N1 Women's Institute

Our next meeting is being held on June 30th 2009!

Mayor of Islington visits N1WI

The new Mayor of Islington Anna Berent is heading to N1WI to speak to the group about her life in politics and her plans for the future of the borough. A former journalist, research technician and environmental campaigner, 82-year-old Anna has lived in Mildmay for 25 years, becoming Liberal Democrat Councillor for the ward in 2002.

The active octogenarian lists walking, jogging and until recently rock-climbing as her hobbies. A passionate environmental champion, Cllr Berent's spirited campaign forced CTRL to route Eurostar trains through a tunnel instead of noisy surface tracks through the borough.  She also helped transform a rundown and crime-ridden green space on the Newington Green gyratory into a welcoming park and cafe for local families to enjoy year-round.

She says she is proud of her work on the organisation committee of the St Paul's Shrubbery Festival, which has been run every summer (bar one) for almost 20 years. Cllr Berent, the Older People's Champion for Islington, was Islington's Deputy Mayor and Chair of the East Area Planning Committee. 

Please come to the meeting armed with questions!!

Get your brain cells buzzing it's quiz time!

After the physical and somewhat exhausting meeting last month its time to give our brains a good work out and this May N1WI will be testing our knowledge to the max.

We will be meeting as usual at St James' Church Hall N1 at 6:45pm and will this month be enjoying a top quiz!

To ensure out brain cells stay alert we will also be munching on some delicious pizza and of course there will be plenty of wine and soft drinks too.

If you are a history buff, a pop music guru, an expert in current affairs or just love pizza and good banter get yourself down to the N1WI meeting on Tuesday 26^th May!

Meanwhile, N1WI would like to say a huge thankyou to Lucy Allen for showing us some great stunts last week. Check out the photos here!

Stunt woman drops by at N1WI

This month's long awaited meeting looks set to be one of the best of the year as we welcome a real-life stunt woman into our midst. On April 28th, Lucy Allen will be dropping in and showing us some of her best moves. 

There will be 3 sections to our evening - Lucy will begin by talking about life as a stunt woman, the industry and her past experiences which will be followed by a question and answer section.

Following this will be the 'practical bit' where we will get up on our feet and rehearse some simple fighting moves - showing how they can be faked – slaps round the face, punches, all cheated with safe distance. Also perhaps some hair pulling!

Lucy says we may also have time to have a  rummage through her stunt bag and come up with a few bits of equipment to try on – back pads, harnesses, knee pads and perhaps a simple demonstration of how they make things safer – pushing someone into a wall for instance...

Anyone brave enough to attend looks set to have a ball!

Thanks to everyone for a great March meeting!

Wow! What a fab meeting in March - everyone got well and truly stuck in and seemed to be having a fantastic time. 

Big thanks to Linda Galloway for her fabulous food and of course, for picking out the delicious wine. 

A wonderful time was shared by all as we compared 6 different wines with 6 foods. It was a surprising and educational event.

Thanks to Linda for all her hard work!! Linda’s catering company is called Daffodil Soup.

You can check out the photos from the meeting here.

Here is the lowdown of items announced in the meeting for those who sadly missed out!

Katie Best, the joint president, is stepping down from her role and is going to remain a member. She is thanked by everyone for her hard work and dedication to N1WI. A gift was presented to Katie.

Next month there will be a ‘Spring Clean’ event at the meeting. Members are encouraged to bring along unwanted possessions that could be swapped or shared with others. Left over items will be donated to charity.

A notice board is going to be set up at forthcoming meetings so that members can share information. There will also be information from the local and national federations on there.

“Nailgirls” and “Acupuncture” are making their services available ... more about this next meeting.

Members Louise and Anna recently visited the Essex Federation meeting to represent our group – thanks ladies. Honey Bee’s Resolution passed unanimously. 2^nd place was NHS Hospital Parking.

A lady from ITV Hells Kitchen attended the meeting to sign up ladies who are interested in coming onto the show to eat and give comments.

Joan spoke to us about the homeless shelter that used to use St. James Hall. She asked people to think about volunteering to do washing up, cooking or to donate items like scarfs, socks and toiletries. Flyers on tables - Shelter From The Storm.

An email for next month’s meeting will go out as usual. Problems with the email system have now been resolved, members are thanked for being patient. Advised to see Hannah (membership) to check that your email address is correct.

WI Raffle 2009 announced. Tickets available from Amy or contact n1wi@yahoo.co.uk. £1 per ticket, great prizes! Members encouraged to buy some to support their W.I. 60 per cent of profits come back to our federation.

2009 Bulb Scheme and photo competition announced. Flyers placed out on the tables for people to take. See Amy or contact our N1WI email address to order your bulbs.

Gardening Club announced which will be run by Jan. Theatre Group and Book Group advertised to members.
 

Katie Best

Katie spoke to thank everyone on the current and past committees and all the members for their support and friendship. She looks forward to continuing as an N1WI member.

Match wine and food with Linda Galloway

Spring is most definitely in the air and to welcome in the warm weather we have an exciting meeting ahead of us.

On March 31^st our very own N1WI member Linda Galloway will be sharing her knowledge on matching food and wine.

Everyone is welcome to join in the fun on what look set to be a hugely enjoyable and satisfying Tuesday evening.

See you there! 

Get creative with cakes!

 

With all of our New Year's Resolutions now well and truly behind us we can this month enjoy picking up some top tips on how to ice those tastiest of treats – cup cakes!

N1WI will be welcoming the lovely Michelle from the Lavender Bakery who will be advising us on the best way to make our cakes look fab for any occasion... yum!

We will be learning to ice them beautifully with the most basic kitchen equipment, so you can take the skills that you learn home.

As you can imagine this will be a very 'hands on' session with members being split off into smaller groups so we can chat as we ice!

Michelle will be doing small demonstrations for each group and then strolling around and giving helpful advice on making our cakes look scrummy.

She will be providing everyone with a small cake to ice so don’t worry about bringing your own - but if you aren't planning on scoffing yours as soon as its finished don’t forget to bring a container to take it home in!

The Lavender Bakery believes that cakes should "look beautiful and taste amazing" so this looks set to be a session not to be missed.

See you there!

Happy New Year N1WI!

We have kicked off 2009 by welcoming a host of new members and enjoying a fabulous January meeting. Members old and new packed out St. James' Hall and enjoyed wine and soft drinks as well as some healthy (and not quite so healthy!) snacks. Proceedings began by voting in a new Treasurer, Sandra Dawson, who will be taking over from Bev. It was also announced that celebrated author Rosie Thomas will be attending the next Book Group meeting to discuss her novel Iris and Ruby – more on this will be revealed on our website soon so watch this space!

Meanwhile, skin care expert Rima Shah from Calm and Clear Complementary Therapies headed down to N1WI HQ to give us all some much-needed advice about how to keep our skin glowing and healthy. Just as the New Year detox plans started to fade Rima provided a welcome boost with top tips on how to slow those wrinkles through a good diet, massage and staying out of the sun. She also recommended making homemade cleansers rather than splashing the cash on expensive creams and lotions. Among the questions from N1WI members were what to do about spots, how to reduce the dreaded crow's feet and whether rubbing your temples too hard could make you blind!

Ten top tips members went home with were...

1)       Always wear the correct factor sunscreen for your skin type during the warmer months of the year in the UK and always abroad in a hot country.  Don’t forget your neck and the décolleté area!

2)       Drink at least 1 ½ to 2 litres of still water daily – this will keep your skin hydrated and plump

3)       Stop or cut down on your smoking – they increase the free radicals in the body and dehydrate the skin further.

4)       Alcohol – excess amounts will dehydrate the skin and leave it dull, dry and lifeless, so cut down!

5)       Keep your stress levels balanced.  Give yourself some “me time” daily, even if it’s only half an hour.  Do something to clear your mind – yoga, meditation, professional massage, running, reading etc.

6)       Diet – take a look through your cupboards and throw out all highly processed and packaged foods.  Cut down on your sugar and salt intakes, as these not only deplete the body of water, but also cause the connective tissue in the body to become matted causing it to sag.  Get some essential fatty acids in your diet daily, and take a specialist skincare supplement containing antioxidants.  Buy organic foods where ever possible.

7)       Facial exercises and massage – set aside 10 minutes daily to do some basic facial exercises to keep the wrinkles at bay and keep the complexion glowing.  Try a professional facial massage or Facial Rejuvenation treatment for that added treat.

8)       Facial skincare – use the best organic and natural skincare products wherever possible.  A minimum of 60% of what you put on your skin ends up in your body.  Go for good reputable brands, or make your own at home.

9)       Sleep – good quality and as well as quantity of sleep is vital to your well being and skin healing and repair.  You should aim for 7-8 hours and get yourself into a regular sleep pattern.

10)   Get moving!  Aim for at least half an hour of aerobic exercise a minimum of 3 times a week.  This will improve blood flow, remove excess fluid, help with skin renewal/shedding and reduces high stress levels. 

Rima works at the therapy room in Neal’s Yard on Upper Street on on Tuesdays and Thursdays and specialises in de-stressing the mind, body and spirit by offering you a number of holistic top to toe treatments.

Therapies on offer are:

 

·         Aromatherapy

·         Reflexology

·         Holistic Facials

·         Indian Head Massage

·         Facial Rejuvenation massage

·         Thermo-Auricular Therapy (Hopi Ear Candling)

·         Maternity Reflexology

·         Maternity Massage

·         Combination therapies of any of the above

 

You will be offered a unique and bespoke treatment following a detailed consultation. This way you can be confident that you will receive the very best individual treatment for you. Rima specialises in women’s health and pregnancy.

Further information about all the therapies, clinics, workshops, newsletters, special offers, gift vouchers & corporate events can be found on her website. 

Download Price list - Islington

Download Calm and Clear FACIAL SKIN CARE A5 

N1WI would like to give a big thankyou to Rima Shah for her talk.

The next N1WI meeting will be held on February 24^th from 6.45pm til 9pm at St. James' Hall, on the corner of Prebend St and Packington St, N1. Info on the next meeting to follow. 

Greetings!

 

The next meeting is on 25th November from 6.45 p.m. til 9p.m. at St. James' Hall, on the corner of Prebend St and Packington St, N1.

 

We'll be having a 'how to be a christmas goddess' evening! So, there will be a number of stalls where you'll have a chance to watch/try out a number of things and buy bits and pieces for Christmas!

 

These will include:

• Aneeta showing how to knit Christmas decorations and selling signed and discounted copies of her knitting book, Knitty Gritty
• Traciy showing how to make Christmas decorations of other types
• Katie showing how to do perfect gift wrapping. Please feel free to bring presents for Katie to wrap! She will also be the 'gift guru' solving your 'difficult to buy for' dilemmas
• Lesley showing how to make perfect pastry and bringing mince pies to munch on.
• Helen and Anna selling our teatowels and cookery books (perfect Christmas presents!)

Because of the plethora of things calling for small change - including delicious mulled wine - if you could bring as much small change as possible to keep our stocks high, that would be marvellous!

You can also sign up for next year's membership - £29 - at the November meeting, to save the January rush. Bring a cheque made payable to N1WI or cash. Please bring in a sealed envelope with your name and contact details on the front and whether this is a renewal of a membership or a new membership.

We will be welcoming everyone from our waiting list who is still keen to join at the November and January meetings and then closing our books for good, so if you have friends who would like to come along and become members and they're not on the waiting list then they need to come to this meeting, the January meeting, or email members.n1wi@yahoo.co.uk to secure themselves a place. Alternatively, if you're someone who is just keen to join, get your skates on and email members.n1wi@yahoo.co.uk

Belly Dancing!

The next meeting will be on 30th September from 6.45 p.m. for a 7p.m. start at St. James' Hall, N1, as per usual.

This month, we'll be learning how to belly dance with a pro! She'll give a short demo and then will run a class for everybody to have a go at belly dancing themselves.

You don't have to be a good dancer to take part - it's absolutely just for fun. However, loose clothing will make it much easier to learn this style of dancing.

See you then!