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Burwell Belles WI

WELCOME

My name is Alison Dodds and I have been President since 2022. I have watched our WI go from strength to strength. We are an enthusiastic group of women who have embraced the recent developments within the WI, becoming involved with national resolutions, social issues and climate change, particularly to do with recycling and reusing resources.

Our flourishing WI membership comprises women from wide ranging backgrounds, with many interests and skills. We are a large WI with 65 members currently and I am grateful for the support of a large committee. We work very hard to create an interesting programme which both reflects our current interests and keeps us entertained, as well as promoting social events, trips and fundraising.

We maintain our two defibrillators in the village which we funded following a fabulous charity auction. Fundraising is on- going and we support our annual village carnival by providing delicious refreshments. Our stand is cunningly positioned inside the beer tent! We have a number of successful clubs whose members have a great time cooking, reading, gardening and crafting etc. We have been meeting in the same hall since our beginning in 1937!!

Do come and join us even if it’s just for the tea and cake! Visitors are very welcome :)

MEETINGS

Day: Last Thursday of the month

Time: 19:30pm

Location:

Gardiner Memorial Hall, High Street, Burwell,

Cambridgeshire, CB25 0HD

Membership + Visitors £5

CRAFT GROUP

The craft group has been a sub group of Burwell WI for many years. Historically, the group met in members’ homes to try out new crafts or just to progress their own projects but, as the group has become more popular, we now meet in a church hall.

We contribute to many national and local events by making commemorative craft pieces, ie, for the late Queen’s 70th Jubilee each member created a pennant for bunting based on the Queen’s wedding dress. The bunting is put to good use at village events.

At the first meeting of the year we discuss the programme content for those who want to take part and any craft events we may wish to visit as a group. It is a very friendly group and social group which is open to new members even if they’ve never crafted before. We try all sorts of crafts ranging from textile, paper, flowers, art, decoupage etc. It is usually a group member who will lead us in a “new” craft and we have lots of fun along the way.

The group meets once a month on the third Tuesday in the afternoon (2-4 pm) at Burwell Baptist Church. A small charge of £3 is required to cover the cost of the hall.

GARDENING GROUP

We like to share our gardening interests and experiences, knowledge and also plants and seeds.

We usually meet at 2pm last Monday of the month from February to September at our homes, local garden centres and open gardens such as NGS and National Trust in the local area. Lifts can be arranged if you are not a driver.

GET IN TOUCH

Via WhatsApp, email or telephone, if you would like to come along please let me have your contact details by text, email or call.

Mandy Smith 07795 973046. (I am profoundly deaf so please bear with me if you telephone)

BOOK GROUP

One of our most popular clubs is Book Group!

We started in 2013 and have just taken off. The group helped us to get to know each other better as we discussed the books which have influenced our lives.It also encouraged us to read books which we would have previously rejected.

These are some of our early choices.

· My Dear I wanted to tell you by Louisa Young

· The Woman who went to bed for a year by Sue Townsend

· To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee

· Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

· La’s Orchestra saves the world by Alexander McCall Smith

· A spot of bother by Mark Haddon

· The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

The group rapidly became established and extremely popular. We needed a shoe horn to fit in each other’s houses. So …….in March 2023 we split into two groups of 12.

They are called Chatterbooks which is a great name.

We meet monthly to discuss a book chosen on a rota basis and share refreshments in each other’s homes. Occasionally we use the library for meetings as well as pubs, we go out for walks and other social occasions and generally have a great time!

SCRIBBLERS
WRITING GROUP

The Scribblers writing group was set up in March 2025 to bring together members who wanted to start, or continue, their creative writing journey, whether that be to research and write up their family history, write that novel or non-fiction book that’s been in their head for years and turn a dream of being an author into reality, or to write articles or poetry.

The group’s aims are to support each other during the writing process by:

* being a safe place to read our work out loud
* ensuring everyone gets an equal go at sharing their work and that feedback remains constructive
* being a sounding board for ideas
* motivating each other when we lose focus
* sharing writing tips we’ve learned ourselves and come across elsewhere
* making our writing enjoyable and fun!

In the coming year we hope to visit other local writing groups and invite local authors to come and talk to us about their experiences of writing.