Anthea Allen, a critical care nurse with over 30 years experience, gave an awe-inspiring account of working throughout the Covid pandemic at St George’s Hospital, telling us how she and her colleagues had had to adapt to a completely new way of working in order to cope with the onslaught of Covid and all the challenges it brought. A simple email to friends at the start of the pandemic asking for biscuits went viral and as a result she carried on chronicling her experiences in a weekly email that was read across the world. Her emails formed the basis of her best-selling book “Life, Death and Biscuits’.

There was a great turnout for our annual picnic in Queen’s Park on a perfect summer’s evening. Lots of good food and good company – thank you to all those who joined us, particularly the new members!

There was a good turnout on a lovely sunny evening for our guided tour of Kilburn. Denise Arnold was an excellent guide who told us so many interesting facts about a place many of us thought we knew well! In particular she focussed on the theme of women and children, as well as the various immigrant communities who have made Kilburn their home. Also, who knew that so many famous musicians started their careers in Kilburn! The evening was rounded off with a lovely meal at which we were able to celebrate Janet’s very special birthday.

Pat West, a former (and we hope future) member of the NWLWI gave a fascinating talk about her work as part of the team involved in the three-year restoration and refurbishment of the Courtauld Institute building in Somerset House. It was fascinating to hear about the history of the building and how the restoration combined the old and the new, resulting in a fabulous, modern and accessible building which houses the galleries as well as the Institute. Pat told us about all the obstacles and challenges that the team overcame in the course of the three years, not least managing to oversee the project via Zoom during the Covid lockdowns! We can’t wait to visit!

We enjoyed a riveting presentation from Val and Meena about their hair-raising experiences of mountaineering and rock climbing, both in the UK as well as the Alps and the Himalayas. There was also a video of audio stories illustrating how things have changed over the last 100 years – we learned that 100 years ago women had to climb in long skirts (but usually hid their skirts behind a boulder as soon as they were out of sight!)

Check out the Pinnacle Club centenary website for more details: https://www.pc100.org/

Debs was a wonderful tutor, showing us how to make our own lavender hearts – all in all a great evening with a fine selection of hearts produced! It was lovely to be able to meet in person again at the Masons Arms

At our January meeting we had a good discussion on the WI 2022 Resolutions and then took a vote (vote still open to members until Tuesday 18th January – contact Frances for further details)

• Fit for Purpose – Fit for Girls
• Appropriate Sentencing of Non-Violent Women Offenders
• Equality in Law for the Menopause
• Women and Girls with ASD and ADHD Under-Identified, Under-Diagnosed and Under-Supported
• Tackling Digital Exclusion

More details on the resolutions can be found on the National Federation of WI’s website here

We then enjoyed a friendly, if rather competitive, game of Bingo with Caroline proving that she missed her vocation as a Bingo caller. Plans are now afoot for a visit to a Bingo Hall!

Many thanks to Frances for hosting the annual party – a good time was had by all! Lots of lovely food and drink and party games. Congratulations to Lizzie for winning the Christmas-themed mask competition – a worthy winnner!

The first part of the meeting was the Annual Meeting when Angela was unanimously re-elected as President and the Committee was elected. Members thanked Ilona, who had stepped down from the Committee, for her enormous contribution over the years. The President and Treasurer gave their reports on the last year (copies of the report are available in the Noticeboard section of the website) which were received to acclaim.

We then moved on to a quiz, devised by Denise, which covered a range of topics and got everyone racking their brains. In the end the result was very close, but Team 2 won by a whisker. A very enjoyable evening all round.