We were thrilled to once again be able to offer our members an eclectic programme of fantastic speakers during 2017. We were inspired, enthralled, and informed by Julie Montagu, Miranda Sawyer, Mary Branson, and Sarah Hyndman among others, and had talks from London’s favourite secret garden, the Chelsea Physic Garden, The Design Museum, and Royal Warrant-holding cheesemongers, Paxton & Whitfield. In addition, we enjoyed a glass of Pimms at our Summer social and craft session in August, and mulled wine at our festive Christmas get-together in December.
Here’s a round-up of the year’s meetings:
Monday 4 December – we were inspired to get creative with Christmas foliage by watching the brilliant Amanda Austin, of Amanda Austin Flowers in Chelsea, who demonstrated how to put together a beautiful table decoration. There were lots of tips on what to use and how to use it, and one lucky raffle winner even got to take it home at the end of night!
We also got into t
he Christmas spirit by drinking mulled wine, and eating mince pies.
Monday 6 November – was our Annual Meeting. We said a huge thank you to Charlotte, who stepped down as president – though we’re delighted she’s remaining on the committee – and we gave a very warm welcome to Natalie, who takes over the reigns as our new president. Charlotte gave her president’s address, and along with the committee, reported on all that the group had achieved during the past year, and shared with members some of the speakers and events lined up for 2018. To accompany all the admin, it was fantastic to have Frances from Paxton & Whitfield’s Chelsea Green store along to share with us some of their delicious cheese, and tell us more about them and the company. It was great to welcome several guests and potential new members. A lovely evening.
Monday 2 October – A big thank you to Miranda Sawyer, music journalist, broadcaster and author, who shared with us her painful, sometimes funny, and insightful journey through her 40-something mid-life crisis! Miranda was a very engaging and fun speaker, and there were lots of questions afterwards. If you’d like to know more about her story, do check out her book, OUT OF TIME.
Our honorary member, Hector, was happy to pose with a copy of Miranda’s book.
Monday 4 September – Who knew the humble font could wield such power? We had a fun interactive meeting with Sarah Hyndman, who founded Typetasting to delve into the psychology of typography. 
“When done well it gives the impression that type is ‘invisible’ because our eyes can glide, seemingly effortlessly, across the page. However, when typography is just designed to be easy-to-read it misses the opportunity to connect with readers on a deeper, psychological level. Type is a powerful tool that can influence the meaning of words; establish trust; emotionally engage; give words a personality and a backstory; enhance experiences and impact a reader’s behaviour.” We looked at wine labels to dating sites, from company logos to album covers, and it was fascinating to learn how we as consumers are influenced by typography. I, for one, will never look at Comic Sans the same way again. If you’d like to delve deeper into the subject, do check out Sarah’s book, Why Fonts Matter.
Monday 7 August – while it poured with rain outside, we enjoyed our Summer Social inside at the Cooper’s Arms with a glass of Prosecco and an ORIGAMI workshop led by Patricia Mitchell of mitchellandblue.com Using just sheets of lovely paper, we were able to create some beautiful and unique pieces including a clutch bag, a shoe and a card wallet – perfect for our new FCWI business cards!
I think you’ll agree that our efforts weren’t too bad for first-time origamists (and yes, that is a word!).
Monday 3 July – what a great meeting we had with Vicky Chown and Kim Walker, medical herbalists who run HANDMADE APOTHECARY. Who knew that the humble nettle could have so many healing properties? That linden tea can help with insomnia, that lemon balm can boost your memory and calm anxiety…or that fresh thyme, onion and honey is an effective cold remedy! We seem to have lost some of our knowledge about natural remedies which, in these days of ever increasing resistance to antibiotics, could be more important than ever. They run workshops and foraging walks in London, more details on their website handmadeapothecary.co.uk
Monday 5 June – Claire Robinson from THE DESIGN MUSEUM, gave a brilliant talk on ‘THE VALUE OF DESIGN’ and how it impacts every aspect of our lives. Good design improves functions, provides solutions, gives us identity, saves time, enhances lives and indeed, saves lives. We learned about brilliant inventions such as the Life Straw, the earthquake-proof table and the Moocall – a device fitted to a cow’s tail to alert the farmer when she’s ready to give birth! We’re already planning our visit to the museum in its new home in Kensington to learn more.
Monday 8 May – We were thrilled that JULIE MONTAGU aka The Flexi Foodie, author of Eat Real Food, yoga teacher, mother and blogger, was able to join us and share her fascinating story. She talked about the importance of each one of us taking small moments of self-care each day, not only to improve our mood and well-being, but to give us renewed energy to take care of others. She was a fun and engaging speaker, and we all left inspired and motivated.
Monday 3 April – What better way to celebrate the arrival of Spring than with a talk on ‘Chelsea Physic Garden through the ages‘ by their head of education, MICHAEL HOLLAND. Michael took us through a presentation showing how the Physic Garden had changed over the past 300 years, growing in both size and reputation. It was founded in 1673, as the Apothecaries’ Garden, with the purpose of training apprentices in the identification and use of medicinal plants, and continues to play a significant role in education, running a range of courses for adults and activities for over 5,000 school children a year. It also has one of the larges medicinal plant displays in the world.
Monday 6 March – We were delighted that MARY BRANSON, artist-in-residence at the Houses of Parliament, was able to join us this month, to talk about her stunning contemporary light sculpture, NEW DAWN, which is situated above the entrance to St Stephen’s Tower in the Palace of Westminster.
It is six metres high, and made up of 168 hand-blown glass scrolls, and is a tribute to the thousands of campaigners who paved the way for universal suffrage. It was unveiled in 2016, 150 years to the day since the philosopher and Liberal MP John Stuart Mill presented the first mass petition calling for women’s votes in the House of Commons. The timing of our meeting could not have been more perfect, falling in the same week as we celebrated International Women’s Day.
Monday 6 February – A big thank you to our February speaker, PETER GAVIN, Founder Member and Senior Partner of St James’s Place Wealth Management, who gave us the benefit of his experience in financial management, and his insight into the changing financial markets in the wake of such global events as Brexit and the US Presidential election. It was interesting to have a professional’s view on what our long-term priorities should be, and it gave us all much to think about.
Monday 9 January – Despite travel chaos caused by a tube strike, we were delighted that our guest speaker, EMMA ERNESTO was able to come along and talk to us about RSBC, a new charity formed on 1st January this year, joining together the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) and Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB). The new charity aims, by 2020, to have helped 11,000 blind and partially sighted children and young people in England and Wales to believe they can achieve. They will do this from the ground up, working with their donors and volunteers to deliver the five things they believe will transform the life chances of every blind child in England and Wales –
- Helping parents first
- Excellent and inclusive education
- Build friendships and character
- Getting young people job ready
- Harnessing technology
If you think you can help by volunteering or supporting them in any other way, do go to their website www.rsbc.org.uk or contact them at enquiries@rsbc.org.uk
In lieu of a speaker fee, we were pleased to make a small donation to the charity.
