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A nice thread

(69 Posts)
Jane10 Wed 14-Nov-18 09:55:06

Last night I was doing one of my talks to a WI group. There were a lot of ladies there. When I arrived the secretary was going over the ongoing business. It was just lovely to hear of people quietly making teddies for the police to give to traumatised children, knitting of cot blankets for new babies in hospital and a whole host of kind activities. All unsung. Each one bound to be appreciated by individuals on the receiving end. Yet the news is full of doom and gloom. These ladies are a quietly shining light in a myriad of small ways and making life just a little better for those in need.

aggie Thu 15-Nov-18 17:43:40

We have a lovely Seniors club in the village , lots of the ladies knitted one piece bears in bright stripes for one member who was going out to a foreign hospital where there were lots of orphaned children , they had nothing of their own so her Charity was getting these toys for them

lemongrove Thu 15-Nov-18 19:24:17

Mind you Gabriella if it was J K Rowling then they got their moneysworth.grin
Yes, some WI’s do mainly consist of older women but more and more new WI’s are springing up, and they are mainly younger (30 and 40) which is good to see.My own one has very mixed ages in it.
I don’t know about others, but I always try not to fart.?

Jalima1108 Thu 15-Nov-18 21:14:38

WIs are not all full of boring old farts

NanKate Thu 15-Nov-18 22:00:25

Our WI ages range from early 60s to late 90s. We support the local Refuge, Women’s Aid, children’s charities. We have lots of fun, eating and drinking and generally enjoying ourselves. We also knit for premature babies, the list goes on.

GabriellaG Thu 15-Nov-18 22:00:55

LemonGrove
No, it was not. No-one that anyone here would really remember, in fact, I can't even remember her name right now, I'd have to look at her book. It was a factual book but, to say more would identify the speaker and the WI's. There are those who love to dig, then plant knowing hints that they have ID'd you. I have no problem with that as my name on here is my real name but better to be cautious re other people...just in case. winkgrin

lemongrove Thu 15-Nov-18 22:11:27

wink

GabriellaG Thu 15-Nov-18 22:12:47

Jalima1108
I agree, but some have an older membership than others and the one I visited had just such a group. I'm old myself but I'm a tad tired of visiting National Trust properties and having speakers on subjects such as the life of Dorothy Babbage who died in 1913. (made up title) and activities such as putting swirls of ready-prepared buttercream on a pre-bought cupcake.
TBH, I gave the two I made to workman who were on a night shift tarmac-ing the road at 11pm on my way home from that particular meeting. It cost £10. shocksad

lemongrove Thu 15-Nov-18 22:17:59

Oh that’s a shame, I was going to book the speaker on Dorothy Babbage. By heck that was late (11pm) for WI.

GabriellaG Thu 15-Nov-18 22:21:26

aggie
Is it really called a seniors club? You must live in the USA as they have enclaves of seniors who travel the local roads in golf buggies.
I'd hate to be called a senior. I'm 16 going on 17 and, when asked if I had proof of age for a concessionary pass, I replied that I'm 26 but have had a hard life.
Senior? Never grin

aggie Thu 15-Nov-18 22:21:40

The only place I ever saw road men working at that time of night was in Japan , they repair roads at night to keep the traffic flowing

aggie Thu 15-Nov-18 22:23:12

No it isn't called that , it meets at 10am so no cup cake eating roadmen around . It was called the seniors as a joke ,

aggie Thu 15-Nov-18 22:23:53

and it is in Co Armagh Northern Ireland

aggie Thu 15-Nov-18 22:24:58

we do clean our teeth and I haven't noticed any farting

GabriellaG Thu 15-Nov-18 22:47:43

aggie
The meeting ended at 10 but I helped clear up and Hoover the floor for the nursery club next day. grin
They tarmac and paint lines at night in the area where the WI used to meet. It's quite rural but with a well used B road passing through it.
I've never been to NI, only down south to visit the O'Briens stud. Lovely place.

Jalima1108 Thu 15-Nov-18 22:53:51

We've just had a talk by a local author and I must say he was young(ish) and rather gorgeous and an exceedingly entertaining speaker. I've ordered a copy of his book, cheaper than it will be on that site named after a large river.

aggie yes, road workers do work at night in the UK.

grannyactivist Thu 15-Nov-18 23:04:45

The worst talk I experienced at our W.I. was from a dowser, but fortunately it was so bad that many of us got the giggles and it turned out to be hugely entertaining; although we won't be asking him back or recommending him to other groups. wink

It costs nothing to say a kind word and benefits both the speaker and listener, so why not be kind?

lemongrove Fri 16-Nov-18 09:01:25

When booking speakers ( a thankless task) you can only go on reviews by other WI’s or word of mouth local people.
We have had some humdingers in the past, spectacularly good and spectacularly bad.grin
Sometimes, subjects that sound as if they would bore you to tears turn out be really interesting, and ones that the subject already interests you, have speakers that should never be on the circuit!
Authors are usually good. The worst speaker that comes to mind was an ex policeman ( dog handler) in which his dog,
Also ex police, was the most interesting thing, even though it spent most of the time asleep near his feet.grin

Jane10 Fri 16-Nov-18 09:12:42

I have to say that I'm an author but the topic of my novels has moved on to become a social history topic rather than anything to do with my books. If people want to buy them they can but I do emphasise that they are novels and are not what the talks are about.
I enjoy doing the talks mainly because I like meeting so many ladies and love hearing their reminiscences of the old department stores.
Quite often I'm given a speakers fee which I pass on to the charity I volunteer at.