August news....

In July, we were very lucky to visit the delightful Somerset Flower Farm where the sun shone and we were treated to an amazing cream team.  Thanks to Mandy, Ken and Ella for hosting us and to Mandy for putting together and giving away a beautiful hand held bouquet.

We continue our summer outings in August and have a fantastic opportunity to visit Colston Hall.
This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes and see the work in progress on this major, £48.8 million transformation project.  The evening will start with guided tours of the building courtesy of Willmott Dixon Contractor. Access to some areas will be restricted as this is a working site - so please wear sensible shoes.  Afterwards we will reconvene in the first floor terrace bar for a glass of wine and a talk from about the overall project and progress to date. This will include trying out some VR headsets for a glimpse of what the finished areas will look like.

We will be meeting in ground floor foyer area.  Due to the limit of 15 people per tour, we have arranged for two, the first at 7pm and second at 7:30pm.  Tours will start promptly, so please ensure you arrive in time to go on the first or second tour.  Those who are not on the tour will have the opportunity to have a glass of wine or soft drink.  We will finish at Colson Hall about 9pm and we will are planning to Bambalan for a drink afterwards for anyone who would like to join us.

If you need to contact us on the evening, you can call Avril on 0780 395 4120 or Lucy on 07717 375749.

We look forward to seeing you at the Colston Hall on Wednesday 28^th August.

July news.....

In June, we were delighted to hear from Jayne Goulding who shared her design journey and learning and seeing her beautiful work as part of the Jayne Goulding Design practice, embroidery design studio.

As summer is finally here, we will be leaving the hall for our July meeting and visiting the Somerset Flower Farm in Wrington, so please do not go to the hall.  The visit will be hosted by Mandy Parker, owner of the Flower Farm and who will be giving a talk on how she got started and what running a British flower farm entails.  We will also be able to get some hands on experience as Mandy will be showing us how to put together an informal bouquet from flowers she has grown. We will have a tour of the flower beds and poly tunnels and will be able to see an array of beautiful flowers grown there. Tea, coffee and cake will be served during the evening and there will be items to buy in the gift and flower shop.

We can offer lifts to those that can’t make their own way there so please let us know if you require transport but there is plenty of parking on site. There’s lots of room to sit inside and out and let’s hope we have good weather! We will be starting at 7:30pm at the Flower Farm and expect to finish by 9/9:30pm.

If you are a member the event is included in your membership but non-members and guests will be £7 each. There’s a maximum of 30 places so if you’d like to come and haven’t already signed up then please can you do so by emailing wearemalagowi@gmail.com by 24^th July.

This year Malago WI will be supporting Pride on its 10^th anniversary and running the children’s area at the Pride festival on Saturday 13^th July from 12pm to 5pm at Durdham Downs.  This will include children’s stories and activities with our very own Geri, cakes, kite making and glitter tattoos.  This a great way for us to raise awareness of Malago WI, support our local community and raise much needed funds to enable us to offer a wide range of meetings and summer outings.  There is still time if you would like to volunteer to help on the stall or make cakes, so please email us if you would like to do so or just come and visit us and buy one of our delicious cakes!!

We hope to see you at Pride or the Flower Farm.

June news....

In May, we had an inspiring and fascinating talk by Trish Johnson, about Clifton Suspension from the prospective of its Bridge Master and being a female chartered Civil Engineer.

In June, we will be hearing from Jayne Goulding Design on embroidery design practice for fashion and interiors. Jayne will be talking about her creative role as a designer and running her own business.  We will be able to see examples of her work and Jayne will share her creative processes and exploration, inspiration and influences.

The Jayne Goulding Design practice is an embroidery design studio, driven by creative and technical research and the discovery and creation of alluring designs, for fashion and interior designers and retailers.   Jayne Goulding is a designer and founder of Jayne Goulding Design, she works from her loft Studio in Bristol. She designs, produces and sells embroidery swatches to clients globally, from high street to high-end designer for fashion and interiors. Jayne Goulding Design studio employs a breadth of research, techniques and innovation using digital embroidery, hand guided Irish machine embroidery and bead work.

This year Malago WI will be supporting Pride on its 10th anniversary and running the children’s area at the Pride festival on Saturday 13^th July from 12pm to 5pm at Durdham Downs.  This will include children’s stories and activities with our very own Geri, cakes and kite making.  This a great way for us to raise awareness of Malago WI, support our local community and raise much needed funds to enable us to offer a wide range of meetings and summer outings.  We need volunteers to make cakes and help out on the day.  If you would to be involved, please email us at wearemalagowi@gmail.com or you can sign up at the June meeting. Anyone helping to staff our stall during the day will also get an event wristband, allowing to access the rest of the event.

We will be starting at 8pm so see you then on Wednesday 29^th May.

May news...

In April, not only did we learn some fantastic tips from Sarah Alder of  Kitchen Titbits on how to reduce our food waste, but also some great ideas for making some truly delicious meals.

This month we have the opportunity to learn more about one Bristol most famous icons, Clifton Suspension Bridge.  Trish Johnson, Bridge Master and chartered Civil Engineer, will talk about the management and maintenance of this feat of engineering, whilst giving an insight into her extensive career. 

Trish has been involved in various aspects of engineering.  She has worked in a consultancy practice managing a number of Highways and Transportation offices, promoted civil engineering as Regional Director for the ICE, and maintained bridges as Head of Maintenance at the Severn River Crossing.

In 2016, she took up the enviable role of Bridge Master on the Clifton Suspension Bridge. This high profile role covers the major projects and maintenance of the bridge, the managing of the business including the visitor centre and the engagement with the public and Trustees.

She is a keen advocate of engineering and sits on the University of the West of England Advisory Board for Civil Engineering, is an ICE mentor and is one of the judges for the ICE Civil Engineering Awards in the South West.

We will be starting at 8pm so see you then on Wednesday 29^th May.

April news....

In March we learnt about the benefits, amazing flavour and multiple uses of rapeseed oil from the highly entertaining Debbie Keeling from Bath Harvest.

This month we are looking at some great ways to help reduce food waste and make the most of our weekly shop.  Sarah Alder, from Kitchen Titbits will be talking to us about reducing food waste including food waste audits, tips for storing food to reduce waste and meal planning as a way to reduce waste.  We also get the chance to try some tasty morsels to help inspire us at home.

Kitchen Titbits is all about helping people to cut their food waste, slim line their food bills, improve family mealtimes, get food on the table quickly and learn new skills in the kitchen.

Malago WI will be sending a delegate to this year’s WI AGM in June. At this month’s meeting, members will be able to decide on how they want our delegate to vote on this year’s resolutions which are; A call against the decline in local bus services and Don’t fear the smear.  Notes on these resolutions will be available at this month’s meets as well as the WI website.

We will be starting at 8pm so see you then on Wednesday 24^th April.