Elfy

I don't excuse this driver for a second...or those that drive like absolute maniacs, but I do think being a bus driver must be an incredibly stressful job with not much pay (compare it to a tube driver). They have to deal with the general public, who are not always paragons of virtue, and other drivers, who can be selfish and dangerous. And sometimes cyclists are their own worse enemy...I've seen cyclists overtake other cyclists, causing the bus to screech to a halt (and then people fall over in the bus). It's not always the bus driver's fault! (Although in this case, he sounds like a nutter!)

TillieTrotter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You bunch of ole softies! In my day (2005) all we > took was a tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags and > a big bottle of brandy to keep us warm. > > In my day (1995), I jumped over the fence, broke my ankle and spent the next 2 weeks in hospital...(and still have the operation scars to prove it). Oh the folly of youth... I faced my Glastonbury demons and paid for a ticket in 2004 and 2005. It was excellent. Although somewhat lacking in crusties, hippies and broken bones (thankfully!)

The Jubilee line. They all got out at Waterloo. Re winning - I don't watch it every week - but I think I like the dark one (the older looking one, not the young weird looking one). The dark one who got voted off last week was on the Tube. He's a handsome young chap!

I saw about 5 of the Josephs who have already been voted off on the Tube on Wednesday night. They were even singing some of the songs to get some attention - it being London, everyone completely ignored them and pretended they didn't know who they were...(even if they did - like me!). One accidently brushed me and I glowed inside when he apologised and called me 'babe' (I must be a good 10 years older than him at least). My glowing was unfortunately shortlived, as he gave his seat up for a lady of advanced years (70 plus) and called her 'babe' too. Grrrrrrrr. My husband said he'd move carriages if I asked for an autograph..(for a friend, of course!)

Hi I'm afraid I'm at work today (not in ED). PM me and we can sort out the time and place.

I will email Thelma and let her know. And keep everyone posted. Unfortunately, I can't make the 6th either. But I should be able to make the following month.

My aunt taught a girl called....Jenna Taylor. No lie. What were the parents thinking???

Re the Magdala, I've never actually been but I've read that it's 2 for 1 pizza on a Tuesday night. Now that cannot be a bad thing! Can anyone substantiate this claim?

Oh dear. Just checked my diary and realise that I can't actually make 5th June...I think it should go ahead though. I can definitely help get things sorted before the meeting, ie get in contact with the WI, etc. And I'm around on 13th May pm, so can help with that.

Well done Ruth! The blog looks fantastic! I'll aim to email out a contact list today..as I'm off to Marrakech later (yay!) I'll also try and locate the scanner so I can email off the WI bumpf.

I've emailed Thelma from the Surrey WI regarding the meeting on the 5th. I've asked her to clarify what's expected. I've also PM'd the 2 contributors from Islington and Fulham re the roles and what's involved. Hopefully, we'll have a better idea by 5th June.

Mmm not sure what to make of that. I would love to shop locally and if I'm around on a Saturday, I always do. The fact is that I'm not always around on a Saturday and therefore can't shop at Moxons, William Rose et al. (This month, I've been away 3 out of 4 Saturdays - and would have loved to have bought some pork chops at William Rose, but could not). I work 8.30 to 6 Monday to Friday, so therefore can't get there during the week for fresh meat and fish, which means I have little option but Sainsbury's or Somerfield (in the local vicinity). I think the original point of the post was to point out that they may be missing out on key business here.... If opening late one evening means opening late on a Tuesday morning say, this might mean more business. No-one's advocating slave labour here, they're just pointing out that some of us who wish to shop locally can't always do so!

Tuesday 5th June is fine with me. As is first Tuesday of every month. Gives us a bit more time to get something organised. I'll call the Surrey WI and ask them what they're expecting. Then we have more time to get something sorted. Well done! The room sounds fab!

Hi Katie I've posted another thread with some notes about the meeting. Let us know how you do re venues. Once we have that and the day sorted, I'll get in contact with the WI. I'm also going to get in contact with the other WIs, to see if they can give us some more info about the 3 roles. It's all a bit vague at the moment! Cheers Lucy

Hello everyone! I've been tasked with writing a few notes about what we discussed last night. It was great to meet everyone. Sorry I had to dash off so quickly - got the in-laws staying and was having my dinner cooked for me! Anyway...there are 2 things that we need to get decided before we meet next. A regular venue - We discussed a few possibilities. Katiesa is going to contact a few venues and get back to us. A regular time - We thought a Monday or Tuesday once a month would be best. When a venue is available might dictate when we meet. But otherwise, we thought it was a good idea to put this to the forum. Which is best...a Monday or a Tuesday? Then we talked about a few other items; Publicity - SE22 Magazine want to do a feature. Katiesa is in contact with one of the writers. Re a website, Ruthmct offered to set up a blog. She'll link to it on this forum. We will need to set up a 'proper' werbsite and perhaps our own forum. Has anyone got any skills they can use for this? We discussed the roles of President, Treasurer and Secretary. We're not really sure of what is involved at the moment. I'll contact the Fulham and Islington branches to see if they can give any useful info. I'll also contact the Surrey WI. Anyone who wants to do it can volunteer at the next meeting. Next meeting - (this is venue dependent) - the date of 21st May was put forward. If we get the venue for this, we'll meet. If we can, we'll get someone from the Surrey WI to attend. It will probably consist of more admin - ie sorting out the roles and perhaps responsibilities for organising events? Contacts - I've got a list of contacts (email addresses). I'll send this out via email. Anyone who wants to be added, please PM me. Events - there were loads of ideas about future events. When we have more of a structure and the president, etc are in place, we can get going orgainising these. Goose Green Fair - it was suggested that we try to have a small stall at the fair on 13th May selling cakes etc. Can anyone interested in helping get in touch? Tracey has some time, so perhaps she can co-ordinate this? (Email address to follow). Is this OK Tracey? Jenny is going to contact Mark from the ED Forum to see if we can link up with their marquee somehow. Summer BBQ - this was briefly discussed. It might be worth talking ahout this at the next meeting. Anyway, that's a brief outline. We'll keep you posted about the next meeting, regular meeting and regular time. I'll be sending out a list of contacts soon. (And a scanned copy of the leaflets sent to me from the WI). See you soon!

Oops! Already said that. And can't find a way to just delete the post...

Sounds good to me! I need to pop home first to see if this info-sheet has arrived from the WI. (Not holding my breath as our post is pretty dreadful..but that's another thread!) It might give us an idea of what we should be discussing and the next steps. See you later!

I think we may be jumping the gun a bit if we start talking about our different interests/ competancies. If we want to set up a WI, there will be a bit of admin that we need to get sorted before we do anything! Sorry if that sounds too officious, but with 20+ of us meeting tonight, it would be good to come away from it with an action plan. One thing that Thelma mentioned is that we need to nominate a President, Treasurer and Secretary. I suppose we can't decide on that on this forum and it would be good to know what is involvesd with each role, but it's definitely something worth thinking about. It might be an idea to divide ourselves into smaller groups tonight - each involved with a different aspect? Although the fundamentals should also be discussed in one big group. Later on...it would definitely be a good idea to know who's good at what. I'm a beginner in all things crafty. But I'd love to learn!

I agree. You don't want to get all your meat and fish at the weekend for the following week. And if you're not even in ED on a Saturday...it means it has to come from Somerfield or Sainsburys or even (hushed tone) Tesco's. One late night shopping day would be very popular. I can see the queues now!

Hello! Thelma from the Surrey WI just called. She didn't go into too much detail about the admin side of things but is going to send me a bit of info through the post. Hopefully, I will get it by tomorrow's meeting. Should give us something to talk about. She sounded very enthusiastic about us setting this up. See you tomorrow!

From an article I read, the usual age is 50-60. I'm 32 so the 'old-lady' of the bunch so far! As far as I'm concerned, there are no age restrictions though..if someone's up for it and 73, it shouldn't be a problem. Likewise, if you're 18. (Although at 18, I had better things to do than sit around with a bunch of 'older' ladies talking about chutneys! Boys and Raves were calling..I'm showing my age now!)

I wasn't being entirely serious about signing Jerusalem! I think the consensus is that we're generally younger than the average WI member...and we'll have the activities to prove it. There's plenty of other campaigns to get involved in; the N1WI's choice - against the trafficking of women into the UK is certainly something worth supporting. Not sure what the rules are re which charities you can support. I did get an email back from the Surrey WI - there's someone called Thelma who is in charge of new groups, so hopefully she'll get in touch soon.

I will call when I have a quiet moment at work! (Emailing is a lot easier to get away with!) Thanks for all your advice. I'm sure we will need more as time goes on.

At the risk of sounding a bit over officious, perhaps we should have a loose agenda for our first meeting on Tuesday? The 'getting to know you' is definitely important, but we should also aim to move the process on a bit. Perhaps these loose categories could be discussed; - WI admin - what we need to do (I'm still waiting to hear from the Surrey WI - I'll call tomorrow if I don't receive an email today) Subs, etc - Publicity - how to get others involved? Website, etc - Events - what to do (the exciting bit)? How often, when? - Campaigns - Fundraising Those were just off the top of my head. Please feel free to add to them! I know the main reason for meeting is to meet each other and get the ball rolling. But it would be nice to walk away with a rough idea of what we do next...

Thanks Katie, I've emailed Jo from the Surrey WI and am awaiting a response. Hopefully, we will get some advice about funding, admin and all the rest. I had a look on your website and it looks fab. I hope we can do something similar. Very exciting!