Reepham WI

Twelfth birthday celebrations

Post date: Thursday, October 6, 2022 - 17:09

Reepham WI, in its current format, will be celebrating its 12th birthday at its next meeting on Thursday 20 October.

Members will welcome Steve Burns (Dr Vinyl) from BBC Radio Norfolk, who will be playing music to enjoy, and they will be invited to sing along and perhaps dance.

The celebration will be held in St Michael’s Reepham and will start at 7.30 pm, with doors open from just after 7 pm.

Reepham WI welcomes women of all ages and interests: anyone interested in joining can come along as a visitor for a couple of months to get to know the members.

Members had hoped to celebrate their 10th birthday in 2020, but the Covid pandemic made it impossible to do so face to face.

Many WI groups in the UK struggled to maintain membership during the pandemic and have since closed.

Reepham WI, however, has bucked that trend: meetings during Covid were held on Zoom and the membership has since grown, now that a full programme can be experienced again.

Members enjoy monthly meetings with speakers, as well as a craft club, walking groups and a book club.

The current vibrant membership is an eclectic mix of ages, backgrounds and interests, and there is a genuine sense of friendship and mutual support.

Reepham WI meets on the third Thursday of the month in St Michael’s at 7.30 pm.

WI welcomes Rotary club to open meeting

Post date: Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 18:16

Reepham WI’s August meeting took the form of an afternoon open meeting in the Bircham Centre garden to which family and friends were invited to join members for a fun quiz and refreshments.

Photos: John Tym

A special invitation was extended to members of the Reepham & District Rotary Club and funds raised on the day, through a raffle and tombola, were donated to Reepham Rotary’s campaign to support Rotary clubs in Ukraine.

The quiz part of the afternoon was led by Rotarian Richard Cooke, who posed questions about Norfolk, ranging from the birthplace of Nelson (Burnham Thorpe) to the name of the original manufacturer of chocolate in Norwich (Caleys).

Reepham Rotary president Jim Fraser gave a report about the need for humanitarian support in Ukraine, summarising the events so far in the war with Russia.

Kyiv’s Rotary club has played a key role in providing both medical supplies and volunteers, as well as supporting those who are attempting to return to their communities.

Reepham WI president Helen Bailey thanked everyone for attending and supporting the fundraising and looked forward to further collaboration between the WI and the Rotary in the future.

Reepham WI meets on the first Thursday of the month at St Michael’s, Reepham, at 7.30 pm.

The September meeting will be on Thursday 15 September, when a representative of the East Anglian Air Ambulance will give a one-hour training session covering the signs of cardiac arrest, how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use a defibrillator.

Women of all ages and interests are welcome to attend as visitors.

Hidden treasures of Norfolk’s secret sea

Post date: Monday, November 15, 2021 - 16:22

Reepham WI met in St Michael’s on Thursday 21 October and members were delighted to welcome Rob Spray, who came to talk about “The Hidden Treasures of Norfolk’s Secret Sea”.

Rob provided an entertaining and engaging talk about the marine wildlife to be found off the Norfolk coast, and his experience of diving for Seasearch – a project for recreational divers who collect and submit data, helping to audit marine wildlife and aid conservation.

Photo: Rob Spray

There was an interactive photo quiz of some exotic-looking creatures that might be expected to inhabit warm, clear tropical waters, but in fact are at home in the murkier, cold North Sea around Sheringham and Cromer.

Whether colourful anemones, frilly sea slugs, sunburst star fish or the aptly named “sea squirts”, Rob had an interesting story to tell.

His enthusiasm for the work he and colleagues do to help preserve these special creatures was very evident – Reepham WI attendees now have a greater awareness and appreciation of the fascinating biodiversity of our local coast.

Reepham WI meets on the third Thursday of every month in St Michael’s, Reepham. Meetings currently start at 7.15 pm. Visitors and potential new members are welcome to attend.

Collections for local food banks

Post date: Saturday, December 5, 2020 - 11:20

 

On 19 November, 22 members of Reepham WI enjoyed an inspirational presentation by Tim Morton, Project Manager for Cromer & District Food Bank. It was the first such meeting via Zoom and proved to be a resounding success.

Tim explained that the food bank, which comes under the umbrella of the Trussell Trust, covers an area of 200 square miles, from Stalham to Wells-next-the-Sea, with seven distribution centres.

The focus is to meet the immediate needs of people experiencing food poverty, as well as working in tandem with government agencies, for example social services, to ensure no one falls through the net and, ultimately, to help steer struggling families towards self-sufficiency.

A startling statistic is that in the year to October they have helped 4,000 people, an increase of 45% on the same period in 2019.

Thankfully, donations to date, from individuals as well as supermarkets, independent traders and church groups, are up 60%.

Another interesting detail that members were not aware of is that the food bank also helps with “fuel poverty”, which can have a wide-ranging, devastating effect on those without heating or even hot water. This initiative is funded separately by monetary donations.

With Christmas fast approaching, Tim tabled a “wish list” of items they are hoping to include in food parcels during December to give a little festive cheer to their clients.

Reepham WI members certainly listened to what Tim had to say and what he is hoping to achieve, and subsequently organised a collection that exceeded all expectations, so it was decided to share a third of the items with Mid Norfolk Foodbank Food Bank in Dereham.

Thank you to all WI members and residents who so kindly donated – both Cromer and Dereham food banks are hugely appreciative.

For anyone wishing to donate to the food banks, the Reepham benefice’s permanent collection point was relocated from St Mary’s to Diane’s Pantry in Reepham Market Place at the beginning of the pandemic.

The newly opened Co-op on Station Road also has a collection box by the exit.

Dee Taylor

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