Previous meetings
2013
January 2013: Bring a Dish – our New Year social.
February 2013: Amanda from Lipstick and Curls came and talked to us about vintage hairstyles and cosmetics, demonstrated on a couple of members.
March 2013: A tutoured cheese tasting session with Eleanor and David Robins from Say Cheese
April 2013: Pippa Stacey,a local glass artist, showed us how to create a piece of art using glass fusion.
May 2013: AGM
June 2013: A hilarious evening saw us having a go at belly dancing.
July 2013: Gill Askhill shared her passion for metal detecting and showed us some of her most exciting finds.
August 2013: Summer break.
September 2013: A social evening with a cake competiton.
October 2013: Caroline led the group in a session painting china.
November 2013: A quiz evening
December 2013: Caroline showed everyone how to make zig zag cards.
2014
January 2014: Gill Castle came to speak to us about her experiences in Uganda that led to her founding her charity, Omushana.
February 2014: Rumana taught us about the history of chocolate, how it is processed and how to taste it. We were able to taste seven different types of plain and flavoured fairtrade chocolate and to match some of them to different beers.
March 2014: Bridget Prentice MP came and spoke to us about her experiences as a female MP from 1992 – 2010. Working as a Labour whip, Parliamentary Private Secretary, select committee member and minister in the Department of Justice.
April 2014: Sue, one of our members, showed us how to make a corsage.
May 2014: AGM
June 2014: Chris Hare gave us a talk entitled ’40 Years Without a Proper Job’ about his work in the theatre, including as manager at The Broadway Theatre in Catford.
July 2014: John Meredith spoke on the subject of ‘Understanding Animal Research’. A topic which elicited a lively debate.
August 2014: Summer break.
September 2014: Lillian Betteridge gave us a fascinating insight into her life as a female funeral director.
October 2014: Penny Greenough, aka The Peckham Pickler came to talk to us about foraging in the urban environment and gave us a chance to sample some of her unusual jams, jellies and chutneys.
November 2014: Another member, Carole, led us in making bead jewellery.
December 2014: Our Christmas social. We all had a go at decorating Christmas biscuits.
2015
January 2015: We all made name badges.
February 2015: Saw the return of Eleanor and David Robins from Say Cheese for another tutored cheese tasting.
March 2015: Christine demonstrated how to make flowers out of sugar paste and showed us some of her exquisite work. We then had a go at making a simple pansy.
April 2015: Nicole, one of our members, gave us an illustrated talk on her trip to Antarctica to see the wildlife.
May 2015: AGM
June 2015: Amora taught us how to belly dance.
July 2015: Paul, from the Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG), gave us a talk about the rivers that run through the borough.
August 2015: Summer break.
September 2015: Wendy ran a mosaic making session and we had some very creative results.
October 2015: Tony Allen taught us some basic self-defence techniques.
November 2015: Jane Hearn came and spoke to us about the prefabs round South East London especially the Excalibur estate in Catford.
December 2015: Our Christmas Social at which Caroline showed us some easy to make homemade sweets.
2016
January 2016: Kay taught us how to Jive.
February 2016: We had a go at flower-arranging, led by Sue.
March 2016: Downham and Whitefoot Community Choir came to sing with us
April 2016: Genealogist, Robert Parker, came to talk to us about tracing his family tree.
May 2016: AGM
June 2016: Our speaker was Steve Walker, a Kent chilli farmer.
July 2016: Nicola White, an artist and Mudlarker came to show us some of the items she has found on the foreshore of the Thames and the stories behind them.
August 2016: Summer break.
September 2016: As part of our activity week we had a go at Morris dancing with Dacre Ladies Morris dancers.
October 2016: Peter Ranken from the Archibald Corbett Society came and gave us a fascinating talk about our local estate.
November 2016: Jean showed us how to make these lovely boxes for Christmas.
December 2016: Our Caribbean Christmas social.
2017
January 2017: Kay taught us how to play whist.
February 2017: We had a talk followed by a Q&A session with Tessa Allen, a tutor at Coolings Garden Centre.
March 2017: We had a go at Iris folding to make cards.
April 2017: Dorothy gave us a talk on Aloe Vera.
May 2017: AGM.
June 2017: Randal Carey brought some of his large collection of birds of prey for us to meet.
July 2017: We had a go at painting china.
August 2017: Summer break.
September 2017: We learnt to play the ukulele.
October 2017: Sarah Jarman from Entelchy Arts gave us a talk about their project improving the lives of older people in the area.
November 2017: Sue Hollins gave us a demonstration of simple Indian cookery.
December 2017: Sue Laughton showed us how to create a beautiful Christmas door hanging.
2018
January 2018: We learnt how to do origami.
February 2018: We had a talk about London Search and Rescue.
March 2018: Downham and Whitefoot Community Choir sang for us.
April 2018: We learnt about British SIgn Language.
May 2018: AGM
June 2018: Sian Rickard taught us about Bollywood dancing.
July 2018: Freya Rodger talked to us about her Freyathlon.
August 2018: Summer break.
September 2018: Kate Willoughby talked to us about the suffragettes.
October 2018: A group of Catford WI members prepared a delicious variety of savoury and sweet West Indian dishes for us to taste.
November 2018: Jean H showed us how to make these decorative paper baskets.
December 2018: We met for a festive end-of-year social gathering.
2019
January 2019: Nicola Dunn gave a brief talk about hand-lettering and then we had a go ourselves.
February 2019: Jennifer Cooper gave a talk about the Cross Bones Graveyard.
March 2019: Members and guests enjoyed a sociable craft evening, decorating picture frames.
April 2019: Lin Saines gave us a talk about herbs.
May 2019: AGM
June 2019: Josh Drewe taught is some tai chi.
July 2019: Rob Leeming shared stories of his work as a Police VIP Protection Officer.
August 2019: Summer break.
September 2019: Hazel C and Kay G taught us how to line dance.
October 2019: Ann Talbot gave us a talk about her work in casinos.
November 2019: Sheila Farmer gave an interesting presentation about her life working in wardrobe.
December 2019: Caroline W taught us how to make ribbon-and-bead Christmas tree decorations.
