February means it’s the Birthday Supper and this year we celebrated our 95 th as Quedgeley WI. We always look forward to the lovely food that is prepared by our members but we have to wait while we go through our usual business. After welcoming two visitors and a new member we were reminded to check that our birth dates had been recorded so that any “special” ones are not missed. This month’s competition was a handmade craft item of our choice and there was a varied selection of different crafts for members to judge, with a coin placed by their favourite. Competitions are held several times a year and the 2019 winners were announced and a trophy and cash prizes presented during the evening. We are still looking for members to join our skittles team and volunteers were requested for the Marie Curie Daffodil collection at the end of March to be held at our local Tesco. Volunteers were also needed to help at the Three Counties Show as it is Gloucestershire’s turn to run the refreshment tent. There was a coffee morning arranged for February at The Roastery and we will be holding a fund raising afternoon in aid of the Cobalt Breast Screening Nurses Fund at Quedgeley Village Hall on Saturday 4th April between 2-4 where we will be serving tea or coffee and cake. There will be a charge of £2.50 and also a raffle and book and jigsaw stall. We are planning a coach trip in June with one suggestion of Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey fame but other suggestions may come in before then. We will be doing our yearly fund raising at Rikenal Car Park one Saturday in August and September we will be attending the Robinswood Group Party at Hardwicke Village Hall where the theme is a Victory in Europe street party with music and food of the 1940s. After hearing all the business we finally enjoyed the Birthday Supper consisting of lovely one pot meals with crusty bread, the usual naughty but nice puddings made by some of our members and wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Our speaker for March will be Glenn Salter on the research and plot of a novel which is sure to be interesting

January and a new year of excellent speakers to look forward to, including the one who joined us in the singing of Jerusalem at the start of the meeting. Before hearing from him we went through the usual business where we learned that by collecting money instead of giving Christmas cards we raised just over £24 to donate to the James Hopkins Trust. We paid our subscriptions of £43 for the year and were looking forward to entering the Quedgeley Community Quiz two days after the meeting. It will be our 95 th Birthday Supper in February and we were reminded that we will be served a one pot meal with crusty bread followed by a selection of the usual delicious puddings made by some of our members. None of this will be any good if we forget to bring our crockery and cutlery! There will be a competition for members to bring a craft of their choice and hopefully there will be plenty of entries. The winners of last year’s competitions will be announced and cash prizes and a trophy will be presented. It was then on to our speaker Chris O’Grady who was a familiar face as we had heard his entertaining talk two years ago on his pilgrimage to Rome and the people he had met along the way. This time he was telling us about Fakes and Fortunes, Art and Antiques. His talk started with how he acquired some of his antiques and with the use of slides he went on to cover what to look for to determine whether something was a fake or genuine and also showed us examples of some of the things he had bought. He told amusing stories of the fortunes and misfortunes of antiques and how some people had faked things. One example that was particularly ingenious was when fake pottery was manufactured from inside a prison! A very interesting and amusing talk with which to start the year. If anyone would like to come along as a visitor or new member they will be made very welcome. Our March speaker will be Glen Salter with Research and Plot of a Novel.

The last meeting of the year started with a rousing rendition of Jerusalem as we were joined in the singing by the Gloucester and District Christian Choir who went on to entertain us with several carols and popular Christmas songs. During the usual business we heard that the Christmas meal at The Thatch had been enjoyed by those who went as was the GFWI Carol Concert at the Cathedral. With a Christmas barter stall, Raffle, mulled wine and a buffet supplied by the members the last meeting of 2019 ended on a high note. Our WI subscription of £43 is due in January but there is a full programme of excellent speakers on various subjects that will make it all worth it. In January we will hear from Chris O’Grady with his talk Fakes & Fortunes, Art and Antiques and members are asked to bring along three antiques for him to value. We had already heard from Chris when we told us of his pilgrimage from Pershore to Rome and this new talk is sure to be as entertaining. February will be our 95 th Birthday Supper and Social Evening and there is a competition of a craft of your choice. In March Glen Salter will be telling us how to research and plot a novel and in April we will be going back in time with Patrick Furley and Granny’s Magic Lantern Show, with a competition of a photograph of Granny. May always means Resolutions when members choose and vote on important issues that they want to see the WI’s National body campaign on and this will be followed by a Social Evening. In June we will have Musical Entertainment from Lizzie Lindell and July we will be hearing from John Butterworth about a hotel with a famous guest. August always means our Summer Outing and in September the talk will be about Wildlife Rescue, with a wildlife photograph for our competition. In October we will hear about Latin America from Paul Carpenter, November is the A.G.M. and in December we’ll have our Christmas Social Evening and American Supper with entertainment by Matthew Sproston. The last competition of 2019 will be a home made Christmas decoration which will round off another very interesting year. We meet at 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of every month at Quedgeley Village Hall and if anyone has been tempted by the speakers we will be hearing next year they will be made very welcome, either as a visitor or new member. Further information can be found on facebook page.

November for our WI means it’s time for the AGM followed by wine, nibbles and a quiz. After the usual singing of Jerusalem the Treasurer went through the accounts for the year followed by the Secretary’s report that reminded us of the interesting speakers as well as the walks, coffee mornings and visits we had enjoyed throughout the year. Our President Pat Watts thanked the members who were responsible for our colourful table at the W I Centenary Exhibition in the Cathedral and also those who helped and attended when we hosted the Group Party when the theme was the 1960s and some had even come dressed in 60’s clothing which helped to add atmosphere. With December being the last meeting of 2019 we are sure that the following year will be just as interesting and enjoyable. We welcome any visitors and new members and more information can be found on our Facebook page