We hope you enjoyed our Easter crafting, hot cross buns, and chat at our last meeting as much as we did. We also hope you had a lovely Easter with an abundance of chocolate, treats and time with loved ones.
 
This month, we continue our crafting theme which is hosted by our very own Suze.
 
Lock down and constant video meetings, inspired Suze to set up SuzieEstherJewellery to try and add a bit of variety and colour into days spent at home staring at a camera!
 
All pieces are handmade by Suze in sunny Bristol, in her cosy garage workspace. She brings a pop of colour to the wearers day and aims to make pieces that the recipient can dress up or down.
 
She combines traditional silversmithing with cold enamel, and polymer clay to give that pop of colour and something a little different. Due to the nature of the processes, each piece will be unique.
 
The pieces are made using recycled silver where possible, and all clay, enamel & waste metal is saved to reused in future projects
 
Suze will show us how we can make our own earrings with polymer clay. All materials will be provided, however if you have a glass work top safer or shining ceramic tile you can bring, this will be helpful to roll out your clay.
 
April is also membership renewals. The membership fee for 2024/25 is £48. As part of your membership, you can attend eleven meetings throughout the year and have membership to WI Avon Fed and National WI. Of the £48, we receive £23.60 of your membership, and this go towards covering the cost of speakers, materials, hall rent (£34 per meeting) and outings.
 
We want to ensure that we offer our members and guests a diverse range of meetings and outings. We have seen a significant increase in our costs and will therefore be increasing the cost of a guest to £8.
 
Membership can be paid by bank transfer or cash.
 
We have another exciting programme planned for the year. We hope to see you on Wednesday 24^th April at 8pm.

March news....

Last month we had an amazing talk from Sam Mackay about the wonders of terrarium and offered us inspiration on how to make our own.   
 
With Easter just a week away, we have double the treats for our March meeting.
 
First, we will be upcycling tin cans to make delightful Easter baskets, plant pots or container to brighten up your home.  We will be providing some materials, but we would also ask you to bring any used tin cans you would like to decorate (which have been cleaned) and wrapping paper or napkins to decorate your tin.
 
In addition, we will also be trying to find the best hot cross bun!  There will be a few to try and judge so we can see which one comes out on top!
 
We hope you can join us in for our Easter meeting, chat, and crafting.
 
See you on Wednesday 27^th March at 8pm.
 

February news....

Last month we had a great start to the year, hearing about the amazing work of Fare Share Southwest from Jenny.   Following the meeting Jenny shared that our donation of £50 is enough to redistribute 200 meals worth of surplus food to those in need, which is really appreciated.  They were also very touched by our food donations.

This month, we are delighted to welcome Sam Mackay from Other World Terrariums  & formerly of MILA plants.
 
Sam is a lover of all things green and a supporter of small independent business who he stocks in The Ethical Gift Shop in SPARKS, as well as a champion of the Bristol LGBTQIA+ community.
 
Sam will demonstrate how to make your very own terrarium, with lots of advice on the best plants to choose & how to care for them.  Sam will also do a Houseplant Q&A for those of you who don’t know your Aspidistra from your Zamioculcas zamiifolia (we had to Google that one!) so get your green fingered questions ready!
 
There will also be the opportunity to buy some plants so don’t forget your card!  
 
See you on Wednesday 28^th February at 8pm.

January news....

 Firstly, Happy New Year! We hope that you all had an enjoyable and restful festive period. It seems a long time ago sine we were making Christmas tree decorations in November. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped us with our festive decorations. The tree looked amazing and was a fantastic addition to Tree Fest.

 
January can be a difficult month, with the sparkle of Christmas behind us, long, dark evenings and changeable weather. It can be hard to get out, but we hope you can join us for our first meeting of 2024. As well as an amazing speaker, there will be cake, tea, and chat.
 
This month, we will be welcoming Jenny Weld from Fare Share Southwest, the region’s biggest food redistribution charity. Jenny will be sharing how they save millions of meals worth of food from going to landfill each year, and instead deliver it to over 400 South West charities, schools and community groups preventing countless individuals from going hungry. With billions of tonnes of UK food going to waste every year and a nation food poverty crisis, food redistribution has become more important than ever. Jenny will be sharing a short quiz about the weird and wacky ways food can become surplus, as well as heartwarming stories about how it gets repurposed.
 
We will not be having a raffle this January, instead, if we would like to, you can bring items to donate to Fare Share. They are currently looking for low sugar cereal, soup, tinned meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables, baked beans, non-chilled juice, cooking oil, chopped tomatoes, pasta, rice, and tinned pulses. Jenny will be on her bike so nothing too big if you would like to donate.
 
We are really looking forward to seeing familiar faces and new ones. If you haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions, coming to a Malago WI meeting could be one.
 
See you on Wednesday 31^st January at 8pm.

November news....

 We had a lovely time at our October meeting watching films about Bristol created by the ever entertaining, Gordon Young.  Through our highly knowledgeable speakers, we learn more secrets about our amazing city.

 
We are truly in the depths of dark evenings, so what better way to chase away the winter blues than by celebrating what we have achieved this year and getting a bit festive.
 
We will be holding our AGM and hearing from Avril about all the great things we have done together.  Members will also be able to vote for key committee roles.  As always, it’s a chance for our members to get involved so please let us know if you would like to join the committee.  Once we have completed the formalities, we will be getting truly festive with treats and making Christmas decorations.
 
This year, Malago WI will be decorating a Christmas tree for Treefest at St Mary’s Redcliffe, which will be on display from 7^th to 10^th December.  This year’s charity is the Nelson’s Trust . We need your help to make decorations for the tree to showcase what we do.  This will include felting and paper crafts.  You are welcome to take any spares home!
 
If you have some time the afternoon of Wednesday 6^th December, we would love for you to help decorate the tree.
 
This will be our last meeting of 2023 but will be holding a Christmas social at the North Street Standard on Wednesday 13^th December from 7:30.  We would love for you to join us for a drink and chat if you are able to.
 
For those of you who are not able to make any further meetings this year, we wish you a happy and enjoyable festive season.  If you can join us, see you on Wednesday 29^th November at 8pm.