Meetings in 2021
December - Caitlin Downie and her accompanist gave us a fabulous varied concert of seasonal songs, some familiar and others less known but beautifully performed. Sadly, the number of members attending was very low, due to concerns around Covid, but those who did enjoyed the entertainment and the opportunity to continue the usual meeting activities.
November - Prity Argawal led an interesting session on armchair yoga, with an opportunity to try out exercises which we can do at home.
October - we heard about the Magpie Project, the charity we support which provides assistance to mothers / fathers and their children living in temporary accommodation in Newham. Jane Williams, founder of the project, talked movingly about the circumstances in which these (mostly) mothers have to live, the difficulties they encounter in raising their children and the impact on the children's development.
September - We had our first meeting back in the hall, where we enjoyed learning about Hearing dogs for the deaf.
August - we held a very successful picnic in the Church grounds, our first face-to-face meeting since February 2020.
July - Jo May led a fun Spoons workshop.
June - Baroness Bolsover demonstrated "the etiquette of afternoon tea".
May - Annual Meeting - Members elected the Committee for the forthcoming year. Maggie arranged a mystery game, and as usual there was an opportunity to chat in smaller breakout rooms.
April - Tanya Durkin led a pampering hands workshop using samples which had been provided to members beforehand. Members enjoyed some lovely scents and enjoyed mixing their own hand scrub, using just oil and salt!
March - Annamaria dell'Anese gave us a fascinating talk on some of the treasures in London's art galleries and museums, including the paintings "The Fighting Temeraire" by Turner and "The Ambassadors" by Holbein, as well as the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.
February - Paul Robbins gave us a fascinating insight into some of the history of East London, showing how people lived and worked in the area. He concluded by telling us about the origins of Cockneys and teaching us some Cockney rhyming slang.
January - Robert Nurden told us about the exploits of his grandfather, Rev. Stanley B. James, detailed in his book, Between Heaven and Earth. Rev. James was a vicar in Walthamstow, whose career took him from Wales to Canada, Spain and Ireland, meeting Socialists, Suffragists, and Pacifists in the early 20th century.