Robbie Williams....and the stick man

Our talk from Nick Hand at July's meeting was certainly a memorable one. The buzz afterwards was all about feeling inspired, whether to get on a bike, make a basket, or indeed go and see a Robbie Williams' tribute band. More information on Nick, now on his way around Ireland, on www.slowcoast.co.uk


Volunteers needed!
As you know we wouldn't even exist without volunteers whether committee members, cake makers or helping out at events. We now have enough volunteers for rosette making - many thanks. We still need a few more committee members - the monthly commitment is an evening's committee meeting plus maybe a further 2 hours on average. If you would like an informal chat about whether it could be for you please email us or grab one of us at August's meeting. The lists for BoB stall helpers (25 Sep) and potential allotment contributors are also still open and will be on the board at the meeting.


25 August - a summer quiz
Working it teams, it promises to be a fun and sociable evening. Savoury snacks and cold drinks to help get our brains in gear. Of course there will be prizes, and we really hope to see many of you there. Prospective members very welcome as ever! 8pm at our usual hall, Bedminster Methodist Church, British Road.

Bollywood in Bedminster

Namaste, Malago WI


Last week's Bollywood dancing evening was HOT! We learned a lot, including our left from our right, and that we won't be forming a dance troupe any time soon, but everyone had a lot of ankle-jingling fun fuelled by exotic sweets and fragrant cordials. Thanks to fabulous teacher Prerna for her patience and enthusiasm.


July meeting
On Wednesday 28 July, we will welcome Nick Hand. Nick cycled the 5000 miles of Britain's coastline clockwise, meeting and filming artisan craftspeople including a lobster pot-maker, a daisy-grower, a kilt-maker, and many other artists.


Nick will talk about his travels and show us his beautiful photographs and interviews, showcasing his journey and the people he met on the way.


* Change of venue *
July's meeting will take place in the Hollywood-esque surroundings of the Aardman cinema in their new HQ on Gas Ferry Road, near the SS Great Britain. If you're driving, the SS Great Britain car park is the place to park. Timings are the same - 8-10pm.


Other news
Flickr ::
If you'd like to add your photographs of WI-related activities, such as crafts you're working on, baking, gardening or even the cake you're making for the meeting, please email them to jointhewi@gmail.com


Best of Bedminster ::
Our favourite fundraiser takes place on Saturday 25 September and we need volunteers to help out on the day, as well as bake cakes for us to sell. Let us know if you can help.


Avon Federation AGM ::
Do you want to be our volunteer to go along to our regional federation AGM? Taking place on Tuesday 28 September in sunny Weston-super-mare, the AGM is an opportunity to see the wider picture of local WI activities. Deadline to book a place is 16 August - email us if you'd like to volunteer.


Food hygiene course ::
We intend to provide an opportunity for all members to attend a food hygiene course, date and cost TBC - again, drop us an email to put your name down.


Sainsbury's
It's crunch time for North Street. Bristol City Council planning committee meets on 21 July so please submit your comments and objections NOW. Visit the BASICS website for a list of compelling reasons why The Biggest Supermarket in the South West will spell the end of our community shops, including evidence from the independent retail strategy commissioned by the Council itself. And the Council's intention to GIVE land worth over £3.34 million to this development, at a time when they are calling for more than £50 million in cuts over the next 3 years.


Please do it now. Lecture over, as you were.


Don't forget the change of venue for July's meeting!


Pull the other one, it's got bells on
MWI x

We May never be the same again...

Wow, Malago, is it just us or was Jane Brocket pretty blooming good?

Those beautiful quilts, the colours and fabrics, the enthusiasm with which she brought her subject to life... We could tell you liked it too - the oohs and aahs when she revealed each quilt made it sound like you lot were watching a firework display.

Turns out, Jane quite liked us too. If you lived in Bristol, Jane, we'd have you in a Malago minute. What an evening.

And we have another couple of exciting evenings coming up for you, the first being our Swish - the clothes and accessories swap which takes place on Friday 18 June at 8pm (taking place at the Pilates Moves studio). Tickets are £6 which includes a glass of wine and nibbles, and the event's open to members and non-members alike so bring your friends. Tickets can be reserved by emailing jointhewi@gmail.com or you can pay on the night.

For the uninitiated swishers amongst you, the idea is that you bring at least 3 good-quality items you love but no longer use (with hangers please), which entitles you to take home 3 new-to-you items for your summer wardrobe. Simple but brilliant. And you can buy extra tokens if the selection of goodies leaves you unable to choose, and don't forget to bring a bag to take it all home in). Come along, it'll be a blast. All proceeds go to making your WI bigger and better.

June meeting

It's time to get the bangles out for our re-scheduled Bollywood night! Snowed off back in January, the June meeting will give you an opportunity to learn a few moves from Mother India, and enjoy a hot cup of chai and some delicious spiced cakes and snacks.

The June meeting is on Wednesday 30 June at 8pm, Ebenezer Methodist Church hall. Please wear your finest, brightest, spangliest garb, accessorised with jingly bangles and chandeliearrings. (But do make sure you're comfortable, and don't wear heels.)

Best of Bedminster

Malago WI intends to be part of the Best of Bedminster show again this year, date to be confirmed but it'll be a September Saturday. We will be serving our famous tea and cakes, as well as cupcake-decorating. We will need volunteers to help on the day, as well as to make cakes to sell. BoB is our favourite fund-raiser, and it's a great way to let south Bristol know about us and our activities, while helping out a good cause. Email us or let us know you can help by chatting to one of the committee next time you see us.

We're off to raid our wardrobes for some extra-special Swish treats.

See you soon!

Malago WI x

Malago's green and pleasant land

Well, hellooooo Malagoooo,

Last month's meeting was another addition to the Malago memory urn as we hosted our first ever Brunel Group event, welcoming Knowle, Whitchurch eve and afternoon, Greenbank and Stockwood brances to our tea and chocolate-tasting soiree. It was a roaring success - Kate from Lahloo was our star expert and we learnt and tasted like perfect students - green teas, rose teas, whites and oolong, soaked up with chocolates, basil and other. Even better - despite being new to the Penny Vote we swept the board with the most Unusual Teapot competition and that was without Odette's open legged man coming in the top three!

A big clarinet toot out to Heather Leppard who led our Jerusalem rendition - locals thought the pied piper had come to Bedminster. We certainly scored as hostesses with the most so thanks to everyone who joined the fun. This bodes so well for the fun we have lined up over the next few months...

And onto May's meeting. We can barely contain our excitement at the prospect of Jane Brocket and all her wonderfulness on Wednesday 26 May. Don't forget - we will have (very limited) tickets for sale for this meeting, so spread the word. If you're interested in reserving a ticket in advance at £3.50, email jointhewi@gmail.com, otherwise tickets are £4 on the night. And if you'd like to buy Jane's latest book, The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making, she will be signing copies - bring cash.

At the March meeting, we discussed the new Sainsbury's planning application for the Ashton Gate stadium site, and it was agreed that Malago WI would object to this application. Although we've objected as a group, we need you to object individually as well. Have a read of the basics blog, or (if you're already convinced) go straight to their 'Take action now' site for information on how to object, links to the Council planning website, and a few more good reasons why this development would not be good for our community. Please do this soon.

Coming up: on Friday 18 June, we're very pleased to stage the second Malago WI swish, in which you can bring your once-loved clothes and accessories, and swap them for something new to you. Not a meeting, this event is designed not only for fashion fun and frolics but also as a fundraising event. Taking place from 8pm at Pilates Moves, the evening will follow the format of our last swish back in August, but with bells on. This time, we will also have make-up demonstrations, food and a cheeky tipple, and the option to buy as many tokens as you want, should you spot more must-have items than you brought. And the event is open to everyone - we have 100 tickets to sell, so please help us spread the word. Tickets cost £6, so if you'd like to come bring some cash along to May's meeting (the last before the swish). Invite your friends!

June's meeting takes place on Wednesday 30 June, and is our rescheduled Bollywood night (which was snowed off back in January). More details nearer the time... Let's hope things hot up before then - not exactly an Indian summer at the moment, is it?

Namaste,

Malago WI x

Marching on...

Hello ladies of Malago,

Now, wasn't self-portraiture fun? And not at all intimidating? It was great seeing so much creativity in the room, especially with the vastly different interpretations of the thumb-print ice-breaker.

If you took your work home to finish for the art trail exhibition, don't forget to bring it to the April meeting on Wednesday please. We can't wait to see what you've done. If you need re-invigorating, or just a wee bit of inspiration, the pictures from the March meeting are up on our Flickr site.

Now, onto April, which marks the first of the Brunel group meetings with which we've been involved. Brunel group consists of 6 local WI branches (of which Malago is one) and the idea is that we have the chance to meet representatives from our neighbouring Institutes and show them how we do it on our patch. 30 guests will attend our tea- and chocolate-tasting session, from the expert Master of Tea, Kate Gover of Lahloo tea.

We're pulling out all the stops for this very special occasion, so would invite you to bring along your most favourite cup and saucer to our tea ceremony. And cake-bakers extraordinaire (you know who you are...) will have beautiful crockery to display your wares upon. It will be a ritual of glorious proportions, with a raffle and everything, all topped off with an unusual teapot competition. Do you have one? Bring it along, you could win a prize.

Coming up in May, Malago WI is proud and very excited to present a talk from Jane Brocket. Jane is the creator of the Yarnstorm blog, set up in 2005 "to write about knitting but the subject matter soon expanded to include quilting, baking, gardening, colour, inspiration, books, paintings and films (in fact, all the good things in domestic life)."

Jane's first book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, was published in 2007, with her second and third books in 2008 and 2009 (Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer is a recipe book inspired by foods from classic children's literature, and Ripping Things to Do features the best games and ideas from children's books). Jane's latest book, The Gentle Art of Quilt-making, was published last month, and it's this subject Jane will talk to us about (there will be copies of the book to buy at the meeting).

In a slight change to our usual format, we have 30 tickets to this talk for sale at a cost of £3.50 each, so if you know a non-member who would like to join us in May please buy a ticket for them at the next meeting (28 April) or email jointhewi@googlemail.com to reserve a seat. (As usual, Malago WI members will not be charged.) In the meantime, have a look at our inspiring selection of quilting links on the right (this month's picks).

And coming up in May, a foraging event in Ashton Court. April's meeting is your last chance to put your name down for this intriguing session on Saturday 8 May, 10-1pm, at a cost of just £10 per family. This event is open to non-members and looks set to be another in our increasingly successful series of extra-curricular activities.

Malago WI, consider yourselves well and truly updated. See you on Wednesday, and don't forget those name-badges so our friends from Brunel know who we are.

MWI x