The Brentwood Belles WI

At our December meeting this year, we’ll be having our very first Handmade Secret Santa! 🎅🏻

The way that this will work is:

🎁 Anyone wanting to take part makes a small handmade gift and wraps it.
🎁 They then bring it to the meeting on Wednesday 18th December.
🎁 Once all gifts have arrived, anyone bringing one will also take one home.

All we ask is that once you’ve opened the present, please send us a photo of what you got! We’re a little bit nosey like that, you see 😉

We look forward to seeing your handywork!🎄 🧵 🧶

More info from Becky below on her WI Learning Hub courses! 👇 ✂️ ✏️

We have another Brentwood Belle running a course for the WI Learning Hub this month: this time Becky will be teaching papercraft courses 🙌

Many of you will be familiar with Becky’s courses; if you wish to join her, members of The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes) can sign up for FREE here: https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/at-home/courses/?_search=becky

Meet the lovely Becky Wash, who will be leading some fantastic workshops focused on upcycling and making gift-giving more sustainable.
Have a look at the courses Becky has to offer on the Hub.

https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/at-home/courses/?_search=becky

Remember, remember that we have lots coming up this November! 🍂

Take a look at what’s happening at the Belles this month👇

As we approach Halloween, what better time to share last month's spooky Challenge Cup? 👻

We asked you all to write a two line horror story, and you didn't disappoint! Here's a round up of all of the entries. 👇 Enjoy!

A Saturday morning throwback to our last Brunch Club meet up! 🍳

This was a new location for the Brunching Belles: Woody's, in Shenfield. And we were not disappointed! 😋

Thank you for the delicious breakfast, Woody’s; we’re sure that we’ll be back again soon.

A few photos from our recent trip to Crossness Pumping Station.

This was a great outing, where we learnt lots about how sewage treatment has developed over the centuries. Victorian architecture and engineering at its best!

For anyone else wishing to visit, the pumping station has regular open days, and is reachable on the Elizabeth Line, with vintage Routemaster shuttles from Abbey Wood Station. Visit The Crossness Engines Trust website for the next dates and more details!

https://crossness.org.uk

A thrilling October meeting last night, where we were joined by Gary Lewis, who told us all about the life and times of Alfred Hitchcock.

Thank you, Gary, for sharing your absolutely encyclopaedic knowledge of Hitchcock with us!

TONIGHT! 🍂 It's our October meeting, and we have all the thrills of a talk by Gary Lewis, who will be telling us all about the life of Alfred Hitchcock.

Here's your meeting checklist for tonight's meeting, Belles:

😱 Your two line horror story, should you wish to enter this month's Challenge Cup.
☕ A mug for tea break.
📚 Any books for the Belles' Library
🥫 Any donations for the Food Bank.

Don't forget to also pick up a name for a Christmas gift for a child residing at Changing Pathways at tonight's meeting, and remember that we will be having a handmade Secret Santa this Christmas...more details to follow!

See you all tonight! 👋

📣 Just for fun! 📣 Ahead of tomorrow night's meeting, here's a little more useful info. BUT, can you tell us the 5 Alfred Hitchcock films we've referenced in these images? 👀

Let us know in the comments below, and we look forward to seeing you all tomorrow for a Hitchcock themed talk!

Every year, as part of our support for the local community, we collect Christmas gifts for the children residing at the Women's Refuge, Changing Pathways. As such, at the October meeting we'll be giving out the names and ages of various children, and would ask our members to take one home with them if they're able to buy a suitable gift for them this Christmas. 🎄

This can be anything that you feel is suitable, with no set value: stocking fillers are as much appreciated as larger gifts, and vouchers are often enjoyed by slightly older children and teenagers.

We would also ask that the presents are wrapped in such a way that the mothers can peep in, to ensure that they are suitable for the child in question, please.

More details to be given at the meeting, and we thank you all in advance for spreading the usual Belles Christmas cheer! 🎁

Shock, horror...it's nearly our meeting date! And this month, we want you to come up with a two sentence horror story for our Challenge Cup.

Will it be a traditional horror story? Or some modern day madness? Get creative and bring us your best tales of trepidation!

Today is World Mental Health Day, and your TBBWI committee are here to remind you all that, even though our Belles' photos are often filled with smiles and laughter, there are often times when those smiles could be hiding our real feelings. 💚

As such, we recently launched the Belles' wellbeing initiative, and to mark World Mental Health Day, Rosa has written a new blog post on the site, about how we can support members at difficult times. Take a look here: https://thebrentwoodbelleswi.co.uk/the-brentwood-belles-wellbeing-initiative/

Remember that if you are ever feeling the need to reach out to someone, your TBBWI committee and fellow Belles will all rally round to listen and help; just one of the many perks of the WI 💚

Last month’s Challenge Cup was on the theme of visible mending, in line with our wonderful speaker, ’s, line of work.

Here are the brilliant results! Another creative competition. Thank you for the entries, ladies, and here are last month’s winners:

🥇 1st place: Chris L.
🥈 2nd place: Rosa G.
🥉 Joint 3rd place: Gemma C. and Jane M.

Don’t forget that October’s Challenge Cup is to write a two sentence horror story - we can’t wait to see what you come up with! 👻

No Thirsty Thursday this month as our Thirsty Thursday group had an extra outing last month: to Vagabond Wine Bar, at Monument.

Here’s a lovely photo from what was a very enjoyable evening. Cheers! 🥂

Happy October, ladies! 🎃 This spooky season, we're bringing you lots of thrills, in the form of our subgroups and programme for this month. Take a look at what's on in the images below 👇

Things to note this month:

🚶‍♀️If you wish to join our trip to Crossness Pumping Station, please let Viv know via our Buddy Belles Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2021031524591164/?ref=share) and £20 needs to be paid into the Belles' bank account.

🍷 No Thirsty Thursday in October due to an extra outing at the end of September. This group will be back with their November meeting on 7th November.

💚 Our Neurodivergent Support Group will have their next meeting on Tuesday 19th November. We now also have a WhatsApp group for this subgroup, so feel free to get in touch with a member of the committee if you wish to be added to this!

We'll look forward to seeing you all at a subgroup or three this month! 👋

Last week, the Belle's Social Media Manager, Nic, delivered training for the WI Learning Hub on social media for your WI. 💚

Although this course was mostly aimed at elevating the social media presence of WI groups, much of it is also relevant to small businesses, and therefore may be of interest to our members.

Therefore, if you'd like to listen to the training, it's available on the WI Learning Hub catch up service, which is free to all WI members, until the end of October. Register here: https://learninghub.thewi.org.uk/on-demand/courses/on-demand-nfwi-training-23rd-september-social-media-for-your-wi-with-nicola/

Throwback Thursday to our most recent walk, when the weather was a lot better than it is now! 😎

This is a new season for the walking group, Heading out with the Belles, which has been running for 10 years with Viv and Tricia at the helm. They are now taking a 'step' back (if you'll pardon the pun!) and our members are taking it in turns to devise the walks.

This one was led by Debbie, with a route was across fields and through woodland around Shenfield, before heading back to Debbie's garden for tea and cake. Thank you to Debbie for leading; we'll look forward to the next one! 🚶‍♀️