Welcome to LEWI 2020.
Tuesday 1st December found us busy making a Christmas decoration - our first virtual craft activity since lockdown. Thirty two LEWI members took part and had great fun following the instructions and making a lovely hanging decoration.
Happy Birthday wishes to Pat, Sally, Janet, Rebecca, Julie, and Lynne for their December and early January birthdays.
We had an amazing evening on Tuesday 3rd November when Frances Carlaw talked to us by zoom from her home in France about "A Passion for Pearls". Frances explored with us the history and science of the world's most secretive and only living gemstone, the pearl. It was a fascinating subject, so well presented and she was incredibly knowledgeable. Frances also offers craft holidays at her home and several LEWI members are longing for the end of lockdown to arrange a trip. You cans find out more about Frances on her website www.thepearllady.co.uk/
What a treat we had on Tuesday 6th October when our zoom speaker was Howard Middleton, former Great British Bake Off contestant (series 4). Howard's stories about the application and audition process for the show and the experience of being a contestant was highly entertaining and really interesting too. He answered our myriad of questions and made everyone feel really engaged. A memorable evening for all those who took part.
Our Zoom speaker on Tuesday 1st September was image consultant Lisa Newport who delivered a really fun session over Zoom about style, fashion and how we can feel good in what we wear. Twenty two LEWI members took part and had a great evening with Lisa, talking about style and personality, make up, building a capsule wardrobe and learning that "style is a way to say who you are without having to speak".
Birthday ladies this month are Jo, Denise, Josephine, Emma, Jenny, Lynn, Alison, Cindy, Roxanne and Sheila. Very many birthday wishes to them all.
Tuesday 4th August was our annual social event and thirteen LEWI members got together over Zoom to have a chat and catch up. We sent best wishes to Hazel, Rachel, Denise and Jo who all have birthdays coming up soon. There will be more opportunities coming up to get together in the next few weeks - look out for details of the next coffee morning, quiz and September's meeting.
Twenty one members joined us by Zoom on Tuesday 7th July to hear our speaker Gay Evans from "The Curious Past" talking about the history of postcards. Gay's talk was incredibly interesting and very well illustrated and delivered. Gay also tested out our knowledge of five household implements from the past with a fun quiz. There were lots of July and early August birthdays to celebrate - very best wishes to Janice B, Jane, Jenny, Irene, Kay, Janice C, Pat, Ann and Elaine.
Upcycling was the theme for our third Zoom meeting held on Tuesday 2nd June. 33 members took part and watched Ilkeston based Charlotte from Not Too Shabby talk about her upcycling business and to provide an on screen look around her workshop and some of the pieces she's currently working on. Charlotte provided advice and guidance for anyone wanting to have a go themselves including choosing the right paint for the project, the importance of preparation, and getting the right tools for the job. It was a really interesting and informative talk and Charlotte answered lots of questions from members keen to know more before tackling their own projects. LEWI members are hoping to visit Charlotte's worksop at the Baptist Church, Norman Street, Ilkeston once the virus restrictions are lifted.
We wished very Happy June Birthdays to Claire, Viv, Elaine, Carolyn, Naomi and Chris;talked about some of the books the LEWI book groups have recently discussed and enjoyed and confirmed dates of future LEWI Zoom meetings.
Our second Zoom meeting and Annual Meeting on Tuesday 5th May went well. 25 members joined in and we wished Happy May Birthdays to Lynn H, Lynne C, Margaret, Claire, Julie, Caroline, Jean and Yvonne.
Zoe's President's Address was presented, together with the Annual Report from Laura which covers the year to May 2020. There will be an official Annual Meeting when we can get together in person. The reports have been circulated to members and have also been added to the website.
June's Zoom meeting will take place on Tuesday 2nd June and we will have a speaker about Upcycling.
Well we couldn't get together on the 7th April as planned due to the Coronavirus restrictions but that didn't stop some of us having a virtual meeting via Zoom.
It was lovely to see the 23 LEWI members who joined in the session and to hear what they've been doing since the lockdown. Some members are working for the NHS, in education, or volunteering to help local communities, some are working from home, others are keeping busy at home. Lots of members are gardening, taking a daily walk, reading, watching TV and doing craft work. Whatever you are doing ladies keep well, stay safe and join us next time for our virtual meeting if you can on Tuesday 5th May at 7.30 pm. Zoom invitations will be sent out by email before the meeting.
On Tuesday 3rd March our speaker was Jo Morris , founder of SciRecipes, and award winning baker, science communicator and entrepreneur.
Jo's inspirational talk highlighted her passion for geology and studies at Durham University, her work as a geoscientist in the oil and gas industries and her latest business venture creating recipes using foodstuffs to represent geological features such as her Giants Causeway oatcakes, Journey to the Centre pizza and Saturn Bagel Rings. Her Cookbook of Curiosity includes SciRecipes to help teach science to adults and children.
We celebrated birthdays for Laura, Jacqui, Maureen, Helen,Jane and Janette.
As ever there was a generous amount of groceries and Easter Eggs donated for the Long Eaton and Sawley Food Bank.
The raffle raised over £50 which will be used to buy dementia friendly games and puzzles for AgeUK.
On Tuesday 4th February our speaker was Robert Gent, talking about Big Print, Big Difference, the work of the Ulverscroft Foundation.
In a well illustrated and fascinating talk Robert outlined the origins of large print book publishing and the growth of the Ulverscoft company based in Anstey in Leicestershire. Robert is Chair of the Ulverscroft Foundation Trustees and his talk highlighted many of the UK and international projects, research and initiatives funded by the Foundation and their impact on blind and partially sighted people across the world.
As always, we swapped books and magazines, noted forthcoming events for members and celebrated February birthdays for Pam, Jan, Janet and Maggi.
The winner of the first LEWI bursary was Norma - many congratulations! We look forward to hearing what Norma's plans are for a learning opportunity funded by the bursary .
Our first meeting of the new decade was held on Tuesday 7th January at the May Hall, Trent College.
To start off this year's programme we followed up on one of the National Resolutions to learn more about cervical screening with LEWI member and local GP, Dr Roxane Fogarty.
In her well illustrated and informative talk "Don't Fear the Smear" Roxane noted the reasons why some women are reluctant to undergo a smear test. She provided the background to smear testing which although began in 1964 didn't become a national programme until 1988 and its impact. In the mid 90s the death rate from cervical cancer halved in just 10 years, now around 800 women die each year from the illness. Roxane highlighted the current situation including the vaccination of teenage girls; results from this are due soon and are expected to show a decrease in cervical cancer diagnoses; and future initiatives which will see the introduction of the vaccination for teenage boys.
We collected donations for the Canaan Trust's Reverse Advent Calendar Appeal, swapped magazines and books, raised money and donations for the Arches project through recycling unwanted toiletries, signed up to be considered for the first annual LEWI bursary which will be awarded next month, heard about several DFWI forthcoming initiatives and events and sent warm birthday wishes to LEWI members Elspeth, Karen, Jacqui, Lisa and Claire.
To start off this year's programme we followed up on one of the National Resolutions to learn more about cervical screening with LEWI member and local GP, Dr Roxane Fogarty.
In her well illustrated and informative talk "Don't Fear the Smear" Roxane noted the reasons why some women are reluctant to undergo a smear test. She provided the background to smear testing which although began in 1964 didn't become a national programme until 1988 and its impact. In the mid 90s the death rate from cervical cancer halved in just 10 years, now around 800 women die each year from the illness. Roxane highlighted the current situation including the vaccination of teenage girls; results from this are due soon and are expected to show a decrease in cervical cancer diagnoses; and future initiatives which will see the introduction of the vaccination for teenage boys.
We collected donations for the Canaan Trust's Reverse Advent Calendar Appeal, swapped magazines and books, raised money and donations for the Arches project through recycling unwanted toiletries, signed up to be considered for the first annual LEWI bursary which will be awarded next month, heard about several DFWI forthcoming initiatives and events and sent warm birthday wishes to LEWI members Elspeth, Karen, Jacqui, Lisa and Claire.