It seems a very long time ago since we were making window stars with Laura from Colourful Minds. As always, it was lovely to be able to sit, chat and get creative with friends old and new. The landscape in the UK has changed significantly since then and it with great sadness that we have to cancel the next Malago WI meeting on Wednesday 25th March and future monthly meetings until further notice. This is based on Government Advice to delay the impact of Covid-19. We want to help to mitigate the impact that the lack of social engagement will have on our community, especially those who are more vulnerable or in self-isolation. So we want to ask you to send us recipes, ideas for projects, ideas for future meetings or share stories to give us all a lift during very uncertain times. We can share these in our newsletter and via social media. Please send these to wearemalagowi@gmail.com Self-isolation can very challenging and lonely, so if any of you would like a chat with one of our friendly committee members, then please let us know. If members would like to support others in this way, let us know and we can help to make a connection. It is not clear when we will be able to resume our normal activity, but we will keep in touch and support each other in uncertain times. Take care and stay safe.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first meeting of 2020. It was lovely to see new and familiar faces who joined us to hear about the amazing work undertaken by Dogs for Good. During the dark and cold nights, it always helps to bring some colour into the house. We are delighted to be joined once again by Laura Humpage from Colourful Minds who will be showing us how to make window stars. Laura will be providing all materials for a bit of creative therapy. Colourful Minds run art and craft workshops for kids and adults in Bristol. Set up by mum of two, Laura, to teach and explore creative skills in relaxed and informal settings. Laura has a degree in Textile Design, worked as a freelance designer maker then worked at Watershed Media Centre for 8 years before setting up Colourful Minds in 2015. She now works in schools and venues all over Bristol providing affordable and accessible art and craft workshops for all ages. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 26th.
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 29th to celebrate the start of another year of exciting events.
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.
Although we had a last minute change of venue due to water damage in the hall, our alternative venue of the Hen and Chicken was a great place to practice some chair yoga with Ashley Russell. It was lovely to see so many of you there and to hear how much you enjoyed it. Thank you for being so understanding with the last minute changes. October’s meeting will have a distinctly Japanese theme. Yukiko Hosomi will be teaching us how to make origami Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. Yukiko will introduce us to origami and kimono as well her early life in Japan. There will be opportunity to try on some kimonos and taste a bit of vegetarian sushi. All materials will be provided, but if you have any paper you would like to use to make decorations, please bring it along Yukiko has lived in Bristol for the last 15 years – coming to the UK in 1996 as an international student at Lancaster University. Originally from Shizuoka prefecture in Japan, 1 hour by bullet train from Tokyo, she grew up seeing Mt Fuji every day. Her love of hand crafts were developed at a young age, watching her mother knit and sew, and making things by hand has been a shared love. Since 2018, Yukiko has been sharing her love of Japan, kimono and fabric with others thorough her creative outlet Unsui. Yukiko sells accessories created from kimono material and you will have an opportunity to purchase these (cash or card) at the meeting, especially for those looking to start their Christmas shopping early! This month’s meeting also marks our 11th birthday and will be holding our AGM where we can share many of the great activities we have done this year. Have you got any books you have read, loved but no sure what to do with them? We are looking for book donations which we can sell, at a very small charge, at our meetings as part of our fundraising for Malago WI. Please bring along any books you would like to donate. We look forward to seeing you on the 30th!
