January news...

We hope that you have all had a lovely Christmas and New Year break.  It seems a long time ago since we last met in the hall, being inspired by Rachel Heaton to create our own ‘Bristol Rocks’.
 
It is not always easy to persuade yourself to get out during dark and cold winter nights, but we hope that will be able to join us to learn about a great cause.  Dogs for Good is a charity that trains assistance dogs to support adults and children with a wide variety of disabilities and conditions to live full and active lives in the community. Their dogs bring independence to people by taking on many practical tasks, such as retrieving items, helping them get dressed and opening doors. As well as the practical help our dogs provide, the emotional support they give is unparalleled.
 
Rosie Blanning will talk to us about Dogs for Good and the amazing things their dogs do to help adults and children with disabilities live more independently. She will also talk about the various volunteering opportunities within the organisation and how Bristol residents can get involved with the charity and even look after our puppies!  We also will have a chance to meet one of their dogs, Norton, so will be able to see first-hand how amazing these dogs are.
 
As it is the start of the year, it is time for membership renewals.  The membership fee for 2020 is £43.  As part of this membership you get 11 meetings per year including 1 summer outing (sometimes 2), a monthly copy of WI Life, WI member benefits and a book of handy vouchers when you join.  It’s helpful for existing and new members to arrive a bit earlier so we can start the meeting on time.  Payments can be made in cash and cheques payable to Malago WI.
 
If you have any unwanted Christmas presents, please bring them along and we will raffle these off to raise money for future meetings and outings.
 
We look forward to seeing friends old and new on Wednesday 29^th to celebrate the start of another year of exciting events.

November news....

Thank you to everyone who came to our October meeting and AGM.  It was great to hear your ideas about future meetings.  We all loved creating an origami Christmas tree forest and trying on some gorgeous kimonos thanks to Yukiko.
 
Our last meeting of 2019 will have a distinctly festive feeling with a range of Christmas treats and music to help get us in the mood for the festivities throughout December.  We will be joined by Rachel Heaton, a local artist who has been dabbling in art for a lifetime. Art is total escapism for her, it is an excuse to hide away and ignore her family
 
A member of Redcatch Art Club, she loves to shock with her outrageous approach of slapping the paint on super quick and watching what emerges. At the moment she loves painting dogs and cats but also creating images of people on stones.  She will be exhibiting her work at this weekend’s Totterdown Front Room Art Trail.
 
Rachel will bring along examples of her amazing artwork and painted stones to inspire us to paint our own which we can either keep or choose to hide to be found by others.  The idea behind Bristol Rocks is to decorate rocks and hide them in various places to randomly brighten someone's day. You can use whatever you like, paint, sharpies etc., they just need to be sealed with some clear varnish to make sure the rain doesn't wash away your designs.  If you add a message on the back saying 'Bristol Rocks Facebook Page' or something along those lines, you can even add your name, then maybe some will be reposted to the group when they are found.
 
All materials will be provided but if you have a favourite stone or two that you would like to decorate do bring these along as well.
 
We hope to see many of you on 27th November, but for those who can’t make it, we wish you happiness and good health for the festive season.