With carnival season fast approaching, your crafty WI members have been hard at work getting our costumes ready!
On Monday, an all-day workshop was held at Di C’s house and some serious progress was made. Some ladies used sewing machines, others ironed, some made labels and others threaded elastic.
We worked together like a well-oiled machine!
If you fancy joining us at either Marazion or Hayle Carnivals (or both!), make sure you’re at our June meeting! We’ll be taking names and lining up bodies to fill those jam pots!
Click here to see a few more photos from Monday’s workshop.
Colleen, Helen, Julia and Kathy represented Crowlas & Ludgvan WI at the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, and what a day we had!
We left our end of Cornwall at the shocking hour of 5am, picking up excited ladies as we headed north. The atmosphere grew more and more festive the closer we got to London, particularly after our last comfort stop when we all changed out of our comfy clothes and into our garden party finery!
Kathy Reed and Barbara Corbett looking lovely in their hats
The weather was dreadful during our journey, but amazingly began to clear as we got to London. Though there was still no sunshine.
The weather didn’t look promising!
Excitement reached a fever pitch as we approached the Mall!
Everywhere you looked were ladies in hats!
We queued up and were finally IN!
The gardens looked beautiful and we all had a quick wander around with a glass of lemon barley before forming ‘lanes’ for the royals. The Duchess of Cornwall, the Countess of Wessex, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Gloucester were all there – some of us were lucky enough to get a handshake and a few words!
And the sun shone!
After that, we headed to the tea tents where there were sandwiches, cakes and tea on offer.
Helen with Hayle WI President Margie Stockton
There was time for another look around the garden’s beautiful roses before heading back to the coach for our trip home, arriving back in Cornwall in the wee hours of the morning.
It was a long day but an amazing one; a true once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Apologies for the very few photos inside the Garden Party, but we were seriously law-abiding (for the most part) and followed the Palace’s No Photography rules quite closely until we realised that everyone else had their phones and cameras out!
Last week, the prom in Penzance was a sea of pink as over 800 women turned out for this year’s Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Among those 800 were Hazel, Helen, Jane (along with daughter Darcy and dog Ruby), Julie, Liz H and Mary. Together, we raised nearly £1,000 – that’s an estimate; we don’t have exact figures – but we certainly did our part!
Well done to all who participated as well as those of you who helped us through sponsorships and donations.
If you’re at a loose end next weekend, why not head to St Just for the We Are Not Doormats rag rug exhibition?
As well as the rugs, you’ll be able to see St Just in bloom, and enjoy some delicious homemade cake. There will also be a craft stall. It all happens at St Just WI Hall, Friday through Sunday.
This will definitely appeal to our Rag Dolls, but also to anyone who appreciates beautiful handiwork!
The baton made its last stop, in Surrey, before next week’s Annual Meeting.
In Ripley, the baton arrived with costumed WI members, accompanied by a vintage bicycle.
In Bookham, the baton was passed to the Presidents of the two newest Surrey WIs, Amanda Edge from Great Bookham Belles and Clare Cody of Bookham Butterflies.
What a splendid time we all had at this year’s Ludgvan Open Village Day on Sunday!
Our stall was chock-a-block with gorgeous hand-crafted items, jams, books and plants. It really did look fantastic, especially with our bunting-clad gazebo and our banner proudly displayed.
If you weren’t there, you certainly missed a treat. There were 21 open gardens, varying from stunning grand lawns to tucked-away pocket gardens. We heard a jazz band, a choir and more. Sausages, barbecued fish, cake and ice cream were all on offer for those with appetites. Fantastic artwork was on display in the church, including some lovely pieces by our own talented Rosemary Gries.
The day was held to raise funds for the Murley Hall Development Fun (of particular interest to us), Cornwall Wildlife Trust and ACE (Aid Conservation through Education), all very worthwhile causes. We’ve been told that a grand total of £2,581.09 was raised!
As for Crowlas & Ludgvan WI, we raised over £100 – which still leaves us with £80 after making a contribution to the day’s fundraising. We should all be very proud of ourselves, both for adding to our own coffers and for helping to support some really worthwhile causes.
Thank you to everyone who worked on the stall, made and donated items to sell, and to those who stopped by to say hello as well!
The baton has just made its penultimate stop, in Middlesex, before being delivered to the Royal Albert Hall.
HA:WI, meeting in Pinner, celebrated by welcoming author and historian Jane Robinson who spoke about the history of the Women’s Institute, drawing from her book A Force to be Reckoned With. Members sipped tea from fine bone-china vintage cups and saucers, alongside the obligatory Victoria sponge.
The ladies of West Ealing WI made this impressively-decorated cake to mark the centenary:
Elsewhere in the county, WI members took a paddle steamer trip …
… and posed for a photo with the baton on a rainy day at Staines Bridge.
Last night was our annual resolutions meeting. This year’s NFWI resolution reads:
This meeting calls on HM government to remove the distinction between nursing care and personal care in the assessment of the needs of individuals, in order to advance health and wellbeing.
After hearing our guest speaker and engaging in our customary spirited debate, we voted on the resolution. This year’s vote was close, but the resolution failed to pass with 17 no votes and 14 yes votes.
Our vote will now be sent to the NFWI Annual Meeting in London with our link delegate from Porthleven WI, Jill Blunn. We will invite Jill to attend our June meeting and hope she’ll be able to attend to share some of her Annual Meeting experiences with us.
Thanks to all who participated in the discussion and who voted last night.
On Friday, we had a stall at the Penzance Farmers’ Market. The array of craft items we had on sale was truly amazing. You are all such talented ladies!
Foot traffic at the market was very light, unfortunately. Many of the regular vendors told us that things hadn’t picked up much since the market returned to St John’s Hall. We are sure they will, however, as the market is such a treasure!
In the end we made nearly £70 for Crowlas & Ludgvan WI, which is nothing to sneeze at. And we’ll be at Ludgvan Village Open Day this Sunday to try to add more to our coffers!
Thank you so much to all who made and donated items for the stall, as well as to those who staffed it during the morning. You’re all stars!
This year’s annual Twinning event with Camelford WI was hosted by them, and they gave us an absolutely wonderful day out to Wild Futures, the monkey sanctuary in Looe.
We arrived in the morning and all had coffee together (Camelford’s treat) in the Rainforest Cafe.
After that, our trusty guide Paul took us all over the sanctuary, telling us about the history of the place, as well as about the monkeys and their lives and habits.
We were all smitten with little Lily – a seven-month-old woolly monkey – and watching her clinging to mum Maya was a joy. However, Paul made sure that we understood that the sanctuary does not intentionally breed monkeys and that Lily was the result of contraceptive failure. The sanctuary doesn’t have room to take all the monkeys in need of a safe place as it is.
Paul explained the sanctuary’s efforts to campaign to change the pet trade laws which currently allow people to keep wild animals, such as monkeys, in their homes. People who keep monkeys as pets often hold them in cages, usually on their own, resulting in both physical and psychological damages to the monkeys.
In spite of some of the sad stories we heard, we all saw how happy and healthy the monkeys were in the sanctuary. It was great to know that they’ll live out their lives in such a good place.
After our tour, we had a delicious lunch, after which some of us sat in the sun eating ice cream while others walked down to see the gardens at the sanctuary.
On top of all that, it was lovely to spend time with our Camelford friends. Next year is our turn to host, and we have a tough act to follow!
Click here to see more photos of our day at the monkey sanctuary.
Crowlas & Ludgvan WI 