Author: crowlasludgvanwi

Wishing you and yours a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year!

A coach-load of us headed to Falmouth today for our annual Christmas meal out, this time to the gorgeous Greenbank Hotel.

We first had coffee and drinks in the lounge with a nice chance to chat about all our Christmas plans.

The meal was delicious and we all enjoyed the very posh crackers!

Not to mention the stunning views from the dining room.

Before setting off for home, Lisa, Dorothy and Jackie posed by the Greenbank’s Christmas tree.

We’d like to give a big thank you to Kathy for organising the event, and it was such a pity that she was unable to come at the last minute. You were missed, Kathy!

Click here to see a few more pictures of our Christmas lunch.

A group of Crowlas & Ludgvan WI members spent today creating beautiful Christmas masterpieces using all sorts of fresh greenery.

Shirley, our floral arts whizz, led the group in the making of stunning Christmas wreaths and displays.

There are going to be some very impressive front doors in Crowlas and Ludgvan this season!

Click here to see more photos of Shirley’s workshop.

I spy Gill, Colleen, Val, Hilary, Pat, Shirley and Lis all looking very glamorous at today’s County Christmas Lunch at Lanhydrock!

A coach-load of Crowlas & Ludgvan WI members, their fingers itching for bargains, left for Exeter early on a dry still morning (perfect for shopping).

On the way, they stopped at Lifton Farm Shop and restaurant, always a favourite stop-off, where they were served really efficiently by the lovely staff, and enjoyed coffee, pastries and bacon butties. The farm shop is fantastic so the ladies managed to get some shopping in even before reaching Exeter!

On arrival, they all went their separate ways, with some heading straight for John Lewis and others for the traditional Christmas market stalls. There was no time to waste!

Several of the group met up with former Crowlas & Ludgvan WI member Maureen Fordham for lunch in Tea on the Green. It was great to see her looking so well and happy!

The remains of the Royal Clarence Hotel were a shock to us all, and seeing the devastation first hand was awful.

Having offered first refusal to WI members, the coach was filled with people from the village. Two husbands came and one of them, Tommy Williams, was sporting a snazzy red fleece hood when we met to come home. Most slept on the way home and a good day was had by all.

(Report by Gail)

Thanks to Janet and Gill for planning such a splendid day out. There’s a rumour going round that they’ve already made a provisional booking for next year’s Exeter shopping trip!

On Friday, Crowlas & Ludgvan WI held a five-corner craft day in order to raise funds for our beloved Denman College.

The event was spearheaded by Pat Gloyn and the members of the Crowlas & Ludgvan WI book group, who organised a wonderful day!

Marazion Community Centre was buzzing with the sounds of happy women felting, painting and beading. Participants had a choice of making beautiful parchment gift boxes, creating felt ball necklaces (or Christmas baubles), painting folk art Christmas cards, making gorgeous beaded bags or coming away with lovely paper flowers.

A lunch of warming soups was welcomed by all, followed by a mouthwatering assortment of delicious cakes.

The big news is that the day netted £725.80 for Denman College! We thank Pat and her team for their initiative and their hard work, and of course also our wonderful tutors (Val, Pat, Margaret, Dorothy and Lis) for giving their time to help out.

Click here to see more photos of the day.

The theme of the recent CFWI day at the Eden Project might have been a serious one – climate change, the environment and WI resolutions – but the ladies of Crowlas & Ludgvan still managed to get up to their usual antics.

Joking aside, it was a brilliant, and a truly inspiring, day. We heard about this year’s batch of short-listed WI resolutions from NFWI Honorary Treasurer Julia Roberts and NFWI Vice-Chair and Chair of the Federations of Wales Committee Ann Jones. They also spoke about the ways in which the WI has taken the intiative over the years in the fight for a cleaner and better environment.

We also heard from Eden’s Managing Director Gordon Seabright who spoke about some of the exciting things in the works at Eden, including the introduction of an outdoor nursery school based at Eden. He also told us about the various environmental projects Eden are involved in across the world, and their hopes for funding to install geothermal energy at Eden at a depth of 4.5km into the extinct volcano below.

After lunch, about 180 WI members, including our Crowlas & Ludgvan group, had the afternoon to explore. And here’s a little bit of what they got up to.

Click here to see more photos.

All you crafty WI members might be interested in the upcoming Stitch St Ives craft show.

Stitch St Ives is a craft show with a difference. The focus is entirely on craft supplies, rather than finished products. You’ll find everything for the creative crafter, including:

• Hand made artisan beads
• Hand-dyed and -painted fabrics
• Patchwork fabrics
• Knitting wools
• Crochet yarns
• Hand made buttons
• Spinning wheels
• Weaving looms
• Hand-dyed fleece for felting
• Printing paints and kits

There will also be a programme of creative workshops, and food and drink will be provided all day by Cafe Art St Ives.

For a full list of stallholders and workshops, see the Stitch St Ives website.

The show takes place on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November from 10am until 4pm at The Island Centre, St Ives. Admission is £2 (under 18s and students free).

Most of Shirley’s regular group of walkers weren’t able to join in the last walk of the year. However three members (plus four-legged member Norman) made the most of the mild and dry weather to clear away the cobwebs.

The walk started through the lovely Penrose Estate and continued to Loe Bar and then on to the coastal path towards Porthleven. There was lots of beautiful autumn colour to admire as well as the views across to Porthleven and the old engine houses at Rinsey.

There won’t be a December walk, but if you fancy joining the group in the new year, have a word with Shirley at Monday’s meeting.

This year, NFWI are putting forward six short-listed resolutions.

The next step is for you to consider all six and select the one you would most like to go forward for further discussion and final voting at the Annual Meeting in June 2017. The selection process is open to all WI members and you can make your selection by filling in the selection form found in the November& December issue of WI Life.

Submission forms will be collected by the Cornwall Federation who will let us know the deadlines for handing them in.

The six short-listed resolutions are:

1. Alleviating loneliness
This meeting calls on every WI and the NFWI to work alongside health and social care providers and their local community to raise awareness of the causes and impacts of loneliness, thus ensuring better identification of lonely people in order to be able to offer them the appropriate assistance and support.

2. FGM
More Awareness for More Action Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in the UK for over 30 years and the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 made it illegal to aid, abet or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad. However, there have been no successful prosecutions of those involved. The NFWI calls on the government to improve efforts to measure and disclose the prevalence of FGM in the UK and to take further action to help secure more successful prosecutions of those involved in this abusive practice and thereby advance the health of women who have suffered or may be at risk of suffering FGM.

3. Equal access for all who need specialised maternal mental health services
There is presently an acute shortage of quality specialised maternal mental health services, meaning that many vulnerable women, their babies, and families face a postcode lottery of perinatal mental health support. The NFWI calls on NHS commissioners to prioritise the development of specialised perinatal mental health support services so that pregnant and postnatal women, their babies, and families are able to access the support they need.

4. Provision of appropriate welfare and safe spaces for women and children in refugee camps
Millions of women and children are fleeing conflict and disaster around the world, finding themselves at risk of violence, abuse and exploitation in refugee camps. This meeting calls on all WI members and the NFWI to raise awareness of the risks facing women and children refugees and push for action to ensure they have access to safe places to eat and sleep, to get the care they need and space to learn and play.

5. Supporting women’s refuges
Many women and children rely on refuges to escape violence and abusive relationships, but in recent years refuges have faced significant cuts to their services. The NFWI calls upon the Government to safeguard refuges and increase service provision in areas without adequate support.

6. Plastic Soup: Keep microplastic fibres out of our oceans
Microplastic fibres are shed from synthetic clothing with every wash and are the main contributors to microplastic contamination of the oceans. The NFWI calls on Government and industry to research and develop innovative solutions to this problem in order to stop the accumulation of microplastic fibres in our oceans.

You can read more about the resolutions and the resolution process on the NFWI website.