Child Okeford WI

During 2023/24 Child Okeford WI raised £800 for The Vale Pantry in Sturminster Newton. We raised funds across the year with a range of activities including Craft stalls, a Charity walk, Walking Netball activities, second hand clothes sales and our annual stall at 'Hey Day' - our village fete.
We presented our cheque, today at our Annual Meeting, to Carole Jones, from The Vale Pantry, who updated us on their amazing work and their new premises.

The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes)
The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes
The Vale Pantry

Well done to our skittles team who narrowly lost by 2 points to Wool A team in the DFWI Skittles final.
Well played Wool A
See you next year

Our monthly WI meeting is on Monday 11th March at 2pm at The Community Centre.

We will be having a talk from Jackie Winter entitled
"Exploring the Quiet Lanes and villages of West Dorset"
Jackie shares her discoveries and experiences gained over the last 40 years cycling the Dorset area.

Visitors Welcome

Our WI Craft group have handmade 95 poppies.
This is our WI contribution to a major installation of 1,475 soldier silhouettes across the wild meadow fields of the British Normandy Memorial.
It is called ‘For Your Tomorrow’ and runs from April 2024 to Mid August 2024.
It is part of the D.Day 80 commemorations
The 1,475 giants reflect the number of service personnel who died serving under British Command on D. Day

This has been organised by the charity 'Standing with Giants' (https://www.standingwithgiants.co.uk/)

The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes
Standing with Giants
The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes)
Child Okeford WI
Child Okeford Public Forum

At our very well attended meeting on February 12th 2024 we had the wonderful Grace Lovelass - a Mezzo soprano opera singer who regaled us of her life in opera, her struggles, her successes and the odd hilarious fail. She also sang including to us an exert from Carmen. She has an amazing voice and is a wonderfully captivating, warm and very funny speaker
The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes.

Congratulation to our Craft group for their amazing efforts at Coffee Morning in the Village Hall on 2.12.23
They raised over £300 for The Vale Pantry.
Well done to all our crafters and helpers, some of whom you can see below.
A great effort for a great cause

LOOK! It is on TOMORROW
Here are a few of the WI Craft stall items that will be on sale.
Saturday 2nd December
10.30 -12
At the Child Okeford Village Hall : Coffee Morning
Lots more items will be on the stall.
Things for all ages
All handmade by our clever WI Crafters
Cash preferred
Proceeds to The Vale Pantryitems

Getting the price labels ready for our WI Christmas Craft Sale at The Village Hall Coffee Morning :
Saturday 2nd December
10.30 - 12
Everything is £5 or under.
Cash preferred
Lovely handmade festive gifts
All proceeds to Vale Pantry

Our Skittles team pulled off a great win in their final match, against Stalbridge, WI last night.
They came back from 15 points down with Skipper, Vanessa Dawson, managing a 'stack up 'and ended up scoring 16 points. Her inspirational play galvanised the team to play their best and they won the match by 3 points.
They have now won 6 out of 8 matches and have a good chance of going through to the next round. Fingers crossed. Well played everyone!
The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes

What are you doing on Saturday 2nd December?

Pop into the village hall and see what we are selling for a good local cause.

CHILD OKEFORD WI
ART EXHIBITION 2023
at
THE EXCHANGE
Sturminster Newton
20th November 2023 to 6th January 2024

Tina Anthony, Pam Crook, Heather Nutbrown and Jaqueline Reynolds are members of Child Okeford WI. They are also accomplished artists.
They will be exhibiting their paintings in the Coffee Lounge at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton.
All their work on display, plus additional cards of their work, will be for sale.
Do go along, enjoy their creativity and maybe purchase a unique piece of local art work!

SAVE THE DATE
Child Okeford WI Art Exhibition
The Exchange, Sturminster Newton ( cafe area)
Monday 20th November until Saturday 6th January
4 artists from Child Okeford WI will be exhibiting and selling their unique art works.
Art cards also available
Free entry
Check opening times before you visit.The Exchange, Sturminster Newton
The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes
Artists Across Dorset

What a fascinating talk with had from Alison Purseglove with photos, clothing and videos of her wild adventures on the Round the World Yacht Race. Lovely to see so many WI members and visitors filling our village community centre and enjoying her tales on the high seas and what went on 'Below Deck'!
The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes

Monday 13th November - Just a reminder that our next meeting is next Monday at 2pm with a talk 'Around the World' with Alison Purseglove - visitors most welcome

Our WI Skittles team are doing very well.....fingers crossed for more wins

Our next meeting is on Monday 13th November.
We welcome Alison Purseglove, Chair of Royal United Hospital, Bath and former Chief Executive of Weldemr Hospice care.
She is also an adventurer and will share her experiences of being part of The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.This is the world’s longest ocean adventure at 40,000 miles and is regarded as one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.
We meet at 2pm at Child Okeford Community Centre. Visitors most welcome

Congratulations to Sturminster Marshall WI for winning again at the Child Okeford WI Walking Netball Festival. Teams from Lulworth and Swanage /Studland joined us for a giggle and a wiggle. We also had a raffle in aid of The Vale Pantry , our local food bank and raised £100
Swanage/ Studland we’re awarded the Fair Play Trophy by our umpires
Lots of goals , laughs and cake!

At The Dorset Annual Meeting some Child Okeford members met the keynote speaker The Rev Kate Bottley who gave a very funny and moving speech about her life, her faith and her fame. We had a great day . Thank You The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes for an excellent meeting

At The Dorset Federation Annual Meeting, our WI Walking Netball information table was very busy with enquiries about sessions and exisitng groups coming to give us upates on their prgress. We had a busy day but it was brilliant to see how much interest and support there is across Dorset for this programme.
Thank you Rita Walder and Sally Ann Childs for all your help The Dorset Federation of Women's Institutes Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts The WI (National Federation of Women's Institutes)

Our next meeting is on Monday 11th October at 2pm at Child Okeford Community Centre.
Professor Karen Hunt will be giving an illustrated talk about Women’s Suffrage in Dorset, exploring how local women engaged with this movement and the impact on their communities and their own lives.
Visitors welcome

Our March meeting welcomed Martin from Dorset Falconry Park / Xtreme Falconry - WOW - the birds, were wonderful- Barn Owl, Kestrel, Horned Eagle and Bald eagle and it was so wonderful to see them and from the noises they made they were keen to see all of us.....

Martins narrative was, to me, special. This was someone (as per their website http://www.dorsetfalconrypark.co.uk ) is committed to conservation and who has a wealth of experience, passion, knowledge and especially love for his and all animals. Martin explained his journey and that of Dorset Falconry Park, their aims, and how we can all make a difference - not only to these wonderful birds but also our hedgerow birds.

Looking forward to welcoming Xtreme Falconry and to our meeting on Monday 13th March - 2.00pm in the Community Centre.

What a brilliant start to the year - Sea shanty singing. Thank you Wareham Whalers -great entertainment and really fascinating to hear some of the history behind the songs and there were so many I didn’t know especially about where many of our sayings come from e.g why is it called a Watch? Why is boat speed measured in knots?

On Tuesday 10th January, our member Liv Shonfield presented a cheque for £200 to Blandford Forum Food Bank from the members of Child Okeford WI, who are also busy working on other fund raising activities for the local food banks The Vale Pantry and Blandford Forum Food Bank.

Don't let the January blues in, come along and join us for something fun & nautical for this month's meeting on Monday 9th January at 2.00pm in the Community Centre

The wonderful sea shanty group the Wareham Whalers will be coming along to sing for us and you can join in too - they will also explain some of the history behind the songs

Their website explains "The Wareham Whalers have been rocking the boat with our powerful shanties since 2004. We sing Shanties as they would have been sung for work on board ship and for the rare moments of recovery down below. We aim to capture the strength of this music and ensure there's never a dull moment when the Whalers are about!"

Visitors £3.50, please contact: [email protected]