the dreaded Scouse Brow – never a good look.

The primer was a relevation to some of the audience

At the end of the meeting we were offered the chance to receive our own skincare and make-up consultations at the No.7 counter, along with a pleasing 10% off all No.7 products. It was no surprise that a long queue quickly formed as members lined up to get their consultation booked in. A sign of an enjoyable talk me thinks.

 Ruth Kirkman

SHWI Committee member

For more beauty news, reviews and make-up tips, read Ruth's blog – The Beauty Scriptures – and like The Beauty Scriptures Facebook page.

SHWI Mad Skillz: Myth Busting Bread Making

Mad Skillz is one of our spin-off groups organised by Di and Anna T. They organise bespoke sessions where SHWI members can learn a new skill in a smaller-sized group. Last week, two groups of five members went along to Forge Bakehouse on consecutive evenings. Committee member Ruth tells us all about it....

A beautiful loaf of freshly baked bread is one of my all-time favourite things to eat, but alas my limited baking skills (and my dodgy oven) have put paid to any attempts at actually making it myself. I tell a lie, I made focaccia once in 2008. So anyway, I was in need of some bread-based education and I was thrilled to be one of the lucky few to secure a place on the oversubscribed SHWI Mad Skillz 'Myth Busting Bread Making' session at Forge Bakehouse.

It was a thoroughly damp day in Sheffield, but there was a warm glow from the oven in the shop and Martha, the young owner and all round baker extraordinaire, greeted us with freshly brewed tea and one of the most amazing brownies I have ever tasted. Having trained at the School of Artisan Food, she clearly knows her stuff. After the obligatory SHWI catch-up over said cuppa, it was time for the session to kick off.

Anna is amazed by the fermenting dough

It was a very hands-on lesson and we started off by mixing our own dough. I think we were all expecting a serious upper arm workout from all the kneading (we've clearly been watching too much Great British Bake Off), but Martha shared an absolutely revelatory tip with us: the ‘Ten Second Knead’ technique. Forget pummelling your dough for an age. Oh no. Kneading the dough in a circular motion for just ten seconds, then leaving it to prove for ten minutes and repeating a couple of times is just as effective and far less exhausting. Win! Whilst the dough was proving, we learnt lots of other interesting snippets about all of the different factors that can affect the success of your bake.

Plaiting the dough

We then went on to shaping and slashing a whole variety of loaves. Martha had kindly prepared lots of dough for us to practice on and I was disproportionately pleased with my baguette. My poor plaits left a lot to be desired though. Other members of the group were far more successful - there was some very impressive plait action going on - but my Great British Bake Off application will have to wait for another year (or four), me thinks.

Jen, Ruth, Di, Cat, Anna and Vicky

I know I speak for the rest of the group when I say what a great evening this was. Martha was knowledgeable, interesting, and thoroughly lovely. A great teacher. Some left with their own sour dough starter to bake for themselves at home. I left laden with some of Mr Potato Bread (it was delicious) and my very own scraper (essential baking kit apparently). I definitely won’t be leaving it another six years between bakes from now on.

If you’re a Forge Bakehouse regular, don’t fear – our loaves were not made to be sold to the paying public. All of the waste products from the shop are given to the pigs at Heeley City Farm – such lucky piggies! That gesture reflects the overall ethos of Forge Bakehouse. They use locally sourced organic flour in all their loaves and provide lots of local cafes with their goodies. Best of all, everything is really reasonably priced. It's only been open for a couple of years but this place is going to become a Sheffield institution, I'm sure of it.

To find out more about what SHWI Mad Skillz have got coming up, speak to Di or Anna T at a meeting or search for the Facebook group 'SHWI Mad Skillz'. 

Ruth Kirkman
SHWI Committee member

Seven Hills WI at Sheffield Food Festival 2014

Our 2013 Food Festival stall and GBBO's James Morton!

It only seems two minutes since the last event but it's time for Sheffield Food Festival again! The event has moved from its usual September date and will take place on May bank holiday. 

Like last year, we will be holding a traditional cake stall at this year's event on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May, from 10am until around 5pm (or until the cake runs out!) on both days. There will be a delightful assortment of cakes made by our wonderful members and a raffle on each day to win something special made by one of our star bakers! This year the event is taking place on the Moor and we will be located in the old Woolworth's shop.

Our Best in Show competition will also be running once again, this time with four categories - Victoria Sponge, Strawberry Jam, Bread and new for 2014 - children's decorated cupcakes. It costs £1 per entry, and all proceeds, along with all proceeds from our cake stall, will be going to our nominated charity, the Young Women's Housing Project. See below for further information and the rules. 

We will be selling copies of the new Sheffield Cook Book which features lots of delicious recipes from around the city, including a recipe from us!  

We raised over £1,000 for charity last year - this was donated to the Parent's Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia - and we hope that with your help we can beat that total and raise even more this year!

So, how can you get involved? Everyone loves cake so come along to our stall on 24 and 25 May (or both if you really love cake!). We'd also love it if you could enter our Best in Show competition, it's all done in the name of fun but there are a few rules which you can find below. 

SHWI members - we also need you to help us by baking lots of yummy cakes and volunteering to help on the stall, please email sevenhillswi@live.co.uk to get involved.

Here's to a wonderfully successful Sheffield Food Festival 2014.

Seven Hills WI x

Seven Hills WI - Best in Show.
Information, rules and regulations

1. Competition Entry

a. All entries must be submitted with a completed entry form. Forms can be downloaded here and emailed to sevenhillswi@live.co.uk prior to competition date or submitted on the day along with product.

b. You can submit one Entry per Category. Your Entry must be your own work. 

c. £1 per entry, payable on arrival with product – all entry money will be donated to the Young Women's Housing Project - a registered charity that provides safe places to live and specialist support to help young women to overcome the effects of abuse.

d. All entries must be bought to Seven Hills WI's stall in the former Woolworth's shop on Sunday 25 May between 10.00am and 11.30am. Entries submitted after this time will not be entered.

e. We accept no responsibility for incorrectly completed, lost or delayed entries or other documents related to the prize.

f. All entries must be presented ‘ready to judge’.

g. If you would like further information on competition entry please contact sevenhillswi@live.co.uk 

2. Entries
a. Victoria Sandwich: cake to be 8” round, filled with raspberry jam, and presented boxed or plated. The entry will be judged on presentation, appearance and suitability as well as, of course, taste, texture and flavour.

b. Strawberry Jam: presented in a clear glass jar and judged on appearance, suitability, taste, texture and flavour.

c. Bread: presented boxed or bagged and ready to eat; judged on presentation, appearance, suitability, taste, texture and flavour.

d. Children's (aged up to Year 6 at school (11 years old)). Six decorated cupcakes presented boxed or plated; judged on appearance, suitability, taste, texture and flavour.

3. Judging
 a. Judging will take place between 12noon and 2.30pm on Sunday 25 May.

b. Winners will be selected from each Category by the judging panel. All judges’ decisions are final.

c. The winners will be announced at 3.35pm on Sunday 25 May 2014 in the Festival Kitchen on the Moor. 

d. First, second and third places in each Category will all be awarded with rosettes. We reserve the right to provide a substitute prize of similar value should the specified prize become unavailable for reasons beyond our control.

e. Any winners not present will be contacted to be informed that they have won a prize and will receive their rosettes by post within seven days.

f. You allow us to take photographs of you and use the photographs together with your name in publicity connected with the competition and prize.

4. Collection

a. Packaging, boxes etc. may be collected by entrants between 3.35pm and 5pm on Sunday 25 May. Any items not collected will be disposed of.

6. General

a. We are required by law to make all the names of the winners publicly available. These details can be obtained by sending a signed handwritten request along with a stamped self-addressed envelope detailing your request to J Evans, Festival Assistant, Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB and marked with the name of the competition or alternatively email j.evans@shu.ac.uk

b. Information that you have provided to us will be collected, stored and processed for the purposes of administering the competition.

c. We reserve the right to suspend, cancel or amend the promotion and/or review and revise these terms at any time without giving prior notice and by continuing to take part in the promotion subsequent to any revision of these terms and conditions, you are deemed to have agreed to any such new or amended terms.

d. This promotion is governed by English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Warp Films' Barry Ryan comes to talk

April’s meeting began with our newly streamlined monthly notices where we heard about various opportunities and events open to us as WI members. This included information about the Denman College Trip priced at £255 for members and £295 for non-members.  Also part of the new format are the notices posted outside the main meeting room with details about different spin-off group events, so remember to read them if you’re interested in joining up!

Members and guests chat before the talk begins

Then, after the usual – and very important - tea break, we sat down to hear from Barry Ryan, Head of Production at Sheffield’s very own Warp Films. With creations such as This is England, Four Lions and Submarine, members couldn’t wait to hear what Barry had to say.

Barry Ryan talks about Warp's most successful film

Talking about the history of Warp Films, which began in a spare bedroom before graduating to the garage, we learned that Warp have now won seven Baftas, have made eighteen feature films and seven television series and even have one world record for the largest collective amount of zombies at a music festival! We were shown clips of Those in Peril, Warp’s first film to make it to Cannes and Southcliffe, a TV show which aired on Channel 4 last year.

With a number of exciting projects coming up, including feature film ’71 starring up-and-coming actor, Jack O’Connell and the next installment of the This is England television adaptation, Barry told us more about the average amount of time it takes to make a low-budget British film (210 days) and how difficult it was to get Jihadist comedy, Four Lions, off the ground.

Interestingly, Barry turned the subject onto how only 12% of directors and writers in the film industry are women, which prompted one of our members to ask if they could submit an unsolicited manuscript!

At the end of the talk, various hands shot up with questions such as how could we get involved as extras, how were certain special effects created and, with regards to the instrumentality of Brass Eye’s Chris Morris in aiding the success of one of Sheffield’s best exports, how significant relationships are within the film industry? 

Committee member Ruth and President Lindsay with Barry Ryan

Eventually time ran out and the meeting had to end but members left feeling proud of Sheffield and its exports, aware of how it can stand on its own two strong feet, independent of the big city in the South. But members also left wondering how we, as the WI, can introduce and encourage more women into the fascinating industry that is the media?

Hannah Sutton, SHWI member

Fancy a WI-filled weekend away?

Some SHWI members at Denman in December 2012

Denman College Trip – New Wave Weekend

Friday 21 to Sunday 23 November 2014

This November, members from Seven Hills WI are heading to the WI's very own residential college in Oxfordshire for a 'New Wave Weekend'. This is a Denman course especially aimed at new wave WIs, giving us a chance to get away with the girls and experience a selection of workshops at Denman such as drumming, vintage corsage making, biscuiteering, meringue-making, bollywood and burlesque dancing as well as textile decorating.

Having been before, I can speak from experience and say that it is well worth making the trip. A few SHWIees went to the New Wave Weekend in December 2012 and we absolutely fell in love with the charm of the place. The building and grounds are stunning, with each room adorned with handicrafts from the different federations of WIs up and down the country. As well as a choice of workshops and two nights' accommodation, we were also treated to welcome drinks, breakfast, lunch and three-course dinners during our stay! 

The cost of the course is £255 for members or £295 for non-members - which we are sure you will agree is an absolute bargain once you've been and enjoyed the classes, the food and the accommodation. 

We have made arrangements to make a group booking with Seven Hills WI for 15 people. After this, any additional people who sign up will be subject to Denman having spaces remaining. If you would like to come, please bring £50 deposit to our next meeting on Thursday 18 April.

Come and see me (Jen) at Thursday's meeting with your cheque (payable to Seven Hills WI) or cash to make sure you bag a space! We will also need your name, address and contact details so if you bring this on a piece of paper that'll make it quicker and easier. 

Some practical info:

• Prior to the course, students will be contacted to choose three workshops from Drumming for Fun - Heather Summers, Make a Vintage Style Corsage - Louise Simmonds, Biscuiteering - Natalie Green, Making and Decorating Meringues - Kelly Mauger, Dancing Bollywood and Burlesque - Annabel Brash, Textile Decorations - Pat Lumsdale 
• To make administration easier, cheques should made payable to Seven Hills WI and we will make payment to Denman College for the whole group. 
• The remaining balance is payable by September’s meeting at the latest, this is Thursday 18 September  2014. 
• If at least 10 people sign up there will be a 5% discount
• You are responsible for travel costs to get to and from the College, and for any spending money you need whilst you're there (this would not be much on this course as all meals are included in the price. You would just need money for any drinks at the bar or things you might buy in the shop). 
• We will make arrangements for travel nearer the time. Last time, we arranged car shares and we split the cost of petrol, so you can expect something similar.

Jen (VP)

10 Things SHWI learnt about Cuban women

For March, SHWI gave its members a taste of Cuba and in the spirit of the theme also revolutionized its meeting format. Armed with delicious mojitos and limeade coolers from Blousey’s Bar we kicked off the meeting and sat down for ‘other business lite’, the new streamline version of our monthly updates. The draw for the coveted Denman bursaries was also announced, and five lucky ladies won £200 towards a Denman course of their choosing!

After a short coffee break/topping up of cocktails it was on to the main event: an insight into the lives of Cuban women entitled ‘Ten Things You Might Like To Know About Cuban Women'. I must admit, until now I knew very little about Cuba. If I had to list 10 things I knew at the beginning of the night, it would have ended after cigars and flip-flops. And then I’d have had to cross off flip-flops because it transpired Havana is actually the capital, not Havaiana. 

As it turns out Cuba is full of surprises, both good and bad. Patricia Daniel from the Sheffield Cuba Solidarity Campaign first introduced us to the history of Cuba and the events leading to the revolution. Surprisingly women played a significant role in the revolution itself and in the running of revolutionary Cuba alongside Fidel Castro. During this time the women’s platoon was established, and they also became organised nationally in a federation that dwarfs the WI, boasting a membership comprising 85% of all women over the age of 14 in Cuba. They hold equal proportions of positions in public sector jobs and have a life expectancy inline with women born in the UK. Along with supportive legislation and free healthcare, this all helps to rank Cuba 15th in the world on the gender equality index (which is above the UK!). 

Ladies from the Sheffield Cuba Solidarity Campaign

Just as I was considering a bit of swift emigration, we were hit with the cloud beneath the silver lining. Due to the embargo placed upon Cuba by the US half a century ago Cuba has struggled to build an economy, an effort that was further hampered after the dissolution of the USSR, who previously supported Cuba. They have very limited medical supplies and food is hard to come by. To try and boost the deflated economy the government decided to increase tourism to the island. This created an imbalance in the socialist society Castro forged, and has fuelled resurgence of the prostitution industry around tourist hotspots. No matter your opinion on the sex industry, where there are prostitutes there are pimps and in a society that condemns and stigmatizes sex workers this invariably leads to the abuse of women.

By the end of the talk people were bursting with questions, and the topic seemed to spark intense debate, always a sign of an interesting presentation. It was a great introduction to the complicated and contradictory world of revolutionary Cuba. Not to mention the tasty world of Blousey’s cocktails.

To learn more about Cuba’s struggle or get involved with the Sheffield Solidarity Campaign, contact them at cscsheffield@btinternet.com.

Emily Strong
SHWI member

We chose the YWHP as our charity for 2014

At our February meeting we chose the Young Women’s Housing Project (YWHP) as our charity to support in 2014.

The YWHP is a project for young women aged 16 to 25 who have been affected by sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or sexual/domestic violence. It was nominated as a charity for Seven Hills WI to support by member Kat Rex-Jones and won the member vote held at a recent meeting.

The Sheffield-based charity provides safe places to live and specialist support to help young women to overcome the effects of abuse. It is one of the only specialist projects in the UK offering outreach support and supported accommodation to young women survivors of sexual abuse. 

Seven Hills WI member Kat Rex-Jones said: "I nominated the YWHP having worked closely with the Chair of the charity which gave me a real chance to find out more about what they do and how much pressure they are under to continue to fund their service.

“Specialist housing support is a very important and valued service and I am really proud that the women of SHWI will be supporting this cause over the coming year."

Katie Ryan from the YWHP added: “We are absolutely delighted to be chosen as the Seven Hills WI cause for 2014. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness and increase the profile of the YWHP, as well as receiving much needed funds to continue this essential work with vulnerable girls and young women.”

Each year, we choose a different local charity to raise funds for and in previous years has supported Haven House, the Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service, Survivors of Depression in Transition and the Parents’ Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia (PACT). Funds are raised through raffles at meetings and events such as the Sheffield Food Festival. Last year also saw us create our own calendar to raise money for PACT.

Guest list spaces now available on Eventbrite

Due to popular demand of guest list spaces for our monthly meetings, we'll be trialling a new system from April. Instead of emailing shwiguestlist@live.co.uk every month, you'll now be able to reserve your space using Eventbrite and you'll receive confirmation of your ticket straightaway. There will still be 15 spaces available and payment of £4 per ticket will be payable upon arrival at the meeting. 

This new change is to make the booking process clearer for visitors and save committee time every month. We've decided to cap the number of tickets reserved per person at 2 to ensure more people get a chance to come along and experience a Seven Hills WI meeting. 

Tickets will be available to reserve on Eventbrite from 12:00am the morning after the previous meeting e.g. April's guestlist will open on 21 March and May's guestlist will open on 18 April.

We understand that on occasion guests may reserve a place but then be unable to attend. If this happens, please email us as soon as possible so we can open the space up to other guests. If you do not let us know in advance and then do not attend, regrettably we will not be able to allocate you a place for the next meeting. This is to help prevent people signing up and reserving a place but then not coming to the meeting, which isn't fair on others. 

If you have any comments on the process or questions about coming along as a guest, email Kirsty at shwiguestlist@live.co.uk

SHWI in Waitrose Magazine

Lindsay, Kim and Vicky at last year's food festival stall

We're so excited to be on page 73 of Waitrose Kitchen magazine this month. In an article about the resurgence of the Women's Institute, our President Lindsay, Secretary Kim and Treasurer Vicky steal the limelight in this full page photo taken by Laura Bainbridge, photographer extraordinaire. The article also features other WIs such as London's Shoreditch Sisters and Buns & Roses from Leeds. 

Pick up a copy in any Waitrose supermarket for £1.20 or free with a myWaitrose card. 

SHWI do beer tasting

February brought with it Valentine’s day and a lot of SHWI beer love as the long-awaited beer tasting meeting came around. Members had been asking for a beer tasting night for a couple of years so when my former colleague Sean Clarke, a former College teacher, set up a craft beer shop in the new Moor Market I knew we’d found our man!

Di and Lindsay enjoy their bottles with Beer Central's Sean Clarke

Sean’s shop, Beer Central, stocks all manner of local, national and international beers, real ales and ciders, and he, along with colleague Tommy, brought along four of these for us to try at our meeting.

From Bradfield Farmer’s Blonde to Saltaire Triple Chocoholic stout, Timmerman’s fruit beer to Maisel’s Weisse, we mostly enjoyed them all, although I felt let down by the chocolate stout which tasted nothing at all like chocolate! Afterwards, to check we’d been listening (the teacher in him coming out there!) Sean gave us a quiz on the beers we’d tried and some other beer trivia…plus a cheeky question on Tommy’s age - we all guessed too low, much to Tommy’ delight! There was tension as the quiz went to two tie-breakers before the ultimate winners bagged a bottle of Farmer’s Blonde each, which incidentally we also voted as the favourite beer of SHWI.

Saltaire's Chocolate stout had mixed reviews from our members

SHWI has within its ranks some proper beer fans, we even have a beer ticker on the committee, but I’m not a big beer fan myself - give me a cocktail over a beer anyday - so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the evening. Sean is a great speaker who I’d recommend to other groups in the area and I even bought a couple of bottles of Timmermans to take home…maybe Beer Central will make a beer lover of me yet!

Members enjoy tasting the beers

We also voted for our 2014 charity at this meeting. Many worthwhile charities were put forward by members but the winner was the Young Women’s Housing Project, as nominated by Kat.

It was great to see so many new members getting involved at the February meeting, remember you get from the WI what you put into it so we always love to see enthusiastic people enjoying meeting new people and doing new things.

See you at March’s meeting for a talk on Cuban women and cocktails from Blousey’s Bar. 

Lindsay

President, Seven Hills WI

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.”

We are full for 2014! (But you can still come as a guest!)

At our January meeting we reached our membership limit for 2014 and the books were closed at 135 members. This is third year running that SHWI has reached its membership limit, despite the number being increased each year to try and meet demand.

Seven Hills WI President Lindsay Garfitt said: “We were pleased to see lots of new members sign up to join us. The popularity of our group and the WI in general seems to keep growing and growing and we have got lots of fun activities planned for the coming months, including beer tasting, badge making and a talk from Warp Films.

“Although our membership is full for 2014, women who would like to get involved can still come along to our meetings as guests and join our waiting list for 2015 membership."

See more about coming as a guest and joining the waiting list here. 

Ello, Ello, Ello!

In the club area before the meeting, there was a distinct buzz as members old and new filtered in, catching up after Christmas, tucking into homemade cake and poring over our snazzy new programmes! We’ve been at our venue Electric Works for a whole year now so it brought a smile to my face to see new members getting excited about their first ever go on the helter skelter!

 

Chella shows off her committee rosette and our new programme

Then it was into the conference room for the meeting, where SHWI president Lindsay gave an introduction to Seven Hills for those new to the group. There was lots of exciting news to share – spin-off group events, the Sheffield Food Festival in May and a welcome meeting arranged just for newbies on 4^th February. Members were also reminded that they could nominate a charity for us to support this year which we’ll be voting on at February’s meeting.

 

Getting 2014 off to an arresting start (geddit?), our speakers for the evening were Chief Superintendent Rachel Barber and Chief Inspector Caroline Rollitt from South Yorkshire Police. Both have acquired their own notoriety locally, after taking part in charity stand-up challenge, Funny Business, in aid of Weston Park Cancer Charity. A few gags even made it into their talk, showing that they can crack jokes as well as crime. (Thankfully, their jokes were were better than mine).

Members listen intently

Both started in the police force in the late 1980s and shared how they had handled being a woman in a male-dominated environment. The indelible description of Rachel having to hitch her police-issue skirt up to her crotch so she could give chase showed just how far things have come. The comical spin showed a softer side of policing, but there were also glimpses of gallows humour. Insight into how it serves as a coping mechanism for the more challenging aspects of their work, perhaps? Prostitution, guns and erm, international football all featured as they gave us a potted history of their careers in the force, with a few life lessons shared along the way.

 

Caroline and Rachel seemed largely unphased by many of the challenges – both in their work and in the organisation – although I suspect that’s come with experience. It was inspiring to see how down-to-earth and pragmatic they both were without being jaded or cynical.

 

Members Sarah and Cat join Rachel and Caroline's squad

As the meeting came to a close, Lindsay announced that we were now full for 2014 which means we’re now at 135 members. No doubt it’ll be a merry meeting next month, as we welcome Beer Central to Electric Works to give our members a taste of some of the best brews.

 

Jen

(Vice President)

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SHWI Mad Skillz kicks off with Self Defence

It's a cold, dark, drizzly Friday evening in Dronfield. My friend and I have just pulled up outside S18 gym. Since we're early, too nervous to go in, we sit in the car luxuriating in the heated seats until the clock shows 18:00. We approach the gym - I can see a caged off boxing ring and a well built man punching the heck out of something. I pull out my phone and call Anna T. I have no idea what I'm doing and she's the one who's organised this. As soon as I hear her excited, friendly voice, inadvertently informing me I've come to the wrong entrance, I feel reassured. Because, we weren't here to start an illegal fight club. Nope, this was the inaugural session of the latest Seven Hills WI spin off group - SHWI Mad Skillz. Unlike other spin-offs that focus on one particular interest (see Book Club, SHWI Crafts, Walking Group etc.) Mad Skillz is all about finding new and interesting activities. First up was an introductory self defence class with Mixed Martial Arts trainer Andy of the aforementioned S18 gym. Once I'd shed my work gear in favour of leggings and a 15-year-old Pulp t-shirt, I went to join the other ladies. There were only six of us, but this meant we got a lot of one-on-one action (ahem). After strapping on some gloves and wondering if beautifully manicured nails (not mine, I hasten to add) would make it through the evening, we got into the "cage" and were given a lesson in throwing punches. I may have the upper body strength of a day old kitten, but I'm pretty sure I could give a decent clout if required. We then went on to cover kicking, falling over safely, wrestling (yes, really!) and then finally combining the whole lot to take on Andy in the ring. I'll be honest, this was half self defence, half an introduction to Mixed Martial Arts, but it was BLOOMIN' BRILLIANT. We weren't pushed into doing anything we didn't want to, everyone was really supportive and encouraging (even when trying to wrestle you to the floor) and the buzz afterwards made me see why people get involved in this sort of activity. Also, it was HILARIOUS - self defence is clearly a serious matter, but if you can have fun whilst learning, why not? Anyway, it's hard not to laugh when a grown man is telling you to grab his shoulder as you knee him in the gut. The next day, I did look like I'd been in a scrap. My hands were covered in delicate purple bruises and I'd managed to graze a knuckle. But they didn't really hurt, not as much as my arms and stomach, and that's only because I'd been using muscles I didn't know I had. So would I do it all again? Hell yeah! Bring on the next one... (Note: no ladies were harmed in the making of this blog. SHWI Mad Skillz will also be offering classes in more genteel pursuits - check out the Facebook group for more details.) Laura Bainbridge