We had another great turnout for our January meeting at St Anne’s, when we enjoyed a selection of board and card games and discussed the four resolutions shortlisted for this year’s NFWI campaign. There was lots of lively chat and discussion and at the end of the evening everyone voted on their preferred resolution. A record seven members had a birthday in January, with both Frances and Penny celebrating a significant birthday (ending in ‘0’!) – many thanks to Michelle who made one of her spectacular cakes which was enjoyed by all.

We all had a wonderful time at our Christmas party, brilliantly hosted by Frances again. Members brought a wide variety of delicious food and the wine flowed! We enjoyed three rounds of the ‘True or False’ game during which we learned useful facts, such as Russia’s surface area being larger than Pluto’s! There was also a secret Santa and a competition for the best decorated scarf (won by Rebecca), expertly judged by Mimi and Shirley. Thanks again to Frances for letting us invade your lovely home!

Another great turnout for our November meeting – we started with the Annual Meeting at which reports from the President and Treasurer were received as well as the re-election (by acclaim) of Caroline as our President for the coming year. The Committee were also re-elected. Then on to the fun part of the meeting with an excellent quiz – many thanks to Denise for being our quizmaster and congratulations to the winning team!

Another great turnout for our monthly meeting – this time we all had a go at line dancing. Angie and Maureen did a wonderful job of teaching us some basic moves and by the end of the evening we were all tapping our heels and toes and thoroughly enjoying ourselves! Whether we were all in time and in step is another matter!

We had a record turnout for our September meeting when Caroline showed us how to make seed bombs out of her surplus tissue paper. Everyone got stuck in and the volume of chat around the hall steadily grew! With some having more success than others, a large variety of seed bombs were made. Look out around the verges of North West London to spot where the seeds eventually end up! Many thanks to Caroline for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We were delighted to welcome Hilary to St Anne’s to hear all about New Ground Housing – an inspirational housing project in Barnet for women over 50. Hilary told us all about the many hurdles that she and other members of OWCH (Older Women’s Co-Housing) had to overcome to fulfil their dream of creating a community for women where they could live independently, but at the same time reap the benefits of living alongside each other and enjoying the company of friendly, supportive neighbours. After many years of setbacks, OWCH managed to secure a site in Barnet for their new purpose built block of 25 flats, finally moving in in 2016. After describing all the many benefits of co-housing and talking through photos of the site, Hilary answered a wide range of questions. Members were encouraged to look at the short film about New Ground on their website https://newgroundcohousing.uk/ (unfortunately we were defeated by the technology on the night!).

After keeping us guessing all day, the weather ended up being fine for our picnic in Queen’s Park, with not even one drop of rain (though plenty of wind!). We had a great turnout with many bringing delicious food for sharing – the highlight of which was Pat’s homemade strawberry ice cream! Thank you to all those who contributed to such a lovely evening!

A beautiful sunny evening for our guided tour with the wonderful Maria from Herstorical Tours. We met at Farringdon and wended our way to the Old Bailey, stopping at various points along the way to hear fascinating tales about the many awful fates that befell women in the area – from wives being sold at Smithfield to the gruesome story of Amelia Dyer, a baby farmer, who was tried at the Old Bailey. There were also tales of witches and apparitions and the tour ended in the cells underneath the Viaduct Tavern where we were truly spooked by the thought of being incarcerated there!

We had a record turnout for our May meeting, when Penny talked us through how to make the ‘Spring Flower Felts’ featured in the March edition of “WI Life’. Penny provided us each with a kit containing the template and felt for one of the four designs and then everyone got to work!

Debbie began by asking us all about our singing experience and there was a wide range of answers. Some members said that they sang regularly in local choirs, others sang along to favourite tunes in the safety of their own home and others professed to not being able to sing a note! But after some some breathing exercises and copying simple notes and sounds, we discovered that we could all sing after all and ended the session with a rousing rendition of Que Sera Sera. Many thanks to Debbie for a wonderful evening.