Programme

Programme 2024/25


2024

GREAT ASHFIELD &  BADWELL ASH WI

CENTENARY YEAR

1924 to 2024

April  11th 7.30pm Open Meeting

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

”The Blood Runners (SERV)”   Speaker TBC

This meeting is open to all for a small fee which includes refreshments and a raffle ticket........

SERV Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, Registered Charity number 1189346, also known as the Blood Runners, were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. The charity  provides an essential service to our local NHS Hospitals, Air Ambulance Services, Human Donated Milk Banks, hospices, pharmacies and vulnerable patients by transporting urgently needed blood, blood products, patient samples, donated human breast milk, medicine and medical equipment.

Find out more about their work and how your old phone or car could help.....,

May  9th   7.30pm  

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

AGM

June  13th 2.30pm    

Badwell Ash Village Hall

Centenary Tea   (Support by Badwell Ash and Great AShfield Parish Councils)

In June 1924 Great Ashfield and Badwell Ash Women’s Institute was formed. Women had little social life outside of the home and church so ladies needed friendship, fun and education while so much has changed in the intervening years,  these things are still found within the WI today. To help us celebrate our centenary and experience the magic we are holding a Tea Party with all members and  special guests; past presidents, WI group representatives, our Federation Chairman and WI Advisor as invited guests. Includes tea/coffee, sandwiches, cakes and scones with jam and cream.

This meeting is for Great Ashfield and Badwell Ash Women’s Institute members and invited guests only.

July  11th 2.30pm 

Garden visit

Columbine Hall Gardens,  Stowupland, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 4AT

The Hall is over 600 years old, and is surrounded by a deep and wide moat, thought to be older still and built to resist Viking raids.  In 1993 the hall and 29 acres of the original manorial lands were sold to Hew and Leslie Stevenson. As far as the gardens are concerned the Stevensons were given a blank slate -an iceberg rose and plenty of mature trees. After almost 30 years  of planning and planting nearly everything is full-height and mature. There is a large, walled vegetable garden,  numerous single colour beds, a bog garden which winds its way along an old ditch, now a running stream.


Cost to guests of WI members will be £10-15 payment is required before the visit and is non refundable. Tours last two and a half hours (including tea and cakes).

August 8th 2.30pm

Members Garden  Meeting, and Bring and Buy Sale 

Location to be confirmed

September 12th 7.30pm Open Meeting

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

“Kitchen Chemistry.” - Speaker Stephen H. Ashworth

This meeting is open to all for a small fee which includes refreshments and a raffle ticket. Come and find out more about converting your kitchen into a science lab!

Dr. Ashworth is a Professor of Chemical Physics & Science Communication in the School of Chemistry at the UEA. Although his research career has concentrated on high resolution spectroscopy, and spectroscopy applied to atmospheric chemistry, he is now much more involved with the communication of science. In 2009 he was awarded a CUE East Individual Award for Engagement. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Norwich Science Festival. In 2018 he was awarded an Inspirational Member Award, by the Royal Society of Chemistry, for his Kitchen Chemistry work.

October 10th 7.30pm 

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

”How to help our hedgehogs.” - Speaker Jonathan Housego

The West European hedgehog is one of about 17 hedgehog species worldwide and unmistakable as Britain’s only spiny mammal. Their highly specialised coat contains around 6,000 creamy-brown spines . Hedgehogs have changed little in the past 15 million years. They can be found across a wide range of rural and urban habitats. Over half of hedgehogs have been lost from our countryside since the millennium and a third are disappearing from sites in towns and cities. Find out how you can help turn this trend around as well as protecting your flowers and vegetables from slugs.....

November 7th 2.30pm

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

"Brownie and the Bean."  Speaker Charolotte Gidding

Charlotte and Luke Giddings  are absolutely passionate about the art of creating delicious cakes. At their bakery on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk using eggs from a local farm, flour made with Norfolk grown wheat, sugar made in Bury St Edmunds, British butter, and ethical chocolate produced in the UK they make... well come and find out. Perhaps there will be free samples as well...

After the successful fair in 2023  we are again holding the…………..

Great Ashfield and Badwell Ash WI Christmas Fayre

On Saturday 9 November 2024

From 11.00 – 15.00

Badwell Ash Village Hall, The Street, Badwell Ash IP31 3DG

Variety of stalls hosting local makers as well as refreshments including cakes, tea, coffee etc

Come and do your Christmas shopping early before the rush!!

December 12th 1.30pm 

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

Members Christmas Lunch

Join us for a light lunch and Christmas delights..........

2025

January  9th 2.30pm

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

Wimbledon – Behind the Scenes.” Speaker Wendy Smith

Wendy has worked as a line judge for nearly 40 years a role that has has taken her all over the world and has worked in many of the top matches. In 2012 Wendy officiated at the Olympic and Papalympic Games in London, and called the line in the Men’s Singles Final at the All England Championship. She has met and encountered all of the top players over the years and has many stories to  tell....

February  13th 2.30pm

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

“A Crafty Afternoon”

March 13th  7.30pm

Lord Thurlow Hall, Great Ashfield

The Suffolk Punch.” Speaker TBC

The Suffolk Punch horse has been a part of the Suffolk landscape since the early sixteenth century. The horses were originally used for agricultural purposes, but over the years have been used to transport artillery, deliver retail goods and work in forestry. Shorter but more muscular than other heavy draught horses such as Clydesdale or Shires. Find out more about with The Suffolk Punch Trust, an educational and environmental charity dedicated to breeding and preserving the critically endangered oldest English breed of working horse.