After a quieter August, activities resume for September.

The Craft Group have started back with sessions on Friday 1st September, Friday 15th & Friday 29th September (to be confirmed). Please contact us for more information, to book a place and for the location or see Carole at the monthly meeting if you have any questions or would like to attend.

Rita is continuing with Bandage Making for Ukraine on Wednesday mornings from 10-12 noon at Rita’s house. All welcome to come along and help. Please contact us for more details and location.

The Darts team are practicing hard on Thursday mornings from 11am at Foresters Arms, Brookley Road, Brockenhurst. All welcome to join in. Please contact us for more details.

Our September monthly meeting is on Monday 11th September at Brockenhurst Village Hall arrival from 19.00 for 19.30 start. Our speaker will be Helen McGinn, giving a talk on “My Life in Wine”.  You may have seen Helen on Saturday Kitchen or Mastermind on the BBC.  She has written several books, both on wine and also fiction.  She will be bringing books to sell on Monday, at £10, and if you were interested, she prefers cash.

The crop of chillies which hopefully you will bring for judging, will take place.  The plant with the most fruits, (are they fruits or vegetables?) which will definitely not be mine which refused to germinate, will be the winner of the splendid trophy!

The Flower of the Month competition will take place.  The sunshine should bring out a few more blooms.

There will be a Bring and Buy table.  In the current climate of reducing waste and recycling, we think this is a good idea, so an extra table will be out for this on Monday, if you have unwanted items someone else might like, do bring them along.

Janice has been asked, as part of the Samaritans Christmas Appeal, if members might like to knit beanie hats for teenagers.  She has some wool, and a pattern, so please ask her on Monday if you can help.  I think we all have spare wool, and now the evenings are drawing in, knitting is an ideal pastime.

Information on future activities, both Brockenhurst and Hants WI will be on show, as well as sign-up boards for upcoming events. Events are also listed here.

Zena will also be taking money (£10 per ticket) for the Group Social Evening on 4th October (more information is below).

Julie will be leading the next walk and meet up on Monday 18^th September, at 2pm. Meet at Whitefield Moor car park (very close to Puttles Bridge car park) off the Rhinefield Road In Brockenhurst. Grid ref SU 274 026,what3words ///ideas.dinner.ascendant. Non-walkers are invited to join us for refreshments at around 3pm. Please bring a mug!

This route will walk partly along Ober Water as 11th-18th September is the Clean Rivers Week, and as Clean Rivers for People and Wildlife is a WI campaign this year, Julie has written to our MP expressing our concerns and inviting him to a parliamentary drop-in hosted by the Women’s Institute. Posters are planned for around the village also to highlight awareness of this problem, particularly as illegal releases of sewage into rivers and the sea are news headlines today.  As we all live near the sea, and enjoy the rivers near us, some brave souls even cold water swimming, this is an issue we should be concerned about.  

Linked to this issue, one of the Hants WI events is a virtual balloon race on 16^th September, where a WI or an individual can buy a virtual balloon (so no plastic waste) for £3, which is going towards the WI Clean Rivers campaign. Click here to buy a balloon. 

Lunch Club this month will be Tuesday 19^th September, to the Fisherman’s Rest in Lymington.   A sign-up sheet will be out at the meeting if you wish to go. Or contact us for more information.

We will be doing the refreshments for the World Textile Day at the village hall again on Saturday 30^th September. Catering for these events is an important source of funds for us, and if you are able to help either by making cake or manning the serving hatch, it would be appreciated.

Forthcoming Events

On October 4^th we will be hosting the Brockenhurst Group social evening, “An Evening of Chocolate”, making and taking home chocolates demonstrated by Miss Witt, a local chocolatier.   If you have not done so already, do put your name down for the evening, which will cost £10 and promises to be good evening.  There will be a raffle, with some lovely prizes which Julie has worked hard to obtain from local suppliers and venues and also a quiz.  Several ladies have offered to make a tray of brownies for this event, and if you also were able to, it would be very welcome.  We would also be grateful for helpers to set up from 6.30 onwards on the night.

The October 11^th monthly meeting will again be a craft session.  It is planned to have tables equipped for making cards of various styles, such as paper folded, decoupage or decorated with felt or other materials. Craft Group are still working out details, but these evenings are usually good, and we discover talents we didn’t know we had!