February news...

How lovely to see so many of you at our first meeting of 2014!
It was a good one wasn't it? For those who missed it (why?!), Attic Tea came along and hosted a tea-tasting session.

It was a wonderfully sociable evening, the hall was decked out to reflect the fact that the Chinese New Year was upon us (did your fortune cookie bring good news and wise words?) and we had plenty of time to chat with each other as we discussed the veritable merits of the green tea blend, versus the black, white and pu'erh blends under the guidance of Anne.

So with brains boosted and stress busted we head in to February when Karen Lowe, image consultant and personal stylist, will help us with those age old problems that crop up for us all at some time or another;

Is your wardrobe full of clothes, yet you have nothing to wear?
Do you struggle in the morning deciding what goes with what?
Does shopping leave you stressed or upset?
Would you like to know your body shape and how to dress it?
Would you like to update or refresh your current image?
Karen is currently in the running for Business Mother of the Year, and at our next meeting her secrets will be uncovered to leave us brimming with self-confidence. Join us to discover a fabulous new you, looking at body shape SOS and the art of great accessorising.

Also at our February meeting we’ll be holding our raffle of excess and unwanted Christmas gifts, so bring along your contribution to the prize table and thank you to those of you that have already have done so!

Registration is still open too, it’s £34.70 for the year and we've got some great things planned so don’t miss out.

In other news:

WI business meant that members present at January’s meeting were able to cast a vote of support for one of four potential resolutions, which will become the key campaign backed by the WI. Our majority vote is forwarded to Avon Federation and final discussions and voting takes place at the AGM in the summer. The majority vote going forward from Malago WI is to support the campaign against female genital mutilation.

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Are you considering entering the Race For Life this year in support of Cancer Research UK? The Bristol 5k event is on Sunday 6^th July and several committee members have decided to take part, we’d love to have you join us as well. We've registered a MalagoWI group, so we can provide you with a group id code if you’d like to take part with us, meaning all sponsorship raised will be donated as 1 submission and we’ll have a Just Giving page for easier fundraising. Nearer the time we can co-ordinate some ‘training’ sessions for those that want to and if you have daughters or friends who want to take part too but aren't WI members – well that’s fine, this isn't a members only event! Take a look at the website for further details and entry prices here. We can give you details at our next meeting too.

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Who fancies a craft club? We’re trying to co-ordinate a monthly craft club, something fairly informal to be held at a committee member’s house probably. We've yet to sort out precise details, but are keen to find out who would be interested, so we’ll have a sign-up sheet at the next meeting to register your interest or you can email us to let us know. As a WI sub-group this will be for full Malago WI members only.

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We’re also hoping to organise a lampshade making workshop with Quincy Lampshades, to take place on a Friday evening or weekend afternoon. Dates and costs will be sorted once we have an idea of who’s interested. This will be open to full Malago WI members first and guests afterwards if places remain. A sign-up sheet will be at the next meeting or you can email us to register your interest.

Phew, well that's all for now folks,
Hope to see on Wednesday,

MWI x

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody!

It seems a little late to be saying that, but it’s our first communication of 2014, so think it’s more than justified.
Hopefully you all had a wonderful time over Christmas and 2014 is moving along smoothly for you.

It was lovely to see some of you for Christmas drinks at the Tobacco Factory in December and our November meeting with Ivory Flowers was gorgeous.
Isn’t her shop looking fantastic, brightening up North Street during these drab, wet, winter days?

So here we are, January, traditionally the month for new regimes and resolutions – get fit, lose weight, stop smoking/drinking – essentially stop the fun stuff, straight after a month of indulgence.

It's just too hard, particularly with half full tins of chocolate, Christmas cake, biscuits and other delicious edibles bursting from cupboards and cluttering surfaces.
Far more practical to spend January enjoying all these tasty treats and start afresh in February, surely?

Well, with that in mind, we have Attic Tea visiting us in January for a tea tasting session.
Anne will talk us through the different types of tea available and the health benefits they offer.
Take a look at their lovely website if you’re not already aware of them and their products.
Maybe this will help kick start a healthier regime for February.
There’ll be products available for sale too, so come prepared, cash, cheque or credit card are all acceptable.
I’ll be looking out for the tea with cleansing and detoxifying properties!

As we mentioned at our last meeting, do bring along any unwanted Christmas gifts or excess boxes of chocolates, bottles of wine and so forth (unused and unopened, please!) that you want to get out of your house, ready for our raffle, which we'll hold during our February meeting.
We’ll store the donations until then and can co-ordinate the raffle draw and prizes in to something a little more orderly.

Importantly, please remember that it’s membership renewal month so you will need to pay your annual fee of £34.70 or the £5.00 visitors’ fee. You can pay by cash or cheque, but you only need to fill in the membership form if you’re a brand new member or if any of your details have changed.

Finally, we’d love more volunteers to help with the smooth running of our meetings, so if you can offer your services to help set up the hall before the meeting – committee members are usually there from 7.15pm, or help out with serving the tea and cakes during the break or to make/bring a cake to be served, that would be wonderful.
We’ll be creating a roster for helpers for each month which will be available at our meetings, or you can contact us through the usual channels to offer your help.

Until Wednesday...
MWI x