Holcombe Brook and Summerseat WI

The book club got together just before Christmas to celebrate the season with each other. A great time was had by all and everyone left with a Secret Santa book to enjoy in 2017.

A small group of members got together for a pre-Christmas crafting session and created fabulous floral arrangements.  And some festive port may also have been consumed! Merry Christmas everyone!

December saw our regular monthly meeting replaced by our Christmas meal at the Hare and Hounds. A great night was had by all; apart from the lovely meal we also enjoyed a craft competition (to create a hanging decoration for a Christmas tree) and our traditional 'disguised present' swap. Still on the festive theme, Liz Dyer put her artistic talents to great use by creating wicker reindeer. You can see the full herd in their amazingness below! So for now, Merry Christmas! and we'll see you in 2017!

Neil Coldrick from the Holcombe Moor Heritage Group joined us at our November meeting.  His entertaining talk 'A Brief History of Bottoms' explained the highs and lows of excavating a local archaeological site located on MOD grounds.  Neil brought with him a range of artefacts found at the dig. These ranged from pottery to engineering cogs from the old mill workings at the site.

Our September meeting saw us try our hand at sugarcraft decorating for a novelty Christmas cake. Our instructor was patience itself as we gamely tried making Santa and Rudolph soaking in a hot tub! Trimming the fondant covering  Adding the chocolate hot tub planks  This needs lots of concentration... and a bit of nifty finger work! Santa's boots are ready  Santa and Rudolph enjoy a dunk

We entered our first summer fair with a mix of anticipation, excitement and anxiety. Would we have enough stock? (Yes!) Would it rain? (Yes!) Were we all mad? (The jury is still out...) Cath created a wonderful new sign for our stall. Safe to say that it was a fabulous day and went amazingly well. Our plants and seedlings flew off the stall as quickly as Deborah could price them up and our cakes and crafts did a very brisk business too. Alison (wo)mans the craft stall. (She had a neat line in sales patter!) Maggie bags and price tags all the baked goods. You really can't have a WI stall at a summer fair without scrummy cakes! Everyone was so welcoming and we were delighted with the large turnout (despite the sodden weather). Bring on next year!

The  National Federation of Women's Institutes has launched a campaign to get members talking about organ donation.  The WI's campaign encourages members to have a think about donation, make a decision and then talk about it to someone close to them. Time to Talk About Organ Donation is about easing the burden on grieving families. When families have a clear idea about what their deceased loved-one wanted, it makes  it so much easier for them to fulfill their wishes. If we can get more people talking about donation, and having their decisions known and respected by their loved ones, we can increase the chances of a transplant being possible for those 7,000 people still on the waiting list. One donor can transform the lives of 9 different people. Start the Big Conversation We want to show everyone how WI members have found the 'Time to Talk' about organ donation, so their families are informed of their wishes. We're going to bring the WI's strength...