Blanket update - November 2023
Aylesbury Women's Refuge:
We are pleased to support the Aylesbury Women's Refuge and it was a pleasure recently to donate single sheets, pillowcases, duvet sets, cot mattress protectors, cot blankets and cot sheets. Some of the items were donated by members and the remainder were bought from our half of the funds raised from the Coronation Teas held on 7th May 2023.
Thanks, Chris.
Thanks, Chris.
November '22 news:-
Another 7 blankets ready for dispatch.
We, with the help of Winslow friends have now completed 13 blankets since September. All of which will have been delivered to the people of Ukraine by Christmas.
Two more in the pipeline and more squares still being knitted.
A magnificent effort. Many thanks to all those who have contributed.
We are still collecting!
PM.
Another 7 blankets ready for dispatch.
We, with the help of Winslow friends have now completed 13 blankets since September. All of which will have been delivered to the people of Ukraine by Christmas.
Two more in the pipeline and more squares still being knitted.
A magnificent effort. Many thanks to all those who have contributed.
We are still collecting!
PM.
Latest project...
First Ukrainian blanket to be completed. Lots of work for many members.
We have a second one well on its way to completion and enough knitted squares for a third.
Many thanks to those who have contributed and are still knitting.
PM.
We have a second one well on its way to completion and enough knitted squares for a third.
Many thanks to those who have contributed and are still knitting.
PM.
Saturday 16th July.
Wednesday 25th May
Spring Fayre
Our preparations on Saturday April 2nd for a busy successful Spring Fayre. It was a great way to meet old friends and make some new ones. We had some lovely crafts on display and the home made cake went down well with a cuppa.
DB
Winslow Wiggle Walkers
Winslow Wiggle Walkers are back playing and having great fun, why not come along and join us for a free 'wiggle 'n' giggle' session on Monday evenings 5.30-6.30pm at Sir Thomas Fremantle School. We are all ages and abilities.
CR.
CR.
Report from our day at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium Walking Netball Festival
Saturday 29th January.
Well, what a day of fun and entertainment. Proudly sporting our newly acquired team t shirts, we arrived at Stoke Mandeville Stadium at 12 noon and settled in with six other teams from as far away as Abbingdon Oxon. We were all issued with coloured bibs and after a quick team briefing the games began at 12.30 sharp. There were two courts playing concurrently. Six minutes a-side per game. It was so well organised it ran like clockwork. One of our members, an experienced Host also helped on the day.
There was only one other WI team and some teams had been playing for years and were a little more proficient and competitive… We learned a lot. All in all, a friendly and exciting time was had by all.
A big thank you to Vicki and her colleagues for organising such a great Festival.
HZ.
Pic to follow...
Saturday 29th January.
Well, what a day of fun and entertainment. Proudly sporting our newly acquired team t shirts, we arrived at Stoke Mandeville Stadium at 12 noon and settled in with six other teams from as far away as Abbingdon Oxon. We were all issued with coloured bibs and after a quick team briefing the games began at 12.30 sharp. There were two courts playing concurrently. Six minutes a-side per game. It was so well organised it ran like clockwork. One of our members, an experienced Host also helped on the day.
There was only one other WI team and some teams had been playing for years and were a little more proficient and competitive… We learned a lot. All in all, a friendly and exciting time was had by all.
A big thank you to Vicki and her colleagues for organising such a great Festival.
HZ.
Pic to follow...
We are entering a team in a 'round robin' Netball Festival run by England Netball
on Saturday 29th January at Stoke Mandeville Stadium 12-4pm.
Good luck Winslow Wiggle Walkers
on Saturday 29th January at Stoke Mandeville Stadium 12-4pm.
Good luck Winslow Wiggle Walkers
Scroll down to see what Walking Netball is all about...
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Winslow Wiggle Walkers
Winslow Wiggle Walkers walking netball team, after a warm up, couple of drills and a game, it was time for some festive cheer - Merry Christmas to everyone.
If you feel like meeting new friends, some exercise and a lot of laughs why not come along and join us, we re-start on Monday 10th January 2022, 5.30 - 6.30pm at
Sir Thomas Fremantle School, Winslow, the first taster session is free and you do not have to be a WI member to join us!
Chris.
Contact us using the form on the bottom of the HOME page.
If you feel like meeting new friends, some exercise and a lot of laughs why not come along and join us, we re-start on Monday 10th January 2022, 5.30 - 6.30pm at
Sir Thomas Fremantle School, Winslow, the first taster session is free and you do not have to be a WI member to join us!
Chris.
Contact us using the form on the bottom of the HOME page.
Walking Netball - What it's all about...
New Competition format.
coming soon for 2022
Croquet Association Honor our member Diana Kemp.
Diana Kemp, a story of a life time’s energy devoted to the WI.
So, ‘The Croquet Association’ has awarded Diana Kemp ‘The CA Diploma for Long Service to Croquet’ and very well deserved it is! Those of us who know her well find it no surprise, it could just as well be an award for services to the WI. "I have always believed that the more there is going on in a town the better the quality of life for those who live there" she said, when asked about her motivation for establishing a croquet group. This wonderful attitude has impacted on Winslow WI’s craft group, tennis group, competition entries and, for the last ten years, the Institute’s Green Gym, weekly walks led at heart pumping speed by Di.
Di joined Winslow WI in 1965, in the days when new members were vetted and voted into the Institute, and in 1988 she gathered together a group of members to play croquet in her garden. To get them going her husband found some old bent hoops in the garden shed and made some centre pegs from pitch fork handles marked with coloured insulation tape, and they played with a Garden Croquet Set.
At the time, Di and her husband were both struggling with coming to terms with the sudden death of their daughter. Wondering how her husband, a farmer, would cope with having several women in his garden each week he told Di that it wouldn’t matter because he would be at work. As things turned out he was sometimes home and also, as it happened, another member who was similarly bereaved, often found the opportunity to chat to him. Eventually, he asked Di to show him how to play and sometimes joined in. Di believes that helped him to come to terms with their terrible tragedy and holds it dear as a typical example of the power of companionship in the WI.
The club flourished and four members did a course at Denman College to learn how to run a tournament. They gained their Demonstrators Badges and gradually Di began to help other groups get started.
In 1990 it was decided to investigate putting the group on to a more official standing and the town Council was approach for some land. Chris Hudson, a representative from the Croquet Association, came to help with establishing a constitution and getting insurance, "A man who knew how to stop the inevitable squabbles that erupt in groups of strongly minded women" said Di with a broad grin. The garden croquet set was no longer adequate and serious money was required for a replacement. Fortunately and an eagle eyed member spotted that Aylesbury Vale District Council had two lots of £250 to donate to Women’s Sport, provided the recipients could match the donation. Throughout the 'garden years' members had all paid 25p to play and so a kitty had built up and that, together with a £5 a head whip round, the 50 percent was found and £250 was theirs.
In 1991 the Town Council gave them a grant of £100 to buy a better croquet set and the club was launched on a more formal setting. Eventually, they owned 3 complete croquet sets that Di transported around, often causing a conflict of interest when her car boot was needed to carry bales of hay. A request to build a shelter and store was approved by the Town Council, and a grant was given provided it matched the near bye football pitch dug out. However the grant also came with the proviso that the club should be "open to all". MEN became members of the group! Di observed, "A very good thing, men quieten down the women"!!
And so, the croquet club became the proud owners of a secure store together with a football style dug out and male members!
The group was very enthusiastic and Di even took her mallet on holiday with her so that she could play at a WI Festival in Amersham on her way home. Members were having more and more success and in 1994 Di and co-player Pam were awarded a Golden Mallet for Southern England. In 1999 they gained the Aylesbury North Ladies Achievement Award and they still have their winner’s shields and vases. The club became well known and members had success in tournaments in the Southern England league.
Finances were always a problem and, in the WI way, the group was resourceful. An object was produced for sale – “an unrecognizable homemade hearth companion set - worthy of a £1 price tag”, said Di, but with a bit of her sales technique it became a successful sale of a £5 garden ornament.
When a pattern for a crochet bedspread appeared in Home & Country all of the members of the croquet club made a square, but things were not entirely harmonious – individuals worked at different tensions - causing considerable discord when all the squares were joined together! However, with the bedspread finally complete, WIs were challenged to celebrate 70 Years of the WI by making a book to depict the history of their WI, and to find an imaginative way to transport it to their neighbouring WI.
The Croquet Club came to the fore and they constructed a four poster bed on a bale truck, with their newly acquired tie dye skills very much in evidence! All dressed as house maids in black and white they began to push the bed with the said bedspread to the next village. The heavens opened, but fortunately Di’s thoughtful husband came to the rescue and loaded the bed, and the maids, onto a cattle trailer towed by a Land Rover and the journey was finished in this memorable manner. With such fame, the bedspread became an object of desire and a goodly sum was raised for the croquet club when it was raffled.
Di is predictably modest about her award from the Croquet Association, but has been persuaded to raid her store of diaries and photos to tell us these stories. It is typical of her dedication to the WI that she keeps her badges and medals in a beautiful padded box that she made, of course, at Denman College!
Margaret Templeton
November 2017
So, ‘The Croquet Association’ has awarded Diana Kemp ‘The CA Diploma for Long Service to Croquet’ and very well deserved it is! Those of us who know her well find it no surprise, it could just as well be an award for services to the WI. "I have always believed that the more there is going on in a town the better the quality of life for those who live there" she said, when asked about her motivation for establishing a croquet group. This wonderful attitude has impacted on Winslow WI’s craft group, tennis group, competition entries and, for the last ten years, the Institute’s Green Gym, weekly walks led at heart pumping speed by Di.
Di joined Winslow WI in 1965, in the days when new members were vetted and voted into the Institute, and in 1988 she gathered together a group of members to play croquet in her garden. To get them going her husband found some old bent hoops in the garden shed and made some centre pegs from pitch fork handles marked with coloured insulation tape, and they played with a Garden Croquet Set.
At the time, Di and her husband were both struggling with coming to terms with the sudden death of their daughter. Wondering how her husband, a farmer, would cope with having several women in his garden each week he told Di that it wouldn’t matter because he would be at work. As things turned out he was sometimes home and also, as it happened, another member who was similarly bereaved, often found the opportunity to chat to him. Eventually, he asked Di to show him how to play and sometimes joined in. Di believes that helped him to come to terms with their terrible tragedy and holds it dear as a typical example of the power of companionship in the WI.
The club flourished and four members did a course at Denman College to learn how to run a tournament. They gained their Demonstrators Badges and gradually Di began to help other groups get started.
In 1990 it was decided to investigate putting the group on to a more official standing and the town Council was approach for some land. Chris Hudson, a representative from the Croquet Association, came to help with establishing a constitution and getting insurance, "A man who knew how to stop the inevitable squabbles that erupt in groups of strongly minded women" said Di with a broad grin. The garden croquet set was no longer adequate and serious money was required for a replacement. Fortunately and an eagle eyed member spotted that Aylesbury Vale District Council had two lots of £250 to donate to Women’s Sport, provided the recipients could match the donation. Throughout the 'garden years' members had all paid 25p to play and so a kitty had built up and that, together with a £5 a head whip round, the 50 percent was found and £250 was theirs.
In 1991 the Town Council gave them a grant of £100 to buy a better croquet set and the club was launched on a more formal setting. Eventually, they owned 3 complete croquet sets that Di transported around, often causing a conflict of interest when her car boot was needed to carry bales of hay. A request to build a shelter and store was approved by the Town Council, and a grant was given provided it matched the near bye football pitch dug out. However the grant also came with the proviso that the club should be "open to all". MEN became members of the group! Di observed, "A very good thing, men quieten down the women"!!
And so, the croquet club became the proud owners of a secure store together with a football style dug out and male members!
The group was very enthusiastic and Di even took her mallet on holiday with her so that she could play at a WI Festival in Amersham on her way home. Members were having more and more success and in 1994 Di and co-player Pam were awarded a Golden Mallet for Southern England. In 1999 they gained the Aylesbury North Ladies Achievement Award and they still have their winner’s shields and vases. The club became well known and members had success in tournaments in the Southern England league.
Finances were always a problem and, in the WI way, the group was resourceful. An object was produced for sale – “an unrecognizable homemade hearth companion set - worthy of a £1 price tag”, said Di, but with a bit of her sales technique it became a successful sale of a £5 garden ornament.
When a pattern for a crochet bedspread appeared in Home & Country all of the members of the croquet club made a square, but things were not entirely harmonious – individuals worked at different tensions - causing considerable discord when all the squares were joined together! However, with the bedspread finally complete, WIs were challenged to celebrate 70 Years of the WI by making a book to depict the history of their WI, and to find an imaginative way to transport it to their neighbouring WI.
The Croquet Club came to the fore and they constructed a four poster bed on a bale truck, with their newly acquired tie dye skills very much in evidence! All dressed as house maids in black and white they began to push the bed with the said bedspread to the next village. The heavens opened, but fortunately Di’s thoughtful husband came to the rescue and loaded the bed, and the maids, onto a cattle trailer towed by a Land Rover and the journey was finished in this memorable manner. With such fame, the bedspread became an object of desire and a goodly sum was raised for the croquet club when it was raffled.
Di is predictably modest about her award from the Croquet Association, but has been persuaded to raid her store of diaries and photos to tell us these stories. It is typical of her dedication to the WI that she keeps her badges and medals in a beautiful padded box that she made, of course, at Denman College!
Margaret Templeton
November 2017