August news...

Well, hello Malagowers

Everyone seemed to really enjoy our lovely Summer outing last Month. The weather held for our open top bus tour, glass of fizz and photo opportunity on the Downs, followed by that scrumptious cream tea at the Avon Gorge Hotel. It was great to see so many members, guests and also friends from other WIs.

Having got a taste for the great outdoors we thought we would make the most of the last of the summer by arranging another outing for our August meeting – this time to Windmill Hill City Farm.

Please note that instead of meeting at the hall for 8pm as usual you will need to make your way to the Farm for 7.15pm prompt.
(Philip Street, Bedminster, BS3 4EA)

We will start in the  outdoor Barn Terrace where Chris Lambert, the Farm’s Gardens Manager give an introduction to the Farm and then give his expert advice and tips on how you can grow your own veg and fruit in small urban gardens, raised beds and containers and other tiny spaces.

After a break for tea and cakes Chris will give a guided tour around the Farm taking questions en route. He will show their various growing areas and also some of the allotments, giving tips  and do’s and don’ts of planting, composting, pest control and what to grow when. We will be finishing by 9.15pm as it will be starting to get dark.

You are welcome to park in the Farm car park plus there is usually on street parking nearby as well.

Also advance notice that the Crafty Women centenary celebration of arts and crafts by Avon Federation of WI members is on at M Shed over the weekend of 19 & 20 September. £5 entry (£4 for WI members)

Until Wednesday 26th.....

MWI x

Malago WI on tour...

On Wednesday 29 July, our next meeting, we are having our summer outing! We won't be in the Methodist hall, so please don't turn up there, you'll be disappointed. We'll be enjoying an open top bus tour through Bristol, a glass of Prosecco on the Downs and a cream tea at the Avon Gorge Hotel - it will be fabulous.   All places have to be pre-booked, so if you've somehow missed this you can email us at wearemalagowi@gmail.com to find out the details - you may find yourself on a waiting list at this stage, but it might be worth a try! Those that are already booked on will receive an email with details of the times and pick up point.     See you there! MWI x

June news...

Well, hello Malagowers We hope you enjoyed our little introduction to the world of burlesque last month - the hall looked like the scene of a particularly colourful pillow fight by the end of the evening, but I think we had a good time! At our meeting on Wednesday 24th June there'll be a bit more audience participation as we're having a drumming workshop.  The workshop revolves around the use of common or garden objects such as biscuit tins, food containers, pots and pans, buckets and baking trays for example; in fact anything that makes a ‘good noise’ when hit - avoiding fragile objects such as glass or pottery etc for obvious reasons! So please bring along something to hit and something to hit it with (or just your hand if you prefer). Lastly,  it's North Street Summer Fair next weekend and we need more people to help out on our stall and bake cakes to sell.  Please, give up a little time to do something for your lovely WI.  Thank you to all who've signed up to help already, but we do need more of you so please email us to let us know what you're able to do, or if you'll be at our meeting on Wednesday you'll be able to sign up then.  Please do! Until Wednesday... MWI x

May news...

Hello ladies!

I hope you all enjoyed last month’s meeting with Camilla from Stella and Dot – such a lovely selection of gems and jewels and some great tips on accessorising your outfit.  We also raised £36 in the raffle which goes in to our funds, thanks to Camilla’s prize donation.

Our meeting this month, Wednesday 27th May, also requires accessories, albeit of a slightly different kind as we’ll be having a demonstration workshop in the art of burlesque dancing.

 Mala says ‘Burlesque is for ALL women, regardless of age, shape or size and is a powerful tool in promoting well being , thus raising our levels of self confidence, self esteem and body image. Not to mention having lots of fun and a great experience of female camaraderie!’

so slip on a pair of heels and prepare to have some fun.

We mentioned the WI bulb scheme at last month’s meeting, no orders were placed then so just to remind you all that anyone who does want to place an order will need to do this at Wednesday’s meeting and payment will be required at the same time.

We have confirmed Malago WI’s presence at North Street Fair on Saturday 27^th June.  We’ll be selling cakes and our lovely Emily Ketteringham designed tea towels.  Of course, we’ll need your help with baking cakes and helping out on the day itself, so let us know what you can do to help and prepare to have sign up sheets waved in your face at the next meeting!!

While on the subject of helping out, we’re also keen to get a couple more people on to the Malago WI committee.  The 5 of us do our best, but a couple of extra pairs of hands would be a great help.  

Again, let us know if you want to know a bit more about what’s involved (nothing too arduous, I promise.)  

On a similar note, if any budding photographers among you would like to bring along your camera and take a few photo’s during our meetings for us to use on our newsletters and social media pages, it’d be great to have a more visual record of what we get up to. 

Finally, we’d like to say congratulations to 2 of our members, Gerry Prescott and Karen Bowers.  Both were awarded ‘Gold’ for their entry in to the regional heats for the Avon Federation Arts and Crafts exhibition, so their work will be on display at the exhibition itself at M-Shed on 19^th and 20th September.

So, with that said, we hope to see lots of you on Wednesday!

Until then,

MWI x

Here's what's happening in April...

Hello ladies,

As the evenings get lighter and longer and Spring continues to blossom and bloom, so does Malago WI!

We’ve seen lots of new members join us this year and are still happy to welcome more. Our new, pro-rata membership means the price for the rest of 2015 is just £27.00.

We really want Malago WI to be a place where any woman can come and expect to be welcomed, included and make friends and as our membership grows with more and more individual members it’s important that we all put in the effort to keep it that way – I hope you all agree?!

We know we have members that join seeking new friendships with like-minded, local women. Some are new to this wonderful city, some regaining their social life after starting families and others just craving new and stimulating company. Whatever the reason, coming along without knowing any other members (as we know many do) takes courage, and we’d like to ask all our members to make a special effort towards anyone they see sitting alone.

It’s easy for us longer standing members, or those that have joined up with friends, to carry on in our usual circles, but next time, just look around and see if you can get chatting to someone you’ve not really spoken to before.

Our March meeting was a great opportunity for interaction with other members as the air filled with wonderful aromas as Philippa Lovemore of Pure Scents Natural Skincare tempted us with a bewildering range of amazing scented oils to choose from, as we made up our own serum before settling down to produce some lovely bath bombs to take home.

Our April meeting will be one of style and accessories, Camilla will (among other things) show us how to make one outfit work for the day and the evening with the use of accessories. You’re invited to bring along an outfit or item of clothing for advice on how you can adapt it for different occasions – she might not be able to get through everything, but you’re sure to pick up some hints and tips.

Camilla is a stylist for jewellery and accessories specialist Stella and Dot, so she knows her stuff and is also kindly donating an item from the Stella and Dot range for us to raffle, so make sure to bring some cash along too!

We hope to see you on Wednesday,


MWI x