Dance sessions have always been popular at The Hive and, despite it being a very cold evening, this meeting followed the trend with 30 members and 3 visitors venturing out! We were joined by 4 members of the Bonnets & Breeches Society, in period costume, who took us back in time, to teach us about the etiquette of the dances during the Georgian, Regency and Victorian periods along with a few dances. Everyone had great fun learning the dances (or watching from the side-lines)!

We also had a food bank collection for Hope House in Beeston

In December (back by popular demand) we were joined by the lady Historian Mildred Freeman (aka Milly Lawson). Mildred joined us in full Victorian costume to teach us about ‘A Victorian Christmas in Nottingham’ which included singing, props, history and her trademark humour. This was Mildred’s 2nd visit to The Hive and she did not disappoint!

We were also joined by 10 visitors!! We hope the friends of members enjoyed the evening and are interested in joining us again – a visitor can attend up to 3 meetings before they must join – check out our ‘how to join’ page for more information.

November

We started getting ready for Christmas with members enjoying an evening of crafting along with the essential social chatter! At the end of the evening members took home a Christmas card and 3 decorations made from ribbon, wooden beads and re-cycled cards.

October

As this was Breast Awareness month we took the opportunity to learn about the importance of wearing a well fitting bra. We were joined by Janice Rose Lingerie of Sutton on Trent who provided a very informative talk on everything about the fitting and wearing of suitable bras. Members brought along their ill-fitting, uncomfortable good condition bras to be sent to women and girls in African countries where not wearing a bra can make them more vulnerable to physical abuse. Funds were raised by a raffle and donations totalling £235 in memory of a special friend and member for Maggie’s at City Hospital.

We still had a good attendance despite it being holiday time (the sun must have been shining somewhere), Wimbledon and a certain semi-final!! Everyone had great fun learning how to do West-African Dancing with Tina Carter, from Beat Feet in Nottingham. We finished the evening with chocolate ice cream – perfect!

• Members chose to support Broxtowe Women’s Project and provide gifts and held raffles to send cash
• Discovered what life was like living in Southwell Workhouse from a guest speaker and a visit
• We’re fascinated to learn about the introduction of beavers at the Notts Wildlife Trust reserve at Idle Valley
• Made our own colourful mosaics
• Enjoyed a trail around Beeston followed by icecream on a warm summer’s evening
• The History of Magic
• Learnt of the important work in research and developments in Breast Cancer Treatment being done in Nottingham
• Enjoyed a fun evening trying to guess the purpose of bygone articles