Happy New Year from Malago WI.  We hope you have an enjoyable festive season.

It seems a very long time ago that we met for festive crafting and mince pie tasting.  A great time was had by all.

The dark nights and the terrible weather can make it very difficult to come out this time of year, but why not join us to kick our exciting programme of events for 2023 this January.  The last few weeks have demonstrated how our climate is changing.  We are delighted to welcome Jenny Harrison, who is passionate about environmental and ethical awareness.  She has volunteered as a Greenpeace speaker since 2019 and will talk to us about current environmental issues and how we can do our little bit to make a difference.

Some of you may have received some gifts that you would like to ‘re-gift’ so please bring them along and we will raffle them to raise funds for your Malago WI.  We can take card payments, but please feel free to bring cash.
Members will have the opportunity to vote on this year’s resolutions to go to the AGM later in the year.  This year, the proposed resolutions are:

1. Save our water – every drop matters
2. Women to women – turning over a new leaf in the lives of women tea workers
3. Online gambling harm: time for action
4. Clean rivers for people and wildlife

If you are unable to attend the meeting, you can send you vote to us by email.

We now will be meeting in the main church hall which will give us much more space.  When you arrive, please come through the main entrance.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 25^th.

Last month we pitted our wits against are very own Quiz Master, Vivienne.  A great night was had by all, and with only a few football questions, the scores were tight!

It’s that time of year again when we start talking about Christmas! We are delighted that this year, we can offer several Christmas activities.

Our November meeting will be all about the festive season.  We will undertaking a blind mince pie testing, pitting the High Streets favourite shops and brands against each other to vote for our favourite Christmas staple.  We will also be getting back to some crafting making Christmas decorations including stars and origami Christmas trees.  All instructions and materials will be provided, but feel free to bring along some favourite paper (printer thickness or thicker would be ideal) and any embellishments you would like to add.
 
After many years of not being about to meet up socially, we are also arranging a Christmas social where we can have a drink and chat.  This will be on Thursday 15^th December at 7:45pm for 8pm at North Street Standard.  We hope you can join us!
 
If you are not able to make any of our Christmas gatherings, we wish you a happy and healthy festive season and look forward to you joining us for our exciting 2023 programme of meetings!  
 

Last month we had a lovely evening with the extremely talented Angie Parker, who gave us an amazing insight into her journey to set up a highly successful textiles business.  We were very privileged to see her amazing work up close.

Now we are into the full swing of Autumn, we are going to get cosy in the hall.  Our very own Vivienne will be putting together some trivia and brain teasers to test the grey cells, whilst ensuring we have some fun.  In teams of up to four, you will be able to test your knowledge and pit your wits against Malago WI’s Quiz Master.
 
This is a great opportunity to have a drink, snacks and chat, so please feel free to bring along a friend (or two!)
 
We will also be holding our annual AGM, so we will reflect on what we have been able to achieve over the last year after some turbulent times.

Our October meeting marks Malago WI’s birthday so why not join us to celebrate.

See you on Wednesday 19th!  
 

 It was unfortunate that our Buttercream workshop at Little Kitchen was cancelled at such short notice. We hope to be able to rearrange this at a later date. It was lovely to catch up with those who joined us for a drink.

This month we are back at British Road and joined by Angie Parker. Angie is a weaver, designer and colourist based in BV studios in Bedminster. After being taught rug weaving at art college in the 1990’s, she pursued a career in costume for a number of years whilst continuing to weave on small scale collections. During this time, she developed the original style for which she has become known since setting up her business.

Angie will be talking about the ups and downs of setting up in business around a young family in a challenging marketplace. She will also cover pushing out of your comfort zone and embracing the hormone roller-coaster, all though uplifting colourful woven textiles. There will be a slide show and samples of Angie's trademark woven textiles on display, plus a Q&A session at the end.

If you enjoyed some of our outings exploring the local area, you might be interested in a series of talks exploring the hidden histories of Bedminster and Southville taking place in September and October.

See you on Wednesday 28^th.

 In July we took part in a lovely, interactive drawing workshop led by Kate Miller, an experienced teacher and artist. It was great to be able to discover our inner artist and use a range of materials.

We are out and about in August and getting hands on again with a buttercream workshop at Little Kitchen in Totterdown.  Set up by Claire and Madeline in 2014, Little Kitchen, is a hands-on cookery school, getting the people of Bristol cooking good food from scratch. 

We will be starting at 8pm with a short talk about Little Kitchen, followed by a buttercream flower demonstration and opportunity to do our own buttercream work on a takeaway cupcake. Some snacks will be provided, and there will be refreshments for sale.

This will be a one-hour workshop, so the Committee will be going for a drink at The Oxford afterwards if anyone would like to join us.

Places are limited so please can you let us know if you would like to attend by 24^th August by emailing wearemalagowi@gmail.com. Guests are welcome at the cost of £10.

Please note the meeting is on Wednesday 31^st August, so see you then.