New Year New You

A belated happy new year to all our members of Merstham Women’s group. We had a well-attended AGM – thank you to all who came. Reflecting on last year, we had some awesome speakers and events. Amazing and easy crafts, we learnt about women in the war, why cheese is so lovely – we had Tai chi by the lake, a walk in priory park and a fun folk dance with a live band

How do we top that? Well, we’re going to have a jolly good try. Already we have a full programme of music, crafts, gentle exercise and educational speakers lined up for Tuesday evenings.  Our book club is up and running, our monthly pub nights will begin again in spring, and we have a few ideas already for trips out and local visits – possibly join with Merstham Horticultural society – We’ll also check out some of the Holmesdale History society and the Bourne society who run some interesting trips. And we’ll run a few trips just for us.

Our next Tuesday event on the 10^th February will be a folk music night - due to a prior engagement in Dubai, the AtoZ flute orchestra have a prior engagement, Ian Thiele and Alan Atkinson, 2 members of the CoHorts, to entertain us with English and Irish folk tunes – it should be a lovely chilled musical evening.

Up and coming Tuesdaysnclude

·       Spring and Easter crafts. 

·      A talk on Beekeeping with honey for sale.

·      Seated chair yoga

·      A renowned crime writer will be talking to us in October.

·      A talk about Chaldon Church in the summer with a follow up visit 

·      we’ll also get to pet some service dogs in September and hear about the interest work they do to make sure their owns can lead full and active lives in the community.  

As you can see from this snapshot, we have a variety of events coming up we hope will please all.

For an upcoming trip out, I will be planning to visit St Martins in the Fields to attend the Luxmuralis cosmic sound and light experience Space in the evening. Tickets £12 (£10 concessions) I’ll be likely to attend on 19^th or 20^th February. See www.projectioartgallery.com for a view of what it’s all about – St Martins Café in the crypt is also very fabulous for a bite to eat beforehand. I’m also hoping to catch the immersive Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum before it finishes.

For the crafters among you the Garibaldi pub in Earlswood run a Makers market on the 2^nd Sunday of every month – the next ones are on 8^th Feb and 8^th March between 1pm and 5pm.  Could be an interesting group trip out and we can also to check it out for pub nights. Althou

gh the pub inside is tiny, the garden in the summer is huge and very beautiful.

Our weekly socials at the hub also continue on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in term time, Free tea and coffee available until March 31^st.

We’ll be attending All Saints fair at Crossways Garden on 7^th June with homemade jams and crafts – and of course selling our group to the women of Merstham. We’ll also run another stall on 6^th September at the famous Quality Street Fair – these are really lovely local events. Look out for a jam making session in April/May and come and join in.

We do hope to see some of you at upcoming events. Whether you’re a seasoned regular, an occasional dipper in or you’ve never visited us before I do hope you come and see us at one of our events. £3 per meeting or £24 a year. We promise to make you very welcome when you step through the door.   

Liz