At the beginning of the month we all gathered at The Bell for our Christmas meal.  A really lovely evening - good food and good company.  Ann was given a small present as the "best attender" during the year at our meetings.

The December meeting started with our Christmas Food Tasting Session.  We were seated around big tables which was good for chatting and exchanging views on the different foods tasted.  These had been bought at 3 supermarkets and we were invited to decide which of the 3 selections we enjoyed best and then voted so we could judge overall winners in each of the categories.  There were Mince Pies, Stollen, Chocolate coins, Cranberry sauce, Pigs in Blankets (meat or vegetarian), Cheese Straws, Bucks Fizz and some Gluten Free options.  Mainly there were clear definite winners, except for the mince pies.  

A lovely different festive meeting.  Caroline and Sue A were thanked for doing the shopping and setting out of food for the evening's entertainment.  Thanks also to the other members who had helped with setting up and refreshments. 

Two of our members celebrated a special significant birthday and we celebrated with cake and flowers.  Happy birthday also to our other members who are also celebrating in December.  One member thanked the WI in Leigh on Mendip for their friendship and warmth she had received from them as a group when she moved into the village.

The Christmas Tree Festival in the Village Church took place the weekend prior to our meeting.  Thank you to everyone who made, donated decorations and for help before, during and after the event.  We won the Category of the "Best Traditional" Tree – the theme was "Birds of a Feather".  Our prize a large box of chocolates (to be saved for the New Year!) and a £15 voucher (to be used for a WI event).

Looking forward to 2024 - January is already looking busy.  Dates to remember:-

Programme Planning meeting, Thursday 18 January at 7pm.  Members were urged to attend and put forward their ideas for topics, speakers & activities.  However, if unable to come to this meeting in the VIP Room in The Bell please talk to one of the committee beforehand.

Our 75th Birthday Party will take place on Friday 26 January from 7pm in The Bell – skittles and birthday cake.  Members wishing to have a meal beforehand were asked to order and book individually.

Before these events our next meeting is on Monday 8 January in the Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm.  We are having a local speaker, David Lassman, giving a talk on "Foul Frome".  David took us on a very interesting (if somewhat wet – it poured with rain!!) "Celebrated Women" walk around Frome some time ago.  Looking forward to a different aspect of our local town!

Caroline reminded members that on pages 23-25 in WI Life there is detailed information on the 4 Resolutions put forward for 2024: Dental Health Matters, Impacts of Poor Housing, Say 'No' to Gambling Advertising, Improving Outcomes for Women in the Criminal Justice System.  This is the opportunity for all WI members to vote for the Resolution they would like to see go forward.  Members were asked to complete their slip and return by the January meeting or to let Mary M know their choice.  These have to be returned to Federation by 11 February.

Please contact Caroline on 01373 812889 if you would like more information or just turn up at our next meeting on Monday 8 January at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall.

Wishing all our members, their families and friends a Very Peaceful Christmas and much happiness in the New Year.

 

November update

  

It was lovely to see so many ladies at our November Meeting despite the damp and blustery weather. 

We all enjoyed an enlightening evening with a talk from Luke Simon, CEO of the charity “School in A Bag”. Back in 2004, he and his brother Piers had the misfortune of being on the Island of Koh Phi Phi during the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Thailand. Sadly Piers lost his life in the tragedy but Luke channelled his grief after seeing such devastation, by setting up an appeal in Piers’s name. That appeal has grown into “School in A Bag” which provides disadvantaged children from all around the world their own personal school equipment in rucksack. With our donations we hope we have helped to give hope of a better education for some of these children in the future.

 

Our support of The Frome Food Bank this year instead of a Secret Santa, provided a large table overflowing with Christmas food goodies brought in. These were gratefully received by the FOod Bank so thankyou everyone.

 

 

Some of our ladies our busy planning our tree entry to The Village Christmas Tree Festival on 9/10th December. ‘Birds of a Feather’ is our theme so expect lots of brightly coloured bird decorations. Any loaned decorations welcomed. 

 

We are looking forward to our Christmas meal at The Bell Inn, with 30 expected it should be a grand celebration. 

 

Next month’s meeting sees us holding a Christmas Food tasting evening, where we shall compare a few selected items of choice. A fun evening planned. Don’t eat too big a meal beforehand! 

 

We are a friendly bunch of ladies of all ages and welcome visitors so please do come along and join us. We meet the second Monday evening of every month, in the Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. 

 

Just turn up or contact Caroline on 01373 812889 for further information. 

 

 

A warm welcome to Rachel and Lucy who have just joined our group. Thanks to Roxy for setting up a new Leigh WI Facebook page and we also keep in contact via our WI WhatsApp and Blog account.

Instead of a speaker for this month’s meeting we were treated to an entertaining powerpoint show ‘Wish You Were Here’ cleverly put together by Caroline using animation and sound effects. Members had been asked to provide photos of their favourite holiday destinations both at home and abroad. We were transported to the Channel Islands, Majorca, Italy, Crete, Egypt, India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Canada, Devon, Norfolk and East Sussex with an interesting story about each destination. 

 

Final donations towards Christmas Shoe Boxes for local YMCAs or other groups were collected and a total of 14 full boxes were added to the County total and were delivered to the Annual Meeting at the Bath & West Showground which a record 8 LOM members attended.

It was decided to support the Frome Food Bank with Christmas food items instead of a Secret Santa this year. Carrying on with the Christmas theme our annual Christmas meal has been booked at The Bell in Leigh and we will be entering the Christmas Tree festival in St. Giles Church over the weekend of 9th and 10th December.  

Our speaker in our November meeting will be explaining to us about ‘School in a Bag’ and the work this charity undertakes.

We are a friendly bunch of ladies of all ages and welcome visitors so please do come along and join us. We meet the second Monday evening of every month, in the Memorial Hall at 7.30pm.

 

Just turn up or contact Caroline on 01373 812889 for further information.