News

Current activities (all members & this month’s visitors most welcome) – please see events listings on the right.

May 2024 Report

Members have been able to enjoy a very busy programme over the last two months participating in all our active monthly Clubs on offer, getting to grips with the art of Crochet, staying fit with walking and Kurling, reviewing the monthly book choice over a glass of wine, and enjoying Coffee Stop Club as always, catching-up chatting over coffee and delicious cake. They have also been out and about enjoying a great three course lunch served by the students at the IOW College and looking forward to our April Outing for a guided tour visiting  St. Mildred’s Church & the Royal Exhibition at Whippingham .

The March Members’ Meeting saw the Ladies celebrating everything Easter, Crafting and making Easter /Spring themed Bunting and decorating Easter bags. Following delicious cake they all went home with chocolate eggs and beautiful potted primroses.  In March Members also contributed to the local Foodbank in Bembridge.  April’s Meeting will see the Ladies looking forward to participating in a “Mock Trial” under the guidance of our Speaker for the evening Keith Jones JP. Following the Group’s fundraising over the past year there will also be a cheque presented to the Representative of their past year chosen Charity, Home Start IOW.

Members were also getting “geared up” and ready to bake their delicious cakes for their next fundraising event which will be taking place at The Cloisters on Saturday 25th May between 2 – 4 pm when they are holding a cream tea afternoon with a craft, plant, and cake sale, raffle and children’s games  which promises to  be a fun afternoon fundraising.

At our monthly Meetings Members are able to engage in and enjoy varied activities, along with Speakers from all walks of life, learning many interesting facts about places and lives of people and achievements and that, together with our Clubs make our WI.

Visitors are always welcome.

November 2023 Members Meeting

November Members meeting – making Christmas snow globes and decorations. A very creative evening!

October’s Outing

Members visited the Isle of Wight Bus Museum

IOW Bus Museum

September’s Outing

A lovely enjoyable fun outing on Thursday 21st September playing crazy golf at Puckpool Park in between the showers which did not put us off (mind you the cakes and scones between the two rounds were delicious!).

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September’s Members Meeting – Sock it to Me

We learned the many uses and  things we could make with socks, followed by a fun  session making a variety of snowmen and rabbits. Members enjoyed a really fun filled session of sock crafting with our Speaker Sylvia Williams, with much laughter.

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August is usually a quiet month for WIs as it is the summer break but twelve Members did manage to meet up at Book Club earlier in the month to discuss July’s Book “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus with everyone singing its praises and thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Members were looking forward to starting back in September when all the Clubs: Walking Boots, Coffee Stop, Craft, Book and Kurling, would be recommencing. Later in the month, our Members’ Monthly Meeting – with the aid of socks, promises to be lots of fun. September‘s Outing for Crazy Golf at Puckpool will be following in this vein with, as usual, lots of laughter, chatter, gentle exercise and of course Coffee and Cake.

Preparations are well advanced for a fun joint meeting, our Spithead Group, consisting of four WI groups in the area. There will be a Kurling Knockout Competition and quizzes hosted by our WI in October. It is always great to meet up and chat together and get to know other WI Members.

Within our group, we have a few spaces available and would very much welcome visitors to come along and enjoy an evening with us and to perhaps also “dip your toes” into our various clubs for that month to see if what we do appeals to you too. So if you would like more information and details of what we have on offer then please contact Pam on 565369 or Chris on 872011. Our next Members’ Meeting is on Monday 18th September at 7.30pm in The Cloisters.

Garden Party

July Members’ meeting was our Garden Party  which was held on a sunny afternoon albeit a little windy! Members first heard a potted History of Garden parties dating back to the late 18th and early 19th Century including an animated up-to-date one of Buckingham Palace Garden Parties. Members enjoyed tasty sandwiches, gorgeous fresh Summer Fruit pastry tarts and colourful macarons with glasses of Bucks Fizz. A lovely afternoon of congenial conversation and laughter with the opportunity to browse and purchase home grown plants and beautiful craft items too and of course a stroll around  one of our lovely Member’s stunning garden. A perfect end to our Summer Programme of events and our August break

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Bembridge Flower Festival May 26th – 29th 2023

Our team and floral arrangement depicting the Poem Spring has Gone, Summer has Come from the Flower Fairies series of books written by Cecily Mary Barker. Great team work and fun participating and creating this display.

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Our Monthly Members’ Meeting which was held in May 2023 and was also our Annual Meeting was followed with a “Taste and Guess the Cheese ” Quiz  , accompanied with wine of course, and a couple of cheese and wine quizzes where their “considerable” knowledge on these  subjects was definitely put to the test amidst much laughter proved great fun.

Our December 2022 Members’ Meeting definitely had a Christmas Theme and was titled “Fallen Angels”  where several tables consisting each of 8 Members were then given wallpaper lining paper, crepe paper, tissue paper  loo roll paper and kitchen roll paper and copious amounts of tinsel and then tasked with creating  and naming an Angel. Through so much hilarity this was the result and this was before they even had wine !! Look for the “Fallen Angel” !! A fantastic evening was enjoyed by everyone.

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Bembridge Windmill WI Christmas Coffee Fundraiser morning held in the Village Hall  on a very cold morning in November 2022 – one of our two main fundraisers of each year when some of the proceeds go to an Annual  Local Charity chosen by Members each year.  2022 was chosen to support The Bembridge  Friendship Circle Community Bus. Members enjoy volunteering, helping and supporting these events by baking, crafting and donating items which goes to making the great success it is.

Cheque presented at January 2023 Members' Monthly Meeting to the Bembridge Friendship Circle for the Bembridge Community Bus Charity
Cheque presented at January 2023 Members’ Monthly Meeting to the Bembridge Friendship Circle for the Bembridge Community Bus Charity

Our October 2022 Monthly Members’ Meeting was titled “With bells On”.  Members enjoyed our Speaker Brian talk about the History of Morris Dancing on the Isle of Wight which with the help of his musician and a few of his team of Morris Dancers also demonstrated with various routines. Then came the turn of Members to “have a go” perhaps it should be said with varying degrees of success in not bumping into each other but with great gusto and much laughter with the banging of sticks and waving of scarves all thoroughly enjoying the evening.

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