MEETINGS ARE HELD ON THE FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH FROM 7.30PM. Please scroll below the poster to find out what we are doing over the coming months.

The De Beauvoir WI is now meeting (with effect from 4 January 2024) in the De Beauvoir Block, 92-96, De Beauvoir Road in the borough of Hackney. Each month (except August, when we have a social at alternative venue), we have speakers on a number of topics or activities including history talks, craft demonstrations and dancing. We serve free hot and cold drinks, cakes, and snacks. Our meetings are free to members (please see below the poster for membership details) and £5 for guests. As all WI groups we are inclusive of all women over the age of 18. Our ‘flavour’ aims to include activities that interest our entire membership but we welcome all suggestions and ideas if people feel we are not as broad as we could be. Our committee are friendly and approachable; we want everyone to enjoy their time with us and feel able to confidently speak up if they don’t.

COMING IN APRIL

HOW TO JOIN US – You can join at a meeting or by emailing the address displayed on the poster above. The membership fee for this year (from 1st April 2024) is £48.00 (pro rata rates apply for joining at different intervals during the year). Once a member, all meetings are free to attend and you can join any of our interest groups which are listed below. You will be added to our membership database and receive the magazine WI Life and be able to access MyWI. Here you can read all the latest WI news, sign up for webinars, training and education courses and get your membership card. You will have the opportunity to vote for yearly campaign resolutions as well.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES

Please email us at debeauvoirwi@gmail.com if you are interested in any activity for times and meeting place. Some will have a limited capacity.

3 August 2024 – Summer Social. Venue and other details to be confirmed. The full programme is below, although may be subject to change.

WHAT WE DO

We have several interest groups open to all members of the DBWI. To join us please come along as a guest to one of our meetings, or email our main address (featured on the poster above) for details. Once you are a member you can be added to group WhatsApp chats and email lists.

Book. Organised by Nichola.
This group is held on the third Tuesday of the month.  Just now we are meeting at a rather good brasserie in Newington Green, but there is no compulsion on anyone to spend any money.  We choose the next book between us and it is announced at the next WI meeting.  There is a list of the most recent books we’ve read in the Book Group page.

BST walking. Organised by Nichola, and Debby L.
Meets formally during British Summer Time on the last Friday of the month in the evening. See the group page here. During the ‘off season’ members can arrange walks informally through the WhatsApp Group

Knitting and Stitching.
This group meets intermittently, depending on what we are working on. We knit, crochet, stitch and chat.
We’ve created yarn bombs, crafted for climate change, made goody bags and scrubs for the NHS. For past projects see the group page.

Jams and Preserves workshops.
Meets seasonally to make delicious jars of sweet goodness to sell at community events. Click here for the page.

DBWI Fitness Group – Organised by Heather F and Carolyn Weekly activities to improve health and wellbeing, for all levels of fitness. Visit the page here for timetable.

Culture Club – Organised by Rona S. Will be starting with cinema visits for interested members and hopefully expanding to theatre, galleries and beyond. Click here to visit the page

DB Campaigners – Organised by Fiona K.
Will meet throughout the year for activities to highlight our key campaigns. Please see the group page here and the main campaigns page here

Other activities.

We arrange occasional trips to places of interest or theatre shows – see the DBWI Trips Out page to see past excursions.

We get involved in local community events and initiatives including:
Warm Welcome Wednesdays – an initiative started by St Peter’s Church, De Beauvoir last year as a response to the rising costs of energy, to provide a warm space for people to come for soup and company. DBWI members volunteer with setting up, serving the soup and facilitating crafts if possible.

Party in the Park – organised by the De Beauvoir Association and happens annually in July. It is an inclusive, family event with lots of free activities for children. DBWI organises and runs a cake stall.

Blooms, Bakes and Barks – organised by the De Beauvoir Gardeners each September this event has competitions for cakes, preserves, home grown flowers and veg, crafts, a kid’s competition, and a dog show. There are stalls held around De Beauvoir and DBWI sell jams, preserves and handmade crafts.

Christmas Fair – organised by the De Beauvoir Association in late November, with stalls in the crypt of St Peter’s Church and around the community selling festive food and gifts.

Charities – we are a proud supporter of Solace Women’s Aid, an important organisation fighting for women and girls who experience domestic violence and abuse. We have raised money and regularly collect and donate toiletries and childrens toys.

Community Events – we also actively initiate and support community events. For example, we hosted a Great Winter Get Together Lunch on 13 January 2024 at the De Beauvoir Block, which invited all members of our local community to come for a delicious meal, to play games for all ages and to spend just a little time chatting and meeting each other. It was a great success and we were proud to support the movement for stronger communities which honours the late Jo Cox MP and her belief in community togetherness. Our thanks to Ana Sizer (the Hackney Speaker) and Joe Walker (one of our local Councillors) for posting so positively about the event on social media – it was wonderful they could join us (see photo below). Ana will be speaking at our April meeting on the topic of ‘Women in Politics’ – see the programme above.

Covid compliance notice
Please continue to follow the DBWI precautions regarding Covid. We would also encourage everyone to book their next jab when called to do so.
In line with guidance from the NFWI masks are optional but we encourage members and guests to wear one when in more crowded areas, such as queueing for refreshments. Now the temperatures have dropped it is too cold to keep the windows and doors open during meetings. Therefore, if you feel unwell at all, or live with someone who has Covid, please do not come along to the meeting as a number of our members are vulnerable. Wash hands in the toilets and/or use sanitiser, which we will provide hand sanitiser if you cannot bring your own but please bring your own if you can. All surfaces on tables and at the serving area will be wiped down with disinfectant before your arrival. If you can do a lateral flow test before attending meetings and contact us if you develop symptoms after attending.