Welcome to January and to 2021!
We didn’t send out a newsletter in November or December and so before launching into what’s coming up we’re going to quickly look back at our last two meetings.
In November we were taken, via Zoom, to the Hedgepig’s hospital as our speaker broadcast live from the hedgehog rescue centre that she had founded and setup in her own back garden (click here for a recent and cute video from their Facebook page).
I was amazed to learn that she wasn’t actually a vet but had learned how to take care of hedgehogs after finding and nursing and injured hoglet back to health. This experience inspired her to do a course on hedgehog rescue and to found her own hospital.
One of the things I love about the WI is how many women you meet who just up and do stuff!
In December some of our committee members put together and delivered a “meeting in a bag” which also included a few gifts for members. It was wonderful to have something tangible to hold to connect us to each other.
Thanks again to the committee members involved in setting this all up!
Onto the news!
January Meeting
“Celebratory Kitchen Ceilidh!”
Do you remember our disco? Our Bhangra? Our amazing cakes? (Made by you!)
We’re among the many, many people celebrating a “lockdown birthday” this year. Social distancing doesn’t mean we can’t be social, though! We have invited other WI members to come and join us via the WI Wanderers Facebook group, but we’d also like to encourage you to invite your friends to join us, too.
Our musical host is Schuggie from Schuggie’s Ceilidhs. Schuggie has been running ceilidh events for 10 years and founded the Nottingham Ceilidh Club.
This ceilidh won’t be his first on Zoom, either:
Zoom-Ceilidhs are intended to fill that gap and are aimed at those with little or no dance experience, those who miss a proper social get together and like to have fun. […] You don’t need to know what to do. I will guide you through the dances. It’s not technical dancing; you need no dancing ability whatsoever. This means you’ll start learning a new skill you can show off to your friends. It’s a fun, relaxed dance session. Great to unleash your hidden Outlander.
Schuggie’s Ceilidhs
As always with our more active meetings, make sure to put your own health and safety first and don’t do anything you don’t want to.
As Schuggie says, “The emphasis is all about being inclusive and enjoying yourself. It’s not technical dancing, and half the fun is making mistakes.”
What’s the other half?! You’ll have to join us and join in to find out!
On the Tables
Media swap, Just for Fun, and prizes
If you are on Facebook, head over to our member’s only Facebook group for a virtual version of our “On the Tables”.
- Media swap: We’re swapping media recommendations rather than physical items. Have you read or watched anything good lately? Let us know!
- Scotland: In line with our ceilidh theme, we’d like to know if you have any Scottish connections. Have you ever been? Would you like to go? Do you have any pictures or facts? We’d like to see!
Don’t Forget!
What to bring to the next meeting
- The Zoom link (you can also send it to a friend if you’d like to invite them along);
- Comfortable clothes in which you can move freely (tartan is a bonus!);
- A safe environment where you will not fall or trip over anything;
- Some water;
- Somewhere to put your phone or laptop so you can still see and hear the instructor as you move.
- That’s it!
Other News
Yes We Tin Can!
January food-bank donations
From the 13th of January to January the 22nd, Hive members are invited to drop off donations for Hope Food-bank at four of our committee members’ homes.
As we don’t want to share these addresses publicly we will send the details of the locations to Hive WI members in an email. Please get in touch if you need us to email you them again but please be aware that we won’t be able to send this information out to non-members.
You can send any food items that are in date, but they told us that at the moment they specifically need tinned meat, fruit juice, long-life milk, and sugar.
The list of items below is taken from their website:
- Milk (UHT or powdered)
- Sugar (500g)
- Fruit Juice (carton)
- Soup
- Pasta Sauces
- Sponge Pudding (Tinned)
- Tinned spaghetti/macaroni
- Cereals
- Rice Pudding (Tinned)
- Tea bags
- Instant coffee
- Instant Mash Potato
- Rice/Pasta
- Tinned Meat/Fish/Vegetables
- Tinned Fruit
- Jam
- Biscuits or snack bars
Please be advised that they tend to have a lot of pasta and beans in stock already.
They are happy to accept new and unused toiletries, as well as any festive food gifts people don’t want such as mince pies or Christmas puddings.
Messenger Groups
Another way to stay close while we’re apart
We have several Messenger groups running alongside our main Facebook group now. They cover a range of topics including:
- Crafts
- Gardening
- Baking
- Books
- And cocktails.
In addition to the Messenger group about books (that is, general books and general reading) there is also a Messenger group specifically for the Thursday Book Club and a Messenger group for the CAKE Fighters subgroup.
Please get in touch via Facebook or by emailing thehivewi@gmail.com if you’d like to be added to one of these groups.
You can also suggest a topic for new Messenger groups, such as ones relating to TV shows or any hobbies not already mentioned.
All Booked Up
Thursday Book Club
The Thursday Book Club has chosen its books for its third year.
The group meets every last Thursday of the month at 18:45.
Feel free to just turn up even if you haven’t read the book!
- January 28: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
- February 25: The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- March 25: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- April 29: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
- May 27: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
- June 24: Room by Emma Donoghue
- July 29: Parasite by Mira Grant
- August 26: Normal People by Sally Rooney
- September 30: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
- October 29: Dune by Frank Herbert
- November 25: Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay
- December TBC: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
If you would like to be added to our Messenger chat, just leave a message for Morag C in our Facebook group or email thehivewi@gmail.com and we will pass your request on.
Hug in a Mug and More
Supporting women who support women
In December we sent “hugs in mugs” to Broxtowe Women’s Project (BWP) to distribute to the women they help house and support. We also sent them magazines and wrapping paper so that they could use it to wrap their own gifts if they want to.
We love surprising people like this and supporting the community, and it was especially good to do this for Broxtowe Women’s Project as they came to speak at our CAKE Fighter’s meeting about their work and how important it is for people and WIs to recognise the signs of abuse.
They posted this message on Twitter to say thank you:
Here is a closer look at the mugs:
Aren’t they lovely?
The white butterflies that they mentioned in the thank you tweet are something that you might remember from the October newsletter.
Before BWP came to speak to us at our CAKE Fighters in November, BWP contacted us to ask if The Hive WI could do anything on social media to raise awareness of the Sixteen Days of Action Against Domestic Abuse. These sixteen days are created and promoted by the charity White Ribbon UK.
We came up with the idea to make and post white butterflies everyday over the sixteen days, and invited other WIs to make and post butterflies with us.
The slideshow below shows the butterflies that went up on our Twitter account. Each butterfly was posted with a fact about domestic abuse:
We’ll be posting these butterflies and facts to our Facebook page later in the month.
The project sounded like such a simple idea but I personally learned so much from it and feel passionately about keeping in touch with BWP and seeing what else we can do with them. The butterflies were about starting a conversation and this is one that we will definitely be keeping going.
One of the biggest things that Chris from BWP emphasised to us during the CAKE Fighters meeting was both how common domestic abuse is (abuse doesn’t necessarily mean violence) and how important it is to talk about it. Abusers isolate victims and make them doubt what is happening to them, meaning that they either often don’t have anyone to talk to about the abuse or feel embarrassed about opening up. Normalising this discussion makes it possible for more people to seek help.
CAKE Fighters in January
Craftivism!
Our January CAKE Fighters event is with Craftivist Collective founder Sarah Corbett.
Sarah actually did a TEDTalk about craftivism, which you can watch below here:
We will email you the date and link to the event as soon as we’re able.
Regular Information
Time and Location
Our main monthly meeting is every second Wednesday of the month at 19:30 on Zoom.
Non-Members and Guests
We’d love to meet you!
Guests can come to up to three monthly meetings each year as a guest before we ask them to consider joining officially as a member.
Guests can also come our subgroups – see below for our calendar.
The Hive’s MONTH Calendar
What’s on when
- Wednesday 13, 19:30 – Main Meeting: Celebratory Kitchen Ceilidh
- Thursday 21, 20:15- Publess Quiz
- Saturday 16, 14:00 – Crafternoon
- Wednesday 27, 18:30 – Committee Meeting
- Thursday 28, 18:45 – Book Club: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
- C.A.K.E. Fighters: TBC
Recurring Events
Your shortcut to the subgroups
- C.A.K.E Chat: Every first Thursday, 19:00
- C.A.K.E. Fighters: Days and times vary
- Publess Quiz: Every third Thursday, 20:15
- Walk ‘n’ Talk: Every first weekend of the month on alternating Saturdays and Sundays – times vary, as do Government rules and advice
- Main Meeting: Every second Wednesday, 19:30-21:30
- Crafternoon: Every third Saturday, 14:00-16:00
- Committee Meeting: Every fourth Wednesday, 18:30
- Thursday Book Club: Every last Thursday, 18:45
Please get in touch if you would like to lead a subgroup.
Find Us Online
- Email: thehivewi@gmail.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/thehivewi
- Facebook group (members only): facebook.com/groups/thehivewi
- Twitter: twitter.com/thehivewi
- Website: thehivewi.com
- You can also search for us on Google Calendar using our email address.
For a list of the reading lists for our book groups, please go to our website or check the reminders on our Facebook group.
Walks for the Walk ‘n’ Talk will be listed on our website as soon as they have been planned.
Find Us Online
- Email: thehivewi@gmail.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/thehivewi
- Facebook group (members only): facebook.com/groups/thehivewi
- Twitter: twitter.com/thehivewi
- Website: thehivewi.com
- You can also search for us on Google Calendar using our email address.
The Hive WI 